Getting the Recruits
Having decided that the armed forces need strengthening, the Government is now considering what mixture of rewards and exhortations can be devised to bring about the desired result. The attempts at exhortation have so far been a trifle flat. Mr. Attlee's broadcast speech on Sunday evening was sensible in matter and persuasive in manner, but his earlier appeal in the House of Commons to National Service men to sign on for another six or twelve months at the end of their compulsory eighteen months of training was less effective. It is difficult to explain why, if two years' training is a good thing, it should not be enforced by law. As far as rewards go, the Cabinet is understood to be examining Service conditions, with particular reference to pay. It is, of course, impor- tant that rewards and opportunities in the Services should be commensurate with those in industry or agriculture, though, in the present conditions of full employment it is hardly possible that they should be superior. Moreover, while bad conditions may make a good army mutiny, good conditions will never make a reluctant army fight. In other words, the basic grounds on which the appeal for recruits made must now, as always, be patriotism. This is particularly true when it comes to the question of attracting back to the Regular or Territorial Armies those men and women who served in the last war. They know what service conditions are like ; a shilling or two a day more will not overcome their reluctance to put on battle-dress again. They need to be persuaded of the urgency of the situation and they need to know exactly what is expected of them. At the present moment they are hazy as to whether all members of class Z reserve are due for recall in an emergency, and whether this makes volunteering unnecessary, or whether their jobs are reserved and they should think about joining civil defence.
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