Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-19

y " on the right job at the begin
ming OF the war il would have been
over now" II was a great argument
for national service.
If the great war has taught one les
son above all others il is the lesson OF
national service. Germanys perfect
war equipment was merely the result
OF forty years Of patient and persistent
preparedness based on CONSUMPTION
which made the whole nation a part
ner In the kaiser's world ambition The
change from peace to war was possible
without a hitch in the imperial produc-
tive machine.
England, on the other hand. COM
nlitted the colossal mistake of relying
upon voluntary service At the beginning
of the conflict. The result was that the
Hover of her youth was Sacrlhced ne
cause the best men rushed to the colors.
\ host of artisans went to the front
to fight and had eventually to be re-
called to lathe and loom Swift and un-
expected entry into the conflict DIS
rupted the whole British industrial fab
ric for the moment. This costly ex-
perfenCe dictated compulsion for the
army. 1t provided AZ once an automatic
wedding out of fighting and working
desirables and prevented further com
mercial and economic dislocation.
But even this procedure did not fill
war is relentless ravager and the cry
went up for more men. England sud
denly realized that she must resort TO
a new national service which would
release a whole new army for fighting
and yet not impair the efficiency of the
huge organization created to meet war
needs and which already drew upon the
great bulk of the population.
1t was then that Britain made her
great test of middle-age patriotism. In
a hard campaign. every step of which
is full of significance and suggestion for
the United States in her present war
emergency. 1t built up a civilian re-
serve: it gave agriculture a rebirth of
energy and efficiency; it enlarged the
sphere of woman's usefulness to de-
gree undreamed of in the first period
of the war when it was believed that
the sex had reached the limit of it's
Industrial capabilities This il pro-
vides the illuminating precedent for
American. who sooner or later must
Inevitably mobilize all her human power
for the direct or indirect war work
The necessity for this new national
service is just one other evidence of
the stupendous demands that the war
is making upon the nations involved.
You will best understand it when I
present the figures. Up to February 1.
1870. WItn unrestricted sup
marine reign of terror began-and
which marked an epoch in the history
of the war-England had. roughly
speaking. something over four million
men under arms. Half of them were in
France. Another huge army was in
camp at Saloniki; still a third was
fighting in Mesopotamia, while other
forces were engaged in Egypt and
South Africa The navy maintained a
line of communication that reached
from the fringes of the Arctic sea down
to the Cape of Good Hope.
The nation had already mobilized
two and half millions of men and
women for the munitions output. and
there We're at least another million
and half engaged on work more or
less closely connected with war.
Hence practically eight millions of
people. or more than one-sixth of the
entire population of the United King
dom, was actually engaged in war la
bors of some kind.
The ruthless submarine warfare
which almost brought the country to
increased production of food at home.
combined with the need of still
greater fighting force in France to
push the Germans back out of the in
vaded territory. made the call for in
dustrial volunteers necessary. The very
life of the empire was at stake
I'VE must capitalize every pound of
British energy" said the government
A national service bill was put through
parliament and Neville Chamberlain