HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1917-11-29, Page 9•
EXETER
ONT,r PECEWMa 'R (:
OVER THE Top THEY GO! BACK UP THEIN? BAYONETS AND BULLETS WITH YOUR
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Many of the ballots which will be cast 'in this election will be marked 'within the
sound of the German guns. There isprecious little.
,� doubt about the way in which these_`
particular ballots will. be marked.
They will be marked. for= --
Union . in Canada,
A Party -Truce Until' after the War;
A St<eady'Stream of Reinforcements for the ever -thinning ranks that hold
the vital lines in Western Europe.
It is almost impossible to, conceive of a soldier, standing in the freezing Flanders
mud with death whistling in the air and a pack ofbaying hell -hounds in front of him hurtgrYs.
to break throw h Upon. on the eaceful homes the y have not �alread
g., >p P� .. y , . dy torn and ravishedshoR,irig �y
any patience. with the petty, party issues that used to amuse..hi in Canada. They count far
less with him today than the composition of his next ration. or his.ci ance for a few hours' .heal-
ing w .hea
ing respite. There is -but one issue in all the world before hisrmind; and that is how best'. to
beat the Bosches.
He is risking his;life in the shambles -lie Stands dr
ly overthe rough; grave that covers
.,..or:the 'redd`eningstretcher that `bears; his comraade :_he°ns fighting, htgwn
scientifxc we
d
beasts
inthis, th der. nEphesus . 'When-he"chancesto thinkof art narneti: art.stries -#he
things that interested hrnz, in the old. safe,happy days back'home---it• is only to recall them
PPY Y, y.. .:
a :long with the, lacrosse championships or football contests at which lie was wont to cheer.
That',any one should ,.turn aside from this tragicand terrible business of damming back the
Teuton. tide; of.liorror, murder, brutality and barbarism to waste a ballot or a. moment on-
these trivialities.would seem -to hien utterly' incomprehensible.
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There'noa�' ballots ar�will be rty lots : .: i , . r
P..:.: ... �ed �. the resp salient. They dare not do it
in the presence'of their.dead. The' 11 sieians who slipout of thee moaning hospital:wards
Py.g
behind the` lines to vote in these elections will not be thinking of `Grit or Torybut of how
nnost.swiftly and surely to end this horrible slaughter and stop this unceasing carnival of
pain. There is not a case-hardened ;par..tizan in the Dominion of.today Canada who could
stepsp o from beside the ho ital' cot: n which g— , one,Canadian lad lay xnoanm�, m. spite of his ,•
determination -from the tearing pain that the Germans had given and all the palliatives
of medicine could` not take away; and still cast his ballot for his elovedart .'and not solely
Y
for the speediest *ending, of : the war:
The only reason why there is a party election in Cana�a is
because the voters in
this protected country are not to vote within sound of the uns.Some
. . � , compelled, guns. _ . ofus lack
the imagination to realize what our' boys are'going,through—that is the whole explanation.
Who arc the heartiest, and most.. convinced Liberal Unionists, leavingtheir'old `art
party
with regret but without hesitation? Are they not men -like Rowell and Ralph Connor and
Stewart Lyon who have visited the scarred' battle -fields of France and Belgium, talked with
the men living in that inferno of danger, agony and death' realized the menacto' all. civil-
ization that crouches behind' the Hindenburg line, and had burned into their consciences
the conviction that any man who isanything at this crisis but a Canadian, pure
and
y
without thought of self or party or` predilection of any sort is; a TRAITOR a BETRAYER
OF THE MEN AT THE FRONT, a practical ALLY OF PR,USS`.ANISM.
We wantitto be perfectlyunderstood that this scoringof the partizan is not directed
P tees
at the men of one party only. It is meant for any citizen of Canada whop uts the fortunes of
any party before the fate of his country. If it seems to fall upon one. partyalone, it is only
because organized opposition to the Union Government seems to come from one partya'one..
.
*
The formation of the Union. Government was an effort to bring together .ether the entire
Canadian nation behind the lines on the Western front. There is no section of the Canadian
people ---except the Gera pans, who were disfranchised by the War -time Franchise Act—
which,was riot asked and even urged tojoin that Gany overnment. If section"is now outside
of it, it, is by its own deliberate and'determi ed choice, , No one was; exclded.
The overwhelming majority of the Canadian eople---if their habitual leaders'
may be
.ssurued to ' speak for them --have 'rallied to the Lnion. Government. P . , the Ilibeials and Con-
servatives alike, the present N.irniisters have put in then- pockets all the old issues' which
formerly divided thein and are no`v ready to concentrate on the one task of finishing:'
p � Y.tkae
war with a smashing victory, at :the earliestpossible moment --if thecountry ,,. � Y9 will but give
,them the necessary mandat to do so. 'It is a mandate which should be made Y � � . . unanirn.ous.
If there are any domestic qu sti ns' which must still be fought out --and there undoubtedly
are --=we can attend to that o f ter`'uhe war. First, let us get our boys home—let us stop the
butchery ill the only way it can stopped by disarming the butchers !
:x.'
