107
J.L. Granatstein
demonstrated this to be a truism. Canadians had enjoyed the “swag-
ger” of the peacetime militia in the past, but “when after the war [had
started] and peril was imminent, we were let in for the odious task of
cajoling or threatening men into joining the overseas forces, when we
attempted to pose as persons of superior loyalty and patriotism ... it
was then that many military officers concluded once and for all that
the voluntary system was a mistake. ...” Another concern for thePark-
dale M.P. was the physical condition of Canada’s young manhood. “It
appears that the young men of the First Class, recently called [under
the Military Service Act], were deficient to the extent of 65%—that is
to say, more than one half were unfit for the rigors of modern service.
Conditions in factories, child labour, watching games from bleachers
instead of playing, frequenting pool rooms and moving picture shows,
may account for this loss of manhood. ...” The solution, Mowat main-
tained, was for all men to be trained for six weeks a year until they
reached the age of 25. Then they would go into the reserve list. “Let
people look upon defence as an essential part of their life duty,” the
Major maintained, “as great as paying their taxes, extinguishing fires,
and obeying their laws.”
4
Such arguments were accepted as revealed truth by some officers
of the General Staff at militia headquarters in Ottawa. To them the
war had demonstrated clearly that Canada needed universal military
training, and no sooner had the war ended than the planners, appar-
ently blind to the political realities, were preparing their proposals.On
20 November 1918 the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir W.G.
Gwatkin, advised the Deputy Minister of Militia “that a scheme for
universal training should be submitted to Parliament at the approach-
ing Session.” A committee preparing the reorganization of the militia
and chaired by General Sir William Otter was also conscriptionist to a
man, and the Minister of Militia, General Mewburn, was said to agree.
But General Otter was more of a realist, and when he was pressed by
some eager Hamilton militia officers on conscription, he warned them
that “There is throughout Canada a feeling that there shouldn’t be
any militia at all.”
5
Some of the same thoughts must have been going
through General Currie’s mind. When he heard that militia headquar-
ters were pressing universal military training, he was shrewd enough
to suggest that the matter should first be raised from within some such
body as the Great War Veterans Association, one of the predecessors of
the Canadian Legion. “They ought to realize,” Currie said, “that much
of the dissatisfaction amongst the returned soldiers is primarily due to
the unsatisfactory way in which the manhood of our country served
during the war. ... “
6
