greater and more extensive than it had ever been before. War will remain its ideal; and revenge will be its aim. The moral is to avoid dogmatism as to the prospects of "universal peace," and to prepare for possibilities.

There are certain facts which are simple and incontrovertible. Our Empire is one of great possessions, and great possessions need great care for their preservation. Every individual in our Empire is a shareholder in "the British Empire, Unlimited." Unlimited liability is undoubtedly a burden, but the shareholders have been receiving the benefits of that constitution. The "sacred right of voluntaryism," if it means anything, means that a citizen need not do anything in return for his citizenship unless he likes; but that is a proposition which is not yet established, even in its restricted application to military service. The contrary has always been the law of the country, from the distant times before the feudal system bound every man to military service, right on through the days of train-bands and militia, until continuous freedom from the danger of a life and death struggle led to the practice, as distinguished from a right, of voluntary enlistment. A little more than a year ago there was a demand for “a citizen army in a certain political juncture. We have now got it partly, and a citizen army is a magnificent ideal. But the ideal is not reached until it is the law of the land that every citizen is a potential soldier.

The problem before the country is to reach this ideal without what is known as "conscription." I believe that the nearest approach to the ideal is to be attained by the creation of National Cadet Corps, in which absolutely every boys' school in the country, of whatever social grade, would have a place.

The one thing which is quite certain is that the country can never again depend upon such efforts as are being made at present to provide an adequate army if it is to use the best human prevision to avoid disaster.

Those who are resisting any alteration of our methods of providing for the protection of our country point to the magnificent response which has already been made. It is magnificent-so magnificent that it could hardly ever have been anticipated under a system of voluntary enlistment. I know of a town of 15,000 inhabitants which was the despair of the recruiting officer before the war. It is a flourishing mining centre, in which war work is absorbing all the labour available and taking volunteers after their own day's work is done. That town has sent 1,500 men to the colours since the war began, more than 700 being married The same tale can be told in most parts of Great Britain. But the system is necessarily slow, and it takes a long time

men.

to make a good soldier. If it were not for the extraordinary resources of the country in other directions the system would be an utter failure. An enemy will not give time for the formation of an army in this way if he can help it, and next time we may not have so good fortune.

A close observation of the present methods of recruiting is not calculated to inspire admiration. I have taken part to some extent in a typical effort in one of the most populous and most enterprising cities of the kingdom. In May, I believe it was, the city was asked to raise reinforcing drafts for its own regiments. It calculated that it would have to raise 10,000 men, but it afterwards raised its calculation to 15,000. One phase of the effort was a tramcar campaign in the evenings. Two electric cars proceeded to about six points each evening, one carrying speakers, and the other carrying a band and recruiting sergeants. Huge crowds listened to the speakers. Afterwards a lantern-picture campaign was carried on in the centre of the city, with even greater crowds. Yet from May until the end of August only about 5,500 recruits had been secured. There was a tremendous air of enthusiasm and stir about the whole proceedings, the speakers being either soldiers or men whose sons are soldiers, and the speakers were generally effective. As I looked over the crowd while speaking I was forced to the conviction that the men in it were mostly either over the military age or engaged in work directly or indirectly important in connection with the war. The young men who do not want to serve do not attend these meetings.

My feeling in addressing the meetings was that after a certain point it was not a dignified method of raising an army of patriots : as a permanent method, that is, it does not seem quite worthy of a great nation, or even of a great city.

Further, the satisfaction of those who point to the numbers enlisted ought to be qualified by the circumstance that men do not make an army. As a mere aggregation, they are only a mob. It is discipline and training which turn a mob into an army; and the process requires time. The process also reveals weaknesses of physique which would make the individual a burden to the army in the field if he were sent there prematurely. In many cases the training of the present army, necessarily applied to men whose bodies have "set" in their civilian employment, and who have long given up the athletic exercises which would have kept them supple, has produced a strain which has resulted in such things as hernia, varicose veins, and "V.D.H.". And the provision of efficient officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, is a problem which cannot be too strongly emphasised. Every Commanding Officer knows how difficult it has been in some cases

to instil into the mind of the subaltern just appointed the necessity of discipline in his attitude to his men and to his superior officers. Yet one of the marvels of the present war is that officers and men who were civilians a year ago have done such mighty deeds of war, the subalterns no less than their older comrades. Such material should leaven the whole population in the days to

come.

Many of the objections to "conscription conscription" are vague and illinformed; but there are three which are fairly definite-the objection to compulsion just because it is compulsion, the objection to encouraging the military spirit as a thing creditable in itself, and the objection to taking the young man away from industrial pursuits for a couple of years at a very important time of his life. The third objection is the strongest of all, and is well illustrated by the great German armies which are at present the menace of civilisation. But if an army can be so organised that most of its soldiers are civilians except for short periods at long intervals, then two important objections are removed, while the other is invalid.

The military systems of the Union of South Africa and of the Australasian Commonwealth have been built up on that principle, and the good work which both have done and are doing is well known. The Cadet system is the beginning of the military training, and so it may truly be said that the soldier begins in the schoolboy.

The value of the Cadet system is seen in schools of a certain class in England and Scotland. It is rather more than curious that the system should be practically confined to schools of higher social standing-those which are beyond the influence of popular suffrage.

