SOLDIERS IN THE WEST END.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3234, 3 April 1917, Page 2

SOLDIERS IN THE WEST END.

MANNERS AND MORALS. By AN~OFFICER. (From the London Daily News.) It is only natural that when the manhood of a nation is taken from its peace-time avocations and mustered to arms, something in the upheaval is bound to reflect upon the national morals. The worst of >t is that the few good folk who are the mainstay of vigilance movements and anti-something-or-other groups givo tongue to «'arn)n;£ ruinoiu.* Tiie-e folk are t-ho-e who can never hear ihe word ".-oldi<r" without mentally coupling it with •: •• adjective "ii entio.is' and imagine ihai a regiiiieii'a*; ' :uitc< '' ■ a, pi.n i- o! alcoholic s.iOiiinaii i. They are only n huudfui, but they have the power, as every individual has, to start mischievous and groundless rumours and to spatter the honour of the Army. The Press has done the country excellent service in dispersing these calumnies and in bringing forward the evidence, the clear facts a!>out the moral standards of our soldiery; and the public as a whole knows exactly what valuo to place upon the misguided individuals who were responsible for the vapid clamour that was raised. The medical man and the expert in social aire •both, aware of the types of mental instability from whom the self-styled "purity" propaandists draw their supporters, and l>otli will tell you frankly that these campaigns do more harm through their suggostiveness than would result from the matters they eonibat if left alone. To treat the soldier as a man of evil life, to hedge him about with restrictions and make him feel that so long as he wears his uniform he is an outcast from the ranks of respectable people that is not the way U) strengthen his morale a.s a warrior. Yet the cranks talk and publish unpleasant little brochures about the segregation of numbers of young men in military areas and the need for careful supervision over, the young women of the neighbourhood. This is exactly what the Germans want them to do. Anything that contnoutes directly or indirectly to lowering the selfspect of tho British soldier is sure or German support, and you may find names identified with these 'obscure movements and propaganda that were before the war equally well identified with policies of disarmament and 'rapprochement' with the Hun.

A VERY HIGH STANDARD. From time to time rumours spring up and go tho round of cluha and gossiping circles, and you hear it whispered that such and such a sot of overseas troops are drunken and undisciplined; that such and such a London terminus is a ternole sight when the leave train pulls out. Then all the nasty tongues start wagging with tales of soldiers' wives, of love children in quiet villages, of scenes of drunkenness, and all the unpleasant cases they can remember or invent. In an army of millions of men it «annot bu expected that every individual will wear tho halo of a suintly life, though even the meanest dare not abuse their honourable death upon the field of battle. The average man knows that the Army is fundamentally sound and does not bother to look up exact facts, make inquiries, or investigate statistics. It is only the "antis" who do that, and who parade all the evil that they can rako together, omitting and suppressing the vast and much' greater nntss of good. Tho facts are astonishing, a lasting tribute to the sterling qualities inherent in the race. Drunkenness, crime, and immorality in tho Army have como down to a percentage so low that no civilian community could rival it. The standard of military good conduct is exceedingly high, framed as it was in the past tor a regular picked Army. It has not been lowered or modified in any way to meet tho freer standards of the vast crowd of citizens now entering military liie. Indeed, if one takes into account tlho severity of military discipline when over-seas upon active service it will easily bo seen that the standard is a higher 01113 than civilians, hiave ever had to live up to. Taking a general census of opinion throughout all ranks and classes you wi.i find that the Army training and Army life have effected a wonderful reformation in the morals and customs of these very civilians who, the muckrakers feared, would be defiled by contact with the uniform, ji you need to know what effect this national training has had upon the ordinary crime average the Old Bailey Sessions for this year with their forerunners of the years before the war. They show an extraordinary, almost tinoelievable, iuu provement.

SAKKR AND BETTER OUT. In order to got absolute information with regard to the genera'l behaviom of the troops in the most unfavourable circumstances, I was allowed to look into the mechanism of tlio Provost Marshall control of the London district. The Provost Marshal himself spoke highly of the general conduct of the men and the wilr.'ng and good-hearted co-operation of the various trades, such as the licensed victuallers and theatre managements. I was also shown the various police reports for the districts, a pile of returns practically unanimous in their statement that"the publichouses were well conducted, the laws were not infringed, and no help given t.j those who desired to assist convalescent soldiers to evade the drink prohibition. I was allowed to choose my own time and place to go round with the military police, or stand, ii ] cared, on picket duty watching the London street* for any sign of had behaviour.

i cho:: -u evening ia Hie centre cf all things—Piccadilly Circus—and everyone who knows will admit that the beat from the Hippodrome to tne Pavilion should show the largest proportion of sin. 'liie purity pamphletcars themselves would be. lost without tins area. 1 was fortunate in picking two fine, bright nights—one in the middle of the week, the other at its end. Through this congested area poured the evening crowds j I saw the closing or the various bars and cafe restaurant*, saw the soldiers come out into the streets perfectly sober and wander along to a cheap seat at a theatre or kinematograph show. 1 entered various resorts and admittedly hunted for "drunken" or ''licentious" soldiers. It was pure waste of time; the place was "stiff" with soldiers; but tney were not drunk and uotj to the unjaundiced eye, more licentious than when they were civilians in 1914 and went to church in place of church parade. I watched Piccadilly that evening for two solid hours, and saw only one man sligimy vociferous. He was a civilian and a foreigner. Thousands of soldiers passed and two were halted by the picket, in each case for some minor inaccuracy in the adjustment of their uniform. At midnight I played my trump card and paid an unexpected visit to the cells and guard-room of the military police. They had only one guest, an absentee who had been arrested in a dairv.

To sum up the whole thing, the behaviour of the British and over-sens troops is little short of marvellous in its excellence. Take note of it for yourselves, and, having e een it, pride yourselves Upon it as a feather in the national! cap. London to-day is four times a safer and a better city than it was three years ago. When you' hear talk n p "purity leagues' 1 aud campaigns rouivh ' '•; the people behin<i them, t : ! siil'tie lii'rnian influence and the mad brained, unpleasant folk w:>(> see din \> lit' " ''■ """ ' . '! ',,<. !..it!i-.-) is proii'i (.•' it-.- let us. then. _.. R.i their hon-i i: from such uud'ihand attack-.