Statements in House of Commons, Sept. 10, by Prime Minister Asquith and
Bonar Law.
The House went into Committee of Supply, Mr. Whitley in the chair.
On the question that an additional number of land forces not
exceeding 500,000 of all ranks be maintained for the service of the
United Kingdom, in consequence of the war in Europe, for the year
ending March 31, 1915.
_Mr. Asquith_ (Fife E.) said: The House of Commons voted earlier in the
session, before any outbreak of war was anticipated, under normal
conditions, under Vote A, 186,000-odd men for the regular army. It is
perhaps not necessary to point out, but it may be convenient to put it
on record, that the total number of men under Vote A does not include
either the army reserve, the special reserve, or the territorial forces.
When we come to vote the financial provision under Vote 1 of the army
estimates, which is consequential upon the passing of Vote A, we make
provision not only for the 186,000 men already sanctioned for the
regular army, but also for the army reserve. In the subsequent Votes 3
and 4 provision is made for the special reserve and territorial force.
The army reserve and the special reserve are not called upon to serve
until, under regular constitutional machinery, consequent upon the
outbreak or imminence of war, they are summoned to do so. It may be
convenient to the committee to know that at the time when war broke out
and when the reserves were called to the colors the state of things was
this: Parliament had voted 186,000-odd men--call it roughly 200,000. The
army reserve and the special reserve then became available as part of
the regular forces of the country, amounting also roughly to another
200,000 men. That was altogether 400,000 men. On Aug. 6, after war had
been declared, I made a motion in committee which was assented to in
committee and by the House on report, for the addition of 500,000 men to
the regular forces. These 500,000 men, assuming them all to have been
raised, would, in addition to the 400,000 I have just mentioned, amount
to a total of 900,000 men. I think it will be interesting to the
committee before I state the reasons for which I am going to ask them to
make this further vote to know what has actually happened in consequence
of the vote of Aug. 6.
Enlistments Since the War.
The number of recruits who have enlisted in the army since the
declaration of war--that is, exclusive of those who have joined the
territorial force--is 438,000, [cheers,] practically 439,000. That is up
to the evening of Sept. 9. The committee will therefore see that, having
sanctioned, as it did, very little more than a month ago, the addition
to the regular forces of the Crown of half a million of men, we are now
within some 60,000 of having attained that total. The numbers enlisted
in London since Sunday, Aug. 30, have exceeded 30,000 men, and the stamp
and character of the recruits has been in every way satisfactory and
gratifying. [Cheers.] The high-water mark was reached on Sept. 3, when
the total recruits enlisted in the United Kingdom on one day was 33,204.
[Cheers.] I may mention--I am sure it will be gratifying to honorable
members on both sides who represent Lancashire constituencies--that on
that day 2,151 men were enlisted in Manchester alone. That is a very
satisfactory result, but it by no means exhausts the requirements of the
case. The response to the call for recruits has been in every way
gratifying. But I am aware, not only from a discussion that took place
in the House yesterday, but from communications which reached us from
various parts of the country, that there are complaints of grievances,
causing legitimate or otherwise deeply felt dissatisfaction at the
manner in which some parts--I say advisedly only some parts--of this
operation of recruiting have been conducted. I should like the
committee to realize what were the conditions of the case. ["Hear,
hear!"]
A Year's Recruits in a Day.
We have been recruiting during the last ten days every day substantially
the same number of recruits that in past years we have recruited in
every year. [Cheers.] I suppose our annual recruiting amounts to about
35,000 men for the regular army. As I pointed out a moment ago, on Sept.
3 we recruited 33,200 men. No machinery in the world which man has ever
contrived or conceived could suddenly meet in an emergency and under
great pressure the difficulty of bringing in to the colors and making
adequate provision in a day for that in which past experience we only
had to provide for in the course of a year, and that, be it observed, by
a department which during the whole of this time has been engaged in
superintending and executing an operation I believe unexampled in the
history of war--the dispatch to a foreign country of an expeditionary
force--I will not give the exact number, but roughly 150,000 men, which
has had to be, as the committee I am sure is well aware, in consequence
of the necessary and regrettable losses caused by the operations of war,
constantly repaired by reinforcements of men, guns, supplies, transport,
and every other form of warlike material. [Cheers.]
War Office's Double Task.
If our critics--I do not complain of legitimate criticism even at times
like this--but if they will try to imagine themselves equipped with the
machinery which was possessed by the War Office at the time the war
broke out, and then consider that side by side with the smooth,
frictionless, and most successful dispatch of the expeditionary force
[cheers] which left these shores and arrived at its destination--I am
speaking the literal truth--without the loss of a horse or a man,
[cheers,] the wastage day by day and week by week has had to be repaired
in men and in material, repaired often at a moment's notice, and it has
been necessary to keep constantly in reserve, and not only in reserve,
but ready for immediate use, the material to replace further wastage as
days and weeks rolled on--if you remember that that was the primary call
on the War Office, and that side by side with that they had to provide
for recruits in these few weeks of no less than 430,000 men, he will be
a very censorious, and, I venture to say, a very unpatriotic, critic who
would make much of small difficulties and friction and who would not
recognize that in a great emergency this department has played a worthy
part. [Cheers.] My tenure at the War Office was a brief one, but no one
who has ever had the honor to preside over that department can possibly
exaggerate the degree of efficiency to which it has been brought under
the administration of recent years. Everything, as the experience of
this war has shown, was foreseen and provided for in advance with the
single exception of the necessity of this enormous increase in our
regular forces.
