Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-04-15
RESERVE Army
NUMBERS sixteen
GOVERNMENT PLANS TO EsTAs-
LIsH AUXILIARY FORCE
PROVING Big JOKE.
Ex.soLDlERs ALICE
Ex.soLDlERs ALICE
SERVICE IS HANDICAP
Both Government and Business Men
Have No Use For Soldiers After
They Serve Time Of Enlistment
System as Well as Public Blamed For
Existins Prejudice.
Especial Correspondence

4 =
Washington, April 15.-Representa-
tive A. p. Gardner, Of Massachusetts,
builded better than he knew when he
! entertained nine men. composing more
than so per cent Of the reserve army"
! of the United, States, at dinner in
Washington Saturday evening. The
/, primary purpose of the dinner was to
| exhibit the size, or lack Of size, of the
reserve army (perhaps the full quota
| of sixteen would have attended had
an attempt been made to mobilize west
of the Alleghenies) but it accomplished
much more than that; it uncovered to
| the knowledge Of the country the
psychology of the reserve army. Dis
cussions of the national defense hither-
to~have proceeded from the top or the
outside. They have concerned them
selves with the views oflthe chief mill
tary men Of the country and Of promi-
nent civilians. Here for perhaps the
first time, the enlisted man spoke for
himself. He; gave his own opinion of
| the army, active and reserve, and with
a frankness SO innocent that it was al
most brutal he confessed that an hon
orable discharge from the United
States army acted as positive bar
to employment in civil life
Army Service Handicap.
Captain Gardeners guests were clean,
active, well-set-up young fellows, quiet
| in demeanor and obviously uncomfort-
able as they arose from their seats and
faced the centerpiece to tell their
stories. Four were Jews; the five
others were a Greek, an Italian, Ger.
man, an Irishman and an American.
| Cosmopolitan as half the reserve Of the
reserve army of the United States
proves to be, there was simple yet
! striking unanimity in their declarations
| Of loyalty to my country" The men
did not make speeches. Each told his
own story, and the civilians present
became so interested in the subject
that they put each speaker under a
| rafting fire of cross examination.
''Why did you join the reserves?" and
| why is the reserve army so small =
These were the chief inquiries The
answers, and the unanimous testimony
Of the men that their army services
had proved an actual handicap in civil
life, constituted a symposium OF opin-
| ion at once novel, unstudied and pro-
foundry significant. fs. ~
! Man after man set forth in applying
for employment in railroad and manu-
featuring companies he was turned
down" instantly when he showed his
discharge papers. Herein the record
Of the soldier is set forth as fair"
good very good or excellent" as
the case may be, but the men testified
that the managers paid no attention
to these Demonstrations, being ac-
tuated only by the fact that the man
had been soldier. Nor were the ex-
soldiers wholly at a loss to account for
| the prejudice against them in indus
! trial circles, for he says that the army
was judged outside only by it's black
sheep. IF civilian gets drunk, no
one thinks anything of it" exclaimed
one of the speakers IF man in uni
form gets drunk, five hundred people
point at him and say, What else can
you expect, he's only soldier!
Biames Government.
A Jewish lad, perhaps the keenest
mind in the whole group, declared that
employers were not wholly to blame
for their prejudices. '"The government,
the recruiting officers, are the ones to
| blame" he said. 'They do not look
into a mans antecedents at all. was
only Is when Joined the army" he
continued, "and it was necessary to get
my fathers signature before could be
enlisted. My father signed the paper
but anyone else might have signed it
just as well-they did not stake the
trouble to learn If the signature was
genuine"
The weight of opinion was not as
kindly toward the employers, however.
eve learn how to do things and how
to obey in the army" said one man.
eff we apply for a job on a railroad or
in shop, they have the right to ex-
pect that we will obey orders and that
we will make good men for that
reason" Indeed, all the speakers
showed spirit Of keen surprise and
disappointment that their services in
the United States army should have
resulted in handicapping them in the
industrial field outside.
| The soldiers all testified that they
were astounded when they learned,
thru Captain Gardeners activities. that
the reserve army consisted Of only
sixteen men. Il supposed there would
1