28 SEPTEMBER 1918, Page 3

It has been officially announced that the period for voluntary

recruiting in Ireland has been extended from October 1st to October 15th. It is added that " should voluntary recruiting fail "—as it almost certainly will, as only a small proportion of the required fifty thousand men have so far been obtained—" the preliminary steps to enforce Conscription cannot be taken before Parliament meets on October 15th. As the Times has pointed out, however, the -necessary Order in Council la apply Conscription must be on the table of the House of Comm-Ens for fourteen days. The extension of the period of voluntary recruiting to October 15th therefore means an extension until November 1st. We are getting on Perhaps we shall yet reach the situation we imagined last week when we suggested that the intention of the Government was to con- tinue the period of voluntary recruiting " till the cessation of hostilities."