"The common but erroneous belief is that military discipline only has a military value. The fallacy of this belief was strikingly demonstrated a short time since when the steamer Plymouth was run down by the City of Taunton. Seventy-five soldiers [Marines] were on board the Plymouth and they were the heroes of the accident. They behaved splendidly and rendered valuable assistance in preventing the loss of life. It is not however as an exhibition of the courage of individuals that the performance of the soldiers appeals to the reflecting mind. These men responded not to any daring impulse of the occasion, but to the prompting of what has become a constant, every-moment factor in their lives—the habit of discipline. The Plymouth incident, then, so far as the soldiers are concerned becomes one of the many illustrations of the universal value of that habit. Courage is a quality that makes men ready to do any dare. Discipline imparts unity, method and strength to the doing and daring. In such an emergency as that on the Plymouth not the least of the strength lies in the example of coolness and precision set by the disciplined."