1 DECEMBER 1917, Page 15

It might be held that the needs of the State

must necessarily override the rights of the individual. There is an arguable case for fresh legislation. Or if that were found to be Impossible or unde- sirable, there might at all events bo an appeal in the present emer- gency of the nation to young men who know themselves to be fit to join up once more even though they have the legal right to stay at home. We should like to suggest, as well worthy of consideration in the exceptional circumstances, a plan for inducing these men to serve again by means of a bounty. There ie a sound British tradition for this. During the Napoleonic Wars bounty-raised troops were familiar enough. We suggest that as a preliminary step an experi- ment might be made by offering a bounty of, say,130 down to a pre- conscript discharged soldier. There would be nothing invidious In making this payment to such a man. He would deserve it. He belongs to the class which proved itself the salt of the earth in the early days of the war.