The Government's new army scheme still provokes " good deal of eriticis The most interesting discussion this week however has been one in the House of Lords on a proposal by the Earl of Wemyss that he Militia Ballot Act should be so amended that conscription for the Militia might in some modified form be put in force immediately. Last year, before this war was more than vaguely thought of, the Marqris of Lansdowne introduced a Bill into the House of Lords with this very object but now, when our need would appear to! be so much greater, he opposes the! suggestion. The Minister of War declares that there has been nu such/ failure of the voluntary system of enlist. ment as would call for the militia ballot, that the Government of course hold in reserve the power of resorting to that ballot in case of need. The fact is that even the martial fervour aroused by this war has not lessened the nation: the ides of conscription would he extremely di even the most. severely limited system of to introduce conscription without dealing a death blow at the volunteers; and the volunteers have in this war proved themselves a most valuable arm of the service, Lord Wemyss's motion was therefore defeated after a not fngether judicious speech from Lord asbury, who repeated and seemed to Wit a silly story to the effect that a conble number of young Englishmen had ated to the United States for fear of On the same evening n the House of Commons, Mr. D. A. Th in luced his motion to re-open the enquiry into circumstances of the conspiracy a the Transvaal Government and of the sion into the South African Republic by an armed force in 1895." But although the motion had the support of the Liberal Leaders and ex-Leaders, and also of the United Irish party, the debate had an air of unreality. No' one can really desire that a new enquiry should be opened into the Raid; and the debate resolved itself into un attack on Mr. Chamberlain, to which the Colonial Secretary replied in a vigorous and- effective speech. It is no doubt to be regretted that the Committee which sat in 1897 allowed themselves to be flouted by Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Hawkes-ley, the latter of whom deliberately charged' Mr. Chamberlain and the Colonial Office with complicity in the Raid and then declined at the instance of Mr. Rhodes to produce the telegrams which would have proved or disproved that allegation, But both Sir William Harcourt and Sir Henry ihi Campbell-Bannerman were members of that Committee, and they both acquiesced in the Committee's decision, which cleared Mr. Chamberlain and the' Colonial Office from bla Recently a few letters and telegrams have been stolen from Mr. Haw-wesley and sold, it is said, to Mr. Leyds fora hundred pow Anyhow they have been all published in the Indépendanee Bely2. But there is nothing in them which reflects on Mr. Chamberlain or anyone else except perhaps the kite Mr. Fairfield, of the Colo. nial Office, who seems to hare been perhaps a little indiscreet in communications with Mr, Hawkesiey. The division on Mr. Thomas'g motion, however, followed party lines more closely than riy vote we have had of late in the House of Com The motion to re-open the inquiry was rejected by 134 votes.
'THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE'S OWN, The Duke of Cambridge's Own special corps of the Imperial Yeomanry, sometimes called the " Gentlemen's ps," left for the front on Saturday. Among the troopers and corporals are a son of the First Lord of the Admiralty, a son of Lord Avesbury (Sir John Lubbock), at least one peer, and several sons of peers and people, well known in the fashionable world. They" will no doubt render a good account of themselves at the front; hut the principle which has guided the formation of the special corps has met with a good deal criticism. It is formed of men who pay for their own equipment and who undertake to give their pay to the funds for the widows and orphans of those killed in the war. All this is very generous and very patriotic; but it creates dus distinction between these men and the other volun. teers, who have many of them made quite as great sacrifices—some a guyd deal more in proportion to their means—for their country. A jealous watch will no doubt ho kept to see that the Gentlemen's Corps" do not receive privileges which are withheld from other yeomanry and volunteers.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.