The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-16

the English woman. fully conscious d
the meaning Of the war and all that
Is at stake In Il. Ia to-day determined
that her men must 20.
III any men attempt to shirk
women at once appear to urge them.
shame them. bully them OF drive them
In some other way.
Consider the compulsion bill. 1t 10
q measure which may properly he
dubbed revolutionary. II provides for
the most definite interference known
Il, modern times with that personal
to the Englishman. yet Il VA passed
by fine majorities by men who. II not
directly affected BY II. still are respnn.
sible to their constituencies n are
DESTROYS usually Of some time going
back TO Parliament. The msjorities
were splendid.
The earnestness Of Great Britain
in this war was indicated by the fact
that by such great majorities an abso-
lutte revolution was worked In Eng
land.
II have been supposed to he for
compulsion from the start. Such has
no been the case. have been for
compulsory military training. but for
voluntary and not for compulsory SER
vice abroad. The training will harm
no man but will At him for quick use
fulness In time Of need.
II believe that England has been in
error In not having adopted some plan
Of the sort in the past. II IL my Arm
conviction that II We had established
such a system long z the war
might v have occurred. or at least
now would be over.
Instead OF n small army at the
time OF the wars outbreak We should
have had q million and a half men-as
many as we have nov n every one Of
item trained. md We should have
had arms and ammunition ready for
them.
such an army. properly equipped
and fully trained. probably would have
been an efficient guarantee Of interna-
tional peace. II II might not have pre-
vented the war entirely II would have
brought 1t quickly To an end. during
the period which now Ii looked upon
as the early days u a struggle Of great
length"
/ asked Lord Derby il he saw in this
a lesson for America.
Il am not thinking Of lessons FOR
any country other than my own m
these days" he replied; but ] see in
what has happened an impressive les
son for Great Britain. | am absolute.
~ certain hat such a British army.
trained and ready. would have been ut
least n mighty influence toward an
carly peace. I suppose what Ii true Of
our ration we'll might he true Of an
other.
Consider the historic facts Of the
case. When the German army was
driven back from before Paris We had
$4,000 men in the field. Yet the great
wal machine was repulsed.
Suppose We instantly had been able
to put forward as many men as We
have now in service. Suppose We had
been able TO send only ten times a.
many men as We did send. Would the
German army now have been where
1t Is"
"But We were unprepared, and so
We have been forced to carry ON the
war as best we Nigh, until We could
A'sA 80 -
crisis, must be expensive aud undu.y
slow. To my mind that must be in.
cVitaole.
in our case the policy Of unpre-
paredness has beer almost. but not
quite. ruinously costly Of both time
: and money. Many Of the least agree
able measures which We have been
forced by circumstances TO adopt
would have been unnecessary had We
been reasonably ready for the war
which every expert admitted could
but no deferred and could not he
avoided.
wow hat We are under way with
the organization of the new army.
land IL coming TO the fore in a most
gratifying ann I am rather anX-
,ous to nave you emphasize the fact
that now that the cal consciousness
of grim necessity has sunk into the
hearts of the British people We are
not having difficulty in getting re-
: ruits
Those who should join are joining
very rapidly. and many who might go
exempt under the provisions Of the
law are volunteering handsomely.
Married men, AZ I have said. are COM
ing In every day. not only because they
wish to do their bit toward saving
England but because their wives wish
to have them do their bit.
There are many evidences that the
patriotism OF the women OF Great Brit
ain is not less brilliantly ablaze than
that Of our e ! would hesitate to
hazard a guess as to the proportion
OF our men who have enlisted as much
because their women wished them TO
as compared to that Of those who have
joined because their own consciences
urged them to the defence Of their
country.
Il must pay a tribute. also, to the
men who wish to fight but are not ell.
gible for one reason or another to en-
trance into the fighting ranks. Prob
ably no more acute disappointment
and chagrin Is possible to the human
mind than hat which some OF the
men who have enthusiastically offered
their services to their country In its
time OF need have felt when they have
been rejected.
Until an armlet was provided by
the Government for men who had
been rejected some OF these disap.
pointed ones were most unhappy fell
lows whcn in public, Tho wornen sa