MR. OLIVER ON COMPULSION.
(To use EDITOZ OF TH7 .13P7OTATOE:.] SIR,—In his new work, Ordeal by Battle, the author, Mr. F. S. Oliver, a well-known advocate of conscription, makes the following statement "Beyond the question whether the system of recruiting which has been employed during the present war can correctly be described as voluntary,' there is the further question whether the system which is in use in ordinary times, and which produces some 85,000 men per annum, can be so described... . These young fellows with empty bellies, and no very obvious way of filling them, except by violence—these lads with gloom at their hearts, in many cases with a burden of shame weighing on them at having Come into such a forlorn pass—in nine cases out of ten enlistment eaves them ; perhaps in even more than that . ., this is the com- pulsion of hunger and misery."
I shall deem it a favour if you will allow me, as an ex-soldier and as one who for over seven years had the privilege of serving in the ranks of the 15th The King's Hussars, to point out the absurdity of such a statement—not only is it absurd, but it is insulting to the rank-and-file of the Regular Army. Speaking from personal experience, I can safely say that the man who enlisted, previous to the war, because he was hungry or because he waa bearing a " burden of shame" was the exception rather than the rule. As a matter of fact, most of these men joined the Army out of a love of soldiering, of adventure, and of a freedom from responsibility. Surely there are better means of advocating conscription than by hurling insults at the heroes of Mons, the Marne, and the
Aisne.—I am, Sir, Sm., REDLBY F. DAB. Clan House, Surrey Street, W.C.
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