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In the [OOJ]| middle of January, 1916, in the eighteenth month [OOJ]| of the war, Britain is confronted with a [OOJ]| Conscription Bill ~~ a Bill which, in its present [OOJ]| form, will compel every unmarried man between the [OOJ]| ages of 18 and 41 years to become a soldier, and [OOJ]| also widowers up to the same age limit who have no [OOJ]| children directly dependent on them. This is not [OOJ]| only a drastic measure, but it goes more directly [OOJ]| in antagonism to what for several generations has [OOJ]| been the most cherished of British claims of [OOJ]| freedom than any measure for a hundred years. The [OOJ]| second reading was carried a few days ago; a Labor [OOJ]| amendment for the rejection of the Bill was [OOJ]| defeated by 431 votes to 39: The first reading was [OOJ]| carried by 403 to 105, but this minority included [OOJ]| the Irish Nationalists, who later withdrew their [OOJ]| opposition.
At a joint Trades Union and [OOJ]| Political Labor Congress, convened expressly to [OOJ]| pronounce upon this matter, over a thousand [OOJ]| delegates were present, and the card vote system [OOJ]| was used, which resulted in the following being [OOJ]| carried by 1,998,000 to 783,000, a majority of [OOJ]| 1,315,000: ~~
Readers of
The [OOJ]| total population of the United Kingdom is [OOJ]| 45,000,000; the total number of men of military [OOJ]| age is 8,000,000; the number already in the army [OOJ]| and attested is 5,550,000 ~~ Mr A. J. Balfour [OOJ]| referred to the number as nearly 6,000,000. Of the [OOJ]| 8,000,000 of military age, experience has shown [OOJ]| that nearly 25 per cent are rejected; this brings [OOJ]| the total available and qualified men to less that [OOJ]| 6,500,000, from which the navy is also manned.
[OOJ]|The conscriptionists, who are so energetically [OOJ]| demanding that compulsion be applied, do not [OOJ]| themselves claim that there are more than 650,000 [OOJ]| single men in the country who have not attested, [OOJ]| and this number includes many rejects, also the [OOJ]| conscientious objectors, and all priests and the [OOJ]| clergy, whom the Bill exempts, the feeble-minded [OOJ]| and the criminals, and such sea-going men of the [OOJ]| mercantile marine as happened to be ashore (the [OOJ]| percentage, though the personnel is constantly [OOJ]| changing, is fairly constant): it also includes [OOJ]| many who belong to starred industries, and who are [OOJ]| therefore exempt in the interests of war [OOJ]| requirements. After all these deductions are made, [OOJ]| there are the daily enlistments and attestations [OOJ]| to be deducted. What number will be left it is [OOJ]| impossible to say with accuracy, but well-informed [OOJ]| persons put it at certainly less than a quarter of [OOJ]| a million, and it is under such circumstances that [OOJ]| the Government declare it is vitally necessary [OOJ]| that compulsion shall be resorted to.
Those [OOJ]| who are not familiar with the figures will be much [OOJ]| surprised to learn that the armies on the [OOJ]| Continent, under conscription, can put only 11 per [OOJ]| cent of the total population in the field, while [OOJ]| under the system so far resorted to in Britain 13 [OOJ]| per cent have already enlisted or attested. Whilst [OOJ]| this is so, it is this country that is relied upon [OOJ]| to do much more than either the enemies or the [OOJ]| Allies ~~ i.e. to renew battleships of all kinds [OOJ]| and to materially add to their total number, to [OOJ]| provide much more ammunition for navies and armies [OOJ]| than any of the Allies, and, in addition, to carry [OOJ]| on production on a scale to admit of the war being [OOJ]| maintained for an indefinite period.
The [OOJ]| miners, who are well organised, and, after [OOJ]| allowing for over 200,000 of their number who have [OOJ]| enlisted are still 850,000 strong, have declared [OOJ]| at a special conference just held that they will [OOJ]| oppose the present Bill in the most determined [OOJ]| manner, and their past behavior tells they are [OOJ]| courageous enough to act on their convictions.
