New-York tribune., 1917-01-10
THE JUSTICE OF CONSCRIPTION
A Volunteer Upon the Injustice Done IN
the Name of Liberty
To the Editor Of The Tribune.


Sir: There is so much said about universal
military service these days that think II
good time to have appear publicly portions
Of two letters Of young Canadian soldier
once an artist, with whom have been CORE
spending for about year. He Is very ihtei-
ligent and we'll informed, as his letters prove
but, better still, they show the viewpoint OF
the volunteer who enlists TO serve his coun-
try He was fighting in Flanders until Iss'
June, when he was wounded.
To quote him: "You will notice have
been moved again. getting drilled now NO
more kind Red Cross nurses to look AFTER
one, but instead tho roar Of the drili ser
geant not a pleasant sound at any time. As
we become more ht, we move to successive
camps until some Hne day We find ourselves
lodging bullets and shells over in Flanders
again. am In no special hurry, you may be
sure No one is"
The fervent patriotism you start on with
in the army, if you are private, does not
take long TO evaporate. You become SOL
der. and do what you are told, but when 1t
comes TO dying on a wholesals scale Tor
country which hasn't courage enough or
great enough sense Of justice to insist on
universal service, but allows the word liberty
70 moan the right OF one citizen to shift his
greatest responsibility on to another citizen
we'll. Won wonder il il is worth the sacrlnce.
Al the same time no one | have ever heard
in our army vet has talked OF quitting. No
one but an absolute idiot would trust to Ger
many's tender mercies. II is as well to die
now as TO be bullied to death later on.
"Fritz is going to be bad loser; before he
lies down he will add some chapters to his
tory which will make the Iroquois and the
Cannibal Islanders appear as plaster saints
In another letter he says, speaking of Eng
land: "While one-haf OF the nation willing
lv sacrifices their all others object to slight
inconveniences, while certain elements have
been merely greedy. Russia's example IN
prohibiting intoxcants should have been fol
lowed early in the war, and all the man.
hood Of the nation conscripted. The injustice
Of paving one man a shilling day for doing
heart-breaking work and running almost GER
tain chances OF being killed or manned Tor
life. while another man turns over modest
little 80 shillings a day, working safely in
munitions factory
Democracy has lot of disadvantages IN
fighting a war with autocracy."
1t seems to me this young mans opinions
have lessons in them for us-if it were
possibility for US to profit By lessons. The
results of injustice and inequality which are
dealt out 70 our soldiers are quite apparent
at the present time. They are paid such
miserable pittance in comparison 70 the com
monest day laborer that it is no wonder that
the service does not attract and enlistments
fall far below our requirements, and deser-
tions are frequent.
Something must be done. Common sense
should tell all who possess 1t that We must
be prepared TO protect ourselves against ag-
gression. We cannot sit back and say, Come
and take u.s." notwithstanding the pacihsts.
Hartford. Conn, Jan. z, 1917 L. l.. B.