LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
RECRUITING.
[To TRR EDITOR OP THR "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—I have recently been obtaining what information I could on this problem, and personally working over the third part of a large village, which was assigned to me by the recruiting officer of the district. I mean that I have been recruiting men for the " Kitchener Army " and for the Terri- torials. Many had already joined, and some have done so now, or have promised to do so when their present engagements are concluded on the 21st of this month. There will then be very few eligible for service in my section. A small town, a large village, and a certain area of agricultural land were mapped out into sections, and two agents were appointed to each of them to visit every house for recruits and to take particulars of inmates. If this were done all over England, the agents using tact and discretion as well as energy, 1 am convinced that better results would be obtained. It is the old story, that personal military service will produce a sound defence, and personal service as a recruiter will produce men. Naturally it is well for the agents to be those who are unable, from age or some disability, to undertake military service, as I regret to say I am.
In motoring and riding about a considerable tract of country I find two things which have impressed me much. (1) Farmers, tradesmen, and wage-earners tell me that there are a considerable number of eligible young unmarried men who only require to be asked, and perhaps persuaded, to join the Army, and that they want looking up. For these the mapping out of the country and the personal house-to-house visit and appeal would be the thing.. (2) The same people say a compulsory call to service would be the proper measure, and I am told that not a few mothers say the same. As far as I can see, the majority of young men would be in favour of it also, and I think that very few of any class or age would resent it. Farmers and traders say : " Why should my man go and not my neighbour's as well?" Young men say : "Why should I go and not also my mates ? " or "I'll go if others do." The women say : "Why is my lad to go when others don't ? Make them all alike and they will go right enough." It is much more difficult to get one to go by himself than if a small party is made up. Men are more afraid of stepping out into a new life alone and facing the unknown of military routine than of fighting, and it is not unnatural in those, especially, who have been brought up all their lives in small communities. I think that an Act compelling all eligible unmarried men between the ages of eighteen and thirty or thirty-two to be put under military training for six or eight consecutive months during the war would be quite popular. It would afford us a large. fairly trained army of very good material, and even if sub- sequent service were not made compulsory, I think that the very large majority of the trained men would cheerfully volunteer for any sort of service; and those who did not would be still a valuable asset. The training is the first thing, and during the training the men would have time in a good "atmosphere " to make up their minds about foreign or any other sort of service.
At a recent meeting of a village club a discussion took place on compulsory training, and a resolution was unani- mously passed to the effect that a six months' compulsory training should be given to all able-bodied unmarried men--• there were not a few in the room—between the ages of eighteen and thirty years. A bricklayer said that in a Territorial Reserve battalion he knew, over four hundred strong, with many married men in it, all put down their names for foreign service except seventy, who, of course, were still willing to serve at home. It may be urged that to institute now any sort of compulsion would be a disgrace to the country, and certainly one can only regret that such a step should be necessary. The men, however, must be found, and other countries always have compulsion, which is certainly not removed during war. If we find that the necessity has arisen, it is better to make reform whilst there is time, even at the eleventh hour. The difficulty is, not that Britons are unwilling to serve their country, but that they do not yet at all appreciate the necessity for it. We have lived so long without participating in any great war, and have learnt so to rely on the blue water, that we do not recognize the possi- bility of invasion or the necessity of putting a large and well- maintained Army in the field. We are now fighting for the integrity of our country and Empire on foreign soil. Far better . for us to do it there than here; but we may yet have to do it here, and, anyway, we must secure victory or go under in misery and ruin. Let this be brought home to all, for it is the first step to the much-desired end.-1 am, Sir, &c., W. W. LUPTON.
Previous page
