THE LIMITED 
 CONSCRIPTION BILL. 
 
 How to avoid impending 
 trouble and disaster. 
 
 The House of Commons on the 6th January, 1916, by a 
 majority of about four to one, passed the first reading. 
 
 The Trade Union Congress sitting in the Central Hall, 
 Westminster, on the same day, by a majority of nearly three to 
 one, decided to oppose the Bill in every possible manner. 
 
 It is evident to every moderately well-informed person ot 
 average intelligence that if the Conscription Bill is passed in its 
 present form, and put into operation, Great Britain will be 
 divided from North to South into two fiercely contending 
 camps. 
 
 This division of opinion cannot be stopped by any General 
 Election or any other means for giving voice to the wishes of 
 the majority of men on the present Election Register. The 
 vote of a majority will not diminish, but will consolidate, the 
 opposition of the minority on whichever side it is. 
 
 In the Debates in Parliament on the 5th and 6th January, 
 the case for Compulsion was not supported by anything in the 
 nature of argument. 
 
 The Conscriptionists simply said : — " We want some un- 
 married men who have not yet volunteered, therefore, we must 
 have Compulsion." 
 
 So far, no attempt has been made, either in or out of 
 Parliament, to ascertain the conditions on which these young 
 men might be willing to enlist. 
 
The English Soldier is offered on enlistment a sum ot 
 1,2 a day. From this about 2d. is deducted on various 
 accounts. If he wishes to make any provision for depend- 
 ents, about another 6d. is deducted, leaving 6d. a day for 
 the man himself. 
 
 If a civilian employer were to offer young men of 
 twenty i/- a day with food, clothing, and lodging, he would 
 not get any man to come, however nice the work they had to 
 do, but that is the figure which is now offered to men to 
 do the most horrible work that can be imagined, with a 
 strong probability that he will be killed or crippled within 
 six months of getting to the Front, and he has to 
 expect that his parents in their old age will be 
 left without support by him. 
 
 In the British Colonies much higher wages are offered, 
 and the Australians get 6/- a day clear of all deductions, 
 in addition to food, clothing, and lodging. 
 
 If anybody says that Conscription is necessary simply 
 because all the unmarried men in England have not volun- 
 teered on the terms offered, he merely means that 
 Conscription is necessary to save him from having 
 to offer higher wages to the men that are wanted, 
 and to leave out this qualification is to make a statement 
 which is in the highest degree misleading. 
 
 It will probably be replied that four million men 
 have already joined the Army on the low wages offered, 
 and that the wages cannot be raised for the sake of another 
 300,000 or 400,000 bachelors, and will also be said that 
 we cannot afford the expense of higher wages. The answer 
 is as follows : — 
 
 Married men get a definite allowance for wife and child 
 which, in the case of a great majority, is sufficient, and again 
 that there is no absolute need to raise the wages of those who 
 have already joined on the present wage, although it would 
 probably be a very good thing to do so, holding a considerable 
 part of the money in reserve till the end of the War. 
 
 Secondly, the Nation can well afford to pay those who fight 
 a fair wage. 
 
 There are millions working on munitions, coal mining, 
 transport, &c, who are getting very high wages, and on what 
 ground can it be argued that those who are doing the hardest 
 work of all are to be paid a miserable pittance ? If the wages 
 
of 4,000,000 men were to be raised on the average 5s. a week, that 
 would be equal to .£1,000,000 a week added to the present cost 
 of £35,000,000 a week. 
 
 If 200,000 tradesmen and professional men cannot join 
 under present arrangements because it involves financial ruin, 
 and if, on the average, their difficulties could be met by an 
 expenditure of £500 each, that represents a cost of £100,000,000. 
 Will such an addition to the National Debt, which will soon be 
 £2,000,000,000, be in any way ruinous, especially as that expen- 
 diture is not going out of the country, but is to save British 
 citizens from ruin ? 
 
 It seems to be forgotten that this expenditure on the 
 wages of British Soldiers and on the relief of their 
 financial difficulties is no real cost to the Nation at 
 all, it is merely a transference of money from the 
 rich old men and women who stop at home in ease, 
 comfort and luxury, to the poor men who bravely 
 fight their battles in the midst of indescribable 
 hardships and horrors. 
 
 When the arguments for Conscription are reduced to their 
 simplest meaning, they amount to this, that the men and women 
 who are exempt from Military Service by reason of their age do 
 not wish to pay the young men who fight for them a sufficient 
 wage, or to make adequate provision for the parents and other 
 dependents, or to save them from financial ruin. 
 
 I suggest the following amendments to the Bill : — 
 
 Clause 1 enacts that with certain exceptions, every un- 
 married man between the age of 18 and 41 shall be deemed to 
 have been enlisted. I propose to strike out from line 13 the 
 six words " deemed as from the appointed date " and to insert 
 " be asked to enlist and to join the Forces if and when he 
 is called upon by 21 days' notice, and shall be deemed from the 
 date of consent given in writing " (the clause continues) " to 
 have been duly enlisted." 
 
 I also propose that the Government should add another 
 sub-section to Clause 1 as follows : — 
 
 " A Compensation Committee shall be established in each 
 recruiting area to consider and settle reasonable financial 
 compensation to be offered to recruits and to parents or other 
 dependents whilst the recruit is serving in the Army or in case 
 he shall be killed or maimed by wounds or sickness, having 
 regard to their future needs in old age or ill-health. And such 
 compensation shall become due if the recruit is called up." 
 
" The wages offered to both privates and non-commissioned 
 officers shall be increased by 10/ - a week over and above the 
 rates hitherto paid." 
 
 I also propose to omit from the first Schedule " Ministers of 
 Religion." I see no reason why the shepherd should not die 
 with his flock. 
 
 I would propose to add a new Clause to the following 
 effect :— 
 
 " In case sufficient recruits do not volunteer after the offer 
 of Compensation and Wages referred to in Clause I, then those 
 refusing to enlist, and not exempt, shall be starred on all 
 Election Registers as ineligible to vote for a period of ten years 
 from this date." 
 
 I should also propose that Clause 3, Sub-section 4, be 
 modified by giving the option of a fine not exceeding £10, and 
 reducing the term of imprisonment to three months. 
 
 If the Bill is altered as above suggested, it will remove the 
 element of Compulsion upon which the Nation is now divided. 
 
 At the same time, it will amply carry out the Prime 
 Minister's Pledge to use other means to bring into 
 the Army those who have not yet responded to the 
 appeal, and there is no doubt that the Bill so amended would 
 be carried with the full approbation of all sections of the Trade 
 Unionists and other Labour men, as well as being a great relief 
 to many middle-class men who would otherwise be faced w ith 
 ruin if they enlisted. 
 
 Here is an easy, simple and 
 popular solution of the difficulty. 
 
 ARNOLD LUPTON, 
 
 7, Victoria Street, S.W. 
 
 10/// January, 1916. 
 
 Printed for and Published by Arnold Lupton, 7, Victoria Street, S.W.— 48604.