Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1917-05-02
WEDNESDAY, MAY ?. 1917.
BELATED, But NOT roo LATE.
(BrookIyn Eagle.l

~N%@At-
4 joint resolution adopted bv the con-
gress withheld nothing. Potentially. II
placed the last man and the last dollar at
the disposal Of the president. 1t pledged
everything.
Taking the congress az it, word. the
president seeks authority to inventory the
man power OF the country, 20 that it NAV
be used TO the best possible advantage.
Selection means that engineers will not:
be taken from The throttle valve or aeri.
cuiiurists chosen FOR scouting or otht.
serslee In the air. They viii stay whc-.
they are.
1t meafis that the patriotic Impulses Of
the man nov engaged in making torpedoe,
viii be restrained, which l. to say. his ser
Vices a. IN expert will not be lost r. the
country.
Quotation from "the fathers are 20.
ing the rounds. They show what Wash.
ineton, Lincoln, jefferson and other.
would do were they living today, and they
show il un~mistsi:atfy.. -
But it IS nonsense 10 institute comDar-
isons between present and past condi-
tons IT is an anachronism 10 contrast the
war methods Of today with those hat have
long been obsolete.
Every nation now at war with the cen
trail empires compels what the president
seeks 10 have done. Every opponent of
universal service elsewhere has become
more than h convert. lie is an cnthnsias-
tic advocate.
In no merely nominal sense Is tho war
one between peoples as we'll a. Il clash of
armies. In a sense literal and actual ii i
everywhere and cvcrybody's fight. II r.
not confined 10 the trenches.
This j. not a matter Of choice. II i Il
ease of the highest necessity becoming the
ruling principle. The ~voliiion Of the midi
sidual has been merged in the common
purpose of all. There was no alternative.
Here it j. proposed hat those who are
willing may serve and that those who are
unwilling may not. For that sort Of thing
prodisal prices have bocn paid. They have
been paid By this country.
Here it * proposed TO qualify that part
of the pledge relating 10 the uSc Of man
power. Here it Is proposed To revoke the
most essential part Of tho grant Withhold
ing nothing.
There arc other ways of phraSing this
proposition. One i to describe il az IN
effort 10 begin our participation in the
war BY the commission of n blundcr Of the
first magnitude. Another Is to call il a
crime.
Lord Northcliffe has said il is inevi-
table that peoples educated in the arts az
peace should make mistakes in war until
they have acquired knowledge IN the school
of bitter experience.
lie knows of no mistake more serious or
more dangerous than that Of depending up
on the volunteer, no matter for what pur-
pose his ~eryices be utilized. Ills knowl-
edge l.. derived from what he has seen.
For the information Of the sentimental
5sts or emotionaliSts, or both. who are rid
Ing for 4 fall II Washington. Mayor lit-
ihel's Defense Committee has forwarded
This telegram:
"Notwithstandinr tremendous effort and
Intensive campaigning on behalf Of the
Regular recruiting officers and men. assist
td by numerous citizcn-' committees. a.
txcIl a. thousands Of volunteer women
workers, supported by press. theatres and
motion picture houses Of New York, a well
ps comprehensive display Of posters and
jwindow cards. the results to date are tot
billy inadequate to meet military require
%lnents.
eve consider the volunteer system I'm
absolute failure"
Worse might have happened. Worse
would have happened had the returns from
The recruiting Offices been more ''gratify-
ing They would have ~tifTened the re-
s~iefance of the sentimentali~tS."
Ii has been predicted that IN 1918 pres
sure upon the central empires will be