On Wednesday night Major Seely moved a Resolution in regard
to recruiting. In his opinion, we shall never have the Army we need until the Army is made a profession and a career for every man joining it. After Mr. Arnold-Forster had spoken, Mr. Haldane made one of those wise speeches on what we may call the common-sense of Army reform which are beginning to prove a feature of his official career. He fully admitted that we must address ourselves to the task of making the career of the private a better career than at present. We must supply also the want of organisation owing to which we neglect to find civil employment for soldiers, and we must, where possible, teach the soldier some sort of trade. It was more difficult to do that in the Army than the Navy, but not impossible. As to recruiting, Mr. Haldane remarked that we get some very good men, although we often get rather rough ones. That is a statement which all who care for the welfare of the Army will welcome. In our opinion, the talk about the bad human material in our Army has been grossly exaggerated, and, like all exaggeration, has tended to do harm and to produce the results we wish to avoid. How can we expect respectable men to join the Army if those who want to raise its character are perpetually shouting that the Army is formed of the worst class in the country ? Such talk is a gross libel on the British soldier.
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