The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-09-20
Lloyd George Says That
England Must Consider.
CONSUMPTION Calmly
DEPLORES TALK
OF RESISTANCE
Says If Compulsion Is Necessary Work
ingmen Will Not Protect Those WHO
Oppose It-Facts Should Have Sob
cred Most Fatuous Optimist

LONDON, Sept 20 - David Lloyd
George, minister of munitions, in a letter
to one of his constituents, issued by the
official press bureau, makes an appeal to
the public to give the government fair
chance to decide the question of compul-
sorry service, and reiterates his view that
the situation is a serious one which de-
mands that the country, if victory is to
fall to the allies, must exert its whole
strength Mr.. George says:
You say, and say rightly, that the gov
eminent ought to give the nation a lead
on the question whether the moral obliga-
ton of every able-bodied man to defend,
his country should be converted during
this war into a legal obligation
The government, | can assure you, IS
fully alive to the necessity for giving a
definite lead They are engaged in exam
ming the subject with a view to coming to
the right decision. Undue delay might be
disastrous, but undue precipitation 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-
TEN, it would be folly to provoke a eontro-
versy in the middle of a world war by at
| tempts to substitute Il totally different
method On the other hand, if these fig
urcs demonstrate to every unprecedented
person that the voluntary system has eX-
hausted it's utility and nothing but legal
pressure can give us the armies necessary
to defend the honor of Great Britain and
save Europe from the triumph of military
'despotism, / have not vet heard of the
man who would resist eompulsion.
i Under these circumstances, the men
who say they would offer resistance to this
expedient, even if proved to he necessary
to save their country and the freedom oil
the world, have not yet appeared in the
arena, and if they do, | predict that THEN
protectors will not be found among the
working. classes
! 1t Is all a question Of ascertainablc
facts Why, then, all this premature an
ger? The determining facts have not yet
been published. When they have beer
siftcd and made known the advocates Of
Zone view or the other will surely find that
the whole cylinders Of feryor 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 | have formed as to tn,
essential action are prompted by the sin
ccre persuasion that nothing but the eXer
ton of our whole strength viii enable IL
to obtain victory, upon which so much de
lpends. Having come to that conclusion
| am bound to do my best to secure tina
effort without the least regard to the et
feet my appeals may have upon my onF
political fortunes.
The issue Is the gravest any countr,
has ever been called upon to decide lie
it be settled in a spirit worthy of it
gravity.
i withdraw nothing I have said as t
the seriousness of the position. Naturally
take hopeful view of the prospects O
the cause | am concerned in, but / kno,
too we'll that to ignore dangers which yo
| see with the naked eye if you look aroun
is the most fruitful source of disaster i
| all affairs. | for months have called after
ton to che dangers in the present wal
| Events alone will prove whether / hav
been unduly alarmed So far, | regre
| they have justified my apprehension.
Il should indeed be a traitor if | di
| not hope fervently that the course of tn
war would prove that | have overestima
| cd the worst evils, but | have not write
without warrant i'll facts known to til
] enemy as well as to us-facts which