The Washington herald., 1916-04-30

were called, are either unfit for military
service or engaged in reserved occupa-
tion.
This belated discovery may be regarded
with pride by English historians of the
future, for IL proves that nearly the
whole available unmarried manhood of
the nation did come forward voluntarily.
But for the present the feelings of those
in authority are not pleasant. Their
calculations falsified, the great surplus
of unmarried "slackers" having been
proved myth, they have been forced
to call out the married men who attested
many months before these men were as
sured by canvassers they would be
needed. All the unmarried 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
up to Al years will probably also be
called up in May.
This has resulted in a tremendous out
cry against the government, Lord Derby,
and the mythical single slackers," which
has gone up from scores of thousands
of attested married men who believed
they 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 betrayed"
This agitation has gained great head
way, associations of sttcsted married
men have been formed all over the
country. and some of them have even
threatened to refuse to enter the army,
threats which will doubtless be recon-
sidered They claim that the tribunals
before which men of military age appear
for exemption II engaged 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.
Trying to soothe Bcucdicts.
The government is doing what it can
to allay the wrath Of the married, and is
going through the starred trades and,
wherever possible. wedding out single
men and replacing them with married
men. Another national register has also
been ordered. and after every resident
in the kingdom has again given full par
ticulars concerning himself 1t is claimed
that the last lurking "slsckers' can be
dragged from their hiding places.
1t is obviously impossible, however, in
the interests of national efficiency, to
send skilled unmarried munition workers
into the trenches and replace them with
unskilled married men. The govern
ment," a pessimist remarked to me
today, persuaded skilled steel workers
in 1914 to go into the trenches. In 1915
the government, after training these men
as soldiers for six months, took them out
OF the army and brought them back to
their forges. In 1916 the government 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 outlined has actually
been followed.
The obvious remedy for the grievances
Of the married is universal conscriptiOn
on the Continental plan, but leading poll
ticians are vowed to resist this to their
political deaths, and Premier Asquth has
solemnly pledged himself not to belong
to a government that puts through such
a measure. l believer, however, that with
or without Asquith universal ConsCription
is inevitable, for nothing else can pos
sibly unravel the present tangle.
Whatever the results OF the recruiting
muddle may be on the fourth campaign
OF the war, which will open in the spring
of 1917 1t will not affect the size or eff
ficiency of the British army this summer
and next autumn. The seventy divisions
which are or soon will be in the field, are
at full strength, and sufficient reserves
are ready to fill up the gaps this year
It Is certain, l think, that after the
tumult of the married men continues n
while longer, the country will respond to
the necessities of the situation a year
from now, and that means conscription.