25 DECEMBER 1915, Page 2

Another warning which should be addressed to them is that

the Government will not find it possible to grant as good terms to the compelled men and those dependent upon them as to the volunteers. To give only one reason, the volunteers would regard it as grossly unfair. We feel confident that if Mr. Asquith would only make an announcement of this kind before a Compulsory Bill had got through its first stages in the House of Commons, the need for it would have passed away: What we recommend is, indeed, only a variant of Abraham Lincoln's policy. Though ho introduced and sternly enforced compulsion, he kept the voluntary gate open so that men had always the alternative of entering thereby.