Most of those who talk nonchalantly about our entering the war do not seem to have the remotest realization of what that step would mean in every branch of our daily life. An open breach with the Central Powers would almost certainly be followed by a call for the mobilization of a half-million men. The response is not doubtful; twice that number could probably be enlisted within a very short time. But the sudden withdrawal of so large a body from the productive activities of the country would almost surely upset our whole economic organization, all the more so because those who are most needed in industry or transportation would be among the first to respond in case of a general call for enlistments. In this matter the costly experience of England should have taught us a lesson, but it has not done so. We have made and are making no efficient preparation, as regards the entire country, to hold back in the event of a call to arms those whose continued attention to their present work is absolutely essential to keep the wheels of industry running smoothly.

If we should have war tomorrow the biggest problem confronting this country would not be that of getting men or uniforms or rifles or machine guns. Our industries are today better organized for the production of equipment and munitions than they have been for 50 years. The most acute problem would be that of supplying a half-million men with the necessary officers. Nearly 30,000 of these would be needed and needed immediately, for without officers even the rudiments of drill and organization cannot be carried through. Right there, as the experience of other countries in the war has shown, would be our most stupendous problem. Even a lieutenant, cannot be trained in minor tactics, map reading, entrenchment methods, range-finding, outpost duties, company drill, and so forth, in less than three months, yet how can we hope to train an army without first training its officers?

This explains why Harvard and the other colleges are making such elaborate preparations for an emergency which is sure to arise if war should come. They realize that for them war may mean a general cessation of academic instruction, the turning of dormitories into barracks and of athletic fields into drill grounds. They know that the best service the colleges could render would be to transform themselves at once into so many training schools for officers. At Cambridge and elsewhere the authorities have foreseen this eventuality and are ready for it if it should come. --Boston Herald.