WHY HE VOTED “YES.”

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 39, 22 May 1917, Page 8

WHY HE VOTED “YES.”

AN AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER’S CONVERSION TO CONSCRIPTION. An Australian sapper, writing from France to friends in Melbourne, gives his opinion on the conscription question, and why he voted “Yes” at the recent referendum. “Franco has drained herself of men,” ho says, “and now has to wait for her boys to reach the age of 18 before she can send more men to the colours. The absence of men of fighting age from all the villages and towns will prove the fact. England has had conscription for several months, and practically all the men from 18 to 40 are in khaki. Where are all the fighters to come from but from her colonies!

“I think that after all she has done for us, it is up to us to try to repay the debt, and so supply men for the armies. I have heard it said that there are hundreds of thousands of men walking around England and France in khaki doing nothing. But that is all rubbish. They should bear in mind that the army in the field must_ also have an army behind it. Just think of the thousands of soldiers needed to keep the roads of communication in repair, to look after ammunition dumps, which cover acres of ground; to drive the lorries that bring the rations from base dumps to advanced dumps, to run and look after new railways that are necessary to guard the dumps, wharves, boats, and so forth. Back in England these men guard the factories, depots, wharves, docks, and so forth, and tho thousands of other things which are necessary in such a big organisation as a modern war machine. These jobs may be fairly safe, but after all they are absolutely necessary. Men must be there to run them. “If some of these hard-chinned individuals who call themselves men could see their homes knocked to pieces, their fields made into draughtboards with shell-holes 8 to 10 feet deep, their timber cut and knocked to pieces; if they could come home to their old village to find it levelled or buried, I guess they would not need much forcing. They would be only too glad to take a rifle and wipe out the debt a bit. Before I came away I was of tho opinion that conscription was no good, but since I have been here I have learned better. When we fight nowadays we risk a nation as a whole, and the sooner a nation learns that every man has to do his best the better. If we did not need the men I should say, ‘Let the poor soft-natured little babies stay at home. If they do not know their own duty, it is going to be a hard job to show it to them.”