Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1916-04-30

make munitions as their brothers in
France have done. But as things
stand today the recruiting question Is
a political issue and the army sur
fers
When the government last october
made its final effort to get enough
volunteers to maintain the army at
the COmbatant strength of 1.4Oo,ooo
men, with 1,4OO,OO0 reserves, figures
! was able to give exclusively on NO
Vembcr l3 and which have since been
confirmed. Lord Derby took charge or
recruiting. He promised the married
men Of the nation. and his pledge
was endorsed by Premier Asquith,
that if they would attest under the
group system for enrolment when
needed. the unmarried men who did
not enlist would he c1nscripted, pro-
Nidcd more than negligible minority
refused to come forward.
The result was nearly 100000 vol
untcers. married and unmarried, but
since Lord Derby's report showed
G5l 900 unmarried men had failed to
enlist. the conscription law for the
unmarried was passed. 1t soon be-
came evident that tho whole situation
was frghtfulv muddled. and fright
fully muddled il remains. on very
good authority ] hear that the con-
scription act. passed to secure the
recalcitrant 6j1 900. has resulted in
less than 10000 conscripts joining
the colors. some say 10000.
starred Occupations.
Under the authority of the board
OF trade. more than a hundred Occu-
pations have been starred" and the
workers in them exempted from con-
sCription on grounds that they are do
ing work Of national importance. 1t
was found after conscription bill was
passed that nearly all the $4,000
''sla ackers". as they are called. are
either unfit for military service or
engaged in reserved occupations.
This bclatcd discovery may be re-
garded with pride bv English his
torians of the future. for 1t proves
that nearly the whole available un-
married manhood of the nation did
core forwlrd voluntarily. But for
the present the feelings of those in
authority are not pleasant Ihelr
calculations falsifed. the great sur
plus of unmarried "slackers" having
been proved a myth. they have been
forced to coll on the married men
who attcstcd many months before
these men were assured by canNassers
they would be needed. All the un-
married attested men were sent into
the army almost at once, and May
the married men up to 36 years OF
age will have to report for duty. The
last five classes or groups of men mp
20 Al years will probably also be
called up in May.
This has resulted in a tremendous
outcrv against the government. Lord
Derby and the mythical single slack
ers". which has gore up from scores
of thousands Of attested married men
who believed thcv would never have
to serve or at least not until next
year. and now find themselves Obliged
to leave their families after having
been, they say. "betraycd". This agi-
tation has gained great headway, as
sociations Of attested married men
have been formed all over the coun-
try. and some of them have even
threatened to refuse to enter the
army. threats which will doubtless be
reconsidorcd They claim that the
tribunals before which men of mill
tarv age appear for exemption If en-
gagged in work Of great Importance
have released single men who ought
to fight, and that the single men in
/ the starred trades should be sent to
the front and their places taken by
married men.
One More Clcan-Cp.
/ The government is doing what II
/ car to allav the wrath of the married
and is going through the starred
trades, and wherever possible, weed
ing out single men and replacing
them with married men. Another
national register has also been or
dcred. and aftcr every resident in the
kingdom has again given full particu-
/ lars concerning himself. it is claimed
that the last lurking "slackers' can
/ be dragged from their hiding places.
1 II is obviously impossible, however
in the interests of national efficiency
to send skilled unmarried munition
workers into the trenches and replace
/ them with unsl;illed married men.
"The government" pessimist re-
married to me today persuaded
/ skilled steel workers in 1914 to go into
/ the trenches In 1915 the govern
mcnt after training these men as
soldiers for six months. took them out
of the army and brought them back
| to their forges In 1915 the govern
ment is taking the unmarried men
away again and putting them back in
| the army" This sounds like a joke,
/ but in many cases the procedure out
/ lined has actually been followed.
/ The obvious remedy for the griev-
ances Of the married is universal con-
scription on the continental plan, but
/ leading politicians are vowed to resist
this to their political deaths, and
Premier Asquith has solemnly pledged
| himself not TO belong to a govern
mont that puts through such meas
uro. | believe. however. that with or
without Asquith universal conscrip-
ton is inevitable, for nothing else can
possibly unravel the present tangle.
Whatever the results Of the re-