CONSCRIPTION FOR IRELAND. [To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.")
SIB."—There is a force in Great Britain which, if promptly mobilized, would in a fortnight compel this trembling-on-the-brink Government to apply Conscription to Ireland. I mean the agricul- turists. Hitherto they have kept quiet, no doubt because they were enjoying a not-too-well-earned immunity themselves. The British farmer has-many good characteristics, but I never see him pleading for the exemption of his sans without recalling that quatrain of which the first two lines are more familiar than the last two:—
" My name is Norval; on the Grampian hills My father feeds his flocks; a frugal swain Whose constant cares were to increase his store, And keep his only son, myself, at home."
But let that pass. - A good many Nerve's are now having to go to the front, and well will they sustain the reputation earned by their forbears on many an historic battlefield. And, why, pray, should the British farmer have to part with his son, and that son's sorely needed services on the land, while his .tompetitor in Ireland goes scot-free and reaps a rich harvest ? Is it fair ? Let every meeting of farmers, at every market in the country, pass a resolution of indignation at the supineness of our Government, and call upon their Chambers of Agriculture to demand, as an elementary piece of justice, that this monstrous anomaly be forthwith put an end to. With this reinforcement, the- campaign you have so ably con- ducted should be crowned with success.—I am, Sir, &c.,
PEYERIL TURNBULL.
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