It must be remembered that the cost of forming a
Register of Trained Men or Veteran Reserve of this kind is almost nil. Yet it would add a national asset of the very greatest importance in case an enemy had landed,—the only con- tingency contemplated for the calling out of the Veterans. In that dire peril, if the registers were properly kept up, we should be able to add to our fighting force one hundred thousand, or possibly even two hundred thousand, men of the best quality. We sincerely hope that the whole of the seven hundred men who are on the Surrey Register will be able to put in an appearance ; but it must be remembered, though it is in reality one of the most satisfactory things about the Register, that the men are not members of the unemployed, but all in good and responsible positions, and that therefore in many cases it may be impossible for them to leave their work. We trust, however, that their employers wherever possible will enable the men to get away. Of their own desire to be present there can be no sort of doubt.
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