were constructed with very strong roofs, covered with sand bags or
earth, and concealed as much as possible from aerial observation
The following brief statistics of the Catterick Camp (Hipswell and Scotton divisions) may give an idea of the magnitude of such a task: The total number of buildings for the two divisions was 2,700, and 240,000 tons of concrete were used. About three-quarters of the huts were of concrete slabs with steel framing, the remainder
i of frame work and expanded metal plastered. The central power station was of i,oookw. Overhead mains transmitted 3-phase cur-
. rent at 3,000 volts to transformers at each battalion hutment, hospi- tal, etc. The lighting of each battalion was arranged in three sepa- rate circuits at 200 volts; there were about 12,500 lights and 300 H.P. of motors installed. The total length of high-tension main was about 15 m. and of low-tension circuit 50 miles. The water supply from the Swale was pumped 400 ft. from the river to the chlorin-
I ating tanks by electrically driven 120 H.P. centrifugal pumps, one of which could supply water for the whole camp for one day in six hours. The main pipes were 10 in. diminishing to 6 in. and were
I eight m. in length. There were 40 m. of branch pipes. The sewage outfall drains from 18 in. to 24 in. diameter were taken six miles to the treatment works. There was a complete system of surface drainage independent of the sewage system. The main camp roads totalled 22 m. and there were 70 m. of pathways. The average cost
| of each hut was 200 and of this 40 % was for labour and 60 % mate- rial. The total cost, including railways, electric installations, etc., was 1,250,000. (G. K. S. M.)
II. UNITED STATES
The presidents of the United States since Washington, almost without exception, had pointed out the need of a certain degree of preparedness in the way of a trained citizenry, arms and equipment, not only as an instrumentality for carrying out national policy at home but as a means of ensuring peace with other nations. Most of them recognized that lack of prepared- ness for national defence was in itself a temptation to aggressive and predatory nations. They also recognized that unorganized, unequipped, untrained, the United States could not hope to
'exercise that weight in the world's councils or in maintaining peace and international fair dealing, to which its position and importance entitled it. American politicians had often de- liberately misled the people as to what could be done. The result was that, at the time when a world crisis was approaching which was in the end certain to involve the people of the United States, they were, in everything which related to preparedness for defence or to playing their part in the struggle for civiliza- tion, asleep. Lord Roberts had already sounded the clear note of warning to England, Kitchener had planned organized de- fences for the British colonies, but America, warlike yet un- military, was doing nothing to prepare for the storm. Impelled jy an appreciation of the utter unpreparedness of the United States to meet promptly any military emergency arising from
- onflict with a first-class Power and by the general lack, not
)nly of knowledge but of interest in the question of national preparedness on the part of the general public, and realizing
- hat such interest could best be built up through the youth
)f the country, Maj.-Gen. Leonard Wood took up in 1913, as
- hief of staff of the army, with the Secretary of War, Lindley
VI. Garrison, the project of establishing certain training camps or duly qualified youth, and obtained his approval. This was he beginning of the Plattsburg idea. It was pushed forward >y Gen. Wood in the following three years.
The 1913 camps were held at Gettysburg, Pa., and Monterey, ^al., and were made up principally of college students. The otal number in camps was 244. They were known as Students' Military Instruction Camps. The young men who came were n unusually intelligent and earnest lot. Those at Gettysburg ormed a permanent organization, which became known as the National Reserve Corps and had for its purpose the building p of a corps of reserve officers. The shield of the corps bore he words " Ready-Organized-Prepared " and its motto was Striving for Peace but Ready for War." The results at Gettysburg and Monterey were such that these first camps ttracted immediate and favourable recognition, and were the ieds from which sprang the Plattsburg camps. The question ien presented itself, " Why should not the college and high-
- hool students receive a training for national defence and learn
iat equality of privilege implies equality of obligation?" resident Drinker of Lehigh University and Gen. Wood sent
761
out circular letters to the presidents of many American uni- versities, inviting them to membership in an advisory committee. Those who at first joined the committee were President Drinker, and President Hibben of Princeton, who were respectively presi- dent and secretary of the committee; President Lowell of Harvard; Hadley of Yale; Hutchins of Michigan; Benjamin Ide Wheeler of California; Schurman of Cornell; James of the university of Illinois; as well as John J. Finley, commissioner of education, state of New York; and to these were added later the president of Williams College, the president of the university of Alabama, the rector of the Catholic University, Washington, D.C., and a number of others.
The following year, 1914, camps were established at Fort Ethan Allen; Burlington, Vt.; Asheville, N.C.; Ludington, Mich. ; and Monterey, Cal. The total number in the different camps was 667. These aroused a gradually growing interest and the Department of War determined that four such camps should be established during the summer of 1915, at Chicka- mauga Park, Ga.; Plattsburg, N.Y.; Ludington, Mich.; and at the Presidio, San Francisco, Cal. These camps were even more successful than those which preceded them, and the number in attendance was very much larger. Three successful camps in three consecutive months were held at Plattsburg, and camps of a month each at the other designated training points. The total number of men who passed through the camps during this year was 3,406. The camps were no longer limited to students from colleges and high schools but were open to business men and to men from all walks of life who had the necessary physical qualifications. The educational qualifi- cations were moderate, and lack of education was compensated for by initiative, as shown by success in life, the position the applicant held in his community, etc. ; in other words, anything which showed sound qualities of leadership. Interest grew apace. There were recruiting committees at the various uni- versities. The World War had broken out, and to all who looked ahead it was evident that America would sooner or later be drawn into the struggle. In 1916 over 16,000 men were passed through the camps. The Advisory Committee and the Students' Recruiting Committees of the various universities were influencing the general public, and the Military Training Association of the United States was formed for the purpose of increasing the attendance. As Plattsburg was the largest training centre, the camps, wherever held, began to be called " Plattsburg Camps," the idea of this intensive training being spoken of as the " Plattsburg Idea."
In 1917, applicants for the camps numbered about 130,0x30, and had the United States not gone into the war in the spring, well over 100,000 men would have been trained in these volun- teer training camps. The men who came to these camps were from every walk of life: bishops, priests, clergymen, rabbis, men from the labour unions, farmers, policemen from neighbouring cities, business and professional men, youths from the colleges.
The outbreak of the World War in 1914 stimulated interest in the training. It must be remembered that the second series of camps, those of 1914, were coming to a close just before the war began. During the winters of 1915-6 and 1916-7 courses were opened in Boston, New York, Providence, Detroit, Pitts- burg, Philadelphia and other cities for the instruction and examination of applicants for reserve commissions, and through them were developed a large number of officers who played an important, indeed a vital, part in the training of the great war levies. Speaking of these camps, the chief of staff of the army, in his Annual Report for 1915, said:
" The military camps of instruction for students of educational institutions which were held in 1913 and 1914 have been continued this year. As there were no funds- available to meet any expenses incident to the establishment of these camps, it was necessary to have them at military posts where the ordinary utilities of the post could be used, or, if at a place other than a military post, the citi- zens had to incur the necessary expenses in constructing the camps. . . . The reports show that the results have fully justified the estab- lishment of these camps. In addition to camps for students, camps have been authorized at Plattsburg, N.Y., Fort Sheridan, 111., and San Francisco, Cal., for business men whose interest in the prepared-
