14 AUGUST 1920, Page 3

The King has been quick to endorse a stirring appeal

on behalf of the unemployed ex-Service men which was made by Lord Haig in Tuesday's Times. Lord Haig stated that 153,893 ex-Service men were drawing unemployment donation on July 16th last, that 22,000 disabled men are registered for employment, and that 13,918 officers and other educated ex- soldiers are vainly seeking appointments. He gave some pathetic examples of men who had sacrificed good positions in order to fight for their country and who now find themselves stranded and destitute. The nation, said Lord Haig, incurred a debt of honour to its fighting men and must pay it. The King, in his letter to the Field-Marshal, justly remarked that "Buchan appeal is hardly less urgent than that which six years ago flashed to every corner of the Empire." We cannot think that Lord Haig's earnest plea for justice to the ex-Service man will be made in vain, either to the employers or to the trade unions, some of whom are gravely in fault.