New-York tribune., 1920-02-24
Britain to End
Conscription
On March 81
Churchill Tells Commons
That Voluntary Army of
220, 900, Fully Equipped,
Will BE Ready by Then
Service Bill to Expire
War Secretary Describes
New Tank Capable of
Going 20 Miles an Hour

LONDON, Feb. 23.-Conscription will
oe OF, abolished in Great Britain on March
'' ., ana within month from that date
.ie last conscript will be entitled tc
oe -. released, 1T was announced today in
u1 [ne House of Commons by Winston
Hhurchlll, Secretary for War, in NOV
ing the army estimates.
Mr.. Churchill stated that Great Brit
alh mad succeeded in raising and organ.
izing an entirely new volunteer army
which at the time conscription would
lapse would number about 100000. ex-
cludlng troops serving in India.
Inc nation would be able with her
:ieorganlzed army to place in the field
IN case OF emergency force of twenty
olvlslons, with cavalry and auxiliary
services, and supplied with the most
modern arms and equipment BritisL
army ever has had, the War Secretary
declared in memorandum in amplifica-
ton of his address.
New Tank Dcvcloped
incidentally, Mr.. Churchill disclosed
the tact that a new tank had been nro-
dtuced with speed Of twenty miles an
hour which has mechanically lone
lile; IN trial run of 1000 miles, he
sag virtually no wear had DEVELOPED.
Mr. Churchlll declared that Great
nsrltah mad fought at the peace con-
ference Tor the abolition of conscrip-
tlon, but that there was no response nt
az to her representations. The onlv
other great power which Great Britain
succeeded in persuading to abolish con-
scriptlon was Germany, and that onlv
under dire compulsion.
All the other states had maintained
compulsory service as the basis of their
mllllary system, and apparently had no
intention of departing from it. These
states, he added, included even the
nlted States, which was the originator
or the league of nations. and Russia
the home of advanced political
thought"
Back on Pre-war Basis
Mr.. Churchill said that Great Bri-
tam army should be slightly bigger
than before the war, but she was re.
turning to arrangements which in prn-
clple were identical with those under
"nlch the country lived before the war.
1t was idle, he said, to pretend that
Great Britain's pre-war army was pro
poftlonate to the risk she ran or to
the important part she played and
a splred to play in European diplomacy.
l hat was why The removal OF the Ger
maa danger did not in itself allow of
any reduction to be made in the garri-
son Of the British Empire, he added.
On the other hand, the Secretary cx-
planned. new possibilities overseas
had been placed on the country in CON
sequence of the war, and, besides. the
whole Eastern world, in which Britain
vas interested more than any other
power, was in a state of extreme dis
Iuiet.
Considering our burdens throughout
he Middle East, Constantinople. Egypt,
Persia and Mesopotamia' Mr. Churchill
said, "no relief can be expected until
real peace is made with Turkey. We
nave lost ground steadily during the
asst year
I'VE do not know when peace with
Turkey will be made or what degree of
lcquiescence it will demand from the
Turkish people. We do not know what
aggressive actions the Russian Bolshe-
Wiki will take in this sphere. We do
not know how far Niscount Miners
commission may be able to reduce the
contention in Egypt. We do not know
when our responsibilities in Constan-
.inople will terminate or when the
expense Of maintaining an international
force there will be taken over by an
International body"
Appropriation Passes
In replying to the debate Mr. Church.
II emphasized his confidence in what
he country would say when the gem
aral election came to q government
which, in abolishing conscription, had
set an example to the whole world
even to DiOuS America'
Captain William Wedgwood Benn in
terjccted: "a disgraceful sneer.'
Mr.. Churchill retorted to Captain
Benn, who is slight of stature, but
who, nevertheless, has won the d. S. 0.
and numerous other honors for vaor
in the late war: "My honorable friend