"I do not believe," he said, "in conscription, By that I mean compulsory service in the overseas army. Inevitably it would diminish our naval and air effort, besides creating a sharp division in public opinion and weakening national morale.
"Sending a vast conscript force to the Continent would considerably reduce our available strength in other directions. In the event of another continental war, I hope that the Royal Air Force will be used predominantly, with small high-trained ground forces _auxiliaties."
With a national register organized on a regional basis, Sir Auckland Geddes continued, Great Britain would be/ready in wartime to provide food and men for the A.R.P. services and anti-aircraft defences, to. make munitions and aeroplanes, and to care for the sick and wounded.
Without an adequate, register, he. said, "we should have chaos. Our industrial requirements, in the event of war, will be much greater than they were in the Great War. Every effort.will have to be made in this direction,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.