Mr. Lloyd George continued
"Pray, don't talk about conscription as if it were anti-demo- cratio. We won and saved our liberties in this land on more than one occasion by compulsory service. France saved the liberty she bad won in the great Revolution from the fangs of tyrannical military Empires purely by compulsory service; the great Republic of the West won its independence and saved its national existence by compulsory service, and two of tho greatest countries of Europe to-day—France and Italy—are defending their national existence and liberties by means of compulsory service. It has been the greatest weapon in the hands of democracy many a time for the winning and preservation of freedom."
He thought that the voluntary system of recruiting might see us through yet, but even so, industrial compulsion might be necessary. His experience in his new office bad shown him that not half the industrial strength of the nation had been brought to bear. Workmen might need compulsion when soldiers did not. The soldier did not say, "I'm not going near the place they call Wipers," or "I've been ten hours and a half in the trenches, and my Trade Union won't allow me to work more than ten hours," or " Who is this fledgling by my side P He's only had a few weeks' training, and it is against my Union's regulations, so I'm off." Mr. Lloyd George in this speech and in his speeches at Liverpool on Friday week, when he addressed the Dockers Battalion, employers in the engineering trades, and others, was inimitable. No one else has quite his instinctive sympathy with an audience ; no one else can make severe demands so genially.
Previous page
