ons of France which are used as
bases. It takes twenty minutes for a German air-ship to reach England.

Were the English soldiers all to be kept in France, in addition to being
farther away from the line, they would still have to be fed. Is it better
sense to keep them near to the food supply, or to send the reserves to
France and use valuable tonnage to ship foodstuffs to them? There is no
surplus food in France.

It makes me tired and it makes every Britisher the same to think that such
absurd stories should take effect. Of course the German is keen enough to
recognize that there is already the will to think evil of England. He just
wishes to season it a little and stir it up. He is wily, is the German
propagandist.

Then there is the hoary tale that England is keeping one hundred fifty
thousand troops in Ireland to tyrannize over the poor Irish, while the
States soldiers are sent to France to fight for democracy.

This I also thought too obvious a lie for denial, but it has been repeated
and repeated again. I do not know whether there are any English regiments
stationed in Ireland at all. There are good barracks in that country, and
good camps, so there may be.

The Royal Irish Constabulary are quite able to cope at this time with any
Sinn Fein disturbance which may arise. As far as the true Nationalist or
Home Ruler is concerned, he has enlisted in British regiments and is
fighting at the front. As far as the Ulsterman is concerned, he has
enlisted long ago and is dead already or fighting still. The men of both
sides who are over age are enlisted as Home Defense Volunteers, just as are
the men of England, Scotland and Wales.

So little is there tyranny over Ireland that when the Conscription Bill was
passed in the British Imperial Parliament it was enacted only for England,
Scotland and Wales. If it had included Ireland some one might have made the
accusation of tyranny.

In the United Kingdom there are no less freedom of action, freedom of
speech and freedom of the individual than there are in America, and I
include Canada in that word. They are as free as we, but they make no talk
about it.

The United Kingdom, with the rest of the empire, is fighting to retain her
own democracy. If Germany had won during the three years the Allies have
held the safety of the world, then the world would have been under the heel
of autocracy.

When I enlisted, and before I went over to England, I had no use for the
Engli