THE CALL TO SELF-DEFENCE
N his foreword to the National Service handbook, Sir John Anderson has emphasised that the Government's call to the nation " is to peace and not to war." The same emphasis marked the Prime Minister's appeal to the nation on Monday. The men and women of this country are not being asked to arm themselves for attack. But they are being asked to arm them- selves against attack ; and their preparations can be called pacific only in the sense that by being well pre- pared they make it less likely that an attack will be made. In this sense it is fair to say that the strengthening of our defences is a contribution to peace ; but this is only another way of saying that the threat to peace is so great that only an intense effort by the entire nation may be sufficient to prevent war. What the German Press calls the " quiet and fatherly " manner of Mr. Chamberlain's appeal should conceal from no one that the danger is great, and perhaps immediate. The inadequacy of the preparations that have been made as yet, the certainty that in the near future they will be improved, mean that the present moment is perhaps the most dangerous this country will have to face. Only a complete and enthusiastic response to the appeal that has been made may avert this danger ; and the need is the greater because of the lethargy and indifference which have been shown in the past.
Since the present plan depends on the voluntary principle, the responsibility is on the individual citizen's shoulders. He is presented with a list of the services which are necessary, and he himself must choose whether he will volunteer, and for which service. The Prime Minister has said that the crux of this appeal is whether democracy can survive the test with which it is faced. There is truth, of course, in that. But the voluntary principle has been adopted equally because, in Sir John Anderson's view, it will function more efficiently than compulsion and will provide all the volunteers that are required. There are many, no less democratiC, who believe the Lord Privy Seal is mistaken, and it is certain that if the voluntary principle breaks down compulsion will and must be adopted. There is no reason why, in an emergency, compulsion should not be adopted by a democracy. But a compulsory system is so wide in its application that much sifting is involved, and sifting takes time. There is every reason to believe that men and women who are both willing and competent will come forward in sufficient numbers without delay. They are needed, not a month hence, but now.
An immediate and wholehearted response is the more necessary because the appeal is only directed to a limited section of the population. A half of Britain's man power—some 6,00o,000 or 7,000,000—is included in the Government's scheme of reserved occupations ; the responsibility of the rest of the population is by so much the greater. Some of them can offer no greater service than to facilitate in every way in their power the task of evacuating them from dangerous zones. For the rest, the National Service handbook enumerates some ten services for which volunteers are wanted. They include the armed forces, the police, and other civilian services ; but the success of the plan will be judged first and foremost by whether it provides a suffi- cient number of suitable recruits for the services which come under the heading of A.R.P. Last September the nation realised with alarm that, though apparently on the eve of war, it was in no condition to defend itself against the greatest danger which threatened—the danger of a knock-out blow from the air. Unless this fatal gap in our defences is remedied, the present plan will prove to be a more than useless failure ; for the time lost in proving its inadequacy can never be 'recovered. And so far as A.R.P. is concerned, the Government's plans may suffer because of one impor- tant omission. An adequate system of A.R.P. would involve constructional works that can hardly be left to volunteers who are also engaged in other occupations. Among the 1,800,000 unemployed of this country is the material for a trained labour corps able to discharge this task and to provide a skilled industrial reserve. So far no provision has been made for creating such a corps, while nearly 2,000,000 men are compelled to waste in idleness. This valuable labour reserve should immediately be enrolled in the service of the nation ; and it is encouraging that in this week's rally at the Albert Hall, Sir John Anderson indicated that the Government does not intend it should be permanently wasted.
The Government has made an appeal to the country ; but the nature of the response to that appeal depends not merely on the willingness of the man in the street to sacrifice his energies and leisure in the service of the nation. It depends also on the vigour and energy with which the Government performs its own tasks. The gap in our defences that was revealed during the last crisis was not due to any failing in the men and women of this country. It was due to lack of material, to lack of foresight, of organisation, on the part of their leaders. And unless these deficiencies are corrected, even the greatest self-sacrifice on the part of the nation will prove useless. No number of A.R.P. workers, though trained and willing to serve, will protect Britain from air attack if aeroplanes and anti-aircraft guns are lacking, or if guns are delivered in a condition in which they can- not be used, or if shelters and refuges are not provided. If national service has any meaning, it means the active co-operation of both the governors and the governed in the defence of their country ; it means that both dis- charge their responsibilities, and thereby create a basis for mutual trust and confidence. If either party to this compact fails, the work of the other is wasted. It is useless for the Government to create weapons if there is no one to use them ; it is equally useless for men and women to volunteer for service, if they are not given the weapons with which to defend themselves. Mr. Chamberlain has described the plan of National Service as a test for the men and women of this country, and it is a test; but not for them alone, it is a test equally for their leaders. A nation called upon to serve will demand that its efforts are not wasted or thwarted and expect of its leaders efforts and results that surpass anything that has so-far been achieved.
Previous page
