NATIONAL SPIRIT OF NEW AMERICA

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 46, 17 November 1917, Page 9

NATIONAL SPIRIT OF NEW AMERICA

VAST RESOURCES SET IN MOTION FOR WAR THE ACHIEVEMENTS OP THREE MONTHS (By lan Hav, author of "The First Hundred Thousand," in tho London "Times.") Now that sho is at war, what is America going to do about it? Germany, with her infallible instinct for divining tho menial processes of other nations, has assumed (and announced officially) that America ivill do nothing. In fact, to this day Germany has never even acknowledged that she is at war with America. Germany lias too much good tasto and feeling. America, explains Germany, has no Army, no Navy to speak of, no national spirit or discipline at all. It would bo an outrago to make war upon such a defenceless people. That is the official opinion of Germany—an opinion which would appear to have emanated from the distinguished thought-reader who onco prophesied, inter alia, that Belgium would not fight, that Great 'Britain would not join (ho Allies, and that if sho did the whole British Empire would promptly disintegrate itself into fragments of a size convenient for subsequent German absorption.

Democracy and Discipline, Tho attitude of the Allies is naturally one of confident expectation, coupled with extreme vagueness as to what America is really capable of doing. The fact is, America herself hardly knows what she is capable of doing. So vast are her resources, so great her population, so remarkable the individual capacity of her people, that her future as a military power is limited only by one thing—her willingness to submit to discipline. To make a nation efficient in a military sense a certain amount of individual liberty—liberty to go one's.own way, to bo one's own master, and, above all, liberty to ask Why?—must bo sacrificed; and the nverago American, to whom tho word liberty is' a sacred obsession, may prove difficult in that respect. Ho is afraid of being "put upon." He has a keen noso for "militarism." Ho is suspicious of the essential relations between officers and men. He dislikes the idea of being at any one's absoluto, disposal. When in doubt about' anything, ho repeats to himself, or to as large an andienco as ho can collect, Lincoln's famous dictum on fho subject of "Government of the People, by tho People, for thh People"; and ho experiences somo difficulty in squaring' this with the practice prevailing in barrack-yards. "Government of the Army, by t'fle. Army, for the Army," Mounds good, equally good, but he has recently had a practical objection-lesson in the fallibility of such ideals. In .Russia, the other day General Brusiloff's newly-emancipated legions intimated to their leader.their willingness to continue to follow him on condition that in future ho should submit his plans of battlo to a select committee of the rank and fflo. General Brusiloff promptly resigned. After a short and unhappy interval, the inevitable- ocurcd. terYal, tho inevitable occurred. He was requested to resume the leadership of'the Army on his own terms. He did so, and immediately led his followers to a brilliant victory. In tho same way America —and it must ho remembered that the America of to-day is not tho America of tho Revolution or the Civil War, but contains a far larger and less amenable population—will haw to find out for herself, by the only infallible means open to man, namely, hard experience, to what extent the pure spirit of democracy must bo diluted to meet the demands of military, efficiency; Also, America's national imagination is not yet; fired. She wants time. The chief barrier which stands between her and the true spirit of the war—the factor which prevents the American pulse from quickening info instant enthusiasm for tho cause which America has officially made her own—is tho Atlantic Ocean. Such a barrier is not insuperable, as Canada has shown, to her eternal glory.' But his romoteness from the actualities of tho conflict will undoubtedly make it more difficult for the average American—and when we speak of the average American of British descent, ov the travelled American, or the American soldier, but of business men from New York and Ohio, of miners from Pennsylvania, of cowboys from Ayyoming, and of a polyglot labouring class from everywhere—to awake to tho greatness of his cause or the pressing needs of the situation. Heaven knows, ,it took us long enough, and we wero only a hundred miles from tho very henTt of things! An ounce of experience-a Zeppelin here, a torpedoed liner there-can awake, more national spirit in fivo minutes than a ton of imagination can achieve in five years. ' So it is only natural that America, removed from all risk of actual invasion, should require a littlo time to adjust herself to new conditions, and to reawaken-that martial and indomitable spirit which has made her such a formidable fighting power in tho past. ,Tho landing of General Pershing's troops has already done much, Tho first casualty list, alas! will do ten times more.

Initial Enthusiasm. To us, wiio iiavo known what it is to belong to a nation suddenly plunged into war, it is most interesting to observe and compare tho course of events in America. So far that course has been extremely normal. With the declaration of war camo a tremendous burst of popular enthusiasm. Flags appeared everywhere* from New York to San Francisco. Conscientious persons proceeded without delay to repair the gaps in their memory connected with tiio words of that ?,™ rin L «l>Pallingly long anthem, Tho &tar-&pangled Banner." Evoryono turned to everyone elso and said"What . can I d„ •to ], o ]p?"' Some people began to practice a vaguo and unmethodical system of food economy. Others, following a natural instinct, began to hoard. Others, of different ideals, began to profiteer But as with us, of any goncral realisation of the meaning of war thero was none But realisation is coming. A new spirit is abroad in America to-day. Hor false gods—we wore worshipping the samo ourselves not long ago—aro doomed Sho can never go back to the old state of things. Sho may pay~sho will iuy-a heavy prico for her share of victory, but every true American knows—and ho hails tho knowledge with sober joy—that his country is going to emorgo from this supreme test better balanced, bigger hearted, and moro united. A country, in fact, and not a continent.

