30 SEPTEMBER 1911, Page 15

THE NATIONAL SERVICE LEAGUE—A CORRECTION.

[To THE EDITOR or THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In the last few weeks it has been frequently and erroneously stated that the national army advocated by the National Service League would be available for use in "putting down strikes." Will you kindly allow me space to remind your readers that the army advocated by the League is nothing more nor less than the existing Territorial Force recruited on a national basis and trained to war before the outbreak of hostilities P It is, of course, quite impossible for anyone to predict what a Government in power five or ten years hence may do, but at the present time officers and men of the Territorial Force are not liable to be called out in aid of the civil power as a military body in the preservation of peace. The existing regulations on the subject were strictly observed during the recent strikes, and it is clear that the present Government do not intend to use that force in labour disputes. There is not a single word in the League literature suggesting that any alteration should be made in the "Regu- lations for the Territorial Force" (paragraphs 404 to 407) which deal with duties in aid of the civil power ; and no such alteration is contemplated by the governing body of the