The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1915. COMPULSORY SERVICE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144777, 6 September 1915, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1915. COMPULSORY SERVICE.

Lord Rosebery administered a well-timed rebuke to The Times when he declared at Glasgow that the question of compulsory service ought not to fill the press to such an extent as,'it does. The time is not opportune to make a demand which is certain to be interpreted by the enemy as evidence that the voluntary system has broken down and that the British people are opposed to the war, or weary of it, and only to be induced by compulsion to find men enough to maintain the strength of the armies on foreign service. The actual fact is that men have been voluntarily forthcoming at least as fast as it was possible to train and equip them. It is not men that have been in short supply, but equipment and munitions, and while that is so it savours somewhat of disloyalty to suggest, as The Times has done almost daily for months past, that voluntary service has failed. It may be—no doubt is—the cake that the voluntary system is unfair, since it permits of shirking and places the greatest burden, on the hacks of those most willing to hear it. But it has this advantage, that it secures an army imbued in the very highest possible degree with the spirit of patriotism and devotion which should animate it. While this is so, and while there is ample response to every call for men that is made by Lord Kitchener, it would be the height of folly to introduce a change which would most certainly meet with a great deal of antagonism. Labour is opposed to compulsory service, though it has responded splendidly to the call for volunteers, and it would be very much like playing with edged tools at the present juncture to attempt to introduce compulsory service. Conscription is an ugly word in the ears of the British, and has only to he uttered to excite a resentful spirit. The volunteer system has enabled Lord Kitchener to form huge armies of the finest material that Britain has ever put in the field, and it is not exhausted yet. If another million men were asked for they would he .forthcoming. If they were not, then it would be time enough to say to the men; '“Tou must serve,” instead of “Will you serve?” To make the change uow would be tantamount to a confession that the, voluntary system had broken down, and we may be sure that the enemy would make the fullest possible - use of the circumstance to hearten up his own people and persuade them that they had only to persevere a little longer to secure complete victory. That some sort of compulsory service will be instituted after the war may be taken for granted. Great Britain will not want to be caught again unprepared for great land operations and will insist upon the Army as well as the Navy being kept always ready. Some such system as New Zealand adopted two or three years ago may be the lines proceeded upon, under which every able-bodied youth will have to undergo a certain amount of military training, so that when .the call comes for active service he will be in a fair state of efficiency as a soldier, needing only the finishing touches instead of having to begin at the beginning

and taking frve months to become efficient. The Mar has brought about many changes in British feeling and opinion, not less with regard to military service than in other matters, and, it is probable that compulsory training will be readily agreed to in future. But now is not the time to introduce it. Compulsory service is a step beyond compulsory training and more open to debate. However, if the men are trained there is little need to fear that they will not volunteer for active service if required. It is not the national spirit that is weak in the young men.