The Washington herald., 1919-06-01
Influence Of War
On Men Who Return
ooSrNuD From rAGn ONE

cosrsuD from PAGE ONE
do uA Our young lads learned these
Lessons quickly though to many Of
than u was all unnatural and ab-
horrsnt. and Il made . difference to
their view Of Life Some Of them
lapeed easily into the new order of
things, which was also the Old Order
Of mankind In the days OF the Stone
Age and the Ape-like man An that
civilization meant was wiped clean out
of their souls and they hArked back
to the natural state Of primitive man,
and found themselves at home, liking
it r.
There was an Engfish lawyer N
Fianders, IN ISIS, whose pleasure II
was to creep out at night into NO
Mans Land close to the German nne'
and pretending to be q dead oody'
v.tt for an enemy to show himself.
Sornettrnea a man would crawl out 70
dr.s m a dead comrade and then the
Eneitsh lawyer-a highly intellectual
and educated gentieman-wouid RAISE
himself an inch or two with his rifie
and Law out the living man besine
the dnaa one. Sometimes . sman
nartv Of Germans would creep out q
iittle WAY to mend their wire. ano
the avyer would get two or three
sbotsL and evely shot meant oeso
man whose number he nicked on oy
a notch In the butt-end Of his ritie
By day this oficer was silent. MOODY
restless. He lived for the nignts,
when he could hunt alone He Was
back In the primitive age Of life-tnree
thousand years back from lslS.
There were other men like him. WIN
n real pleasure IN the killing side Oh
the business How did you get on
today7'' I asked q soldier from NorIn.
urnberiand, during a big batte.
was a disappointment." he said. qul.e
strnply. with a northern burr N M,
speech. The Germans ran so faf
couldn't get IN with the oayone'
work" u.
There were Australian battanons
who had a special force Of trench
raidess trained by an old hon-nearteo
colonel like a Sixteenth century SOL
dier of fortune. with steei-olue eyes
under shaggy brows. and ferocious
scowl which dissolved into a curfousiS
sweet smile after he had fripped one
hand as In an iron wise.
"Come and eat with my youns
vhelps." he said, as sat down In the
officers mess Of the raiding oattaiion,
All the men there had volunteered
for this raiding job-the most danger
ous game Of all. with almost certait
death ahead, after lucky escape this
time or next They told me their
method Of attack, their way OF kiliine
in a hurry. Most OF them preferret
q short steel blade like q dagger roi
dealing with the sentries and any mel
waIkinp in the trenches, thougn
others liked a short. iron-weigntec
club. For slaughter of a wholesale kino
there was nothing like a Stokes sneil
with a quick fust flung down aug
out In which Germans were hioins
These raiders were simple, grim
humorous young men.
ct feed 'em raw meat SAID tneif
old colonel with a wink. 1t makes
them more savage" That. OF course,
was a lest They were not IN neeo
of raw meat to infiame the auie'
pleasure they had in killing theii
enemy.
The Scots, the North Country Eng
Hsh. and the Canadians were no'
ayerse to the business OF slaughter
and in the heart of battle they "sa"
red" as most men do, partly from rear
which Is an element of all ferocity II
fighting-and partly from primitive
passions which surge up In the human
heart with a revival of the cave-mar
instinct face to face with the hostile
tribe. The Londoners and Soutf
Country English. and many OF th'
men from cities like Liverpool. Man,
chester. BIRMINGHAM and so on, nae
an instructive revolt against bayone
fighting, and bombing at close range
they were slow when the enemy sur
rendered, and did not work for death
and having been bred in towns w1tf
their civilizing and perhaps enervat'
ing infences, hated all the conditions
of war more poignantly. with mort
spirited distress, than lads from rural
districts. For that reason their cour'
age as soldiers-and no bodies OF mer
were more gallant than the Londor
divisions-was most to be admired.
They Cannot he the Same.
Now, men who have gone through
experiences like that, who have no'
only been trained to kill but hav'
known that their own lives were OF nc
more account than a grai/ Of sand
who have been so familiar with the
sight of death that II has no enec'
non their conditions, are not likely u
come back to civil life as they wen'
away from it. They have been harden
ed. and to some extent brtalized. Or
they have been sensitive enough anc
intelligent enough to avoid brutaliz
ing process. they have come back
some Of them-with a passionate sens
OF revolt against the things they hac
to do as good soldiers. the discipline
that was enacted of them. so thai
they had no Individual liberty OF con
science, desire or action. and agains
the social philosophy OF the moderr
world which took such things fol
granted and applauded those thing
by the name of glory. An soldiers
or at least milliens Of soldiers, re-
member some private, personal griev'
ance which embittered them, the con
slant brutality of some non-commis
stoned officer, or the lack Of promo.
ton or decoration for some service
it was often another fellow who got
the reward-or, worse still, some blum
dering order or careless leadership
which led to the sacrifice of a COM
pany or battalion. They are resentfu
of the losses suffered by their com
rades and Justly or unjustly-in many
cases unjustly-they accuse theii
superior officers. or the High Com
mand. of ruthless disregard Of hu-
man life. They are resentful, also
more bitterly, of the people at home
who did not suffer the things they
suffered, and who grew rich or kept
their. wealth, and their domestic hap
piness, and their little comforts and
luxuries, while the fighting men were
lying in wet bitches and being shelled
to pieces. Men who came back to