On Wednesday afternoon the eighth annual general meeting of the
National Service League was held in the Queen's Hall, which was thronged with a large and representa- tive audience. The chair was taken by Lord Roberts, who pointed out that the membership of the League was now not far off seventy-five thousand, and that besides there was a very great number of adherents. A gratifying fact was that the number of Members of Parliament who were members of the League had increased and was increasing. In 19U2 they could claim three Members of Parliament. In 1906 the number had increased to forty-three, and in 1910 it had further increased to one hundred and sixty-three. We venture to believe that this number will be very much augmented in the next Parliament. The Member of Parliament, by nature a very timid animal, originally believed that national service was " dangerous." Now, however, that he sees that one hundred and sixty-three Members have come into the open on the question and have survived, he is much more inclined than formerly to vote and speak in public for what in private he admits to be necessary.
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