Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-22
ABSENT-MINDED BEGGARS

! T1HE private soldier is indeed, as Kip
i ling sang in Boer War times, an absent
minded beggar who, when he goes to the
front, is apt to leave "a lot of little things
behind him" The hat was passed in the
London music halls amid cheers for the
| Queen, and Tommy Atkins wife and chill.
dren did not go hungry. BY "beggar"
the poet meant a good fellow" but a
number of persons were unkind enough
to suggest that the literal meaning Of the
word was more to the point. The prob.
lem of feeding the wives and children of
soldiers in the present war was of such
magnitude that the belligerent States
could not leave it to the casual passing of
the hat for small change, but had to
take 1t in hand themselves.
Today this country is in much the
same phase that England was II years
ago. Then. as now, a large country
looked forward to cleaning up jauntily
small country in about three months. 1t
took England nearly three years to beat
the Beers and there followed a period of
reconstruction which kept the army fur.
ther employed As strife with anarchic
Mexico would be meaningless If not fol.
lowed by reconstruction n real war with
that country would keep our forces in the
field three years more likely than three
months. Splendid as the patriotism of
various corporations and business firms
has been in Offering to pay salaries and
hold open Jobs for guardsnen suddenly
reduced to the $15 a month pay of private
soldiers, it is not ungrateful for young
married men to ask, "How long will you
hold our jobs open? How long will we
get our pay? Three years?"
1t is possible that some large establish.
ments whose working forces happen to
include not too many National Guards.
men would reply, "Sure!" But such prom
ises would mean great loss or even bank
ruptcy to individual employers or small
firms, and the employees of these would
be deferred from enlisting If provision for
their families were not assured. Prompt
assurances from the 400 wealthy men
whom the Mayor has called into confer
ence today to supplement the generosity
of business houses will make the guards
men and those who are considering enlist
ing feel free TO do their COuntry's work;
but what If we shall need 100000 men to
clean UP Mexico? Call out more squads
of wealthy men to finance the volunteers?
Such a solution would make the meanest
kind of absent.minded beggar of every
citizen of ordinary means The self
respect of a democratic people demands
another solution.
Fortunately for this country there is
another solution. The professional army,
the need of which has been drilled into us
by the humilations of recent years, viii
not have to be so large as TO upset indus
trial life or make demands upon private
beneficence when 1t goes into action. In
all countries recruits are naturally young
and unmarried men. A man about to get
married does not seek a $4-a.week job. 1t
is the young and unmarried men that the
nations require for their first line of fight
ers, for it is the alertness, speed, endur.
ance and strength of youth that a nation
relies on for safety in the first and often
decisive onslaught in the athletic contest
called war. 1t is not economy that calls
out first those who have no families to
support; it is grim necessity. If the
older, married men were better fighters
than the youth, the older, married men
would be called out first
1t is precisely the lack of this profess
sonal army of young and unmarried men
which puts us into the present muddle of
private beneficence. For many of the
guardsmen are married-the National
Guard armory is for many married men a
club as we'll as a service. 1t takes so little
of their time that they remain in the
guard after marriage without considering
the advisability of doing so. But il there
were now a force of say 100000 profess
sonals Csuch as a wiser Congress will
proyidel, their departure for the border
would not cause a ripple in the business
life of the country. Their personnel
would not need such adjustments as pri
vate funds and the offers of immunity
from action which are now being made to
married men for whose military training
the State has spent good money
The personnel of the new army that is
TO be will be made up of those who really
want to make the complete sacrifice that
soldiers have to make and who are free
TO take up profession that is necessarily
not remunerative,