“And, you know, we think it dreadful that our boys are being sent over to France to fight for democracy when England is keeping her men back in safety in England.”

Another story this—­another “terminological inexactitude.”  A fairly clever one.  There is a half truth here.  Yes; England has big reserves in England, and it’s well for the world that she has.  Well for the neutral world during these three years that England has her men in England.

The English have good reserves and they are in England.  They are there because England is nearer to the firing line than is the base in France.  They are there because it is easier to transport troops by boat across the English Channel, which is a matter of twenty-one miles, and another twenty or thirty miles in a train on the French side, than it is to transport them in cattle cars over a congested railroad system from a base some twenty-six hours from the front line.

Can not the people who hear these stories disprove them for themselves?  Is there not a war-map sold in America?  England is closer to the firing line than are portions of France, the portions of France which are used as bases.  It takes twenty minutes for a German air-ship to reach England.

Were the English soldiers all to be kept in France, in addition to being farther away from the line, they would still have to be fed.  Is it better sense to keep them near to the food supply, or to send the reserves to France and use valuable tonnage to ship foodstuffs to them?  There is no surplus food in France.

It makes me tired and it makes every Britisher the same to think that such absurd stories should take effect.  Of course the German is keen enough to recognize that there is already the will to think evil of England.  He just wishes to season it a little and stir it up.  He is wily, is the German propagandist.

Then there is the hoary tale that England is keeping one hundred fifty thousand troops in Ireland to tyrannize over the poor Irish, while the States soldiers are sent to France to fight for democracy.

This I also thought too obvious a lie for denial, but it has been repeated and repeated again.  I do not know whether there are any English regiments stationed in Ireland at all.  There are good barracks in that country, and good camps, so there may be.

The Royal Irish Constabulary are quite able to cope at this time with any Sinn Fein disturbance which may arise.  As far as the true Nationalist or Home Ruler is concerned, he has enlisted in British regiments and is fighting at the front.  As far as the Ulsterman is concerned, he has enlisted long ago and is dead already or fighting still.  The men of both sides who are over age are enlisted as Home Defense Volunteers, just as are the men of England, Scotland and Wales.

So little is there tyranny over Ireland that when the Conscription Bill was passed in the British Imperial Parliament it was enacted only for England, Scotland and Wales.  If it had included Ireland some one might have made the accusation of tyranny.