Steps for Dealing with Recruits.
What provision has been made for dealing with this influx of recruits?
In the first place, and I think very wisely, my noble friend the
Secretary of State for War appealed for the assistance of the county
associations, which rendered such great and patriotic services in
connection with the territorial forces. The great bulk of these county
associations have responded to the call and enormously facilitated the
work of providing for this large body of new recruits. Next, he, in
conjunction with his advisers, has largely multiplied, and is continuing
to multiply, the various training centres. There has been--unfortunately,
no one can deny that there has been--a congestion of men ready and
willing to recruit and actually enlisting at particular places which
has produced, for the moment at any rate, a certain amount of
discomfort and a certain amount of difficulty in the provision of food
and all the other requirements of such a body. But in that connection I
should like, although I think the difficulty is now being almost got
over, to make an appeal strongly to local authorities--county councils,
town councils, urban and rural district councils--that when a situation
of this kind arises in consequence of a national necessity they should
show themselves--and I am sure they are most willing to do so--not only
zealous, but able to provide accommodation for the moment in the public
buildings which are under their charge. I think a great deal of the
congestion which has taken place could have been avoided if more
liberal use had been made, and could be made--I am not reproaching any
one: the circumstances were exceptional and the pressure very great on
our public buildings, our town halls, schools, and the other edifices
which are under the control of municipal and county authorities for the
purpose, at any rate at the moment, of relieving the great pressure of
recruiting, and I am quite sure that appeal will not go unheeded. But
we recognize fully, and no one more fully than my noble friend Lord
Kitchener, the necessity of facilitating this process and rendering it
more easy. We do not think the time has come in which we ought in any
way to relax our recruiting efforts, [cheers,] and when people tell me,
as they do every day, "These recruits are coming in in their tens of
thousands; you are being blocked by them and you cannot provide
adequately either for their equipment or for their training," my answer
is, "We shall want more rather than less, and let us get the men,"
[Cheers.] That is the first necessity of the State--let us get the men.
Knowing as we all do the patriotic spirit which now, as always--now, of
course, with increased emphasis and enthusiasm--animates every class of
the community, I am perfectly certain they will be ready to endure
hardship and discomforts for the moment if they are satisfied that
their services are really required by the State, and that in due course
of time they will be supplied with adequate provision for training and
equipment and for rendering themselves fit for taking their places in
the field.
Two Important Steps.
With that object a few days ago--and the process is now in complete
operation--a very important step was taken which I am sure will be
generally welcomed by the committee and by the country--whenever it is
necessary to allow men who are recruited and have gone through the
process of attestation, medical examination, and actual enrollment, so
that they are not only potential but actual members of the regular
army--to allow these men to go back to their own homes until the
occasion arises for them to be called upon for actual training. In that
way we hope to relieve--indeed relief has already been given and will be
given more amply in the near future--the undoubted block and congestion
which have taken place in certain districts to the natural
disappointment of the men who have come forward under an impulse of
public duty to serve their country and, finding themselves sent back
home and put for the time being in the reserve, have felt perhaps that
their services were not duly appreciated by the country. That, I think,
the committee will agree is a very important step in advance. I have to
announce another step which I believe will give universal satisfaction
and will go a long way to solve the practical difficulty, such as it is.
We propose from today that there shall be given to those recruits for
whom we are unable to find accommodation for the time being 3s. per day.
[Cheers.] This is not an extravagant proposal, or anything in the nature
of a bribe. A shilling a day is their pay. [An Honorable Member--1s.
3d.] I am speaking in round figures; we will call it a shilling. Then if
we take the value of what we may roughly call the board and lodging of a
soldier receiving 1s. a day when accommodated in barracks and price that
at 2s., I do not think you are putting it extravagantly high. We think
that these men who have come forward to join the colors and have been
actually enrolled, and are, in fact, members of the regular army, for
whom we cannot make immediate provision by way of accommodation, should
be no worse off than they would be if they were actually in barracks. I
believe the provision of that 3s. a day for these men will put them in
a position in which they are entitled to say that they have not been
prejudiced or penalized by their patriotic desires.
_Mr. Lawson_ (Mile End, Opp.)--And their return railway fares?
_An Honorable Member--_And their separation allowances?
_Mr. Asquith_--The separation allowance does not begin, but as the
honorable member has interjected that phrase I will add--because
honorable members generally have been very good in not pressing us in
regard to the separation allowances to soldiers who are actually
serving--that that matter is receiving our daily and constant
consideration, and I hope before the session comes to an end to be able
to make a further announcement. But it does not arise with regard to
this vote. Having made that defense, if defense were needed--I do not
think it was--having made that statement of what has actually been done
by the War Office in these very anxious days, and also having indicated
that in those two important respects we are endeavoring to facilitate
the process of recruitment and to remove any possibility of hardship,
either to the individual recruit or to recruits collectively, I hope the
committee will agree to pass a vote for another 500,000 men. I am
perfectly certain if they do so the response will be no less keen--keen
in spirit--and no less ample in scale than it has been in the days which
have just gone by.
