Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-11-07
ENGLISH AROUSED
BY CONSCR|P TON.
One Question Which Holds At.
tention of Entire British
Nation.
PRESENT OPPOSITE VIEWS.
If Established, 1t Is Certain Com.
pulsory Service Will Be
Permanent.
PRESENT OPPOSITE VIEWS

LoNDoN, november 6.-'COnScrip-
ton or Voluntary Service Is the title
OF the great drama which continues to q
attract the attention of the entire
British nation.
The chief actors. from the viewpoint
OF the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. the villains I
of the drama. are two of Great Brit
aims most powerful men to-day, Lord
Northcliffe. the millionaire newspaper
king. and Lloyd George. the silver
tongued orator from Wales. who prob (
ably VIII become the successor Of Pre-
mier Asquith If CONSUMPTION becomes
the law of the land
Behind these two men stands prao.
tically the entire Tory, or Unionist,
party, which has Endorsed the question
of CONSUMPTION perhaps as the only
means through which 1t has any
chance of regaining It's vanished polItI-
cal power. At the side Of Lloyd
George who short time ago was
radical and an adversary OF conscrip-
ton, stands Winston Churchill; 20 the
most daring and ambitious man in Eng
land, who also aspires' to the PREMIER
ship. and several prominent Liberals.
FAVOR CONSUMPTION AS
NECESSITY ONLY
Those men insist that to win tho
war England must have CONSUMPTION.
and that this is the only fair, tho
cheapest and the most efficient system.
On the opposite side stand the great
masses OF the Liberals, headed by the
strong. silent Premier Asquith. In this
camp, too. strangely enough, you find
also Arthur James Balfour, the real
leader OF the Conservative party. and
many prominent Conservatives like
Lord Hugh Cecil These men fear that
compulsory military service may re-
suit In domestic strife; they assert that
the voluntary system is better suited
10 the Anglo-Saxon temperament, and
that it will continue to produce the
number of recruits needed as alway.
before. STILL they are all willing to In
dorse conscription should 1t become
urgently necessary. The same opinion
Is held by Lord Kitchener.
The government itself consists of n
stronger party, favoring CONSUMPTION.
ana minority opposing 1t, while a
third faction, approximately as strong
as the others combined, is willing to
indorse CONSUMPTION should the militarv
authorities consider II necessary RI
win the war. In the recruiting COM
mission appointed by the government
there Is majority of one vote In favor
OF CONSUMPTION.
What makes the situation mora die
hcult is the fact that the left winrEof
the Liberal party has declared war TO
the knife against CONSUMPTION. and has
the support OF the eighty-four Irish
Nationalists An almost impossible
position Is held by the forty-two MEM
oers Oh the Labor party, who hold the
oaiahce or power. and who represent
over 100000 organized workingmen.
IN the white-hot furnace of Moloch the
deeply rooted antipathy against con-
scription OF these men has lost all
shape and color. and. with the exoep-
lon of n few implncable members Of
inc independent Labor party. they will
vote Tor CONSUMPTION should this ba
necessary to win the war.
me man in the streets, as usual I'm
England. has not formed any dehnite
opinion. though were compulsory ser.
vice TO be made the issue of a general
erection 1t probably would be defeated
oh the other side, any real danger or
German invasion would immedIatalv
result in universal clamor for con-
scription.
IL Is by no means impossible how.
ever. that man like Lloyd Georre.
IN country whUre personality means
more than anywhere else in the world.
aided by Churchill. may carry through
consumption because at Is necessarv tn
win the war" and 1t is very signifcant
'nat not a single NJ. P. has declared
'hat ne VIII oppose CONSUMPTION undor
all conditions. ~
IL ADOPTED WILL III,
PERMANENT INSTITUTION
IL should De remembered that con-
L.,
ptioh III England would relate to
industrial as well as purely military
work
AS for the latter. II will become e;tber
" permanent institution or temporary
measure to safeguard the country dur.
ihS the war; and II 1t be adopted in
us temporary form all males between
thirty ana forty-fve years of age will
De ordered out for service in the coun.
Wy "hiie all men between twenty and
thirty Will be sent to the front first.
Another scheme Is to call out all men
between nineteen and thirty-eight <or
service on the continent. and all men
between thirty eight and fifty for home
ueiehse. or unmarried men between
nineteen and thlrty-eight, there are
"''oo'ooo' of>whom all those not already
under the colors would be sent to the
number about 100000.
1t is almost certain. however, that
II adopted temporarily,
VIII become permanent.
IL has been calculated that new re- &
cruits numbering between 100000 and
100000 must be found before March, !
1916. to keep the British army up to 4
ITS present full strength And TO do
this 1t may become necessary to call
out all men between nineteen and forty
five. OF whom there are 100000.
The detailed plan is to employ So
100000 of Engiand's 100000 inhahi-
tants In the following manner: 100000
men. between nineteen and thirty-efght, n
on active military service: 100000
men. women and young persons Of both
sexes in the munition factories and
f6,5oo0o0 people OF both sexes on na-
tional civil work OF various kinds