The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1917-05-24
The Volunteer
Soldier
BY HAMLIN GARLAND
of the Vigilantes

MY ldtneT WIS volunteer In the
Civil war. He left his wife, and three
children, all under five years of age
and went into the army on the private
soldiers pay of thirteen dollars per
mOnth-greenbacks. He served two
stressful years under Grant, Thomas
and Logan and when he returned i'm 90
he brought back with him u firm belief
commanders.
He revered Grant and Sherman but
deprecated the "Wcst Point martinez"
Grant and Sherman were the excep-
tiOns which proved the rule. They
happened to be soldiers as well us
West Pointers. The officers of re-
source, Of patriotic devotion, were the
men who went into the war from con
viction and not from u desire for job.
In all my early life, therefore, was
schoolcd in the belief that the Ameri-
can system of volunteer service was
the most democratic, the most effective
and the least ensluving Of all forms of
military obligation. Naturally l took
up and carried forward this prejudice.
Many years were necessary To free my
mind of an Inherited opposition to the
professional soldier. and II hatred of
conScription. l am still opposed to the
conScriptiOn as 1t was practlcrd in
1853, for it was then Il matter of
chance and not of logic. The names
were chosen by n hoodwinked child, n
system as foolish as the volunteer syS-
TEN was unjust. Under one, the man
of courage and patriotic devotion
SpranS rnllantly to arms and the shirk
remained behind to grow rich in trade
and propagate his kind. Under the
other, chance ruled.
The volunteer spirit produced an al-
most invincibc warrior, l will admit,
but at what cost 1t was true that
Grant or Sherman could call from the
ranks corps of bridge builders, tel
cgrapherS, engineers and skilled ma
chiniStS, but | now see that this was
criminal waste of material, that 1t
was Il gross misuse of genius and en-
tircly wrong at base.
Military service should be neither
blind thing nor rash and wusterul
thing. Conscription should mean the
logical use of the best man in the
right place. If all serve i'm some Gu
pacity, no stigma can attach to any
uniform. If all serve according to
their powers and with respect to their
condition and age, no one can right
fully complain. The high-Spiritcd vol
untccr should not he allowed 10 sac
rif1ce himself AID the selfish Stacker
lao ID
man must feel his obligation to serve
the government which protects him
and educateS him. Service should he
universal and then it will be just and
equitable-at least in theory. That
some inequalities will remain Is, of
course, unavoidable.
l am for universal training univcr-
sal conscription of men and money.
The government has the right In time
of war to demand Of every man that
service which he can best render IN
going into this Notwithstanding war we
must all be prepared to lend hand,
either in the trenches or In the fac
tories, railway stations and hospitals
behind the lines. The whole nation
must be organized and ready for ne
tion.
All past scales OF warfare are of no
value to us now. Grants army would
he but II detail Of the allied command.
The transportation and commiSsury
systems of the past are amateur. Ger
many has taught us war on the mrSt
gigantic scale. Military training with
us now must take on something of the
universal character, nS in Switzerland,
where the soldier is also Il citizen and
Il free man. Our volunteer system is
inadequate, OutwOrn, unjust and cruel
~ wuSlcful of the blood of brave
youth. 1t must give place to the more
enlightened plan.