Do We Really Want A Volunteer Army?

Recently the idea of a volunteer army, as a substitute for UMT or the draft, has gained adherents among pacifists and opponents of the Vietnam War. The following “theses” have been circulated among DISSENT editors and have received favorable as well as unfavorable comment. Readers’ reactions are invited.

(1) A “Volunteer Army” is only another word for a mercenary army—the most despicable form of defense establishment ever imagined.

(2) A volunteer...