The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-04-30

until the war closes by peace which
brings victory to the great cause OF
democracy and civilization, the great
cause, of justice and fair play among
the peoples of the world
We Americans are at war. Now let
us fight. Let us make it a real war,
not dollar war. Let us show that we
have the manhood to pay with our own
bodies, and not merely to hire other
men TO pay with their bodies. Let us
fight at once. Let us put the flag at
the front now, at the earliest moment,
and not merely announce that we are
going to fight a year or two hence
L most earnestly and heartily stand
by the proposal of the president 10
raise an army on the principle or uni
versal obligatory military training and
military service, demanded as right.
not as a favor, from all the young
men of the country capable OF bearing
arms This is the principle l have
long advocated with all fervor OF con-
viction 1t is the only really democrat
ic principle on which permanently TO
shape the military policy of this coun-
try To have it adopted as the perma-
nent principle of our national military
policy will be of incalculable service
to our national peace and welfare.
Moreover, if the war lasts, as well IL
may. for one or two or three years,
the army, to see it thru, must be raised
in this fashion. 1t is vitality essential,
both from the standpoint of fighting
this war thru to successful conclu-
sion, if it should last long time, and
from the standpoint of our permanent
national safety and democratic well
fare, that we should Immediately in
augurate this principle and set about
raising a great army in accordance
Herewith.
Such an army will naturally need
a long time to train, and at the earliest
moment we should begin to devote our
strength and energy to calling 1t into
being and training it. This should be
the task which we treat as OF prime
importance. But most emphat1cally,
we should not rest content with this.
We should not rest content with mere
ly preparing an army to act a year or
eighteen months or two years hence.
Let us put the flag on the firing line
at the earliest possible moment, this
summer. wherever our services are
most needed-in France or Flanders
or the Balkan Peninsula. 1t need only
be a small army at first. But even
division would be better than nothing.
Then we can constantly keep that di-
vision filled, and other divisions from
time to time added to it; until, a year
hence, if the war continues. we have a
really formidable fighting force at the
front, a fighting force which will be
steadily increased month by month,
year by year, until the triumph comes.
To do this, it is necessary that we
should appeal for volunteers, not in
any way as a substitute for, but as a
supplement to, the ADMINISTRATORS
plan for raising an army in accord
ance with the principle of obligatory
universal service. If the system of
universal obligatory training and ser
vice had already been in existence here
for number of years, and if in other
ways we had been prepared in advance,
we could by this time have had an ex-
peditionary force of a million men I'M
der way for the front, ready to strike
the finishing blow. But the system
does not yet exist, and, necessarily
all kinds of preliminaries will have to
be gone thru before it can now be
called into being and an effective army
of large size raised under it. There
fore, to wait for it before really enter
ing into the war means an indefinite
delay, a delay that might bring us to
the end, not merely of the campaign
this year, but of the campaign next
year before we can strike hard and eff
fectively. 1 wish to see the system
of obligatory service used in order
to make all men serve who ought to
serve. 1t would be a capital mistake
to use it in such fashion as merely to
prevent men rendering service when
they wish to render it and can render
it, and ought to render it. Do not let
do not hinder men, who, under con-
Scription, would be entitled to stay
at home, from volunteering to go to
the front if they can render good ser
vice. Under the bill proposed to con-
gress by the war department, many
millions of excellent fighting men
would be exempt from service while
a long time would elapse before the
others are sent to the front. Under
these conditions, we ought to use
the volunteer system to fill the gap;
it opens to us at once a great pos
sibility; let it be used, and used exclu-
sively, to give to those who would
otherwise be exempt an opportunity to
go to the front without claiming ex-
emption. Let me illustrate my mean
ing by a homely comparison Every
village ought to have a fire company.
But if it commits the error of waiting
until fire starts before organizing
the fire company. it will merely ag-
gravate the situation by committing
the further error of refusing to put
out the fire until after the fire com
pany is organized. The only wise thing
to do is to put out the fire with the
means that are handy, and then i'm
mediately organize the permanent fire
company
No Policy of Delay
most earnestly hope that we shall
avoid any policy of delay. If we are
true to our own souls. we shall show
that. like our forefathers, we are will
ing to pay for our principles with our
bodies and not merely with our dol
lars. Congress has passed, without a
dissenting vote, a bill to appropriate
seven billions of dollars as represent
ing part of our contribution to the
great war. This is fine: but only on
condition that we also put our men in
to the fighting line. Half of this
great sum is to go to the Allies; that
is, it is to be spent by them in getting
their men up against the German and
Austrian and Turkish shells and bull
let's Now, we Americans have al
ways prided ourselves on being able to
do our own fighting. It is right to
help others to fight in the common
cause for which we are engaged But
it is even more necessary that we
should fight ourselves.