IMPRESSIONS OF MILITARY LIFE IN FRANCE 369 



So my general impression is that the army has on the whole no up- 

 lifting influence whatever; and without being so black as it was some- 

 times painted, it has a lowering effect on all except the very lowest. I 

 must, however, mention a few hopeful signs of transformation, which 

 seem to point to a compromise between the army and modern democracy. 



The first is the absolute equalization of the term of service. Be- 

 fore 1905 the wealthy classes had either escaped service altogether 

 (paying a substitute, or buying themselves off directly) or served one 

 year in special corps while the rest served five or three. They con- 

 sistently opposed the general adoption of the one-year term of service, 

 which they themselves enjoyed. Now, it will be easier to further reduce 

 the term of service, first to one year, then to six months. "With such 

 reduction the dangers of military life decrease (less idleness, more in- 

 terest), while its good features (as a school of citizenship and physical 

 culture) are retained. 



2. For the last ten years an immense effort has been made for trans- 

 forming the army into a great educational agency. Le Temps, always 

 opposed to any form of progress, recently published a skit in which civil 

 professors in the army (professors of civics, hygiene, geography, rural 

 economy, " prevoyance," etc.) complained that drills, marches and 

 manoeuvres were interfering with their teaching. Nay, pacifist lec- 

 tures were at one time regularly given in French barracks (under Gen- 

 eral Andre) . Of course it would be more sensible to spend the money 

 directly on education. But the gradual " humanization " of the army 

 is an excellent thing. 



3. At the time of the postal strikes, of the railroad strikes, of the 

 Seine flood, the army was called upon to fulfil various duties, and did 

 it admirably. There is a great danger in turning the army into a uni- 

 versal strike-breaking corps, or a body of "compulsory scabs." On the 

 other hand, this industrial use of the army points to a mighty trans- 

 formation; the war forces could become, as W. James intimated, re- 

 serve forces of peace, for great public works, sudden emergencies, na- 

 tional disasters. (Herein again the wit of journalists found a free field ; 

 it was announced that nursery-maids had formed a union (syndicat) 

 and struck for shorter hours. The Nth regiment of engineers was de- 

 tailed to take their places, to the great delight of cooks.) 



"We must look forward to a gradual transformation, for militarism 

 will not be rooted out in one day. Costly as it is, the nations grow rich 

 in spite of the burden. There is no doubt but France is amassing 

 wealth at a rapid rate, and fast becoming the banker of the world, while 

 Germany's progress is stupendous. France's toll on the foreigner (in- 

 vestments abroad, and expenses of tourists) alone more than pays for 

 the interest of the debt, and the cost of the military establishment. 

 Conservative papers, like Le Figaro and Le Temps sound notes of warn- 



