New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-05-21
The Ugly Side of Volunteering
From an Grafton by Charles Francis Adams al Lincoln"
Mass, in 1904

~ aid n. the time, because others, ms
, friends and classmates, had gone 10 ther
deaths "just because I, and such as !, were
not in our places TO help them. Not iro,"
| impulse did he act, but goaded to the sacr'-
Gce bv that terrible New England conscience.
such was an individual case; nor did II
s,ard alone. But there was another side to
that great experience; n searny side, and one
NOW generally passed over in silence,
ouie,Iv ignored. in fact. Yet II was the side
| from which the lesson of greater value 10
nos,oritv il to be drawn. The mistakes
stunid unscientiic. cruel, costly-of lT1o and
1862 should not be repeated; and that they
may not be repeated, they must be coldiy SET
forth and emphasized strongly. Inc pia,h'
historic fact is that, individual instances IKE
that Of George Weston apart, after the n,s'
antitrust of excitement which carried the
whole Baker family to Concord had isuoslded'
the record Of Lincoln, as OF Lincolns sister
towns. whether in the War Of independence
or in the Civil War, is in my judgment not
ono 10 dwell upon with feelings of compla-
cency. As whole and when studied in the
lard. matter-Of-f fact entries OF your town
hooks. IL is far from being record either
NJ eager patriotism or Of unthinking self
sacrifice.
Our Uniformly Wasteful Wars
But here bear with me for moment while
indulge in brief disquisition; as, per-
chance, what I have just said may CRATE
harshly on the ears OF some, offending their
most cherished preconceptlons. Brleny, De-
tween 1861 and 1865 served myself through
wears of actual warfare, and since have
searched somewhat deeply into our records
Of that period. My study has emphasized
my recollection; So on this subject, feel:
have come to think that neither In our war
Of Independence nor in our Civil war ala
Massachusetts,, or our Massachusetts towns,
evince a military instinct, or rise to an
equality with the occasion. In other words,
I hold that no community has any right to
20 to war unless it is prepared to make war
in way at once scientific, businesslike, and
effective. To pursue any different course is
TO the last degree wasteful, dangerous,
bloody, foolish. Yet this is what Massachu-
sets, and the Massachusetts, towns, did in
both their great recent war ordeals. The
course pursued was as little credtable to
their intelligence as to their sense OF thrift
in money, or of the sanctitude OF blood. In
each case there was at first great outourst
of zeal and patriotism,-a rush to arms.
Then followed GOODNESS and huckstering.
With the memory of the first outburst,-
Lexington, in the one case, Sumter, in the
other.-occasions like this are resonant; that
but your record books tell the story. The
only strenuous effort the effort to escape
military SERVICE food for powder was pur-
chased in open market, and at price ad-
vancing by leaps and bounds.
The fact Is that neither in 1873 nor in
= 1862 did the young men rush to the colors;
nor would the community order and submit
to a draft. Patriotism was sold and bought.
Flesh and blood was much a pound
twelve dollars being. if | remember right,
the top quotation. We carried, 1t is true,
both struggles through to triumphfnt con-
illusions; but was this method of doing 1t
creditable, or economical or humane? Was
il thing to be proud of or to dilate on?
hold it was not If others here think it was,
I commend to their consideration the pages
of the Lincoln town books. 1t would, in 1880
and in 1868, have been immensely creditable
to Lincoln did it therein appear that, in view
Of the war, the men were divided and en-
rolled by ages,-the married and the unmar-
ried, brothers and sole supports of mothers,
and the draft had then been rigdly and
swiftly enforced.
Blood and Anguish To Be Saved
II community elects war, its young men
should be made to go to war. So doing
should not be a matter of choice or of bar
gaining Had this severe, scientific and logi-
cal course been adopted, and ruthlessly pur-
sued either in 1776 or in 1861, risk nothing
in asserting that both the War of lndepen-
, dence and the Civil War would have cost In
! time, in treasure, in anguish and in blood
but 1.-THE of what they did cost As it was,
you sent forward the bounty-bought refuse
of the city slums and county jails to asso-
ciate with your George Westons if they sur
vived, or to take their places when they fell;
while, by the system of replenishment in
vogue, you compelled those at the front to
undergo eight campaigns instead of four, and
to fight two indecisive battles where one
vigorously followed up should have suficed.