The Chronicle PUBLISSHED DAILY LEVIN. THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1915. LLOYD GEORGE ON CONSCRIPTION.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 12 August 1915, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISSHED DAILY LEVIN. THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1915. LLOYD GEORGE ON CONSCRIPTION.

O.N Tuesday wo referred to the matter ol' compulsory juilitary service, with an advocacy of its fairness when compared with the system oi volunteer enlistment pursued in Great Britain (and her oversea dependencies, su iar as the present war is concerned,). An incidental reference- was made to the speech delivered to the Manchester engineers by the lion. I>. Lloyd George wherein the .Minister lor Munitions expressed his readiness to recede from* his lifelong support of a volunteer system if it should be proved that the system had become unequal to the demands of a protracted war. The Minister's speech showed iiini still of opinion that the volunteer system would not fail, but he seemed oblivious to the unfairness of a volunteer system in so fa.' as it draws out the more impulsive the more generous natured men and J eaves the cooler, calculating sections to be called upon only in a last emergency. .None the less tlie speech of the Minister is of enduring interest because of its unequivocal pronouncement of readiness to resort to conscription when necessary. "There is a great discussion going on now as to the question of conscription,' he said, "and we are discussing it as ir we were discussing, say, Laud lteform—(laughter)

—National Insurance—(laughter)—or liome Rule ill the full leisure and tranquility of peace. You cannot argue under shell lire; you can only decide. 1 can only say this—that to introduce compulsion- as an important element in organizing the nation's resources . of skilled industry and trade does not necessarily mean conscription in the ordinary sense of 'the term. Conscription means raising by compulsory ii ethods armies to light liritaiu's battles abroad. Even that is a question, r/ot of principle, but of necessity. if the necessity arose 1 am certain no man of any party would protest. (Cheers). . Rut, pray, don't think about it as if it were anti-domooi'atic. We won and saved our liberties in this land on more than one occasion by compulsory service. France saved the liberties she had Avon in the great devolution from the langs of tyranniei'l military empires purely by compulsory service. The great Republic of the West won its independence and saved its national existence by compulsory service (cheers), and two of the greatest countries of Europe today—France and Italy (cheers)—are defending their national existence and liberties by means of compulsory service. It has been the greatest weapon in the hands of Democracy many a time for the winning and preservation of freedom. All the swine it would be a great mistake to resort to it unless it be absolutely necessary— that is the point. I think the opponents of conscription are entitled to say al the present- moment that the young men of the nation have not refused to respond in sufficient numbers to the appeals made to their patriotism to light Ihe battles of liberty in any continent, whether Europe, Asia or Africa. Thev are still coming in. Their numbers are far ahead of the eqnipment for them, and I have no reason to doubt

fiom what I see of the rate at which they are volunteering that their umillers will keep well ahead of equipment; and it undoubtedly would be a proud, boast at the end of this war that without compulsion we had done something that no country in tho world has ever done (cheers); that our ydung men from every rank of life, from every home had torn themselves away from their associations, tender iand affectionate, and bad placed thoir lives at the disposal of the country of their own free will. It will be a great boast, and ii will still be a greater boast that all the descriptions of horror cabled from the battlefield had only one effect on tho breasts of our young Britons—it sent them to the recruiting office in great numbers, and with greater celerity (cheers). That is a great story, and I should like to see it continued on tho same oxalted level to the concluding chapter of ringing triumph. But it has nothing to do with our real difficulty, and I want to separate the two problems. 1 say to those who wish us ta dismiss conscription for the time being as a means of levying armies for fighting abroad: 'l r ou ought not thereby to assume that it is unnecessary in enabling us to mobilize the industrial strength of this country.' (Cheers). Let us be quite frank with ourselves. Frankness is the beginning ol wise action; it is the beginning" ot Victory. We,were the worst organised nation in the world for this war. 1 am not altogether sorry lor that; that fact will be our apology and defence when this war comes to be judged, i

would rather' that we suffered somewhat than that wo should have tho siain on our conscience oi having had anything to do -with precipitating this horrible war. (Cheers). When we appear at the groat judgment seat of history as a nation and as a people, and this war, with its terrors, with its tortt res, with its suffering, is brought up against us, we can say the proof that wo are innocent of this crime is that wi; did not prepare. We, at any rate, did not organize ior that war. We had not organized great forces for the purpose of conquering Germany or Austria, or trampling upon the liberties of any other nation. Hut undoubtedly this exculpatory /fact left us the worst organized nation in tho world. We are a very individualistic nation, which means that we all want to have our own way. Individualism has its merits in producing stvong, independent, virile nations; but in war individualism has its manifold effects."