Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1918-03-14
To The FOLKS
BACK HOME
J. 7. Bates, Baraboo, Submits an
Article Bearing On the War
Over the Seas

j. T. Bates, Baraboo, submits the
following:
/ and brothers, wives, sWeethearts,
and friends Of the men in the
! American Expeditionary Forces:
] We hear that you have been regaled
with some alarming stories about us
Of the A. E. F., and our conduct here
in France In fact, some Of those
stories have been relayed to us, and
if they weren't so far from the truth
we might be inclined to get really
mad. But knowing the authors OF
some Of them-for some of the hyster-
] ical stripe have really been over here
Our first inclination is to laugh.
/ But, after all it's no laughing mat
ter to be talked about behind our
| backs in such a reckless and irrespon-
sible way by reckless and irresponsi-
BILE people, though no doubt some OF
them have the best intentions in the
world and think that they, and they
alone, can save us. (They probably
have told you that, and asked you to
contribute money to their worthy
cause, haven't them0 )What hurts
most, however, is the thought that,
though we know you are loyal to US
and have the firmest of faith in us,
perhaps these dire tales may have
caused you anxiety, may even have
brought you to believe that perhaps,
no1n naf
full of our trust; and that so believ-
ing, you might have been sorely and
entirely unduly, distressed in spirit.
Be assured that these sensational
stories are nothing but myths. Abso-
lutely nothing else. And we have the
facts to prove that they are. Listen:
| The percentage of venereal diSeas-
: es in this army of yours is three
| tenths of one per cent-the smallest
! percentage on record for any army, or
any civil population, in the worlds
| history It is a sober army, and q
! well-behaved one. The statistics in
| the possession of the judge advocate
generals department prove that there
have been, in proportion, fewer cases
| Of drunkenness, fewer breaches Of mil
| itary discipline among it's members,
| than has been the case with any army
whose records have been preserved.
Now, to take a specific instance. A
certain self-constituted "board Of NOR
ais" is quoted in a dispatch from the
United States to the effect that 1,046
men from the northeastern states"
were locked up in the guardhouse fol-
lowing their first pay day, for drunk
enness.
/ That is the story; here are the facts:
Since the troops referred to as COM
ing from the northeastern states"
came to France, the total number Of
their men locked up in the guard
house for all offenses-not for drunk
! enness alone, mind you-has been ex-
actly 134 to date. In other words, the
self-constituted champions of sobrie-
ty have generously multiplied by
eight the number of men impris-
oned for all offenses-including as
it does, those punished for in
fractions of rules, insubordinatiOn and
the like, and passed the enlarged fig
ures on to you as representing the
number of men locked up for drunk
enness alone! No wonder you were
scared-as they probably intended you
should be.
Just to refute them again, here is
quotation from the report cf a Protes
tant chaplain on active service with
these same maligned troops from the
| northeastern states" Bear in mind,
too, that this particular chaplain has
been in the army but short time, and
therefore brings fresh and impartial
! judgment to bear on the problems.
This is what he says:
'In performing my tpriestly func-
tions it has been my privilege to trav-
ell considerably among the troops, and
it pleases me immensely to be able
to state that I find moral conditions
most satisfactory. The military au-
thorities are vigilant in removing
temptations. We have a clean army;
and I am honestly convinced that the
men in France are in less danger NOR
ally than they would be in service in
their own country.
"The men in France are in less dan
ger morally than they would be in
service in their own country" That
last clause is worth repeating. Pom
der on that dear people at home.
Here's something more. The Cath
olic chaplains attached to these same
slandered troops declare that, out of
thousands of men admitted to the con-
fessional, only three have confessed to
sins of any magnitude. A correspond
ent of an internationally known daily
newspaper, whose business it is to
get facts and to report them accurate
~, add this:
81 was in the only town Of any size