The army is frankly disappointed. For long military men have viewed with professed alarm the President's trend' of thought towards national defence. Mr. Coolidge says that etter to abend money on the making of good roads, the building of better homes, the promotion' of education and all the arts of peace that minister to the advancement of human welfare. In his opinion. which is derided in military circle America must rely not on the strength of her fleets and her armies, but on the justice of her causes, Thus does he throw down the gauntlet to the advocates of even as large an army and navy as the United States has been maintaining. On. this Pacific Coast much criticism of his attitude is heard, but President Coolidge is in unique position, Heretofore Chief executives have had to resist the impulses of Congress to cut the army and the navy to the bone. Civilian secretaries of the army and navy have influenced presidents to support in large part the recommendations of the general staff or general board, as the ease may be Sut with Congress apparently in: lined to economize to the extreme, President Coolidge in not likely to bbe found on the defensive after such utterances as his Omaha speech.
The present dissatisfaction in army circles, however, is bound to de given expression in some unexpected manner. The outlook is for real battle in committee. Col. Mitchell of the Air Service, dared to take his opinions to the press, and in that way has stirred up such furore that the country has been Awakened to the need of more effective air defence, though it is not likely that any appropriations for equipment will be forthcoming. Whether more of this sort of work will be undertaken remains to be seen. That President Coolidge's views are shared by a great numder of people, moreover, is seen from & speech recently delivered by the president of Columbia University, Mr. Nicholas M. Butler. He was speaking at a dinner given to the interparliamentary union by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and he declared that "thousands of millions of human beings are asking if war is a neces. tant of the march of The attitude of President Coolidge is, of course, highly admired by the idealists, just as it is descried by who believe that America's should be the largest in the world. As regards American "civilization," how ever, to which the President of Columbia made reference, I am reminded of a stirring article I read the other day by Mr. G. J. Nathan, a critic and author who is sorely distressed over Yankee tastes and culture. In fact, he sees American civilization already in de-tine and has lost all hope that anything will or can stem the receding tide. In part be wrote:—
"AWhough. it is unquestionably, true vance inthe Boot 16 or 20 years, eis equally true that that taste, He second, third and fourth level tas in the same period of time shown amazing decline. 1 doubt, in point its che tassie of the average han, ever. been'
sit is to-day.
Drought this state of not. the faintest idea.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.