In the House of Lords on Monday Lord Roberts drew
attention to the dangers of invasion to which this country is exposed, and must be exposed as long as we have not in these islands a military force stronger than that which we at
present possess. The essential contention of Lord Roberts's speech was that vessels suitable for accommodating two hundred thousand men are at all times available in the northern ports'of Germany, and that, owing to the nature of the new German service law, it would be possible to collect a fully equipped field force of this number in the districts near the ports " without ahy Ns( or- mobilisation 'arrange- ments being put into force." Further, these two hundred thousand men could easily be thrown upon our shores if our Fleet Were occupied elsewhere, and might, with luck or under special condibione of weather, reach this country even if our Fleet Were on the look out for theni. Bilt if they once landed, we have at present no force which could be relied on to deal with theM. When we could make this possibility an impossibility through a 'measure like universal training—a measure which ill highly beneficial in itself—surely it is madness to reject it.
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