You will ask me what we can do.

Let me remind you that when the war broke out the great want was, not of volunteers, but of men trained to military exercises.
Our regiments were at first composed wholly of raw recruits.

In Europe, military instruction is given as a matter of course; and in Germany, and perhaps other countries, young men are obliged to serve for a time in the army.
"I think we ought to profit by the lessons of experience.

However the present war may turn out, we cannot be certain that other wars will not at some time break out.

By that time we shall have grown to manhood, and the duty of defending our country in arms will devolve upon us.