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9
THE ARMY
became evident that to bring the war to a satisfactory conclusion in the shortest period of time, and as an earnest to our Allies of our grim determination, a more drastic Compulsory Service Act was necessary. Consequently a second Military Service Act was passed in May 1916, which made service in the Army compulsory for all men between the ages of eighteen and forty-one, except such as properly constituted tribunals exempted as being necessary for other national service. All sorts of dire consequences were predicted by a small but unsatisfactory element at the time this Bill was proposed; but when it became an Act, it was accepted calmly by the people as a national necessity.