[OOJ]| The railway men are also well organised, and
[OOJ]| the delegates of 350,000 men met yesterday
[OOJ]| (January 14) and carried a lengthy resolution in
[OOJ]| opposition to the Bill, declaring:
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As the Bill now stands ~~ there [OOJ]| is no question about it ~~ its effect will be to [OOJ]| establish INDUSTRIAL CONSCRIPTION ON ALL SINGLE [OOJ]| MEN. Mr Asquith says this is not the intention of [OOJ]| those responsible for the Bill, and he will [OOJ]| endeavor to provide safeguards, so that it will [OOJ]| not be used for such a purpose. That is not yet [OOJ]| done, and if it is not done before the third [OOJ]| reading, for a certainty there will be determined [OOJ]| action on a large scale. The railway men, miners, [OOJ]| and many transport workers will resist the measure [OOJ]| by every means in their power, but the one and [OOJ]| only means that can by any possibility be truly [OOJ]| effective is that of downing tools. Everything [OOJ]| else the Government can laugh at, but they know [OOJ]| that the temper of the men is such that, whatever [OOJ]| the consequences, they will not have the right to [OOJ]| organise and to use their organisations taken from [OOJ]| them under the pretence of military necessity.
[OOJ]|I have shown that the military requirements are [OOJ]| met under the voluntary system, therefore it is a [OOJ]| wretched pretence they are resorting to for the [OOJ]| sake of getting the workers, if possible, under [OOJ]| martial law. If they do, this country may soon be [OOJ]| in the throes of a revolution.
I am an [OOJ]| anti-militarist, but I know the necessity for the [OOJ]| war being conducted with the greatest efficiency, [OOJ]| and the workers are doing it in magnificent style; [OOJ]| but if by a subterfuge, such as this present [OOJ]|
It may
[OOJ]| be that the sting of the Bill will be drawn and
[OOJ]| its character changed; if it is, it will be
[OOJ]| because the authorities are afraid to pursue the
[OOJ]| course they have mapped out, and the matter will
[OOJ]| pass over; but Britain will never again be as it
[OOJ]| was before the war ~~ the status of the semi- skilled,
[OOJ]| of the laborer, and of women workers will
[OOJ]| be changed, the old relationship will change, and
[OOJ]| conditions will be better, not worse. The longer
[OOJ]| the war goes on, the better will the lesson be
[OOJ]| learned; the more the ruling class aim at
[OOJ]| domination, the quicker will be the manifestation
[OOJ]| of activity on the part of the workers.
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this is the objective. How far
[OOJ]| off a social revolution the Germans are it is not
[OOJ]| possible to say, but they are getting rapidly
[OOJ]| nearer to it. They are not the only people that
[OOJ]| need it. This year, 1916, is likely to prove an
[OOJ]| eventful year.
Mr Lloyd George, as Minister [OOJ]| of Munitions, has recently had some very [OOJ]| interesting experiences, particularly on the [OOJ]| Clyde. The men asked for the control of the [OOJ]| conditions under which the dilution of labor [OOJ]| should take place. Mr George told them they were [OOJ]| not equal to it, and the men told Mr George more [OOJ]| than he enjoyed the hearing of. No craven fear, [OOJ]| but clear-headed, manly dignity characterised [OOJ]| them; and their numbers are legion, their demands [OOJ]| very real, their power not to be despised. So, in [OOJ]| spite of the war and its accompaniments, the [OOJ]| workers are very much alive, and I think, will [OOJ]| give a very good account of themselves as occasion [OOJ]| arises.
Let me ask the comrades of [OOJ]| Melbourne to be of good cheer, and prepare for [OOJ]| social and economic changes, as the opportunity [OOJ]| for realising them may come quickly.
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