Montana labor news., 1936-08-13
UNWILLING CANNON
FODDER
BY H. c. ENGELBRECHT

ingly difficult to enlist recruits in it:
armed forces. The unpopularity Of
soldering is graphically demonstrated
by the situation which prevailed dur.
ing May of this year. The regular
army then was short 10000 men in 4
total OF l5S,040 and 26,500 men are due
TO leave during the year. The terrific
rial army is 1900 below its quota O.
1854 and the anti'aircraft division i:
l0,500 short. The air force is the only
branch of the service which is able te
fill its recruiting needs.
The reasons for this state of al
fairs are various and manifold. First
there is the physical depletion Of the
conservative classes, due directly to
the World war. The resistance to
conscription in Britain during the wal
was SO strong that the conservative
war enthusiastic classes for a time fur
nished nos Of the recruits and suf-
fered the heaviest casualties. The
disastrous results OF the war are nov
felt in the civil and colonial service and
in the army. Wars, it is evident,
must be paid for in more ways than
one.
Among the working classes Britain
is paying for the aftermath OF the war.
The long years OF unemployment with
their attendant regime OF under nour
ishment and starvation have left their
mark. The unemployed, who always
furnish a very large proportion OF
peace-time armies, have been rendered
physically unfit for service BY their
privations. Statistics show that for
every recruit accepted by the British
army. two applicants we're rejected.
Even the army cannot prosper in a
cruel and ruthless economic society.
Added to these physical handicaps is
the even more serious anti-war senti-
ment which is sweeping Britain. The
famous Peace Ballot proved how eager
most English people are to keep out of
war and how earnestly they want to
makethe League OF Nations an effec-
tive force for peace. AT the same time
it is widely understood that deter
mined war resistance alone can stop
the war makers. This attitude may be
found, despite official attitudes, ex-
tensively in the Labour Party in the
churches.
TO hamstring any and every effort
toward having Britain properly armed,
is the settled policy of every Socialist
controlled public body" a British con
sentative newspaper recently re-
marked. Instances Of this lack OF en-.
thusiasm for war and preparedness are
multiplying. The Laborite London
County Council refused the use OF
Battersea Park to the territorials for
a recruiting march and an anti-air-
craft display. The Royal Engineer
Cadets were refused one of the Lon
don County Council schools for eve
ming training When the army tried 10
turn the labor exchanges into recruit
ing stations, there was an uproar
throughout the country and the plan
had to be dropped. Labor exchange
officials resented the attempt to make
them recruiting sergeants and to bring
pressure on the unemployed to join
the army.
Just as determined is the opposition
in the church. Lloyd George, it will
be remembered, declared at one time
that il there were ever another war,
the churches did not deserve to live.
Apparently a large element in the
British churches has taken that warn
ing to heart, Absolute and determined
war resistance has made remarkable
Roadway in many churches. Not only
have there been countless resolutions
c%ondemning the governments enor-
nous r%earmament, but there have also
been other striking developments. In
Liverpool cathedral recently the regu-
lar prayers for the government were
deliberately omitted, because the
cathedral chapter believed that the
government plans were leading to war
An association OF P~acifist ministers
has sprung up without-spoken leader
ship. Hundreds Of thousands OF
church people have signed pledges re-
fusing to participate in war in any
way. So powerful is this anti-war
movement in the churches that the
Minister Of War recently made a saw
age attack on these churchmen who
were "barging in on politics" and he
let his anger lead him as far as to sug-
gest that an assassination of leading
churchmen might be a good thing, just
as Henry II had found it expedient to
get rid of a meddling cleric back in
the Middle Ages.
Another factor in the situation is the
resentment against the profiteering
that accompanies the present rearma-
ment program. The enormous gov
eminent Expenditures for new battle
ships, submarines, aircraft, tanks and
machine guns have again resulted in
huge profits for the arms industry.
Munitions stock have been sky-rock-
citing, dividends have mounted, and the
Labour press has been filled with
columns tabulating the financial gains
OF the great arms companies. The dis
turbing revelations about the war in
dustries and the long and persistent ag
itation for drastic change in this stu
alton have resulted in exactly nothing.
There has been no attempt to take
the profits out of war and preparations
for war. Repeated questioning in the
House OF Commons has elected the
reply that no legislation was contem-
plated in regard to the CONSUMPTION OF
wealth in wartime. The government
did not believe that "the method sug
gested was practicable"
But conscription of man power in