The most profound wisdom, the most enlightened
statesmanship, the most intimate knowledge of society, are requisite in
the legislator. It is easy, indeed, to regulate the military service in
times of peace, when the army is small and volunteers are abundant. But
when the ordinary methods fail to fill up the ranks, decimated by actual
war, when the honor and perpetuity of a nation depend upon a
conscription of its citizens, then comes the tug of war, and many
legislatures have failed in their deliberations on this subject. In the
first place, a Conscription Act is opposed to popular prejudice.
Compulsory service of any kind, except for punishment, is contrary to
our ideas of personal freedom. We believe in the sovereign privilege of
doing what we please, and declining to do what we do not please, to its
fullest possible extent. We love to tell our neighbors that we have no
standing army to defend our national honor, but that it reposes safely
on the _voluntary_ patriotism of the people. We may admit the
_necessity_ for a Conscription Act--may confess its justice and
impartiality; but few men who are liable to fall into its pitiless
clutches, can speak of such an act without a shrug of uneasiness or a
wicked expression of anger. Again, it must be universal in its
application. It must meet all classes and conditions of society; must be
adapted to all shades of religious and political belief; must be
inflexible as Justice on his throne, yet tender and sympathetic as a
mother to her child.
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