The Independent Labour Party, of whichMr. F. W. Jewett, M.P.,
is chairman, is urging its branches not to join in the Prime Minister's recruiting campaign. In the view of the Committee, "a sort of moral pressure will be inequitable and unjust." Much as they detest universal military service, they think it would be less discreditable than "the general hunting and harrying of young men now taking place." This is really impressive as an effort in logic. The Independent Labour Party tolerates hunting and harrying to its heart's content when it is a question of recruiting for a militant labour organization. Not only is there " a sort of moral pressure', amounting to blackmail, but a sort of bashing in of heads and noses by intimidating pickets when a strike has been declared. But even gentle methods of recruiting for the Army are shocking to Mr. Jowett and his friends when the
task in hand is only the retrieving of liberty and international honesty from disaster. The manifesto is an insult to working men. No need to say more ; working men will know perfectly well what to think of it for themselves.
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