Itis unthinkable that the C A,nadian people should Vote against this polydy of carr
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" tastheopponents f Y ' �1,
on," But , o the 'Plion. coxa. C ovcrnrn ent r�r.� �.te thein to vote �gai�xst it (this
is short statement of :their pollek whose correctness we si all efen.d• i:n .a rno' °nt '
are l ,bun 1. to ( i' Ider the vera: fences of d'(op; i l
feel inadequate to carrying on the job, they should be and usually are summarily
or replaced. That is what has been done twice in London, many times in
least twice in Italy. It has now been done once in Canada. That Sir Rob
himself voluntarily ancle even eagerly sought the substitution of a new and br
Government for his old Ministry, does not alter :the fact that we have had ou
Government which is a tacit admission that the old Government had proven
in capacity for the tremendous task. Having made this bald statement, detail
until the war is won.
One advantage, however, Sir Robert and at least some of his late Minis
They had been•ain. close contact with the actual carrying on ,of the' . Y g h war; they ha .
official representatives and so had been constantly
trusted
with inside
nside nnfor
the British Government which could be shared with very, very few; they
kne
wellwe. were doing.under the voluntary system, andshort � Y Y n how far we'were,:
knew the ininediate future needs and our prospects of meetingthem. And i
considered -and certainly unwilling;opin.ion;that we could only keep up our essential
reinforcements to our army in Europe b.. adopting ting the' selective draft.
P Y p b There g� asry
of them who liked the .idea'. Some of them hated it as
the I3ritisl�,nation has al;az
he odious°wor —" ,, - ,�
d Censers t. But, with their special and ne�:ess �°� �
��: PP �_ s...crct.
t`kbn; the saw -no other -way out:So the first Step they took Was to accept the'
of, their exclusive knowledge, ge, andt
, to declare that the country must at last acce
.of military compulsion.
The first man: asked to join them :onT it '� ,
that platform; s �� ��r.
1 -le was asked tocoine and bring a number of his Liberal.colleagues with hi n:fi
offered afift T-fift�:" divisi �'�
3 y son of the�Cabinet with the exception that Sit '''`
p � Robert Box
naturally retain the Premiership. We now know that 'a clear majority .ol
leaders wanted.to accept that offer' and '.
.,. Ployally share the responsibility.
them did finally,acce t it and are now in the Government. But i
. P Sir Wilfrid and l
took another view. They flatly contradicted the official statement that comp
become necessary. They still flatly contradict it, though' " are ready s
3' � Y to ubr'
ion to a vote of the people. They will accept compulsion if the people say so.
are not opposed to it on anyground of principle. The : merely that
.,, � Y � argue t�
dient; and they set their opinion on this point—necessarily an outside opinion ----=w.
informed official opinion, based on full and confidential knowledge, of the. Canadin
ers who' know the secrets,of our War Office and enjoy the con euce of the Brit
cabinet. So on this point when the Canadian elector goes to the polls, he must d
tween accepting the guess of an outsider and the positive knowledge of air
That is the one-point,we wanti,
p the
to make in' this article. Elsewhere in this r�
ments will be found on the ethics, 'the efficiency, the` r ,�'
. y, essential democracy and
factors in this, great question of compulsory military service. Itis now these
of every great nation, :ncludin the American Reublic. But the question befo
is its application to Canada; and however convincingly pe tig=
PP' 9 , we may argue
and, dezrrocratic.s stein that Y � for it a�
„ system, we all know our people would not accept it today if
not o.ee itgrirnlynecessary. The Union Government declares it necessary. The
Opposition denies this. It talks of an
appeal to thepeople
eole inareferendum; ,)u;
knows thatthat appeal will come in the pending elections. If Laurier wins.,
l.l:�c� e,
need for a referendum. The people will have againstvoted _ compulsion. So the si
crystal clear—if;7 the Union Government is beatn compulsion will got b`k
voluntarism will again be invoked, and, in the opinion of every mad in 4 positio
the stream of Canadian recruits will no longer' equal the. Canadian casualties,' and'
dian divisions at the front will gradually be wiped out by the triumphant German
will slink from the field. Canada will tacitly sign a separate peace.
That is why` we say that the Laurier Opposition are inviting'Canai
"Carry Ong.." Some of their
speakers are suggesting
uggesting thatwe might recruit
cam ancl feed the real fighters. Others are urging that Canada has' done mot)
we have done less relativelythan an important nation in"thwar i exc
.. _ � l? e with she
United States which is just beginning --and beginning with conscription.
l
say that we should never have fought until" the Germans landed in Canada:
v,.
valiant _gentlemen and especially their women. folk, to' ,
� Ythe I�xyc�, report and o
curdling and authentic statements of atrocities contained in issue.
•
this r sue.
But we shall tot labor the pointr -.; '`;
. P , � On the Laurier banner i�� �� � .tt
This``',Vay Gaut.'' If we want to quit 'we should vote for theLaurier
9 ca,s. wN ,;
the onesure way to do it.' The consequences to Canada if we do this, and so prod: ce;
breach in the Allied line' vhich'has proven so fatal. inGalicia1 ��
., P , . �,xad x� t;rlr�, C,�tirn�c:
nothrn short of colossal disaster, If the Adipes lose there s
Xt a safe xvst
Dominion,, 'Our xudusti es, in coilarno.. , v ith oth� `' Allied.
the,nzarl'ets of the world ,4 • the cxerman ;ick be ,.
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