It is to answer these and other questions that a systematic effort to inform and arouse the American people should be taken up and carried into effect by public-school teachers, having in mind that the most effective and most important work may be done in the classroom in connection with lessons in civics and history. To wait for textbooks on the present European war is to wait until it is over. To wait to put the study of the present war into a course of study in its chronological sequence is to wait until the next generation of children come upon the stage. No, now is the time for our schools to include the teaching of the war and to discuss officially proposed peace plans, when the street is alive with soldiers, when the newspapers display huge headlines and the bill-boards are covered with recruiting posters, when magazines furnish helpful material for teachers, and when the whole world is charged with feeling.
The National Security League (New York City) has outlined a plan for public addresses and lectures, and it has printed a little book entitled "Wake Up, America." The following topics have been selected from an outline furnished by this league:
Foreign military systems and international relations.
Spirit of the American people as shown in our history of liberty and democracy.
Causes of the war between the United States and Central Powers.
First two and one-half years of the war in relation to the principles of the foreign policy of the United States.
Universal military training and service as now provided by Congress.
Organization and work of the army and navy: selection; supplying needs.
General military preparations in the country at large: materials, transportation, and public finance.
Duty of the citizen in relation to obligations of all citizens as an offset to benefits of citizenship.