i6 THE CHANGES NEEDED 



It is not the duty of any Government to force 

 an important change on an unprepared people ; 

 and for the change impHed by universal military 

 service the British people have not yet been 

 prepared. It is the duty of Government to lead 

 the way, to prepare the people, to lay before 

 the nation the whole case, to show that universal 

 service will benefit chiefly the workmen of the 

 nation. It is they who will grow stronger, 

 physically, socially, and morally, who will be 

 enabled to do more and better work, whose value 

 will increase, and who will therefore have more 

 capital at their command. Of two employers, 

 one of whom was stronger, more moral than the 

 other, it might be the latter who had most 

 brains of the kind required, and grew rich the 

 faster. It is to the workmen the Government 

 should address itself; it is by them the change 

 should be demanded. 



The argument is sometimes used that universal 

 service, taking away from industrial life, as it 

 always does, a large number of men, must neces- 

 sarily handicap a nation in its industrial progress. 

 There is no reason to suppose that this is a real 

 necessity : on the contrary, it is more probable 

 that universal service, seeing what it does for 

 men, is a hastener, not a retarder, of industrial 

 progress. Experience seems to show this. 



We do not now permit boys under a certain age 

 to set to work. Why ? Because their bodies are 

 not yet hardy enough to bear the strain of work, 

 because their ignorance is still so great, they 

 can do no good work. Let this idea be carried 



