MILITARY TRAINING

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 41, 16 February 1918, Page 4

MILITARY TRAINING

We have received -.two letters commenting on Mr. P. J. O'Regan's references to Mr. Luke and military training. " Cosmos," after criticising Mr. O'Regan, writes :—" On the question of compulsory military training- and service, many ■erstwhile, wobblers have had a rude awakening, through force of circumstances, particularly on account of Germany's blood and iron policy, pushed to relentlessness. This is what made a soldier of me, Mr. O'Regan. As to the charge made against conscription advocates, as to their being supercilious, on. account of their firm positiveness, I think trie boot is on the other foot these times, for parents and fighting men to elect to face the business end of a machine gun in action, with death in the balance, is a heroic quality, far removed from the supercilious in life. But they talk much who talk humbug, and do least. Their appeal is to men of stunted vision, not to an enlightened democracy. The conscientious objection, to do justice to the phrase, we know to be advocated % by a section who are otherwise not averse to self-sacrifice, if the occasion occur, even to the supreme sacrifice. But I know of many blatant materialists who erstwhile dismissed theology with a dramatic sweep of the arm, who are cowardly sheltering behind Christian ethics, although their doctrine has beeu an extreme one at the street corners, of cities, where they advocated stringent methods with the ' capitalist,' and incidentally capita], with all the methods of sabotage. I hava heard quite lamblike expressions since, emanating from these ' half baked '• philosophers. However, to con-

elude with Mr. O'Regan, it can safely be said that he is consistent—that is consistently unpractical." J. B. Hulbert, who explains that he is not writing "with any view to defending Mr. O'Regan, who is quite capable of defending himself, and who, by the way, is not a. Socialist," writes : "The Socialist objects to the conscription of life whilst the land and tho means of life remain in the possession of private individuals. Past history convinces them'that better results have been obtained without it than with it." The correspondent, who elaborates his theories regarding Socialism, for which we have not space, concludes with this expression of opinion :—" We want at least a fair-minded man to represent the vaoant constituency, not one who mixes his Sabbatarianism, religious speculations, or compulsory laws on eating or drinking, or other matters that concern the individual, with his collective capacity." , ■„ j