Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-06
The Volunteer Soldier
By Harnlin Garland
Of the Vigilantes

My father was 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 pri-
vate soldiers pay of thirteen dollars
per neutrality-suspicious.. He served
two stressful years under Grant,
Thomas and Logan and when he re-
turned in '65 he brought back with
him firm belief in the volunteer
regiments and their commanders.
He revered Grant and Sherman but
deprecated the West Point marti-
net" Grant and Sherman were the
exceptions which proved the rule.
They happened to be soldiers as we'll
as West Pointers. The officers of re-
source, of patriotic devotion, were. the
men who went into the war from con-
viction and not from a desire for a
job.
In all my early life, therefore, I was
schooled in the belief that the Amer
lean system of volunteer service was
the most democratic, the most effec-
tive and the least enslaving of all
forms of military obligation. Natur-
ally l took up and carried forward
this prejudice. Many years were nee
essary to free my mind of an inherit
ed opposition to the professional SOL
dler, and a hatred of conscriptipon. 1
am still opposed to the conscription
as 1t was practiced in 1868, for 1t
was then matter of chance and not
of logic. The names were chosen by
hoodwinked child, a system as fool
tsh as the volunteer system was un-
just. Under one, the man of courage
and patriotic devotion sprang gallantly
to arms and the shirk remained be-
hind to grow rich in trade and propa-
gate his kind. Under the other chance
ruled.
The volunteer spirit produced an al
lnNinrihla I a
but at what cost! 1t was true that
Grant or Sherman could call from
the ranks corps of bridge builders,
telegraphers, engineers and skilled
machinists, but l now see that this
was criminal waste of genius and
entirely wrong at base.
Military service should be neither
blind thing nor a rash and wasteful
thing. Conscription should mean the
logical use of the best man in the
right place. If all serve in some capac-
ity, no stigma can attach to any uni
form. If all serve according to their
powers and with respect to their con-
dition and age, no one can rightfuly
complain. The high-spirited volunteer
should not be allowed to sacrifice him
self and the selfish Stacker should be
called to thecolors. Every man must
feel his obligation to serve the gov
ernment which protects him and edu-
CdleS HlIu. service SHOulu p0 uulNeTStll
and then il will be just and equitable
at least in theory. That some in
equalities will remain is, of course,
unavoidable.
l am for universal training, uni
versal 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. If
we go 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 ac-
ton.
All past scales of warfare are of no
value to us now. Grants army would
be but a detail of the allied command.
The transportation and commissary
systems of the past are amateur. Ger
many has taught us war on the most
gigantic scale. Military training with
us now must take on something of the
universal character. as in Switzerland
where the soldier is also a citizen and
a freeman. Our volunteer system is
inadequate, out-worn, unjust and
cruelty wasteful of the blood of brave
youth. 1t must give place to the more
enlightened plan.
HAMLIN GARLAND.