Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1917-06-06
WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.
Destruction Ten Times that of Civil
War

officarS and men were killed at the
front. In about 4S months of the
Civil war the Union armies, according
to Fox. lost in killed and mortally
wounded 11O,O7O, or about four times
as many men as the British lost In
the month of May. The average
monthly losses of the Union armies IN
killed were 1924. Lulls in the Brit
ish offensive in the battles of the
Somme and Arras are accounted for
by the terrible casualty list. After
several days of fighting time is need
ed to bury the dead, attend the
and bring I'D reinforcements. The
! wonder is that the offensive can be
resumed so soon and so often.-Brat-
tleboro Reformer.
A Good Idea but Too Late.
A correspondent in the New York
World makes a sensible suggestion
for raising government revenue. In
stead of excess pror1ts taxation and
special levies on a few industries so
heavy as to be very oppressive, he
asks why not impose an annual tax OF
one-fourth of one per cent on all bust
ness incomes? That would be so
small as to trouble nobody, but would
be fair and just to all and would yield
an enormous revenue. 1t would
serve the well-to-do professional
classes the same .as it would the pro-
ductive classes The present reven-
ue measures in congress, drawn large
ly by lawyers, carefully avoid laying
any special tax on professional in
comes, except as they fall under the
general income tax provisions. Why
not tax lawyers fees as well as a
| publishers advertising? Randolph
Herald and News.
Forcing All to Work.
The West Virginia legislature has
solved aworld-old problemin simple
and direct notwithstanding fashion.
1t has passed a bill giving the option
to all male idlers between the ages of
| 16 and so of going to work within 30
DAYS or leaving the state. The only
alternative is forced labor under the
auspices of the state.
| West Virginia's lawmakers have
codifed the philosophy of the beehive,
which is the oldest philosophy IN the
world In the beehive the drones are
eliminated by the workers after the
purpose of drone life has been served.
| When the production of honey ceases,
/
| to perish. Their useless lives are
made forfeit to the good of the COM
munity.
West Virginia's bill, like the law of
the beehive, is memorable and all in
elusive in its provisions. The fact
that man is rich enough, either
through inheritance or past thrift, to
| live and support those dependent up
on him without working does not re-
/ Iieve him from the duty of carrying
on a productive occupation. A man,
even though he be rich, must either
work, leave the state or submit to
forced labor under the eye of police
man. The leisure class is eliminated
so far as males between 16 and 60 are
concerned.-Brattleboro Reformer.
The French Canadians and COnscrip-
ton.
In finally deciding upon conscrip-
ton the Canadian government has un-
doubtedly been influenced by the ex-
ample of this country. 1t is true that
IN Canada the system of voluntary
enlistment secured astonishinglyg good
results, nearly 100000 men having
been enrolled in that way. But I'M
der the voluntary plan the English
speaking provinces have borne nearly
the whole burden, while the province
| of Quebec has contributed only
small fraction of its due quota. In
| consequence there has been for many
months a growing demand that the
French Canadians be compelled, even
at the cost of some disorder, to mus
ter in their rightful proportion of re-
cruits. The wisdom of applying COM
pulsion has been a matter of serious
doubt in the minds Of the Canadian
authorities, the question being in
some respects akin to that which has
confronted the British cabinet in the
matter of imposing CONSUMPTION up
on Ireland; but the decision has now
been reached and it will In all proba-
bility be rigidly enforced.
Why have the French Canadians
| held back? Here is a race which new
er faltered with the musket in the old
colonial days, as the records of New
England only too well attest Today
both the land of their fathers and the
land of their allegiance have joined
hands in struggle for existence, yet
| the French Canadians have shown no
real appreciation of what honor and
duty alike require them to do. Sure
| ~ that is a state of affairs that calls
for some explanation. Yet the ex-
PLANTATION is far from simple. Many
| factors, political, social, religious and
economic, have entered into the stu
alton and some of them can be APP
preciated only by those who know the
undercurrents of thought and feeling
which pulsate through this portion Of
the northland. At any rate the Can
adian government has tackled a prob
lem of greater difficulty than appears
on the surface. 1t will take firm
hand to force hundred thousand
Young French Canadians into the
trenches if they do not choose to go.
Boston Herald.
George L. Durham of Brattleboro