Conscription Bill Read Second Time by 387 to 145 Votes

Northern Advocate, 9 May 1939, Page 8

Conscription Bill Read Second Time by 387 to 145 Votes

("Received 2 p.m.) RUGBY. May 8. qpHE HOUSE OF COMMONS TONi GHI GAVE THE SECOND READING TO THE COMPULSORY MILIT ARY TRAINING BILL, WHICH PROVIDES FOR SIX MONTHS TRAINING OF MEN BETWEEN 20 AND 21. THE VOTING WAS 387 TO 145. The Secretary of War, Mr L. Hore-Eelisha, speaking in the House of Commons debate, said Labour had continually advocated a stand against aggressors. The Government was asking for trained men to make that stand. They had received message after message from abroad reiterating that the measure of conscription would give hope and assurance that the Gov- v ernment had not adopted an amateurish scheme. No country called up more than one annual class at a time. France’s 1939 class was 141,000, Germany's 230,000, and Britain was calling up 200,000, which was GO.OOO over the strength of the Regular Army at home. The Minister added that the Government had no intention of damaging trade union rights. The issues were not freedom v. compulsion, which two principles were interwoven throughout the texture of national life. By inserting a strand of universal service, Britain would strengthen the fabric and show in practical form what the Opposition, amendment desired—a resolute determination to take all the necessary steps to defend the 1 country and fulfill national obligations. The debate' was opened for the Opposition by Mr Wedgwood Benn (Labour, Manchester) who moved an amendment condemning the Government’s grave incompetence in organisation of national resources for defence. and its violation of repeated pledges in introducing measure lor conscription. He suggested that the additional strength in manpower the measure might afford, was a poor make-weight for the strategic advantages lost by the Government’s foreign policy, which, he claimed, was the real cause of lack of confidence abroad in Brit ish resolution, rather than, as was alleged tjy the Government spokes man, the size of the army.

Misleading Gesture. < In so far as the Government intended the bill as a reassurance to foreign Governments, which thought in terms of conscription, it was misleading, since it did not provide the millions with which in those countries conscription was synonymous. Lie contended that the voluntary system was far from having failed, and expressed the fear that the compulsory system would only afford an opportunity for official muddle and regimentation, without improving on the practical results which could have been obtained by intelligent operation of the voluntary system. Anzacs’ Example. Mr Wedgwood Benn recalled that the Anzac af Suvla Bay were splendid and hard working. They certainly were not the most respectful (laughter), but how they worked and fought! He would not forget his General’s remark: “They're magnificent fighters, but you'll never turn them into soldiers.”

Sir Edward Grigg (Altrincham, Cheshire): Ha's the member forgotten that the Anzac were the product of compulsory military service?

Mr Wedgwood Berm: I have not forgotten that the Anzacs were told they were volunteers, and the majority voted against conscription. Mr Chamberlain Suspected. Mr C. R. Attlee, Labour loader, said the Government had net discharged its obligations, had not shown the military need for conscription, and had not shown that men could not be provided voluntarily. The proposal was not directed towards immediate needs, but was a surrender to the conscriptionists at home and the uninformed demand from abroad.

Mr Chamberlain had done all possible to break national unity. He was regarded with suspicion by a large section, and not as a friend of democracy. Conscription would not stop at the present measure. The spectre of industrial conscription loomed behind. In the name of defending liberty, they might see their liberties destroyed. The Government’s Reply. Mr W. S. Morrison, replying for the Government, agreed with the Labour spokesman in thinking that the remarkable character of the achievement of the British voluntary system had been insufficiently appreciated abroad. There probably had been nothing quite like it in the world, and the fact ought to be proclaimed. He explained, however, that, magnificent as the results of the voluntary system were, they did not meet the special needs, of modern conditions, under which they had a long period of tension before war actually broke out, which necessitated in peace time the manning of defence against, the possibility of sudden, unheralded attack.

The voluntary system was shaped to deal with a situation based on different assumptions from those actually prevailing. To secure the safety of the country, they had to remould the defence system to meet the needs of the modern technique of aggression, and the Minister argued that this was justification of the measure of conscription now introduced. Mr Lloyd George Supports Bill. Mr Lloyd George strongly supported the bill, though he reserved the right to criticise 11: in detail. He had urged the Government repeatedly to make a stand against aggression, and now they had come to the House to ask for power and means which, in his judgment, were essential for that purpose. he fell that it was Ids duly to support the Government. Ho dismissed the opposition to the proposals on the ground of principle as unimportant.

Referring to the strategic position and the disposition of strength in the next war, he regarded the numbers of trained troops which the bill would provide as inadequate.

Mr Lloyd George said that the pledges to Poland, Rumania and Greece y/ere demented and unredeemable. He challenged Mr Hore-Belisha to say whether the General Staff advised the Government that the commitments were safe, and that they could be met. He declared that Japan was left out of the calculations. Ihe Japanese march was like a They had marched 2000 miles spear towards Empire frontiers, nearer India since the present Government came into power. Reinforcements from India, available in the Great War would not be available in the future. Russia’s Aid Essential. Referring to Russia, Mr Lloyd George urged the completion Of “the only combination giving Britain a chance of completing her engagements, a combination which will be triumphant if effected wholeheartedly.”

He declared that Mi' Chamberlain had temporarily abandoned appeasement, but there were signs of its resurrection. i Sir Edward Grigg said he did not think support for the principle of the Bill could have come from a more important and convincing quarter than from the oldest member of the House (Mr Lloyd George), who had borne the chief responsibility in the last war. Admiral Chides Statesman. Admiral Sir Roger Keyes (Conservative, Portsmouth North) said that Mr Lloyd George’s speech was most dangerous, and the Opposition was resisting the only possible means of providing collective security. Sir Stafford Cripps (Labour, Bristol) said that the Prime Minister could make a more effective gesture in a world war if an agreement with Russia were concluded forthwith. If there was reality in the intention to impress aggressors, there would have been an ,-‘all-in” measure of conscription. Labour to Discourage Youth. He urged that if the Government refused to accede to legitimate demands, it was right that people should create conditions forcing it to accede. Replying to Conservative questions as to what form of pressui'C 1 he advocated, Sir Stafford Cripps said the ordinary forms of popular pressure were open to workers. Mr J. McGovern (1.L.P., Glasgow) said that the Independent Labour Party would do everything to encourage youngsters to refuse to fight and lo resist conscription, even to going to prison.

The Labour amendment was rejected by 387 votes to 145, and the Bill was read a second time, without divis-