In the House of Commons on Friday week Mr. Tennant
made some interesting statements about the war. He said that in the opinion of the War Office the second million of men now asked for ought to be enough to bring the war to a satis- factory end. The policy with regard to the Territorial Force was to duplicate it by providing one battalion for home service or reserve purposes and another for foreign service. He appealed to Members not to press him for the recruiting figures, as it was not considered desirable to make them public. We cudgel our brains for an adequate reason for this decision, and confess that we cannot discover one. Surely the one and only way to create a wholesome spirit of emulation, or a sense of shame, as the case may be, is to advertise the figures. The only excuse for silence would be failure. But if the Govern- ment's methods mean failure, the sooner we know the fact the better. There is no time to waste.
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