Better than the George Did It

What's wrong with using military facilities to educate youth? Nothing at all, Selective Service Director Lewis Hershey--especially when juvenile are involved. "The one thing they need," he told the National Club last week, "is somebody to call them early in the morning and keep them so busy during the day that you don't have to tell them to go to bed at night." As for school dropouts, Hershey suggested that the Army could develop instant literacy if laggards were not given leave "until they can read the names of the streets downtown."

Easily the liveliest septuagenarian in Government, Hershey also scoffed at the idea of the all-volunteer army. Most volunteers, he pointed out, only signed up "after they passed the Selective Service exam and it became apparent that Uncle Sam had some permanent interest in them." Hershey conceded that the draft was uncertain, but added, "I have some friends this week who found certainty--their obituaries were published in your papers." And for all its faults, the draft sure beats the way "George Washington had to spend most of his time looking for men--he had to arrange his schedule of battle on who might happen to be in town at that particular time."

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