he young men who
are called for this purpose--for young men to be called to the colours
by the tens or the hundreds of thousands, unskilled and untrained, to be
shot down, decimated by the thoroughly trained and skilled troops of
another nation, or a combination of other nations, is indeed the crime.
Never, moreover, was folly so great as that shown by him or by her who
will not see. And to look at the matter without prejudice, we will
realise that this is merely policing what we have. It is meeting force
with adequate force, _if it becomes necessary_, so to meet it.

This is necessary until such time as we have in operation among nations
a thoroughly established machinery whereby force will give place to
reason, whereby common sense will be used in adjusting all differences
between nations, as it is now used in adjusting differences between
individuals.

Our period of isolation is over. We have become a world-nation. Equality
of rights presupposes equality of duty. In our very souls we loathe
militarism. Conquest and aggression are foreign to our spirit, and
foreign to our thoughts and ambitions. But weakness will by no means
assure us immunity from aggression from without. Universal military
training up to a reasonable point, and the joint sense of responsibility
of every man and every woman in the nation, and the right of the
national government to expect and to demand that every man and woman
stand ready to respond to the call to service, whatever form it may
take--this is our armour.

All intelligent people know that the national government has always had
the power to draft every male citizen fit for service into military
service. It is not therefore a question of universal military service.
The real and only question is whether these or great numbers of these go
out illy prepared and equipped as sheep to the shambles perchance, or
whether they go out trained and equipped to do a man's work--more
adequately prepared to protect themselves as well as the integrity of
the nation. It is not to be done for the love or the purpose of
militarism; but recognising the fact that militarism still persists,
that with us it may not be triumphant should we at any time be forced to
face it. There are certain facts that only to our peril as well as our
moral degradation, we can be blind to. Said a noted historian but a few
days ago:

"I loathe war and militarism. I have fought them for twenty years. But I
am a historian, and