THE UNIFORM

The distribution of uniforms for student cadets has given the Yard and the Square a new and martial appearance. Many hundreds of men in an uniform costume add dignity to any locality which no amount of tailor-made and individualistic civilian fashions can give.

The uniforms have already caused a change in habits and posture of the men wearing them. The traditional undergraduate indifference to the niceties of dress has been hidden beneath the smartness of olive-drab. The traditional undergraduate slouch is ironed straight in the square-shouldered cut of the military blouse. Clothing which is made to be worn well makes a man stand well. And when a man stands well, he is apt to to think well of himself, and of that service which he represents.

Uniforms are the glory and brightness of war. Twenty years ago in all armies uniforms were more gaudy and perhaps more attractive than they are now. In this age of grim and unsplendid war our armies are clad somberly and for battle.

Wars are not won by pretty uniforms. Yet men who have pride enough in themselves to keep up the honor of the uniform they wear are apt to be the kind of men who have courage enough not to fail in the crucial hour.

Olive-drab is the badge of a nation's fighting men. There must be no disregard of the uniform, no use of a part of it as a convenient riding or golfing costume. Men who are going to fight bravely must dress and carry themselves in accord with the honor of that lofty cause which draws their allegiance.