Aprit 28
The House of Commons debate following the Government's declaration of its inten= tion to Introduce a modified form of com= pulsory service in Great Britain has up to the present produced nothing of a very high order from the Opposition, Mr, Chamberlain has been subjected to the expected twitting for having gone back on the pledge that conscription would not be introduced during times of peace, and has acquitted himself well by reminding his hearers that the cir= cumstances in which they have been living can hardly be classed as peace time circumstances. With that contention there cannot be the slightest disagreement, for if peace is merely to mean abstention from overt hostilities the Opposition is correct; if on the other hand mean a greater degree of amity than at. present prevails then Mr, Chamberlain has the whole weight of the argument on his side, That the Opposition will continue to resist the passage of the necessary legislation may be taken for granted. It is not to be believed, however, that this will materially affect the position of the Government, for even with a certain number of dissentients within the ranks of its own supporters, it should still command a sufficient majority to ensure the enactment of the various measures necessary to give effect (0 these latest The Government's position is all the stranyer by reason of realization of the fact that if the Opposition were now in power, and they were faced with the serious problems with which Mr, Chamberlain is confronted, they would have had no other alternative' than 0 have done what he is doing. Indeed the following of policies which the Opposition has been advocating would have meant that the nation would have been at war months ago, and that conscription would have become an imperative necessity by reason of it state of affairs which the Prime Minister is doing all in his power to avoid, It is all very well to look upon the introduction of compulsory service as a pre= paration against war; it must also be reyarded as an important, even if unfortunate eontribution to the cause of peace, A strony Britain is that powerful factor for peace which a weak nation could never be.
Of the effect of this move on opinion abroad there can be not th slightest doubt. Despite the slighting have been passed in the It there ix every reason 10 be moral effect of the British move is not to be lightly discounted. The idea that it will be very any time before this new conseripti n will afford a force to be reckoned wi has no real basis in ritish history. The experience of the Great showed that upon the introduction of compulsory terview ini, riy and equipping of the thus took on the average There is no reason supposition that any time will be necessary now, while the are not sufficient officers in the new levies it had in the period 1014-1010, Those are considerations with which the informed in Italy and Germany are fully. cognizant, und though for purposes of domestic propaganda it may be necessary decry this new move which the British Government contemplates, realization hard facts must inevitably mean formation of the opinion that whatever may have been the case in the past, Great Britain is now prepared to make a'larger contribution towards the perpetuation of peace than ever before, by demonstration of the fact that if she is obliged to fight, there will be no limits to the sacrifices she' will be prepared to
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.