The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1917-04-20

washington, April W peclhl.I
Whether the men for the war shall be
raised by voluntary enlistment or by
co~nscription In the most important SUBJ
ject that has come before congress.
Congress has shown itself quite Will
ing TO vote S7.000,000 1000 for prose
cutting the war, but 1t hesltates about
authorizing the CONSUMPTION OF 10000
men to fight the war.
Perhaps none of them understands
what 81 100000 means. Frank Van
derlip, the financier Of New York, says
that he can conceive of a million and
understand 1t, but he cannot under
stand billions. Perhaps that is why
congress was so ready to vote billions,
but hesltated at the administrations
method of procuring men.
Confidence In Volunteers.
IL any one should get all that has
been said about raising armies, ut least
during the last quarter Of "A century
he would find that senators and repre-
sentatives have raised their voices FIRE
quently and loudly In favor Of a volun.
teer army. The volunteers In the fed.
eral service, but particularly the state
troops, have received the widest kind
OF praise on every occasion.
volunteers have fought and won
every war In which the United States
was engaged" has been the burden of
the song of most of the speeches on
this subject. During this time there
has been scant praise for the regular
army man, although he has been .
volunteer I'm every sense of the word.
or course Il must be remembered
that volunteering was helped by bonn
ties I'm several great wars and that
drafts were resorted to IN the civil
Why State Troops Are Favored.
Doubt Is expressed whether volun
teers can be obtained to raise "A fed
eral army of 100000 men. although II
would probably be very easy to raise
that number of men in various states.
The reason why men enlist more freely
with the state troops than with the
federal forces Is OH account of the fact
that the officers are appointed by gov
ernor of the states and the volunteers
are made up of state troops.
Senator Nelson of Minnesota during
one of the discussions on this subject
pointed out that during the civil war
a governor would tell one man that
he would make him a colonel and one
man a lieutenant colonel and different
officers throughout the entire regiment
and set them to work getting recruits,
with the result that the regiment could
soon be raised.
One of the strongest Inducements for
enlisting In state troops was the chance
for promotion and for service as Off
GERS. With federal volunteers there Is
no such probability. They would be
offlcered largely by regulars and by
men chosen from the various walks OF
life by the federal administration.
Volunteers Want Action.
There Is no other subject which Is
OF prime Importance In regard to yolun-
teers. Volunteers, the national guard
and all other similar organizations,
want action as soon as they are enlist
ed and mustered In. They do not want
to spend several months or a year In
training camps or doing guard duty or
patrol duty such as they had on the
Mexican border. They want to go t.
new lands, get into action quickly, and
when 1t is over they want TO get home
as soon as they can.
Senator Nelson Of Minnesota In dis
cussing this subject one day In the sen
ate said: III you should say you want
ed 100000 men to go to France YOU
would get them 1t once Young mel
want adventure; they want to go t
foreign lands; they want to sse serv
ice, but they do not want TO drag on
their days in camps and drills
Regular army officers and men wh'
have to conduct the present war under
stand pretty thoroughly what will b,
needed In the way Of fighting men, an,
they believe that conscription Is TIN
best method. One Of the reasons VIII.
consumption was favored was beoaus'
1t Is known that under the voluntee
system the best men will be sacrificed
and the sc called 'slackers' win es
cape.
Lewis For Tolerance.
Senator James Hamilton Lewis o
Illinois In the great speech he made
answering arguments that had beef
made against the war resolution an,
defending the position Of this countr
In relation to Germany, began his re
marks with. a plea for liberation. III
mentioned by name the six senator
who voted against the war revolution
complimented them highly for wba
they had done in the past and besough
q liberal liberation on the part of til
people of this country for men VIII
expressed and voted their honest con
victiOns at that particular time.
Although this part Of his speech wa
not 20 important as that which n
viewed the diplomatic and war condt
lions, Il caused considerable commen