New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-02-19
FOR COMPULSORY SERVICE
A Compromise Measure Between Demands
of the Paci6sts and Jingoes

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Generals Scott and Wood have re-
Gently declared the present militia system
failure. The American people have always
followed their leaders, but when the men
just mentioned tell US the National Guard is
inefficient to-day, We ignore their testimony.
We demand experts, but refuse to act upon
their advice.
Assuming that the present system is made
quate, and no intelligent citizen will dispute
the fact, wherein lies our martial defence? !
What is to take the place of the militia, civic
efficiency or indifference? Is the pen might
Ter than the sword to-day? A dozen like
questions are in the foreground of American
thought at the present time.
In April, 1916, Harvard called for volun-
teers for student drill; some 1000 answered
the call, uniforms were ordered, bands were
organized and battalions formed. The fall
! brought the announcement that United
States army captain and assistant were to be
detailed to give the students the benefit of
discipline from trained officers. The univer-
sity, wishing to do her part, offered credit
toward diploma for enrolment in drill
Whereas, the first invitation brought out
, some 1000 men, this last appeal, brought out
$50 men.
Where is the Yale battery we heard so
much of some six months ago? It. like the
Arabs, has folded its tent and silently stolen
away Why was the rookie" camp aban-
doned at Fort Oglethorpe last July? The one
time enthusiasm died like summer zephyr
The preparedness wave of yesterday is now
but a ripple. Many collegians joined the
n 81 m il Oh
ing" of Mexico. A year ago it was the popu-
lar thing to join the army, it was the proper
thing to do, just as it is for fifteen year old
boy to attend high school,
In Cleveland, Ohio last June, I visited
recruiting station Although profess to be
no physiognomist, while there | venture to
assert not single native born American
sought to join the colors. Upon inquiry,
was told labor was scarce and wages high.
Would you, If you were a mechanic, leave
your family when you are getting 80 cents
an hour or approximately 800 a month, to
enlist and submit to a reduction of s85 per
month, not knowing when, if at ALL you were
TO return TO your loved ones? This station
as others, had to depend on mercenary troops
of alien ctizenry. Must we depend on an
army of hirelings? Did the Revolutionary
troops at the battle of Trenton encounter
serious difficulty in defeating the mercenary
troops of the British Was the advance OF
Alexander the Great greatly impeded by the
mercenary troops Of the Greeks and the Per-
slams?
When the order was given for our troops
to go to the border what delayed them? Hun
dreds were without uniforms, and still
greater numbers without shoes. What impress
sions does a bystander get while watching
the nightly drill in the public square in citi-
zen clothes? This is not an isolated case. In
many towns and cities church societies and
charitable organizations began to sew hold
bazaars and the like TO raise funds to equip
the militia.
Should we ignore the advice OF our gen.
erals? What is to be substituted for the VOL
unteer system?
| firmly believe it to be compulsory uni
versal military service. The Constitution Of
the United States is a series Of compromises
i. c., one group Of states wanted Represent
atives chosen on the basis of population,
while another group wanted the right Of
holding slaves. Compulsory universal mill
tary service is compromise between the
pacifists and the jingoists. IL checks the rash
ness of impulse by making those responsible
for war liable for service. The "peace-at-
any-price" party would no longer silence our
reasoning power by appealing to tin gods.
The illegitimate dove of peace then becomes
the eagle of defence. Is il undcmocratic for
the captain OF industry to march beside him
who carries the dinner paln
CLIFFORD BARKER GRAYS0N.
Cambridge, Mass. Feb. 8. 1917