THINKS PACIFIST PLEDGE SIGNERS ARE RIDICULOUS

Pacifism, which will be the subject under discussion at the meeting of the Debating Union tomorrow night, is a subject in which considerable interest has been manifested by men in the University during the past few weeks. By the action of the Indianapolis convention last fall in pledging a number of men to abstain from war, and more recently, instances of similar action in several of the middle western universities, the question has become a topic of live interest among all college men.

In an effort to ascertain the sentiment of men prominently identified with the question of military training, a CRIMSON reborter interviewed Colonel Browning on the subject yesterday afternoon. He exhibited considerable reluctance to be quoted, maintaining that since the popular conception of the military man was that of a person eager for war, people at once accepted his statements as hopelessly biased.

Browning Has Brilliant War Record

Colonel W. S. Browning, Professor of Military Science and Tactics in the University is one of the most prominent military educators in the country. His brilliant war record earned for him a position as advisor on the Supreme War Council at the Peace Conference, where he served throughout the entire proceedings. Since he has been stationed at the University, he has been instrumental in developing an unusual interest in the military unit, both as a means of training, and for athletic exercise.

Most Army Officers Are Pacifists

"I consider myself the greatest pacifist in the world," said Colonel Browning in response to a question on his attitude toward the question, "and I believe the average Army officer must be placed in the same category. The Army is taught that the function is to maintain peace. If there are any men in the Army who look forward to war, and I have yet to discover one, they must be soldiers of fortune. Most of us are married men, and realizing that we would be the first to be called, we recognize that by maintaining peace we do not take the chance of needlessly widowing our wives and orphaning our children. Although the average citizen hardly gives the matter a thought, the soldier is thinking constantly of how he can help to maintain peace.

Foolish for Men to Sign Pledges

"It's ridiculous for men to sign pledges like that" was his comment on the report of the method by which pacifism was being spread," and I don't believe those men realized what they were doing. It would be absolutely impossible for them to keep such a pledge in the event our country went to war. If they refuse to fight for conscientious reasons, then they will be put to digging graves, or some other important activity behind the lines.

"If this country goes to war," he continued, "it is not because the men in the army will it, but because the majority of citizens in the country have elected to go to war. The military men have nothing to do with it, because the great majority, having no permanent homes, are even unable to vote.

It is impossible to End War

"The surest way to keep out of war is to prepare for it. We can do this by maintaining an army of sufficient strength. War has existed since man was created, and will continue to exist as long as man lives. It is a proven fact that if we had maintained an army commensurate with the size and importance of our country during the past 100 years, the expense for the upkeep of that army would not have been as great as the cost in raising the army for the recent war. Furthermore, the burden to support that army would have been so distributed that it would hardly have been noticeable in the tax bill, and there would have been none of the resulting ill effects of excessive inflation of values which are attendant upon us today.

Organized Minority Backs Pacifism

In giving his reasons for the prominence and publicity attached to the actions of groups of students who have signed pledges to refrain from fighting, Colonel Browning said "Pacifism as that word is generally understood, I am inclined to think is not something that the majority of intelligent people take much stock in. The reason we hear so much about it is because the subject is put forward by what I consider an organized minority, and we don't hear anything from the unorganized majority.

Military Training is Best Remedy

The remedy for "passive pacifism," Colonel Browning believes lies in military training. "The college man has never been as enthusiastic about the military unit in his particular college or university as he should be. Perhaps he fails to realize that through military training he gets the best innoculation now known, against the worst pest in the worst--war. Just as men are protected against the most terrible diease by vaccination, we give them protection against the worst ill of all by a training which will serve them in good stead, should they be called at some some future time.