An effort will be made, we believe, to obtain a
vote of the House of Commons in favour of adding" religion" to the rest of the descriptive facts demanded of the householder by census- takers. It will fail, we fancy, the Nonconformists having a rooted objection to disclose their numbers, and an incurable belief that the masses of people who never enter either church or chapel will put themselves down as members of the Estab- lished Church. They are unwise, for the omission of the inquiry only blinds them to the immensity of the force which will resist Disestablishment, but it would be foolish to raise a quarrel over such an issue. The Establishment can fight for itself without knowing its numbers, and might be beguiled by a census into over.weening self-confidence. We would suggest that this time the Government would do well to ask of each householder whether he had served in the Army, Militia, or Volunteers, and whether he was willing to serve again if the country were threatened with invasion. We should then know accurately the number of trained men in the country, and their ages, and the proportion of them who would be willing in an emergency to turn out.
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