An officer at the front writes to us about the
talk among his men ; " The great grievance is in regard to food at home ; women write piteous tales about the shortage of this and that and the men very naturally say ` If there is a shortage, why doesn't the Government• put the country on compulsory rations all round 1 ' " What this officer does to correct misapprehension is to engage his men in what are known as " War Talks," explaining to them the objects of strategy, the meaning of political movements, and the difficulties of administration at home. He finds the men extra- ordinarily responsive, and attributes by far the greater part of their discontents to want of knowledge or to actually misleading information from home. If whining letters were written to soldiers at the front by educated people at home, the offence would be unforgivable. But of course such letters chiefly come from ignorant people who do not understand the mischief they may be doing. Here is an opportunity for the clergy and others to explain the matter to them. For the much-enduring soldier at the front to be upset by the trifling discomforts of those at home—most of them very well paid—is truly " the limit."
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