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"The people of America must put the idea of 'doing their bit' out of their minds at once, as England did after said experience with that catch phrase," said Captain Louis Keene, C. E. F., commandant of the Dartmouth Battalion, and author of the British war novel "Crumps," when interviewed by a CRIMSON reporter recently. "If the country relies upon each person doing his bit, we will lose the war. It is necessary for every man, woman and child in the Allied nations to do his and her utmost--and then some, if we are to be victorious.
"It is interesting to note how the term 'slacker', which you are now using over here in its earliest sense, has spread to include different classes of men who, though they may be in the service, are not doing their utmost toward winning the war. First the word slacker meant the man who dodged the enlistment office and the draft; then it was applied to those who secured soft berths in the service, such as patrol-boat jobs or office work, when they were well fitted for active service in the line; and now those who have had college training and are skilled enough to be officers, but who have seen fit to shirk the heavy responsibilities of the officers' post in order to join up as a non-com, are likely to be classed with the others who have not wanted to give their property and themselves at their best for success in battle.
"All this change will come to this country in due time. America will soon feel the war as it really can make itself felt. You do not yet know the awful dread with which England's homes have awaited each casualty list. When the time comes, and when the country reaches a stage where, as in England or France, every man you meet who is out of uniform immediately explains his lack of khaki without being asked; then America will be really, heartily in the war, and will truly understand the necessity of it all."
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