The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1915. RECRUITING IN BRITAIN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 46, 23 October 1915, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1915. RECRUITING IN BRITAIN.

Wlion the British National Register returns come in at the end of November. the recruiting problem in England will have reached another important stage. Public opinion in the main seems to lie veering towards

compulsory service in some form, a the only equitable and fair met lux of assuring that the burden does no always'fall to the willing horse) whih the shirker evades his duty and re sponsibilities. There is every indica tion that the scheme of. recruiting t< be carried out under Lord Derby's direction is si modification of wine Lord Kitchener is believed to hav< advised, and under which each dis trict would be required to provide t certain number of men weekly. Ii the absence of powers of compulsioi Lord Derby proposes to make what use he can of local organisations, and he will form recruiting committees in each centre, charged with the duty of enrolling the stated number of men. It i,s stated that many districts have already such committees, and it is understood that in South Africa something similar has been sm ••essfullv attempted, and by its adoption excellent results were obtained when the call came for the organisation of an expeditionary force to go to Europe. A description ,of this method states that no man who desired to go to the front lacked assistance or encouragement to get there. Tf he bad resp,.u sibilities at home he was helped wdl them. Tf his employer stood in he road influence was In ought io beat to enable him to enlist without sacrilicinti his standing in employment 01

his prospect of returning to his position if he should come through the war safely. The idea is certainly a splendid one in many respects, and if | the voluntary system is to carry the Nation through, it will be largely owing to the work of these committees. A southern contemporary suggests that the method might even he adopted in New Zealand, because, amongst other reasons, innumerable little dilliculties present themselves in the course of a recruiting campaign, and it is the function of the local committee to overcome them. The committees, moreover, are in close touch with the authorities, and arc given precise information as to the military needs and assigned a definite place in the official scheme. Such a plan was sketched quite early in the war hy one of the London journals and formed the

basis of the work in quite a number of centres. The military authorities were sympathetic because they needed all the help they could yet.- and iso stances have been quoted in which local committees, called upon at a moment’s notice to find men for units in process of formation, were able to meet the demand in a few hours by the simple process of sending urgent messages to men who were listed as available. It is to be most sincerely hoped that whatever is done the pro-, Gorman howl of the pacificist will not be heard too loudly in the land, for it is the treasonable foolishness which British freedom of speech alone makes possible, which our enemies delight to spread hroadcaste among their people as evidence of the “breaking-up” of our Empire from within.