In the House of Lords on Monday Lord Midleton, in
a very able and important speech, raised the whole question of the Territorial Force and also of the Special Reserve. We have dealt with the essentials of the problem elsewhere, but may give here some of the figures on which Lord Midleton. relied. The Special Reserve was short by 30,000 men and 1,000 officers, and of the 60,000 men they had got some 20,000 were under nineteen. Lord Herschel], who discharged a very difficult task with ability, of course refused to countenance the idea of compulsory service, but, while declaring that such service was not necessary from a military point of view, he admitted the immense benefits to the physique of the nation which would accrue from compulsory physical training in continuation schools, a training which would include the use of arms and simple military formations. As children say, that is " getting warm." After the usual suggestion that it was the action of the National Service League which made it difficult to recruit the Territorials, Lord Herschell passed to the equally conventional declaration that the Government held the view that they could now guarantee, in any present circumstances, that this country could be safeguarded from a blow delivered at its heart. After admitting the deficiencies in the Special Reserve and the Territorial Army, be pointed with pride to the National Reserve, and set forth the terms of the new grant to the Associations.
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