National Service and V.D.
While the National Service Bill was passing through Parliament a leading headmaster protested against the idea of sending boys of 18 or 19 to undertake garrison duty in Germany. The protest passed unnoticed, but an arresting commentary on it is provided by a letter from Lord Moran in Wednesday's Times, declaring that the incidence of venereal disease in the Army of Occupation in Germany is five times what it is in the Army at home, though the figure for the latter represents twice what has hitherto been the usual rate. Lord Moran calls 'on the War Office to find a remedy for an evil so alarming. That, obviously, will not be easy. The association of English soldiers with German women cannot be checked except by the institution of a regime so severe that it would never be tolerated. In fact neither penalties nor prophylactics meet the case. What is happening is what always does happen with an army of occupation, and this particular army will have to stay where it is for years yet. But to send immature boys, and conscripts at that, to Germany in the conditions now prevailing is a challenge to public opinion which public opinion cannot ignore. Compulsion for service at home and compulsion for service in the conditions prevailing in Germany are two totally different things. Either the conditions must somehow be changed or the national service men must be given duties at home.
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