CONSCRIPTION.
[To THE EDITOR OF TILE 'SPECRI.TOR:1 SIR,—Is it not a pity to use this ugly word in connection with Mr. Kipling's poem ? Conscription connotes the selection by lot or otherwise of certain persons to sacrifice their time for the sake of others, a principle, as you rightly say, opposed to all democratic principles. It also connotes service in the field, and reminds us of press-gangs and other horrors. It has long been discarded on the Continent as an impossible system. rar. Kipling thinks every good citizen should be trained to arms, just as every good citizen should be taught to read and write and earn his living. What is the use of our liability to fight for our country in time of need if we have no training ? Is it not apparent that Mr. Kriiger would not have attacked us if our young men bad been trained to arms P-1 am, Sir,
OLD LIBERAL.
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