62 
RECRUITING. 
hazard system, which to put it mildly, does not enquire into the 
character of the soldier, were done away with. I had an odd observation 
made to me the other day by an officer germane to this subject. He 
said it seemed to him that nothing could bear so strong a testimony to 
the high character of the army now serving as the fact that so very 
many thousands of men were eliminated from the army before the close 
of their services as being bad characters. He said to me that an army 
which has discarded so many bad characters must have an exceedingly 
valuable residue. But I must admit that argument did not strike me 
in the same light, and I think that any other society in the world 
which based its claim to character on any argument of that kind 
would be singularly fortunate if it managed to retain the esteem 
of society. 
The Fate op the Discharged Soldier. 
I am not going to weary you because you are familiar with the fact, 
that the after history of the soldier is often a bad one. I will not 
trouble you with numerical details as to exactly how far our 
workhouses are filled with our discharged soldiers. There have 
been various opinions about the matter, I have my own strong 
opinions, and I have taken immense pains to form them, apart from the 
information contained in the official reports, which I do not value a 
straw. I base my views upon information which I regard as accurate, 
information which I have myself obtained from the actual pauper 
centres themselves, and which I do believe in (applause). But really this 
is not a matter for any statistics one way or another. It is, perhaps, to 
a certain extent, but the exact figures are nob the important point; 
the important point is, what is the public opinion ? The public opinion 
is absolutely fixed and clear on this matter; you may go, as I have 
been, to Whitechapel, to Belfast, to any big town, anywhere you like, 
and you will find the same opinion, the same error if you like—I do not 
think it is an error—and you will find the same rooted belief, that the 
army is not a f career/ and that it is ten or twenty chances to one that 
it will lead to poverty and it may be to the workhouse. And as long 
as that opinion prevails, and as long as there is enough justification in 
fact to support it, you are not doing justice to the country and you are 
not doing justice to the army (applause). I confess I saw with shame an 
appeal which was made the other day to employers of labour by the 
Government that they should as a matter of—I do not know what to call it 
—shall I say of charity, or condescension, or fellow feeling, or a desire to 
help a lame dog over a stile, that they should be so good as to employ 
the reserve men in their businesses. No one more fervently desires 
such a consummation than I do, but does anyone who knows anything 
of business matters in this country believe that an appeal of that kind 
is going to be taken seriously ? We all desire to do a good turn to 
everyone who is in distress, but a reserve man will be taken on in a 
business because he is wanted in the business, and he will not be taken 
on to relieve the War Office of its duty, or to perform the work of the 
