Evening star., 1939-04-27
CONSUMPTION in Britain

NOnSCrIPtlOn IN Drlt0in
Far and away the most impressive
passage in Mr.. Chamberlain's his
toric CONSUMPTION announcement is
that "We are not now at war :. but
no one can pretend that this is
peacetime in any sense in which the
word can be fairly used" In that
reply to opposition taunts that the
government had promised not to en-
force military service in peacetime,
the Prime Minister explained in a
phrase why Great Britain has re-
sorted to the unprecedented step of
calling her young men to arms be-
fore war actually begins.
1t betokens a statesmanlike pur-
pose to meet impending danger be-
fore it is at hand, and it as palpably
suggests the hope that such action
may indeed remove the danger. In
any event, Mr.. Chamberlain wants
the British people clearly to realize
that peace" is a perilous misnomer
for the state of anxiety and alarm
into which Europe has been plunged
by the actions of aggressor nations.
Conscription of British man power is
"appeasement" of the kind that will
be understood in the axis capitals.
The plan to compel roundly 10000
men aged twenty and twenty-one to
train annually for the British Army
IS timed to meet two emergencies
apart from purely defensive consid-
erations. First and foremost, it is
promulgated on the eve of Chancellor
Hitler's reply to President Roosevelts
plea for nom aggression assurances.
Secondly, British CONSUMPTION is an
nounced at the moment when the
Continental countries, which Mr..
Chamberlain seeks to link in peace
alliance, are waiting, before pledging
their adhesion, to see whether Britain
is ready, as they are, to pool her
complete military strength, as well
as her sea power, air force and eco
nomic resources, in the common
cause.
Russia and Turkey, Poland, Greece
and Rumania are understood to have
made somewhat insistent demands
on this score. Even France, though
already bound to Britain by the clos
est mutual ties, joined in urging her
to require King Georges subjects of
military age to fulfill the duties long
incumbent upon the young men of
virtually every other country in
Europe.
To appreciate the magnitude of
the Chamberlain governments deci-
sion, 1t has only to be recalled that
the British were at war from 1914
until almost the end of 1916 before
they resorted to the action initiated
IN Parliament yesterday. There can
remain no shadow of doubt that the
men officially responsible for the
safety and destinies of easy-going,
freedom-loving Britain are conscious
that the dictates of national self
preservation brook no delay in shat
tering the traditions of centuries.
The next twenty-four hours should
tell whether the Germans are
impressed by Britain's answer to
the threat of domination which she
envisions across the North Sea. The
answer is made reluctantly, but, as
Sir John Simon told the House of
Commons, "the country is thorough
ly aroused to further sacrifice" and,
having long since recognized the
necessity of increasing British arma-
ments, it is now proceeding to make
a complete job of it by drafting man
power.
Nazi spokesmen are already diss
cussing Britain's military potentiali-
ties in the derisive spirit which in
spired the Kaiser in 1914 to speak of
the contemplate little British
Army" Long before the war was
over, the Germans came to know
there was more truth than ribaldry
in Tommy Atkins barrack room
boast that "a little British Army goes
a damned long way!" The lion is
girding his loins on a scale that no
one concerned would be wise to un-
derestimate.