3 JUNE 1916, Page 3

Of course if invasion and embodiment took place and the

Volun- teer became not a part-timer but a real whole-time soldier, his civil vocation must cease. But that does not matter, because in almost every case it would cease automatically with the landing of the enemy. Nobody is going to be so foolish as to talk of " busi- ness as usual " with " the enemy in force on our coasts." Again, it is a great mistake to suppose that the Volunteers want largo sums of public money spent upon them. If the Government would only have the courage and the foresight to call on all good and patriotic citizens to join the Volunteers, and if well-off to help their poorer neighbours to do the same, we could soon get a million and a half of men without any appreciable burden on the taxpayer. We will go further, and say that if the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for War will give a firm and clear lead to the Volunteers, it will be found possible to raise a public fund, something analogous to the Red Cross fund, which will place them on a secure basis for everything except service rifles. But that is an expense which we feel sure the Government will ultimately not mind incurring.