The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-09-20
CABINET MINISTER
 APPEALS ID PUBLIC
 FOR A FAIR CHANCE
If Armies Can Be Recruited Without Compulsory Ser vice Conscription Will Not Be Resorted to

London. September Ia.--ts D. m.) David Lloyd-George. minister of muni. l tions. in . letter to one of his con stftuents, issued by the official press
 bureau tonight, appeals to the pubIi, to give the government a fair chance to decide the question of compulsory service and retterates his view that the situation Is n serious one which demands that the country, If victory is to fall to the nllies, must exert its whole strength. Mr. IJoyd-George says;
 You say, and say rightly that the government ought to give the nation a lead on the question whether the moral obligation of every able bodied man to de- fend his country should be converted dur ing this war into a legal obligation.
 The government, I can assure you, are fuuly alive to the necessity for giving definite lead They are engaged in ex- amining the subject with a view to com ing to the right decision Undue delay might be disastrous, but undue precipi- tation might be equally disastrous Let us avoid both. The issue is one of fact, not of principle
 If the figures demonstrate that we can win through and with the voluntary sys- tenn. 1t would be folly to provoke a con troversy in the middle of world war by attempts to substitute totally different method. On the other hand If these fig- ures demonstrate to every unprejudiced person that the voluntary system has ex- hausted it's utility, and nothing but legal pressure can give us the armies neces- sary to defend the honor of Great Britain and save Europe from the triumph of military despotsm, I have not yet heard of the man who would resist compulsion.
 Would Not Prevent C0nscription
 Under these circumstances. the men who say they would offer resistance to this expedient, even If proven to be neces- sary to save their country and the free. dom of the world, have not yet ap-i peared in the arena, and if they do pre- dict that their protectors will not be found amongst the working classes
 Tt Is all a question of. f.ascertainable facts Why then all this premature an- ger? The determining facts have not yet been been published. When they have been sfted and made known, the advo- cates of one view or the other will sure ly find that the whole cylinders of fer, vor and ferocity have been wasted in attacking positions which. they will then discover they ought to defend Let the government have fair chance to decide
 The opinions I have formed al 10 ,:le essential action are prompted as to the cere persuasion that nothing but the ex- ertion of our whole strength will enable us to obtain victory, upon which so much depends. Having come to that conclusion am bound to do my. best to secure that effort without the least regard to the ef- feet my appeals may have upon my own political fortunes. ~l.tF
 "The issue is the gravest any country has ever been called upon to decide Let 1t be settled in spirit worthy of its gravity. !
 "I withdraw nothing have said as to the seriousness of the position. Natur- ally I take a hopeful view of the pros poets of the cause I am concerned In, but know too we'll that to ignore dangers which you can see with the naked eye, if you lock around, is the most fruit full source of disaster in all affairs l. for months, have called attention to the dangers in the present war. Events alone will Irove whether T have been unoufy alarmed So far. Iregret. they have jus tified my apprehensions. ,a.ss.s. l .
 "I should indeed be a traitor if I did. not hope fervently that the course, of the war would prove that have overesti- mated the worst evils but I have not written without warrant in facts Known to the enemy as well as to us-facts- which should have thought would have already sobered the most fatuous opti- mist.
 "I have. therefore. felt driven by the jeopardy of my native land to sound a note of alarm. I have done so in the confident belief that, if it succeeds in rousing us in time to put forth all our strength. we shall win. If for any reason o fall it VIII be sorry comfort to se able later on to taunt with their mis- takes those who now abuse me for daring to call attention to the coming storm be- fore if overwhelms the land, and be- cause strive to Induce my fellow coun- trymen to prepafe in time for its on- slaught p %