war and marine, and, above all, if they persist in subterfuges, then they must not be allowed to remain in power. They must be overwhelmingly defeated in 1916. That election will then be the first since 1860 upon which has depended the fate of our native land.

I am advised by legal authorities that the eighth Article of the Constitution, which empowers the National Congress to raise and support armies, gives Congress, by virtue of subsequent interpretations, all the authority necessary to institute in the United States the Swiss system of general compulsory service, or any other system, without the delay of referring the matter to the vote of the individual States.

This fact has a most vital bearing on the fate of the United States. It signifies

that if one of the contending political parties, in the Presidential election of 1916, makes the question of reasonable military preparedness its platform and wins a decisive victory, the congress then elected can, and may, within one year pass all enactments necessary for the institution of general military service, adequate national defense, and valid peace insurance.

As matters stand to-day, our nation is doomed to irretrievable disaster in its next war. No sacrifices made after the hour has struck will avail to save us. It is not upon the battle-fields of that war that our national existence is to be saved, but in the next Presidential campaign.

Aux armes, citoyens! Formez vos bataillons!

R.W.C.

PENELOPE always knew when Stu

art was going to borrow. He rang his aunt's door-bell oftener, telephoned her for one merry reason or another, sent her postals illustrated with quaint little Egyptian drawings of his various dilemmas. Dr. Mary herself never foresaw; she laughed her fat, kind chuckle up to the very moment when Stuart, a little brighter and straighter and gayer than necessary, came in with an "Oh, by the way" air, and asked to see her half a minute. She would usually be a bit depressed that day, but by the next she had forgotten. Certainly she did not suffer over the business-not as Penelope did. Her nephew was the one bit of romance in her life, and his sunny affection repaid her for all he might cost. When Penelope made her rigid young demand that even an artist go without that for which he could not pay, she had an indulgent "Ah, they 're different from us, Penny!" that made the girl physically ill with sheer, helpless protest.

It was coming again, and Penelope, as she bent low over her desk, was saying to herself:

"I can't help it; I 've got to speak! It's none of my business, and he 'll tell me so, and hate me; but I can't sit here and see it happen again. I can't bear it."

Dr. Mary Wise had a large practice, but no one knew better than her secretary how little money it meant, and what small provision had yet been made for the old age that was not far off. That others

should abuse her kindness had become a matter for exhausted resignation; but not that Stuart should. That scorched.

"If I can just keep angry enough, I 'll say it," Penelope prayed, her arms tight across her chest for courage.

Usually Stuart was the young morning personified, gleaming with vitality; but to-day he drooped. Even his cherished little mustache hung limp. The first time he had waxed its points he had rushed over to show Penelope, twisting them with foreign grace and talking strange languages. When he had taken to tortoise-shell eye-glasses, he had come in to show her those, too, and she always had to see his work, from the first sketch to the finished decoration; but he usually avoided her during his financial crises.

"Dr. Mary is n't in," she told him, offering him his fair chance to escape, and in her shrinking heart hoping that he would. Every one praised and petted Stuart; but she, because she loved honor more, must hurt him.

Perhaps she had misread the signs, for Stuart, as always, sat on the corner of her desk and wanted to know all about herself. He really wanted to know, that was one of his terrible charms, -how her mother was, how the work was going, if Buster had said anything funny lately. He often drew pictures for the little. brother, and then he asked her next time how Buster had liked them. Oh, he was most lovable! Penelope's defensive arms tightened. A thin layer of college edu

There are numerous other changes which can be made almost as quickly and which tend logically toward the attainment of reasonable preparedness. Not the least of these would be to transfer the command of our state regiments from the hands of the governors to the Federal Government. This would result in the nationalization of the militia, and would be a distinct step in the right direction. It would allow the militia of the various States to serve their country directly and without the services of forty-eight middlemen. It would result in unification and standardization and in a more efficient body of trained civilian officers. To make the militia a national army would be a step toward making it a national army of the Swiss and Australian type.

To secure for the militia the best element of our population, the hard-working, clear-thinking, and truly patriotic citizens, two changes in our present methods are absolutely necessary: first, we must pay

adequate wages to our militia when in service, and, second, we must cease to demand of our state regiments that they render strike duty. This last is the chief obstacle to enlistment, for the better class of working-men will not volunteer for a service that may at some time oblige them to shoot down their fellow-workmen. To be a good citizen, a man must be a good soldier in time of war, and he must be an active participant in political and economic discussions in time of peace. But if he fulfils the second of these two requirements, he is and should be partizan; and if he is forced to perform the duties which. properly belong to a state police force like the gendarmerie of France or the Royal Northwestern Mounted Police of Canada, he either hesitates to suppress his confederates or oppresses his antagonists. A good citizen may logically be a soldier or a policeman; he cannot justly be both. at once. This is recognized in European armies, which have their own police forces, which as a rule do no fighting.