Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1898 — Who Should go to War. [ARTICLE]

Who Should go to War.

It is every man’s duty to serve his country in the way he can serve it * best. If it is by going to war he should go to war; if by staying at home and letting some other go, then he should stay at home. Just now some of our citizens can serve their country best by going to war. Those who are needed however are but a small proportion to those who are not needed. In this county, for instance, there are probably not less than 200 men and boys who aro keenly anxious to serve their country at once, in war. Several hundred others would be willing and even anxious to go if they thought their country needed them. But even of those 200 who are most anxious to go, not over 20 or 30 at the most will be accepted under the present call. So few, then, being needed, is it not evident that those few should be from among those who will be likely to make the most efficient soldiers at the front, and whose going will be least likely to cause distress or suffering upon those they leave behind? One man may be as good as another when it comes to facing the dangers of the actual battle, but when it comes to withstanding the hardships and privations of marching and camping; the exposure to the weather, and above all, the dangers of a strange and very unhealthy climate, some men are certainly vastly better than others. Some men indeed can endure safely and even with ease, what to others would be sickness, exhaustion and in many cases death. True, if his country needs him badly enough, no man should stay behind for fear of death, nor even for the certainty of death. But when but few are needed, as in the present case, it is the duty of those whose going would be most dangerous to themselves, and therefore least likely to be servioable to their country, to stand back and let those go who can do so with the least danger to themselves and the greatest prospect of doing efficient service to their country. Those who go should be strong, vigorous and healthy young men; for they are those who will best withstand the rigors of the camp and the march, and the dangers of a climate that is in itself, more “terrible than an armyfewith banners,” and be therefore most likely to be able to do their part when the time of actual battle comes. There are are plenty of this class willing and anxious to supply all present demands, many times over, and those of other classes should feel it their duty to stand back and allow them that privelege. The time may come when the older and feebler, and the immaturely young men will be needed, but it is not likely in this war, and certainly has not come yet. And even of the class best fitted for the war service, there are so many more than can be taken, that among these, those who are badly needed at home should stand back and give place to those who can more easily be spared. There is, as yet, no occasion for men with dependent families or aged parents, to go the front. These also, should not crowd into the ranks, to the exclusion of others equally well fitted and anxious to go, and much better to lie spared.