A. LAST WORD ON COMPULSION. T HERE is yet one more
way, and the most potent of all, in which the supporters of voluntaryism, and the opponents of compulsion can stimulate the voluntary system in an effective and perfectly legitimate manner. They should point out to the men who, partly out of lazi- ness and partly out of surliness, are saying that they iwill not go till they are fetched that persistence in this attitude may have very unpleasant consequences. The voluntaryists should do everything to bring to the notice of these men that if compulsion is adopted the compelled men will not get the same generous terms which naturally and rightly are accorded to the true volunteer—who, in spite of our predilection for compulsion, we fully admit is the nobler man. If we have compulsion and follow the model of the democracies of France, Italy, and Switzer- laud, the compelled man will of course be properly fed and clothed, but he must not expect the present high rate of pay given to the true volunteer, nor must his wife and family and other dependants expect the generous separation allowances which the nation now makes as its acknowledg- ment of the eager patriotism of the men who did not wait to be fetched. The wives and families and dependants would not of course be allowed to starve, but there is a great difference between this and the allowances now made to the families of volunteers. The compelled soldier can only expect Continental treatment. That is a fact which has never yet been brought home to the mass of the population. Indeed, we should not be surprised if many people who are waiting to be fetched think that under compulsion they will got even better terms than if they had joined in a hurry. When, however, the truth is made known to them, and it is pointed out that they still have time to come in on the favourable volunteer basis, there should be a great stimulus to recruiting. And here, again, the Register will be of no small help, for it will make the man who is waiting to be fetched realize that the warning that compulsion may be necessary is no empty threat. He will have visibly before his eyes the fact that the Govern- ment have got the machinery for compulsion ready to their hand, and that it can not only be used, but used very quickly and very easily.
Before we leave the subject of registration and recruit- ing—the last effort of the voluntary system to supply the nation's needs—we would ask the men of military age who cannot bring themselves to make the great renuncia- tion to remember that it is useless for them to imagine they will be preserved from the sacrifice because the Government, even if they have not enough men, will not dare to use compulsion. The Government may dislike the idea of compulsion, but they will certainly use it rather than let the nation perish. Of that there cannot be the slightest doubt. As Lincoln was prepared to tell the people of the United States : "The integrity of our country cannot be maintained without the further raising and supporting of armies. There can be no army without men. Men can be had only voluntarily or involuntarily. We have ceased to obtain them voluntarily, and to obtain them involuntarily is the Draft—the conscription. If you dispute the fact and declare that men can still be had i voluntarily in sufficient numbers, prove the assertion by yourselves volunteering in such numbers, and I shall gladly give up the Draft."
There is yet one more argument indulged in by the " slackers " which is worth dealing with. A great many men hesitate to enlist because they believe that if they do nothing the need, or alleged need, will blow over. The Government, they think, are probably in a panic and have exaggerated the need. They hear of two million men or so being enlisted, and argue to themselves that this vast number is surely enough, and that the nation can perfectly well manage with those whom it has already got. Let people prone to this form of self-deception look at the following facts. We shall very soon have a million men in the field. But under modern conditions of war wastage is over fifteen per cent. per month—we stated it on a previous occasion to be ten per cent., but are informed that this was far too optimistic a figure. This means that if there are a million men in the field the Army is wasting at the rate of a hundred and fifty thousand men a month. It follows that an army of a, million men will, if not con- stantly supplied with new men, disappear in six months. Therefore to keep a million men in the field every year requires two million men in reserve behind them, or three million fighting men in all. But in all probability, driven by the military needs of the situation, and driven still more by the great financial fact that unless we end the war quickly we shall be ruined, wo shall want before the war is ended to have a million and a half men in the field and three million men behind to supply them, or, say, four and a half million men in all.
These are unpleasant facts to face, but they are the facts. If we can get our four millions and a half of men by the voluntary system, we shall have performed an admirable feat, almost a miracle. By all means lot the voluntaryists attempt their miracle, and lot us give them most loyal and strenuous support in that attempt. We must all make every effort to co-operate. On the other hand, the voluntaryists must face the facts and understand what they have got to achieve. They must not take refuge in generalizations like " The country has done splendidly," or speak of " the double value of uncompelled men," and so on. They must satisfy the grim demands which we have set forth. Nothing less will do. All honour to them if they succeed. If they do not, then; to use Lincoln's words again, we must fall back upon compulsion rather than throw away all that we have done and accept defeat. Men can only be got voluntarily or by compulsion, but got they must be. Once again, the voluntary system is on its trial, and the Registration Bill is going to give it the best possible chance of succeeding. But if it fails, do not lot us be faint of heart. We shall have a much juster and more efficient system, and one fraught with far less doubt, hesitation, and pain than the system of happy-go-lucky and go-as-you-please.
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