The' Call and the Response. The Unitod Stales declared war 1 upon Germany in the first week of April, 1917. SiJico then, what has been accomplished? It would have been a matter of small surprise and but littlo roproach if nothing had been accomplished at all. Democracy has many advantages over autocracy, but prompt and efficient direction of war is not'one of them. It took our own country moro than two years to realise that sudden emergencies and critical situations can be hotter handled by a capable and nbsoluto triumvirate than an amiable but academic committoo of' twonly-threo. President Wilson grasped tho essontial requirements of the situation at once. These were-.— I.'National registration. 2.'Compulsory military service 3. The raising of monoy and an immediate and liberal vote of credit.

4. Organisation of the country's resources, especially in food and munitions.

5. The immediate dispatch of an Expeditionary Force to Prance, first as an incentive to the country at large, and secondly as a guarantee of good faith to tho Allies. Tho President's Programme. This, admittedly, was a colossal programme to lay before an unorganised and iimmlitary nation. And no ono know better than the President that it contained measures which would lie bitterly opposed. The suggestion of universal service would cortaiuly raise a howl among tho pacifists, anti-militar-ists, Socialists, 'and all that strange crow whoso ideals of liberty and patriotism are enshrined in tho belief (or assertion) that self is all and tho commonweal is naught. Again, for rapid and efficient organisation of food and munitions it

would be necessary to placo vast powers in tho hands of a few capablo individuals; for in war tliero simply is not tuno —and often it is not expedient—to settle everything by open debate. Congress would undoubtedly resent this. Tliero would bo complaints about muzzling and gagging, and impassioned appeals to the sacred right of all representatives < )i: ' popular government to mako fifty speeches where the stroko of a siuglo capablo pen would suffice. But tho President allowed none of these things to deter him. In his detached and solitary fashion—ho lias the reputation of never taking his Cabinet into his confidence if such a proceeding can possibly be avoided—ho thought the matter out, and decided in his own mind what things wore requisite and necessary, Then ho laid his proposals before Congress. Congress on the v.'holo responded nobly. There was a certain amount of opposition to universal service—somo tainted, some sincere—but tho scheme went through by largo majorities. A liberal vote of credit was passed without difficulty. Tho Committeo of National Defence—a special board, comprising tho acutest industrial and financial intellects in tho country—took control of munitions, railway, shipping, and tho like. (Tho munition problem, by the way, proved a comparatively simple matter, from tho fact that many private firms had Ion" been turning out munitions for tho Allies, and a vast existing plant was immediately available.) Mr. Hoover, fresh from his triumphs on tho Belgian Relief Committee, was appointed Food Controller. A war loan of two billion dollars was projected. General Pershing was dispatched with hisstaff to England and ultimately to France, to prepare tho way for tho American Expeditionary Force, while Admiral Sims crossed the Atlantic with his fleet and at onco entered into active co-operation with the British Navy. Finally, missions arrived from the Allied countries to cngago in counsel with tho American Executive. Each country sent of her very best—Marshal Joffre. M. Viviani, and Mr. Balfour, to namo only two or three—and they created, an ineffaceable impression. Mr. Balfour's reception marked the beginning of a new era in Anglo-American relations. Between trance and America, of course, there has always existed a traditional friendship; but there was something refreshing, novel, and inspiring in the spectaclo of Aew York and Washington cheering themselves hoarso over n British Cabinet Minister-a Minister, too, who ruso in his carriage and cheered back like a schoolboy 1

Threo Months' Record. So much lor tho inception of tho campaign. What of tho execution? Pessimists feared, and interested axe-grinders darkly hinted, that there would bo a public uphoav&l throughout tho country upon tho day when American citizens were called upon to register for national service, and thnt in any ense very few would register. Registration Day came. Nearly ten million men registered within the space of twelve hours; tliero wero no disturbances, and defaulters barely comprised one-tenth per cent., or ono in a thousand. Tho first War Loan-tho Liberty Loan, ! as it was happily named— was oversubscribed by about a billion dollars; Finally, an Expeditionary Force set sail, and landed without mishap upon tho soil of Franco. It was a mere advance guard of tho millions to follow—and its exact strength need not bo set down here; but in duo courso its members will doubtless afford the Kaisor somo further (and extremely wholesome) food for thought upon tho subject of 'contemptible little armies." Such is America's record for less than three months of war. In ono instance only did the President fail to enforce his viows upon Congress. His scheme for a rigid Press censorship was rejected —with what degree of wisdom time will show. _ But tho sum total of achievement is amazing. Conscription assured, industries mobilised, money raided, N and a naval and military force at work" four thousand miles from their base! Amerioa may have been slow to put her hand to the plough, but having done so, she is losing no tiino in cleaving a straight furrow.