In the House of Lords on Friday, July 7th, Lord
Lansdowne introduced his scheme for furbishing up the Militia ballot and getting it ready for use in case of necessity, though he by no means pledged himself to legis- lation this year. Under his proposal, after the Government had declared how many men were to be raised from each registrar's district, the overseers would prepare lists of all men between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, the only exemptions being efficient Volunteers, Members of Parlia- ment, policemen, ministers of religion, seamen, and doctors. No substitutes would be allowed. Lord Lansdowne admitted fully that Governments would be most unlikely to resort to compulsory service except in eases of extreme need. There was little or no discussion, but Lord Monkswell put in a plea for giving the soldier while in the ranks technical training of a kind which would fit him for civil life. Lord Lansdowne agreed as to the theoretical soundness of the proposal, but pointed out very reasonably that the modern soldier has not a great deal of spare time, and that what he has he likes to keep for himself. We see no objection to Lord Lansdowne's Bill, but we doubt it ever being put in force. Even in a great emergency we should probably prefer paying large bounties to willing men rather than sweeping unwilling men into the ranks.
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