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Show ill: Tn a recent statement the war department de-partment strongly advises against discouraging dis-couraging letters to soldiers: "Recent reports from commanding generals of certain array divisions Indicate In-dicate that one of the fruitful causes of soldiers absenting themselves without with-out leave Is the discouraging letter from home. Such letters frequently give alarming and exaggerated reports of conditions surrounding the soldier's family, that some member is desperately desper-ately ill. that all are starving, or that they are being In some way harassed. In Instances such letters have so preyed upon the minds of soldiers that they have absented themselves without with-out leave to go home, only to find that conditions had been grossly exaggerated. ex-aggerated. "Meanwhile the soldier had been absent ab-sent without leave a serious military offense. His problem then became one of facing the penalty or getting deeper Into trouble by deserting. Sometimes Some-times a man's pride or fear has led film tn desert. "Every soldier wants to receive letters let-ters from home. They should be frequent, fre-quent, cheerful, hopeful, and appreciative appre-ciative of the sacrifice that he Is making for his country. They should be full of family incidents and cheerful cheer-ful home gossip. They should protect pro-tect him from the trifling alarms and the sinull annoyances of everyday life. They should encourage him by giving full confidence that his family and his friends stand behind him In the great enterprise he hus undertaken. "The value of such letters to soldiers is beyond estimate. The harm that discouraging letters from home do to him Is clearly Indicated by reports at the adjustant general's office. Here are some extracts from recent reports of division commanders: " 'I find, also, that many of the families fam-ilies of the men write to them of unsatisfactory un-satisfactory conditions at home, sick- ni,,Haa onH hnw milch VS- Urno ui 1 ovi v o, rious members of the family wish to see the soldier. These letters, so far as sickness, etc., are concerned, are often overdrawn, but, combined with the homesick feeling, often result In the man going absent without leave and finally being" dropped as a deserter.' de-serter.' "'I am now, through the newspapers newspa-pers of Indiana and through lecturers in Kentucky, whom we are able to I reach through the office of the adjutant ad-jutant ffenerul of that state, endeavoring endeavor-ing to advise the home people of these men of the seriousness of these offenses of-fenses and that their efforts should be to assist every man in performing ths duty that has devolved on htm, to lighten his worries, and, above all, to regard desertion In its proper light. I shall also attempt to get the West' vi.nta minor tn Institute a cam- pnlgn of education along similar lines. "A division Inspector submitted the following in this connection: "While stationed at Columbus hsr-racks, hsr-racks, Ohio, last year I was a member of a genera! court-martial that tried approximately 100 enlisted men for desertion from National Guard regiments regi-ments stationed oo the border. I believe be-lieve I am safe In saying that at least ) per cent of them gave as their res-eon res-eon for desertion the fact that they had received letters from home to the effect that a wife, sister, or mother was either dying, very 111, or In des-tltue des-tltue circumstances, and begged the mnn to come home at once. Many of the men admitted that when they arrived ar-rived home they found that the writer of the letter had exaggerated condl- tlons.' "Many young soldiers, fresh from home, suffer from homesickness, no matter how army officers may try to make their surroundings pleasnot and I comfortable and provide proper amusements. Extraordinary measures meas-ures have been taken by the war department de-partment during the past year to keep the young soldier actively engaged while in camp with sports, amusements, amuse-ments, and comforts that a wholesome psychology might he sustained. Still, a type of soldier will yearn for home and fall Into a brooding mood. It Is obvious how harmful to him and to the service a discontented letter from home ndght be." The enrollment of more than 102.000 hovs between sixteen and twenty-one years of age for farm work this season in the boys' working reserve of the United States employment service has been made by six states, according to an announcement by the department of labor. The states llrst reporting were: California, 22,000-, Indiana. 18.845; Illinois, Il-linois, 25,000; Ohio, 18.000; Tennessee, 4.22Q--.Wlacoosla. U.00Q--- |