THE TERRITORIAL FORCE AND STRIKES.
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—May I venture to ask whether the statement in the Spectator of February 22nd to the effect that the Territorial Force cannot be used for the suppression of strikers does not involve the retention of the expeditionary force in this country P If the Territorial Force cannot be used in aid of the civil power in Great Britain and Ireland, how can it set free the Regular Army to go abroad P I venture to append an extract from the Duke of Bedford's article in the Nine- teenth Century and After for February, which seems to require attention from the responsible authorities.—I am, Sir. &c.,
ARNOLD WHITE.
Windmill Cottage, Farnham Common, Bucks.
"No Secretary of State for War has had a larger experience of using Regular troops in aid of the civil power than Lord Haldane. On eight occasions between the 25th of June, 1907, and July, 1912, he has employed them for this purpose.* In August,1911, as he informed the House, he was employing fifty-eight thousand men in aid of the civil power in Great Britain, and even this number, as he admitted, was not enough to cover the whole area of disturbance.t In view of his own experience, therefore, Lord Haldane cannot contend that this new duty in aid of the civil power, which he has assigned to the third battalions of the Special Reserve, is too remote a contingency to require serious attention from a Secretary of State for War."
• Official Report. House of Commons. March 1st, 1912, page 1774, and November 20th, 1911, page 813. Official Report. House of Lords. August 22nd, 1911, page 1161.
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