Your Opinion on Compulsory Conscription??

The compulsory conscription bill is one of the gravest measures the Lebanese government has laid before the Chamber of Deputies. And since it is woman alone who may rightly pronounce upon the good or the evil of this bill, "The Woman's Voice" — which has spread advocacy of this bill in every circle, in its pages and in its broadcasts — today opens the door wide for woman to have her say in this question.

Mrs. Farida, wife of Mr. Farhan Shubaylat

... I almost forgot the original purpose of my visit when Mrs. Farida received me with such warmth. We fell to recalling our memories of school days, when the American College for Girls brought us together on its benches, and we were two companions in perfect understanding!

... And I almost forgot that my eager interlocutor is the wife of the Minister Plenipotentiary of Transjordan! No wonder: kindness and sociability are among the first virtues of this great house! They allow no room for an atmosphere of affected grandeur, as is the case with many who grow great in the offices of the state.

... And Mrs. Farida answered me, the marks of earnestness showing on her features:

— Before I give my opinion on compulsory conscription, I should like to point out the error common among mothers, who believe that the soldier's calling exposes their sons to destruction, and who for that reason are anxious to keep them away from that path. A noble verse says: "Wherever you may be, death will overtake you." If we believe in the appointed hour, nothing remains to justify our fearing one occupation above another.

What befell the people of Palestine is to be traced, for the most part, to the lack of organization and of military training. Had they been given some of what was given to their adversaries, they would without doubt have prevailed, and their victory would have been glorious and dazzling — for the Arabs of Palestine were never, on any day, sparing of money or of blood to keep their homeland. And our country, which was and remains the target of every covetous power, constantly threatened by Zionist raids that are no longer strange to us — our first duty, without doubt, is to repel aggression, and the only way is enrollment in the soldier's ranks.

Before I took leave of her she introduced me to her six children! Three of them are boys... They are still children, but their bearing shows that they will grow into brave soldiers, the first to step forward to perform their sacred duty when the time comes!

Mrs. Olga, wife of Mr. Shukri Shammas

... When I put my question to her, Mrs. Olga chose to review first, by way of preface, the social differences that mark off the classes of the people in our country from one another. She said:

— The programs of education, old and new alike, have failed to erase these distinctions from the minds of our sons. To my knowledge, nothing but soldiering can melt all these differences in the crucible of patriotism and true democracy. Soldiering is a second school for young men: it teaches them manliness and gives them complete preparation for the practice of the hard life that awaits them in their future.

Here her voice rose with enthusiasm and she sat up in her chair, as though it were no longer possible to contain her feeling, and said:

— I believe, my dear, that there is no longer any room for asking whether compulsory conscription is necessary or not. Our disgraceful showing in the Palestine question has proved that the organized, trained army alone is the pillar of the state and the cornerstone of its independence. What good did the great number of our men do us, when they were untrained in soldiering?

... Finally, Mrs. Shammas assured me, as she saw me off at the door, that it will be an hour of blessing and good fortune, the day the compulsory conscription bill is carried into effect, and that she is even now preparing her three boys for the soldier's life, which is the homeland's pride and its only support!

Mrs. Nuha, wife of Mr. Farid Izz al-Din

... Little Fawzi received me with youthful vigor and head held high — he is the very model of the little soldier.

... We settled into our seats. I put my question to Mrs. Nuha, and she answered with great deliberation, apologizing shyly that she is new to these problems, though the subject is a vital one and she is acquainted with its facts:

— The Arab countries at the present time are placed by their geographical position in a delicate spot between the Eastern and Western fronts. Before all this, they are threatened by the Zionist peril crouching on a patch of ground that is of their very substance; and they are, likewise, in the utmost need of a comprehensive military renaissance to strengthen their position and support their independence.

When Lebanon followed the example of its sisters Syria, Egypt, and Iraq, and its government adopted the principle of compulsory conscription, that act was a blessed step on which the government is to be congratulated. Its execution will bring the greatest of benefits to the Lebanese. Compulsory conscription is the best of schools for the young, for it melts them all in the crucible of patriotism, removes the various obstacles that used to divide their sons, and strengthens in them the spirit of manliness, dignity, and order.

Independence carries many responsibilities, the foremost of which is the responsibility of defending it. Hence it is the duty of every independent state to strengthen its armed forces, and this can only be done by way of compulsory military service and the levying of the blood tax.

Compulsory conscription is the best school for the sons of the nation, and the sooner the government puts it into effect, the better it will have done.

I took leave of Mrs. Nuha, praising her patriotism, and I still remember her last words to me:
"Would that I had more than one soldier to offer to the army."

... After this I wished to meet a second group of our mothers — those who have young sons of military age or near it, for on these lie the greater responsibilities...

Mrs. Wafaq, wife of Dr. Mustafa Khalidi

... Mrs. Wafaq received me with a calm smile and a welcome, as is always her habit, and scarcely had I put my question to her when a gleam of enthusiasm showed in her eyes and she said:

— Have we any choice in this? Or has the matter become inevitable? For my part, I see no hope except through this one window! What force will drive our enemies from us other than the force of our own soldiers, of our own flesh and blood? If we aspire to become a respected nation, one whose flank is feared, then we must have compulsory conscription: it alone is the way of deliverance from the Zionist peril crouching on the borders of our country and filling our hearts with terror...

And I asked her, inquiring:

— And should the bill be carried out, will you encourage your children to enroll in the soldier's ranks?

— Yes! I would be the first to send her children to soldiering... and I would have the honor of doing so! No pleasure of mine can equal that pleasure — to see them strong, hardened young men, their muscles like twisted rope. And this makes me great among people: to have borne for this dear homeland four soldiers to defend its precincts.

... And as I stood at the door I met the four Khalidi boys coming home from school — the eldest of them, Ramzi, is almost a young man! Eighteen years old? Then he is of military age!

Mrs. Adal Rihani Sader

Mrs. Adal received me in the Oriental salon, its heavy curtains hanging low so that the old Oriental seats showed in their dusky, aristocratic colors...

... My interlocutor was surprised at my question, for she sees no pressing necessity calling for compulsory conscription; and she is anxious not to be misunderstood, and her words taken as an opinion stripped of true patriotism! She said:

— My sons are above military age, so there is no room for the interpretation that I express this opinion to escape responsibility and duty. What we need is to spread the principles of peace among mankind, not to prepare the means of mutual slaughter and strife by conscription and armament.

And as a mother, I hold that it is incumbent on mothers to sow in the breasts of their sons the love of peace and resistance to the causes of war, so that they may grow up on humane principles. The preaching of these principles is more profitable to us and to humanity than compulsory conscription — especially as we are too weak to keep pace with others along that road...