Out of a regular welter of political information, ranging from the Budget speech to the reports concerning the latest representation to Herr Hitler by Great Britain on the subject of President Roosevelt's peace plea, comes the epoch-making news that the British Cabinet has at long last decided to introduce conscription, Fortunately the mistake which was feared in editorial comment regardless of what the developments in Europe may be. The significance of the move is not alone to be found in the throwing over of the pledge given by Mr. Baldwin at the last general election that conscription would not be introduced in peace time, but also in the fact that a decision has been reached to set up a system of compulsory: training against which the face of the British public has been resolutely set for a very long time. Indeed it was only the urgent necessities of the Great War which led to a temporary departure from the voluntary system of recruitment, and it will be membered that when hostilities came to an end the huge armies, which by that time had been assembled, were demobilized with the greatest possible rapidity. The average Briton does not like conscription. It means an infringement of his liberties which is wholly repugnant to him, but he will accept the inevitable in emergencies with that same spirit with which he accepted it twenty odd years ago. The will to defend the Empire against aggression is in existence, and while the step which is to be taken is repugnant to British ideals in one sense, when the question of the security of the Empire is involved this unpalatable medicine will be taken with the best of grace. That the Opposition will do everything in their power to prevent the passage of the necessary legislation, that they will raise the bitter cry that the country has been betrayed by the abandonment of a pledge given under the duress of a General Election may be taken for granted. That opposition may be assessed ior what it is,—something inspired by a desire to profit out of the débácle to which European diplomacy has now been reduced. By this decision Mr. Chamberlain has made the last and most bitter confess sion of the failure of his policy of appeasement, and in doing so, has shown himself to be the great man he undoubtedly is.
While full details of the scheme are not, at the time of writing, to hand, it is important to note that it is apparently designed to have the least possible deleterious effect upon conditions in Great Britain. Instead of two or three years' service with the regular army, lads between the age of 18 and 21 will receive four months compulsory military training, after which they will be transferred to the Territorial Army with which they will have to serve for a further four years. That should amount to the smallest possible interference with the ordinary lives of these young men. It creates a hiatus of no more than four months in the young man's ordinary life and should consequently have no serious effect upon the development of his career. The rest of his service will be during his spare, time, in just the same manner as the Territorial of today, with drills in the evening or on Saturday afternoons, and the annual training camps. When the smallness of the demand which is being made upon Britain's manhood is fully realized, as compared with the huge issues which are at present involved, the Cabinet appears to have approached the whole subject in a wholly admirable spirit of moderation. Nothing more appears to be contemplated than the minimum effort to provide the Empire with adequate forces for self-defence, and the Cabinet's decision at the moment may be taken as the recognition of the principle of man's duty to the State just as much as that of the State's duty to the individual. Opposition will undoubtedly come from Labour and Socialism. Both of them, when the matter has been discussed before, claim to see in the formation of a conscripted army a weapon in the hands of government for the purpose of breaking strikes, and otherwise settling labour disputes contrary to the interests of the people they represent. That fear is not really justi-fable. It is to be doubted very strongly whether British public opinion would tolerate such a move on the part of any Government, no matter what its political complexion, and for that reason this aspect of the matter is of no very great importance.
Foreign reaction to this step will be watched with considerable interest. Undoubtedly the Press of the Dictator Powers will seek to minimize its importance to their own readers. That must obviously be their policy. Other nations will regard it dif-fervently, especially those whose own defence depends so much upon large armies. They will see a new Britain in the making, one with the most powerful navy in the world, now backed up with adequate land forces ready to make a contribution to the gen: anti-aggression movement in terms which some countries will be more readily understood than would be the case if Britain could only give them the support of her navy in the event of attack, That aspect of the case was in fact always in existence, as the speed with which huge armies were built up during 1914-1918 indicates, but the fact that the world at large is informed of Great Britain's intention to embark upon compulsory service will give the latter much greater authority in international discussions than has ever been the case since she embarked upon the fatal policy of unilateral disarmament in the hope that other nations would follow the example she was setting It cannot be too often emphasized that this new weapon which is now being forged for the purpose of defence, and not aggression. The decision has been forced upon Great Britain by the events of the past three years, and more particularly of the last twelve months. But now that the Cabinet has committed itself to this most drastic change in the ordinary life of the nation, there can be no drawing back. Its significance is even greater. It signals the complete departure from political hesitancy and serves to import into British dealing with other countries a quality of firmness which has for too long been absent. The step is consequently a most welcome one. Britain is commencing to be true to itself.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.