Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-16
VOLUNTEERING
VS.. COMPULSION
What England Learned About
the Best Way to Raise an
Army-A Lesson for Us
By GILBERT VIVIAN SELDES
Special Correspondence Evening Ledger


emotion concerning America come and 60
! have not been able to escape entirely from
The Briton who expects every American to
do his duty--to Britain--but he Is small
factor In making UP the general opinion
held here Of America. In previous reports
| to the EVENING LEDGER I have described
the attitude of the ordinary man and
woman to what was supposed to be Presi.
dent Wilson's pro-German paclism and
the attitude Of the intelligent Brton to his
proposed peace of the world after the war.
The present phase is the most friendly I
have experienced obviously. The reports
which come here are written chiefly by cor
respondents who play into the policy OF
their papers. Yet some OF them ring true
TO the American ear The Timess corre-
spondence Is the fulles. and being care
fully thought out and reserved, is trust.
worthy. The difficulties of the American
position are explained. and the part played
by the Administration is alternately criti-
czed and upheld. The Morning Post ultra
conservative in politics. prints reports that
President Wilson is being driven into war.
The regular news services tell Of prepara-
tlons by land and sea. SO England is get
ting itself into the proper attitude of
mind. 1t does not know on what day Presi-
dent Wilson's picture may be thrown on
the screen as head of the latest and great
est Ally.
Our preparations are being watched with
the utmost attention, and particularly peo-
pie are interested in our army They know
that our navy will be of first Importance.
They rather expect that no army of ours
will be sent over except for moral effect or
so dearly desires. But they have gone
through terrible time in making their own
army. and they wonder whether we will go
through the same.
! talked about this to an ardent patriot,
neutral in party politics, yesterday when
the report came that the President had
mobilized 100000 men. $50 ran the re-
port. | suppose it meant a call for that
many volunteers)
Voluntary System That Wasn't Volun-
tary
"Are you going through the agones Of
NoluItdTy system my 1rlenu asked me.
II should have thought that our experience
would have frightened you into immediate
compulson."
| inquired what he meant. I told him
that we were under the impression that the
voluntary system had been a great success.
mo question about the success" :. he an
swered. None at all. Only was It volun-
bar i, tla
of the appeals. They were bad enough,
can tell you. But the last few months
under the Derby scheme Of attesting were
frightfuL" asked for details.
We'll, we started out with Our usual
complca tions, The authorities knew at
once that they would need men and men and
more men. But their political advisers
were constantly telling them what the
people would stand and what they would
not stand Compulsion they would not
stand it would cause rioting in the streets
So they started what was called a volun-
larry system which was built up of the
crueest and most callous methods of com.
puson in the world. They appealed to en-
ployers to put the screws on their workers
They appealed TO wives and sweethearts to
compel their men to 20 to the recruiting
Office round the corner. | tell you it
wasn't the downright Vulgarity of these
appeals that we hated, God knows we had
given up even at that time more than our
sensibilities and our delicacies for the army
1t was the mean, sneakng trckery of them
Look at this" He handed me a
photograph of "A poster with this appeal:
FOUR QUESTIONS TO WOMEN or ENGLAND
First. You haye read what the Germans
land? d
Second; Do YOU realize realize that the safety
getting more men now?
n Tnrd tro Do yS14 SGr realize ,hat the one word
fight for our King and country?
Fourth. When the war is over and your
hssd use Ft YOU Would not ns let nans
Women Of England. do your duty Send
your men today to Join out glorious army.
GOD SAVE THE KING
And there was another, pleading with
those who had buffers and grooms to spare
them for the army. And there was the
white e-feather brigade. sticking plumes on
men in mufti that killed itself because it
was so ridiculous. There were the girls
who wouldn't walk OUT with chap until
he enlisted. On my word l think at times
that not one-tenth Of that great army of
ours enlisted without some sort of sneak
ing compulson being put on them | won't
played on the married men-I assure YOU
that there are quite intelligent people in
this country who still cant understand all
the ramifcations of the pink slips. The
whole thing was utterly unfair. 1t got peo-
pie at haphazard. And it put an entirely
unjustifable burden on the patriotic peo-
pie because they did volunteer and the
others didn't. Oh, IL was beastly -
This man told me that he seriously
hoped we would give up all idea of a vol
untary system. Better to have no army at
ALL" was his last word on the matter
His opinion gets more and more authority
as time passes-I mean his opinion of what
happened here. But my Liberal friends are
not so bitter as he. They openly prefer the
private compulsion which. they say, simply
woke a man up to his conscientious obiiga-
tions, to the later system of compulsion by
the State. As to that. they admit its right
eousness
I'VE collected nearly 100000 men," /
was told, "by the voluntary system Well,
there were some 500 900 who wouldn't come.
and 1t was grossly unfair to those who had
gone to let these people stay behind. For