The Washington herald., 1919-06-01

tnere N inc ueuCuco lucy ncaro Oh
the big wages being paid to war
workers''-the dock laborers, ship
builders, engineers, miners, munition
and female, and read Of strike after
strike for higher wages, which were
invariably granted BY . frightened
government They compared the
wages Of men safe from shell-nre.
snug at home. living with their women
folk. going to 'the pictures" in the
evening. with their own pay as prf-
vate soldiers, and their own lfvea In
foul conditions. without liberty, and
In constant peril OF being Killed. or
mangled That's nice Justice" they
said wen SEQ about that II We
get home" They stored these things
up In their minds and they bred a
secret venom
Their Discipline Was wonderfuI.
In wonderful way. because they saw
out discipline an army Is q rabble,
and because. IL they did not obey, the
price OF disobedience was dreadful.
But military discipline Is not natural
to men II It Utterly unnatural, and
against the instinct Of liberty, which
is In every heart SO that when once
they were demobilizd-"dmoraliz
as they call it with ironical humor-
they convey all discipline to the devil,
and indulge In a natural and complete
reaction Truly. for q time, at least,
they f1nd themselves "demoralized
The steel Of nerve control by which
they kept up their courage and con-
Duct In the army snaps within them,
| and they flop" into a queer kind
OF lassitude- They are at a loose
end" In the army everything was
| done for them in return for their
service They had their food sent
up from the base with the regularity
Of clockwork. They had their billets
assigned to them. Every hour of
their day was ordered. Even their
amusements and their sports we're
| organized. Now. back to civil life
again, they feel lost. confused, rather
helpless-literally at a loose end. For
four years. or whatever their length
OF service was. they have had a tough
time-though not without periods of
fellowship and fun. Now they want
TO have a good time. They expected
tnat peace would be a kind of paradise
"a continual good time. But they
nnd 1t curiously fiat, boring. and dis
appointing. After the first warm
greeting. people at home do not seem
very enthusiastic about them and tire
OF their hero worship. They miss the
comradeship OF the battalion. They
mooch about. wondering what they
shall do next. keeping close 10 the
lights Of the big cities and hating
the idea OF loneliness. They spend
a good deal OF money in going to
theaters, music halls or movies"
but get bored after some weeks or
months Of that kind of thing. Then.
tney begin to look around for a Job.
| ana they want a better one than a
mere living without a margin for en-
Joyment or any prospect. They want
wages which will have a level at hest
with those earned by non-combatants
curing the war-or a higher level.
even, because with war service they
deserve a bigger reward. They are
astonished and distressed when t6ey
find that they do not tumble into
such Jobs easily, and when thew are
told that capital has been so crippled
oy war taxes that wages must drop
rather than rise. What have we
been fighting for" they ask, "if we
are to spend the rest of our lives
worse on than IL we had never
served? We won't stand that. YOU
know! It's rank injustice, and we
snail smash things if we don't get
justice"
1t is all very difficult in this time OF
uansiuon. and the reabsorption into
tciNii IRE Is not SO easy as It looked.
ror tne young ofiicer 1t hit as much
as the men-even more than the men.
All those boys who went straight
from public schools and colleges to
become officers in the New Army hat
taions are wondering now what on
earth they are going to do. They
were trained to be good officers. but
they have no training for civil life
and 1t Is hard for them to begin at
the bottom rung OF the ladder in COM
mercial life, after having held COM
mand OF men with fairly high nav
ana all the respect of the battalion
for omcers with the military cross
or the d. D. c. and the power ~
leadership. Thousands Of young fy-
ing men. mere boys in age, have been
heroes OF the war. with plenty n,
money to spend on leave and the
aduiation Of every pretty girl for the
| wings on their breasts. What are
they going to do when they are out
or the service. and when they still
have the desire of flinging money
about without the necessary refiIline
process? After all. apart from mo-
ments Of extreme fright, and horrible
danger, their life In the army was
not so bad. There are tens of thou
| sands OF men who are coming around
to that point Of view now that the
| worst side of war is fading out ~
their memory.
1t Wasn't So Bad,
1T wasn't so bad" They remember
the comradeship of the life the
laughter they had even iii Bad places
the gay spirit of pals even in hours
OF Imminent death. There were won
derful "binges" out of the line in little
French towns where pretty girls were
Kind. 1t was a great adventure where
II man was not afraid of death
ne had lots OF fun. . Peace looked
enormously good when war was on.
but now 1t is rather drab, and some
thing Of the spice has gone out of
life- So officers and men are filled
with perplexities of thought and emo
ton. without any clear or definite con-
victions as to how they will shane
their future. and with no clear-cut
philosophy derived from their ay-
per1ence. or their suffering. or their
view Of war. We shall have to wait
perhaps for ten years, before we
see clearly the effect of those four
years upon the character of men. NV
opinion Is that the influence of war
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