We may sum up our objections to Mr. Haldane's scheme
by saying that we do not believe that at the best it can give us a
better body of Auxiliary troops than we have got to-day, and may very well give us a worse. It is quite conceivable that when it is carried out we may find ourselves not only without a Militia, • but practically without Volunteers or yeomanry. We do not believe that the Volunteers, when bhey fully realise the conditions to which they are asked to assent in time of peace, will agree to them, except in very greatly reduced numbers, while we believe that the stidden lowering of pay in the case of the Yeomanry will almost conipletely destroy that force. In view of these circumstances, we are not surprised that cynical persona declare that the real intention of the Regular soldiers who have helped Mr. Haldane in the creation of his new scheme has been to devise a plan which is almost certain to break down, but which, when it has broken down, must necessitate recourse to compulsory service. If we get rid of the Militia, reduce the Yeomanry to a few thousands, and the Volunteers to, say, a hundred thousand, we shall have no choice but to adopt some form of conscrip- tion. Our own impression is that though men may be for a time dazzled by the cleverness and ingenuity of the scheme, they will in the end find it unsatisfactory, and that the more it is studied the less popular it will become. If we should prove to be right, and if later there is a pretty general expression of dissent among the members of the Auxiliary Forces, we sincerely trust that Mr. Haldane will show his wisdom by withdrawing his proposals, and by giving himself further time for the study of the military problems before him. We cannot find space here to suggest an alternative to Mr. Haldane's scheme, but trust that we may be able to do so next week.
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