In war
time when soldiers were involved, it was more terrible than ever, for
the results, as the medical men saw them, were disastrous from the
military standpoint alone.
From this great ulcer in the heart of London a deadly poison passes
far and wide into the national organism. The ulcer is there still for
the knife of some strong man to excise, for there is little doubt that
though restrictions will not prevent vice, it is equally true that
making vice open, enticing and easy, increases it.
During that first winter, tickets for the theatre were sold at half
price to men in uniform. On the other hand, an officer's uniform
seemed to be the signal for increased prices in the shops,
particularly in the smaller ones. A London physician, an officer, told
me that when he went shopping he always dressed in civilian clothes
because it was so much more economical to shop as a civilian.
The badge "Canada" of course, had been the badge for high prices from
the day we landed in Plymouth. It was "Canada, our emblem dear" in
very truth. It was well known that the Canadian Tommy received a
dollar and ten cents a day, whereas the British Tommy received only
25 cents, and it was assumed that officers were correspondingly better
paid than the British officer, while as a matter of fact, we received
less, rank for rank. The question of overcharging Canadians became
such a scandal that later on it was brought up in the House of Commons
in an endeavour to fix prices for certain commodities in the Canadian
Shorncliffe area.
Pages:
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55