The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-06
EMPHASIZES PLEDGE

EMPHASIZES PLEDGE The premier particularly emphasized the pledge he had given of resort to con- scription if the voluntary enlistments under the derby plan did not give ade- quate results. As a matter of national interest as well as expediency he re- garded the time as having arrived for
 keeping that pledge.
 q mean to keep my promise" he con- cluded, ''and let it not be said that we dsllied or delayed in carrying out an honorable obligation"
 Sir John Simon was greeted heart fly as he rose to combat the premier's contentious He expressed regret at leaving the cabinet and paid tribute to MT. Asquith, to whom he owed such success as he had achieved, but, he said no personal considerations could deter him from opposing this measure,
 which presented the supreme question of abandoning the principle of volun- | tary service, one of the traditions or , Britain's freedom, and substituting the Prussian system of militarism. This bill should be resisted!' he ex- claimed, while a wave of cheers greet ed his statement. He maintained that Premier Asquith had been chiefly moved in his desire to keep a pledge, ! whereas this was a proposition in yoIving a reversal of the entire policy of the government and those chiefly desirous of having the pledge Kept were the men who had for years taunt- ed the premier with lack of good faith.
 A chorus of hoots greeted the speak CTS sarcastic reference to pressure eX- erted by "the Harmsworth press" He maintained that the results of the bill, if enacted, would be negli- gible addition to the fighting force The real danger of the measure, he as- 1 serted, was that it committed the prime 1 minister to the principle of compnl- sorry service and once this was con 1 ceded no one could tell where the new | policy would end
 Don't condemn your own young 1 men," concluded the former home sec
 retary dramatically. Don't pay this compliment to Prussian militar1sm l Don't surrender one of the real her 1 ita ees of the English people for a mess
 of porridge."
 LABOR ATTITUDE
 The first indication of the attitude of
 the labor party was given by John 1 Hodge, vice chairman of the party, | who said that the trade council as-
 sembling in London tomorrow would be the greatest conference labor had ever held with a thousand delegates spe- cially committed to pass upon con l scription. He was unable to say what it's decision would be, but warned the premier that if the congress was
 against the bill it could not hope to ] succeed. Labor, he added, had always opposed conscription and even if the
 measure was passed no one could tell the after effects when the government
 sought to put it into execution.
 The attitude of the large Irish na-
 tionalist membership in the House ol Commons was disclosed by John Red
 mond, who expressed regret that the
 nationalist party could not support the measure. Irishmen, he said, were pre-
 pared to make every sacrifice to bring
 the war to an end, but they did not
 believe compulsory service necessary
 to attain that,result. The proposed bill
 was great departure from the es.
 tablished principle of government and
 he considered that the premier hat
 been far too scrupulous in keeping his pledge by rislSing such a departure from the established government pol
 icy.
 LAW IS CHEERED Andrew Bonar Law, secretary for the
 colonies, was received with cheers as l he declared the bill was absolutely nee essary if the war was to be won Referring to the possibility of the | defeat of the measure, Mr. Bonar Law asserted that the mousse must iIiaN' up it's mind if it decided that ther' } was no national need f..S the bill tha' l it's proceedings must be conducted without the assistance of the right hon l orable gentleman who had introduced the measure.
 The debate in the House of Commons t will be continued tomorrow and a tes r vote on the first reading probably vii be reached by 10 o'clock tomorrow . morning.
 The House of Lords was the scene o = another debate on conscription hardl. 0 less animated than that in the Hous d of Commons, as Earl Kitchener. sec n retary for war, urged the imperativ . necessity of trengthening the army b, ,, the means now proposed.
 Lord Kitchener declared himself e firm supporter of the voluntary sys 5. tenn and regarded the present measur $ as only a temporary deviation fror e the established policy.