For my own part, interested in both of these matters, I have come to the conclusion that the old methods have failed, and that I would rather have an army immoral and well than an army immoral and diseased. As human nature is constituted at present I can see no alternative, though I believe it to be our bounden duty to continue to urge the need of self-restraint. I do not fear that these words will be taken to cast a slur upon any army, for those of us who are not blind are perfectly aware that the same kind of immorality exists among civilian populations as in armies. For those men who shall read these words of mine I would with all the force at my command urge the close following of the precepts of Lord Kitchener. [Illustration: FIGURE 11: Simple entanglements made of barbed wire and rough posts.] A kindred problem with which the authorities sometimes have to deal is that of "unnatural men." Records of the German Army before the war contained many examples of this most revolting form of perversion. In the British Armies that were raised at the outbreak of the war, several cases occurred, the offenders being punished with terms of imprisonment varying from seven to fifteen years with hard labour--much too lenient. The whole problem is most difficult to deal with, and any one who attempts to deal with it risks public censure. Yet the problem must be faced, nevertheless, and the sooner we apply sane methods to its solution, the better. Of course views will differ as to what constitutes sane methods, but I am convinced from my own experience with soldiers that the method outlined above is a good one. We must not, however, fail to emphasise the dangers that men run. They must be taught the folly of it. We must make it plain to them that it is not worth the candle to run the risk of contracting the most horrible diseases that even our advanced medical science can never cure with certainty, for the sake of a brief gratification. A man's whole life may be ruined; his innocent children afflicted with a loathsome disease; his wife made to endure years of physical and mental torment as the price of that foolish act. Were this book a moral treatise I should spend time in driving this point home with more force. But as the object I desire to achieve is to show men how they can become soldiers and remain fit, it must suffice to say again that the surest way to lay up misery for yourself, to render yourself unfit to remain at your soldier tasks and thus increase the odds of the enemy against your side is to run the risk of venereal disease through contact with women. CHAPTER IV VERMIN