5 JUNE 1915, Page 2

We note with great interest that Mr. Harold Cox, in

a letter to Tuesday's Times, announces that the changed circumstances have made him alter his view in regard to com- pulsory and national service. A. similar change of view was announced by Sir Arthur Chapman, once also a strong opponent of compulsion, at a meeting of the Surrey Terri. tonal Association held on Friday week, at which a resolution was unanimously passed in favour of a national enrolment The action of these two high-minded and public-spirited men is not merely a proof of patriotism but of statesmanship. Tho man who always says the same thing like a gramophone for fear he should be thought flighty and irresponsible is fit neither for leadership nor counsel.