The Washington herald., 1916-08-07
Camp Widows. !"

range all the way from fund for sufferers from
the white plague, to home for INDECENT cats
Then, too, there are the overcoming tag
days for this that purpose, each requiring its
need Of money
Constant calls grow wearisome, no matter
what the source Therefore, though the object
be ever worthy it is not to be wondered at
if, in time, the average Washingtonian grows a
bit purse shy
But the cause OF the dependent wives, moth
ers and children of the Guardsmen, should be
carried forward no matter what else may be left
behind These camp widows" entitled to
support just surely as actual war widows" are
entitled to government pensions.
No doubt it is the argument OF extreme paci
fists that no responsibility rests on them-thst
the men whose duty it is to support those women
and children should have remembered that duty
and stayed home where they belonged. Pure
sophistry
If everyone followed that advice there
wouldn't be many more independence Days
We wouldn't long remain independent
1t were sheer nonsense, at any rate, to claim
that of family have left their wives and
children with holiday spirit-or anything ap-
preaching such a spirit. Probably not one in
one hundred wanted to go. Instead, they have
all felt that they ought to go. 1t has been
purely and solely a question Of duty, and that
duty involves the safeguarding of the lives and
property Of these same utrapacifsts who de-
clare the man who dons soldiers uniform de-
serves the worst he can get.
Besides there is another angle to be consd-
cred Sometime since, coincidcnt with the first
appeal Of the first camp widow for aid the re-
crulting stations set ronclad rule that no
man with a family dependent on him for support
would be accepted. Immediately after that rule
was pur into effect, the number OF daily enlist
ments dropped. almost half
That rule was, and is, farsighted enough
but unfortunately it is not also "hindsighted"
1t does not-and cannot-bear any relation to
the families Of who were already members
Of the National Guard when the call to the
colors came.
Guardsmen Of this class had absolutely no
say in the matter. Perhaps the vast majority
OF them enlisted when there was no thought OF
war. But when they sworn in, they took
oath that if they should be needed they would
come. Indeed, every man jack of our District
Guard took precisely the same oath as that
administered to recruits in the regular army
When the Chief Executive issued his call to the
colors, therefore, these men were not allowed
to choose between marching off to camp or
staying home and supporting their families. They
faced exactly two alternatives; they had either
case their monetary value to their families would
be about the same-or, rather, it would not be
at all the same, for in jail, they would not re-
ceive even the SIS a month that Uncle Sam
pays his soldiers
No one with a glimmerng OF intelligence will
decry pacfism. But there is vast deal OF dill
ference between pacifsm and cowardicc. The
true pacifist doesn't want to fight But he is
not afraid to fight if he has to. 1t is the true
pacifst who makes the best soldier
Whether or not shall have war, now or
at any future time, is problematicaI But the
marching of some $4,000 men and women, some
few weeks back, and the lining Of the sidewalks
by several thousand more who checred them or,
would indicate that all Washington believes we
should at least be ready.
One OF the prime requisites OF being ready
is capable National Guard Family men, speak
ing by and large, the most capable men,
The very fact that they family men stands
for solidarity and responsibility. Those are the
kind of the Guard needs
Naturally, though it cannot even hope to
get them, if by swearing to stand by their
country, they must also virtually condemn their
wives and children to want-and perhaps worse
Everyone Of course, cannot join the colors
war or no war. Some must stay at home and
keep the civic and business wheels turning But
tHOSe WHO cannot go, can at least sec to 1t that
the women folk of those who do go in their
stead are kept from want.
Very happily, a goodly proportion of the
Capitals representative citizens have shown, by
putting their hands down in their pockets, and
bringing forth crisp greenbacks-and sometimes
yellowbacks-that they feel just this way about
1t. But a goodly proportion isn't enough The
support Of the dependents of our National
Guardsmen, when the later have been called to
the colors, should be the concern of every stay
at-home in the District. For it must be remem-
bered that it is for the safeguarding Of these
same stay-at-homes that the Guardsmen go out
The dependents whose men folk have been
summoned to shoulder rifle not asking
for charity. They are demanding their just due
Their support is not question of desire the
part of the rest of the city. 1t is a question
of duty.
Summer and Business.