THE NEED OF RECRUITS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16213, 26 April 1916, Page 7

THE NEED OF RECRUITS.

COMPULSION CONTROVERSY.

LABOUR SEEKING THE TRUTH.

MEASURE ONLY DELAYED. Times and Sydney Sun Services. (Received April 25, 6 p.m.) London, April 24. Discussiug the question of adopting general compulsion the Daily News says the question of further compulsion is second only to the J issue of the Prime Minister's authority. Cabinet has arrived at a decision which does not necessarily correspond with any of the varying predictions, but it is difficult to believe they justify anything approaching the compulsionists' demands when at the outside compulsion can procure a further 300,000 men. It is difficult to assume that Cabinet will jeopardise the national unity. London, April 24. In a letter to the Times Dr. Arthur Shadwell, the noted student of social and economic questions, stated that the unions would acquiesce if they were convinced that victory was impossible without compulsion. They were not yet convinced, because they were stuffed with optimistic delusions, and were not told the facts. Everything was censored. Thinking that the war was nearly over, the unions regarded compulsion as a dodge to smash the unions. The workers did not need encouragement about the war. They required only the materials for forming a right judgment. The Manchester Guardian, which is well-informed on matters connected with the opposition to conscription, says: " The crisis has ended in a complete victory for the compulsionists. The reopening of Lord Derby's scheme means nothing more than that the AsquithHenderson group is satisfied with a six weeks' postponement, which will inevitably be followed by conscription for the married men. The sudden announcement of a settlement has created a good deal of scepticism about the reality of the crisjs. Experienced lobbyists state that it was a bit of stage management to frighten the Radicals and Labourites by raising the spectre of a general election. Another section believes that Mr. Asquith's statement was partly designed to save the Wimbledon seat at the recent by-election for the Government. It is believed that the measure would not apply to Ireland, for the simple reason that Ireland refused to have compulsion."

MAINTAINING SECRECY. i WARNING TO MINISTERS. London, April 24. The Times, in a leading article, says that the troubles of the Asquith Administration have nearly all sprung from a want of candour. The Order-in-Council in which it now seeks refuge will cloud everything in deeper mystery. The Daily Telegraph says that in the attempt to destroy the Government the campaign of invective has been carried to extremes. The paper hopes that the Government will firmly hold to its resolution to maintain the secrecy of the Cabinet, but says that if the Ministers fetter writers and speakers they must keep a rigid guard on their own expressions.

The Daily Mail says that the order means tho.t the Prime Minister has no hope of being able to induce Ministers to hold their tongues. If in any Cabinet there be a leakage it must be due to the indiscretions of talkative Ministers.

Four hundred delegates were present at the Independent Labour Party Conference, held in Newcastle. Mr. F. W. Jowett, the president, declared that the party refused to assist the Government in a war adventure, which was bound to be disastrous whatever the result of the military operations. He protested against men being compelled to fight whether or not they believed in the justice of the war. He predicted that the war would be followed by industrial strife if skilled men were dragged down to the level of unskilled labour, and women's labour cheapened that of men, or the capitalists would be so enriched that the workers would be weaker than before the war. QUESTION IN AUSTRALIA. HOSTILITY BY TRADES HALL. Melbourne, April 25. The Trades Hall Council has sent circulars to the industrial organisations of the Commonwealth, stating that conscription means the dominance of military rule in industrial matters, the surrender of civil liberty, and the suspension and probably the abolition of all democratic institutions.