ROOSEVELT WANTS ALL MEN OVER 19 IN TRAINING CAMP

Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt '80, in an interview with a CRIMSON reporter yesterday, stressed the seriousness of the present war situation and expressed his conviction of the need for immediate and active military training for all American boys between 19 and 21 years of age. Colonel Roosevelt, who leaves Boston this morning for Oyster Bay, arrived yesterday from Portland, Me., where he had spoken at the State Republican Convention Thursday night. While stating that he firmly believed that still more universal and intensive military training should be given young men of college age, he did not propose that young men should enter the army till after attending special training camps. The age at which they should be allowed to enlist would be determined by their fitness as shown by their record at those camps. Moreover, the Colonel favored the idea of schools and colleges allowing undergraduates to leave for service before the completion of their courses without its counting against their scholastic records.

Colonel Roosevelt's Statement.

Colonel Roosevelt's statement to members of the University follows:

"I know that in the past the Harvard Regiment and the R. O. T. C. have done admirable work, but I am not competent to speak on what is being done at the present time. As to what boys should do about enlisting I can only say what my own four boys did is what I believe to be the best policy. I am exceedingly proud of the course which they followed and the cause for which they are fighting. "If I had my way, every young man from 19 to 21 years of age would be put into a training camp forthwith and required to go into the army when he was 21 and permitted to do so if he proved fit for such service before he was 21. Speaking generally for all our colleges and universities, I think that every institution of learning should, so far as possible, guarantee every boy who goes to the war against any scholastic detriment or penalty for having gone.