As for the Territorial Force, Lord Roberta declares that two
things are necessary to the soldier. He must have discipline) and he must be able to shoot with precision. How can these
essentials be acquired under Territorial training P Lord Roberts proceeds to defend the National Service League from Lord Haldane's charges and to point out the necessity for universal training. Further, he urges, and, as we hold, with special weight, that the Navy ought to be absolutely unfettered, and so able to strike at a hostile force in any portion of the world. But the Navy cannot have freedom of action unless we are in a position of complete military security at home. Finally, Lord Roberts asks what resistance could we offer if the fleet were decoyed away and 70,000 of the best troops in the world landed here. " Absolutely none," is his reply. Lord Roberts refuses to believe that Lord Haldane's quarter of a million of Territorials could avail to save us " I know something of war, and I assert unhesitatingly that in view of the immense strain made upon every faculty by the con- ditions of modern warfare, and of the necessity for instantaneous decision and action, not in one critical moment only, but in repeated critical moments, discipline, and yet again discipline, alone can make an army, and discipline can only be arrived at by training and time."
No faith, adds Lord Roberts, can be placed in arbitration or Hague conferences.
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