CALL TO THE COLOURS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2356, 12 January 1915, Page 5

CALL TO THE COLOURS

VOLUNTEER OR CONSCRIPT

(Bee. January 11, 5.55 p.m.)

London, January 10. During the debate on the recruiting question in the House of Lords, Lord Selborne said that Germany showed that she possessed most wonderful war machines for turning men into soldiers. On the whole,- physically capable, the German soldier ha<l proved to be splendidly brave. In failing to admit that we would rob our own soldiers of the credit of fighting so splendidly. The war must' be measured by years, not by, months. Many had not enlisted who might have done so. A man who was prepared to enjoy life under the British flag, without a grim determination to hand on that flag as free as ho found it, was not worthy of the name of Britisher. Lord Haldane said that Britain's task was a colossal one, needing every energy of the nation. Our constitution permitted conscription, but a magnificent response was being made to our appeal to enlist. It might be necessary to resort to conscription in a great national emergency. British experts were endeavouring to produce big guns, equivalent in power to those of the Germans. Our artillery service was in thorough order, and fifteen thousand guns had been added before the war. Lord Mao Donald stated that sixteen thousand Ulstermen and thirty-eight thousand Nationalists had been recruited. If an equal response was made by other parts of Britain we would have over two million men .for the colours. The Marquis of Crewe, replying, said that the_ Government considered that conscription would'not be regarded as compulsion "within a landscape as we now see it."—("Times and Sydney "Sun" Services.) AUSTRALIANS FOR THE" FRONT. AN IMPORTANT CONFERENCE IN MELBOURNE. (Rec. January 12, 1.15 a.m.) Melbourne, January 11. The military heads of the various States will confer to-morrow on defence' matters._ It is understood that the business includes the question of increasing the quotas to be sent to the front. RAMSAY MAODONALD FAVOURS CONSCRIPTION. ; (Rec. January 12, 1 a.m.) London, January 111 Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald, speaking at Paddington, Baid the war provided unanswerable arguments in favour of conscription. ' "To-day we are relying on conscriptionist_ France. We could not enter any Alliance again and tell our Allies to wait sis montliß before our troops could support them in the trenches if the Allies would allow them to do so." THE NEED FOR MEN. OUR LOSSES ESTIMATED. Lord Newton, speaking at a recruiting meeting at Salford recently, said he did not know that the country grasped even yet the gravity of the situation, but, having recently had an opportunity of visiting the French and English lines, he felt that he did grasp it. Along a 350 -miles front he did not suppose the British position could' be more than 25 miles. There the task was very severe. The Prime Minister, who would be the last man to deceive the country, said,there were 57,000 .casualties, but at- present there were more like 80,000. .'Some battalions had lost all their officers. One crack battalion was commanded the other day by a quartermaster, and two divisions, representing roughly 37,000 men, had been reduced to 5300. He did not see the wisdom of hiding these facts; he did see the wisdom of urgently impressing upon the nation that reinforcements were urgently required. (Cheers.) Threats of a German invasion were spread by Germany in the hope that they, would induce us to keep our soldiers at home, but the device was transparent, ana would not succeed. (Cheers.) A captain wrote: Oh I if we only had men now. They will have to send Territorials at once, I think. I doubt whether people at home really realise the wastage.* We as a battalion have been lucky, but we have now lost in killed and wounded 14 officers and just on 600 men; then sick raise the.numbers still more, so every man is wanted, and a law should forbid'a football being kicked. '

From a staff officer at the front :— There iswery liard fighting going on, just about the hardest there has been since the war began. I only hope that the casualty lists you are all reading | will bring home to the people of Eng- ! land that this is no picnic, .and that no waiting for the Russian advance will •■suffice. Men is what are wanted, .and plenty of them, for with quick-firing artillery of large calibre and high explosive shells and machine guns there must continuously be very large losses. We are getting men, but we want more badly, also officers j so, preach everywhere what I have written and impress on all that the longer the delay in sending men the longer the war will last.

A flight lieutenant in the E.N. Plying Corps wrote: —The war seems to be going on fairly well for us, but I hear from very reliable sources that the casualty list is shocking. It is an awful carnage. •We want every able-bodied young man we can get, otherwise God knows what will happen to England. And, what is more, the country requires them now; not to go abroad, but to train. A halftrained officer is worthless, a half-train-ed_ Tommy little better, and it takes quite a year to make even a moderate officer. I hope Mr. Asquith will tell the country straight out what is required, and what ha 6 been done, and make them .realise how serious this war really is. England is still asleep, and refuses to give Sir John French and Admiral Jellicoe the assistance they /so earnestly need.