We have expressed elsewhere our grave anxiety at Mr. Haldane's
proposals, and our dread that if they are carried out they will mean a most serious reduction in our military strength. We may note here one or two additional, points. It must not be forgotten that by the abolition of the Militia we shall abandon what we regard as a eery valuable assertion of principle,—viz., that contained in the power of compelling men to serve in the Militia, if necessary, by means of the Militia ballot. It is true that the ballot for the Militia is suspended; but the principle is still in existence with us, as it is in America. We should be loth to see the State adopt the notion that it has no right, in the event of a great military crisis, to compel the citizens to defend their country and their own homes by force of arms. Next, we must note that the abolition of the Militia may most seriously interfere with the raising of recruits for the Regular Army. Hitherto the Militia regiments have acted as important recruiting agents for the Army, and though such recruiting has been bad for the Militia, it has always been endured, as an unavoid- able evil. If this machinery is destroyed, we may easily find ourselves face to face with a huge deficiency of recruits for the Line, in addition to the chaos produced throughout the Service by Mr. Haldane's scheme.
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