10 JULY 1909, Page 3

An interesting recruit to the cause of national 'service is

the Bishop of Salisbury, who, speaking in Convocation on Wednesday, described how his visit to Germany had con- verted him to a belief in the advantages of military training. We had, he said, a great deal to learn from Germany

in the matter of patriotism. It was wonderful to sae how that enormous Empire was welded together into one patriotic whole. He had asked himself how that had been done, and he was constrained to say that it had been by com- pulsory military service. "He had come to believe that compulsory military service was almost a political and social necessity for a time if they were to keep pace with Germany, not merely with regard to the question of peace and war, but the development of the country in the way of peace, and especially in regard to patriotic feeling. They felt there was a dignity and a unity about the organisation of industrial life in Germany which sometimes seemed to be lacking in England." The Bishop, like many converts, goes perhaps a little too far. In our opinion, at any rate, the length of the German military training is excessive, and does tend towards militarism. If, however, the Bishop were to visit Switzerland or Norway during the training of the national Army, we feel convinced that he would find therein the true model for Britain. In both cases universal training has proved a school of patriotism without Jingoism.