January, 1945 THE FORTY-NINER When you make your living in Alberfca, it's a good idea to do your business with Alberta firms. The Government of Alberta Provincial Treasury Branches are operated for your convenience and benefit. When you open a CURRENT ACCOUNT at your local branch, you are given pleasant courteous service. Current Accounts at Treasury Branches provide for depositing of currency, cheques, transfer vouchers, grain, cream and poultry tickets, etc. Withdrawals can be made at any time without restrictions. Enjoy the ad- vantages of a CURRENT ACCOUNT at your nearest TREASURY BRANCH. You'll find it pays. YOUR Forty-Niner Number Forty EDMONTON, ALBERTA January, 1945 THE GENERAL'S ADDRESS ON CONSCRIPTION finally dealt with the matter in 1916 or thereabouts, when she introduced conscription for the purpose In the Dominion Senate on December 5th, the of maintaining her armies in the field. In the policy of the Government with respect to Overseas United States, conscription appears to have come Reinforcements came under discussion in that into effect for the first time in '1864 when many Chamber. Among those to take part was Major able-bodied men who should have been at the front General the Honourable W. A. Griesbach. were staying home. So the American government In the place of our customary editorial written introduced the Draft Act, under which men could for each issue by General Griesbach, we submit for be compulsorily taken into the army; but at the our members some of the highlights of his import- same time it enacted a provision that drafted men ant address. It is to be regretted that our limited might hire other men to substitute for them. space does not permit a full reprint of his argu- The U. S. entered the last war in 1917 .... ments for conscription. The historical record of Conscription was adopted almost immediately. Then conscription as a national policy was impressive, about 1924 the General Staff provided for the and, at times during the address, the Prime Minister raising of an army of ten million men in the next and others asked questions which were ably an- war by conscription. That. memorandum was ac- swered from a background of the General's war cepted by Congress .... Consequently when war and peacetime experiences and observations. broke out this time there immediately vrent into The fact that, for the reason stated, General- effect a national selective system .... There has Griesbach's contribution to the debate cannot be been no complaint whatever about this system of published in toto may detract to some degree from raising an army. In the army there are many men the usual consistency of his clear thinking. Our who no doubt would like to be at home, many who readers, who may not have studied his entire feel that their business and private affairs have speech, are assured that in the main he voiced the been seriously interferred with, but in general the same line of thought as practically every returned system has worked well .... In the last war the man has on this vital question. (Editors) United States had disciplinary battalions, and some shooting had to be resorted to to enforce discipline, but the present system has been operating smoothly, In the first place, I should like to say that the and there can be no doubt about the willingness of turn the war has taken meets with my entire ap- American troops to fight to the finish. proval. The determination of the Germans to de- After you examine the story of conscription in fend their country city by city and town by town Great Britain, United States and Canada under the is just right. It will enable our armies to destroy voluntary system the cream of our young men go the towns and cities as they advance and bring to the war first, and what is left at the end is the home to the people of Germany what v/ar means military dregs of the population .... The cream of to the people of other countries. It will do more Canada's youth has been and is now overseas, and than I know of towards educating these people, what we are dealing with here is the military dregs pending the arrival of the Russians, who of course .... Every year among men who reach military would make a very complete job of it. I have age there are a number of the right sort in birth long feared that, while soldiers might win the war, and breeding, who immediately go active or volun- the politicians might lose it, but I think that under teer for active service before they are called out. conditions now prevailing or about to prevail the I do not include these young men in the term soldiers will win such a thorough victory that the "military dregs". They are natural-born warriors, politicians will have little or nothing to do. intent on getting to the war as soon as they can. I should like to say a few words about con- .... Conscription is not necessarily a war policy. scription ... I have never heard a reasoned, logical It might more properly be described as a peace argument against it from anybody. The general policy. At best it is a policy for the training of proposition is that conscription is democratic, fair young men m time of peace so that when war and effective, and I do not knov/ anyone who has comes these young men may be required to serve met that assertion .... In Canada there was in the armed forces of the country but in every conscription under the old French regime. Men instance where compulsion has been postponed till could be called out not only for war but also for near the end of the war, it becomes necessary to labour. When General Murray was making out the deal with the country's military dregs, as I have terms of the capitulation of Montreal, if he had described them and there is trouble .... If all said the old conscription law would be continued the provinces had made a proportionate contrib.u- there would have been no objection to it and it tion of maTipo-n-er to the army, there would have would have remained in force to this day. Prior been no shortage of men .... Now that Canada to Confederation there was conscription in Nova has an army and is fighting along with her Allies, Scotia, which had about 100,000 men under arms. she cannot consistently retire from any of her com- Under the Militia Act, which is still in force, Can- mitments she has made. At the moment we are ada may compulsoritly require military service of fotrunate in having Czechoslovak, Polish, Dutch all men between the ages of 16 and 60. During and Norveigian volunteers serving with us, but the Fenian Raids men were called out under that in due course they will join their own armies and Act. In the old days Great Britain had compul- at that time the Canadian army will have to be sory service for the Navy. Everyone is familiar made up entirely of troops from this country, and with stories of the press gang; and there was also we shall have to provide adequate reinforcements. compulsory service in the militia. Great Britain .... The only statement, it is not an argument, January, 19^.5 THE FORTY-NINER that I have ever heard against conscription in this LIFE MEMBERS country, is that a certain person does not like it, or that a certain group of persons do not like it. The Mnjor General, Hon. W. A. Griesbach, 12916 102 question is this: Is conscription just, fair and avenue, Edmonton. equitable? Is it effective? Is there any other Mrs. Dorothy Weaver, 205 Pine St., Nanaimo, B.C. system that can take its place? .... Conscription Mrs. A. P. Chattell, 10520 126 street, Edmonton. has not been intelligently discussed in Canada. The Capt. G. D. Hunt, 12320 104th Avenue, Edmonton. question has been beclouded by the likes and dis- Major J. C. Thompson,A31, '"Gleneagles" Cote des likes of people. What we have got to come to is a Neiges Rd., Montreal. proper system of conscription .... We cannot run this country on the basis of what people do not Lieut. N. A. Campbell, Alberta Nash Co. Ltd., Cal- like. We do not like, taxes, or diseases, or earth- gary, Alberta. quakes, or cold weather or a lot of other things, Lieut. I. W. Anderson, 6036 Coolbrook Avenue, but we have to accept them and make the best of Montreal. them .... There has been a shortage of replace- Capt. The Rev. W. A. R. Ball, St. John's Redhill, ments for three months and there is to-day .... The Surrey, England. information contained in letters from the soldiers Major J. R. Lowery, Pacific Building, Vancouver, overseas to their relatives at home is more reliable B.C. than the official information. Those men are right on the ground, they are holding the front. Earle 0. Hay, 11138 65 street, Edmonton. The Japanese war is still before us. Our prox- Neville H. Jones, 11252 125 street, Edmonton. iniity to the United States and our interrelation- Walter Jordan, 12206 Stony Plain Road, Edmonton. ship with that country .... necessitate our taking Lieut. R. P. Ottewell, 85 Richmond Street West, a real part in the war against Japan, to the utmost Toronto, Ontario. of our capacity. How are we going to fight this Mrs. Mary Boyle, 7518 8th Wilton Place, Los war, Demobilize our army, pay them gratuities Angeles, California.