I have been at some pains to make myself conversant with the history and work of the Cadet Corps of leading schools in England and Scotland, and to ascertain to what extent those Cadet Corps may have helped the formation of the present armies. The details of some of the schools may be allowed to speak for themselves.

Eton, Rugby, Harrow, Marlborough, Westminster, and Bedford may be taken as typical of a whole class of schools in England. Glenalmond, Loretto, and Merchiston may be taken as typical of a similar class in Scotland. And then there is a very large class of day schools of a very high order in Scotland, where the "Academy" or "Grammar School" has held sway without rival until comparatively a recent date. These day schools at the present time are usually distinguished in sports, and in most cases have their Cadet Corps in a high state of efficiency. The old name of Cadet Corps has, of course, been exchanged for that of

Officers Training Corps, symbolised by the expression "O.T.C." The training colleges for elementary schoolmasters stand in a class by themselves; but their military work is so important that they ought to be mentioned in this connection rather than later. The Eton College Corps came into existence with the Volunteer movement in 1860, and was founded by the present Provost. The year 1908 was a year of reorganisation of the Cadet Corps of schools, and from that date they are the O.T.C. In that year the Eton College Rifle Corps became part of the Junior Division of the O.T.C., with which it has been to camp practically continuously since. The strength before the war was 14 officers, 6 staff-sergeants, 11 buglers, and 546 rank and file. About 97 per cent. of those eligible have been members of the O.T.C. in the last five years, and at present absolutely every eligible boy is a member, the strength being 19 officers, 3 staff-sergeants, 14 buglers, and 600 rank and file. The Corps is commanded by a Lieut.-Colonel, and it also has 1 Major, 4 Captains, and an Adjutant who is attached to it from the active list of the Regular Army.

My figures of Old Etonians serving are well up to date. They number over 3,000, of whom 471 have died, 521 have been wounded, and 394 have been mentioned in despatches. The honours and decorations won are very numerous.

The Rugby School Cadet Corps began in 1860, very much as that of Eton did. It was attached to the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and those who were enrolled formed F Company. From 1902 no enrolments took place, and it became a Cadet Corps entirely, though still attached to the Battalion. The numbers before the war stood at about 370 out of a school of 570; but at any time approximately 100 boys would be ineligible owing to size or to their not having had time to take recruit drills. All the boys who go to Woolwich or Sandhurst join the O.T.C. Most of the old boys of military age are serving in some capacity, and numbers of them have received distinctions.

I have very full particulars of the part which Harrow School is taking in the war, as disclosed in the pages of The Harrovian War Supplement for July. Of the 471 boys who were members of the school in that month, 467 belong to the O.T.C., and 7 masters are officers. The history of the Corps proceeds along the same lines as have been indicated for the Eton and Rugby Corps, and at the last official inspection it was reported to be "in a very high state of efficiency." The number of old boys known to be serving or to have served, for many have run their course-in this war is 2,156. Of that number 150 have been killed in action

or have died of their wounds, while 9 have died in the performance of duty. The wounded number 234, while 14 are reported missing. These figures are those of the Supplement, corrected up to August 7th.

The school has a wonderful record of honours gained on the field. The V.C. has been awarded to 3 Old Harrovians; the D.S.O. to 24 up to date; the M.C. to 22; the D.S.C. to 1; the D.C.M. to 2; and the Legion of Honour to 17. There have been many promotions for Field Service, and 162 old members of the school have been mentioned in despatches, some of them more than once. Many Old Harrovians hold important commands, among them being General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, who received such high praise in Field Marshal Sir John French's first despatch from the Front.

The three who received the V.C. include Lieut. W. B. RhodesMoorhouse, whose wonderful flight to Courtrai and back on April 26th won universal admiration, the last thirty-five miles being done while he was mortally wounded.

The first Cadet Company of Marlborough College, which also began with the Volunteer movement of 1860, numbered 70 boys out of a school of about 600, and was actually constituted in the year 1861. In 1891 the numbers only reached about 200; but the reorganisation of these school corps in 1908 almost made a revolution in this case, and found it as a contingent of the O.T.C. 330 strong, officered by 5 masters.

At the present time this contingent of the O.T.C. forms a battalion of three double companies, comprising 14 officers who are masters, 9 cadet officers, and 540 rank and file. Before the war there were 11 masters officers, 12 cadet officers, and 560 rank and file. The College has on its roll of those who have served or are serving a total number of 2,488 names. The list of war honours contains 3 V.C., 27 D.S.O., 28 M.C., 9 Legion of Honour, 1 D.C.M., 156 mentions in despatches, 3 knighthoods, and a C.B. The contingent of Westminster School has a much later history, its date of foundation being 1902. Like those which already have been described, it was reorganised in 1908. Last year, just before the war began, it numbered 182 members, of whom 100 went into camp; but the beginning of the war had the result of sending the number of cadets up to 285, which was the whole school with the exception of about 20 boys.

The number of Old Westminsters who are now serving is 863. Forty-two were killed early in the war, and at least 49 have been wounded. The most remarkable of the distinctions is the V.C. clasp won by Lieut. A. M. Leake, R.A.M.C. The official intimation of the honour ran thus: "Lieut. Arthur