[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR "]
notice that the opponents of National Service con- stantly make use of the argument that National Service on the lines advocated by the National Service League would in all human probability seriously prejudice recruiting for the expeditionary force.
The grounds for this belief are never disclosed; it is thought sufficient to rely on the opinion of Sir Ian Hamilton, who again gives no reasons for his belief. I think there are solid grounds for believing that the reverse would be the case, and that National Service would provide a very large addition to the number of those likely to volunteer for the expeditionary force, at any rate in time of war, when its wastage must be vastly greater than at any other time.
I was assured by a competent informant, about the close of the South African War, that of all those who volunteered for service in South Africa, preceded by a short preliminary training, nearer ninety than eighty per cent. were men who had had dealings of some kind with soldiering before, either as Volunteers or otherwise, and that, roughly speaking, it would not be far from the truth to say that the mass of the entirely civilian working classes produced no volunteers; it was not their job and they would have none of it. If this statement was, as I have no reason to doubt, correct, it seems almost conclusive upon the point in question.—I am,
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