722 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



September 1. 1013. 



would be different if your country were 

 threatened, but to be shot for a pig is 

 ridiculous." 



"That is all very well. I would be 

 shot as a deserter if ever I set foot in 

 Germany again, and after all, it is 

 my home, where I must earn my liv- 

 ing.". 



" So you and every German abroad 

 lias to choose between going back to 

 be food for powder, or staying away 

 in permanent exile?" 



" Exactly. All of us are liable to 

 be recalled to the colours until we are 

 over fifty." 



" But how does the General Staff 

 know where to find you?" 



" It is a wonderful system," and he 

 brightened up in explaining it, for it 

 is, indeed, a triumph of the methodical 

 and orderly Teutonic mind. "We all 

 have to notify our consul where we are, 

 and must report periodically. Every 

 man's record is kept by the headquar- 

 ters Staff, which can put its finger upon 

 him whenever it wants him. Every- 

 one liable to serve in case of war knows 

 just how long he may have after being 

 summoned to reach his post in the 

 army. When 1 was at home I was 

 allowed thirty-six hours ; when I lived 

 in Paris I had to report in three days. 

 All of us in London are permitted eight 

 days, owing to the possibilities of inter- 

 ruption of steamer traffic." 



" Do you have to pay your expenses 

 home ?" 



" No, we don't ; even a conscription 

 Government could not expect that." 



" Then T suppose what we have been 

 reading about Servian and Bulgarian 

 patriots hastening home from America 

 to offer their services to their fatherland 

 does not really mean they are volun- 

 teers?" 



" Not a bit of it." You may be 

 pretty certain that they cannot help 

 themselves. The ones who did not have 

 any reason to object to permanent exile 

 just stayed quietly where they were." 



" I am wondering," I said, " whether 

 in New Zealand and Australia, where, 

 you know, they have adopted a mild 



form of conscription, all citizens will 

 have to notify the army headquarters 

 whenever thev desire to leave the 

 country." 



" Of course they must," he replied, 

 astonished at my question ; " if you 

 go in for compulsory service, even of 

 the mildest type, the conscripts, or what- 

 ever name they go under, are obliged 

 to hold themselves in readiness to re- 

 turn home at once should need arise." 



"Well," I exclaimed, "I think that 

 is about the last idea that would enter 

 the head of an Australian or New 

 Zealander. They have always consid- 

 ered themselves perfectly free to go 

 where they choose, and do exactly as 

 they please, just as we do here in Eng- 

 land, without bothering themselves 

 about reporting to the Chief of Staff, 

 or the police, or anyone else. T am sure 

 the)' will never do it." 



" Perhaps," he smiled, " they don't 

 think they will, and they won't find 

 out that they have got to until it is too 

 late for them to protest. Once let the 

 military authorities have a good open- 

 ing to make a start with conscription, 

 no matter how innocent it appears to 

 be, and you will find that before long 

 they will rule the roost. It is inevitable 

 — follows as a matter of course. Those 

 who are keen in adopting compulsory 

 service, had better go through what I 

 am experiencing just now," and he fell 

 to packing up his things ready for a 

 hasty departure. Fortunately, the pig 

 question was settled by Servia under- 

 taking to have all her new armaments 

 made in Austrian factories, and agree- 

 insf to abate her claim for a Servian 

 owned port on the Adriatic in favour 

 of free access there only, the first ar- 

 rangement disposing of Austrian hos- 

 tility, the last of Italy's. Another in- 

 stance of the way in which the great 

 weapon factories control and sway 

 European politics. 



Dr. is but one case ; there are 



thousands of others. I suppose, too. 

 he was correct about the need there will 

 be of Australians and New Zealanders 

 liable to serve notifying the military 

 authorities as to their movements ! 