An Army of 1,200,000.
We shall then be in a position, as is apparent from the figures I have
already read, to put something like--I am not giving exact
figures--something like 1,200,000 men in the field.
_Mr. Long_ (Strand)--Does that include the Indians?
_Mr. Asquith_--No, it is entirely exclusive of them. This is the
provision made by the mother country. And of course it is exclusive of
the territorials.
_Mr. F. Hall_--And of the national reserve?
_Mr. Asquith_--Exclusive of the territorials, exclusive of the national
reserve, and exclusive of the magnificent contributions promised from
India and from our dominions, we here in these islands, this mother
country, will be in a position to put into the field, enrolled as our
regular army, something like 1,200,000 men. That is an effort which it
is worth while making great sacrifices to attain. As regards money, I am
perfectly certain that this House will be ready, willing, and even eager
to grant it, if and when the occasion arises. What we want now is to
make it clear, to those who are showing all over the kingdom this
patriotic desire to assist their country in one of the most supreme and
momentous crises in the whole of its long history, that they are not
going to be treated either in a niggardly or unaccommodating spirit; but
that they are going to be welcomed and that every possible provision is
going to be made for their comfort and well-being, so that under the
best possible conditions they will take their place and play their part
in that magnificent army of ours which, as every one who has read the
moving dispatch Sir John French [cheers] published this morning, will
realize has never done its work better, never shown itself more worthy
of long centuries of splendid tradition than in the last fortnight.
[Cheers.] I ask the House to pass this vote for 500,000 men.
Bonar Law's Support.
_Mr. Bonar Law_--The right honorable gentleman in the statement he has
just made has left me nothing to say except to express our hearty
support of all the measures which the Government are taking in this
crisis. From the point of view of the Government and of this House we
welcome the putting down of this vote as showing that both the
Government and the House of Commons are determined, whatever the cost,
whatever the sacrifice, to see this thing through. [Cheers.] I agree
entirely with the words which I heard the Prime Minister use in another
place the other day, that in what has taken place so far we have every
ground for encouragement and every reason for pride in what is being
done by our troops. I agree entirely with what the Prime Minister has
said about the action of our soldiers on the field of battle. It does
not surprise us. We knew that the old spirit was there still. But I
think it has to some extent at least surprised our enemies. But while we
have reason to be gratified by the action which the Government has taken
and which this House has supported them in taking, I think as a nation
we have quite as much reason to be proud of the spirit which is shown by
our countrymen in rushing to the standard as we have even in what has
been done by our soldiers on the field of battle. I never sympathized
with--I always resented--the view expressed at one time that our
citizens were holding back. There was no justification for it. [Cheers.]
At the outset they did not realize what it meant, but the moment they
did realize it they have shown that they are prepared to do their share
to fight the battles of their country. I am not going to say anything
about the difficulties in connection with recruiting this great force to
which the Prime Minister has referred. No one could have doubted that
difficulties of that kind would arise and that hardships would occur.
Criticism, I am sure, is not deprecated by the right honorable
gentleman, and ought not to be, if it is framed entirely with this
view--to make sure that everything that can be done is being done to
minimize the hardships and difficulties with which the authorities were
confronted. As the Prime Minister said, the machine was not framed to
deal with an emergency like this. No one could expect it to deal with it
smoothly. But we have a right to expect that the difficulties are
understood at the War Office, and we have the right also to ask that
since they cannot be met by the central machine, every effort should be
made in the direction of devolution, and that the difficulties shall be
met where they locally arise. I am sure it is a satisfaction to the
House, as it was to me, to find that before the discussion arose
yesterday not only had Lord Kitchener realized the difficulties, but
that he had taken every step possible to meet them, and that the step
which he did take was in the direction, which we all feel is a wise one,
of putting the responsibility on those at a distance from the War Office
and expecting them to bear it. Many of us have been asked to take part
in helping the recruiting. When I was asked to join in this I had in my
mind the feeling to which I gave expression the other day, that I was
not satisfied that too much sacrifice was not being required from those
who are going to fight our battles and that a full share of sacrifice
was being borne by those who remain behind. Nothing could be more unfair
than that this country should expect all the sacrifice to come from the
men who are actually going to risk their lives in our behalf. [Cheers.]
We know with what splendid spirit they are coming forward. I suppose
every member of the House could give instances that would surprise us
all. Perhaps it would interest the House if I give one. The son of a
friend of mine, who is well off, had been writing to the War Office,
taking every step to try to be accepted in order to fight. He was a
partner in a big business in Glasgow and with splendid prospects; he
threw them all up. He came and hung about the doors of the War Office as
if he was seeking some fat job, when all he wanted was to be placed, not
as an officer, but as a private, in one of the most dangerous branches
of the service. [Cheers.] That is a spirit which is universal. I do not
say in what way further provision should be made, but I am sure the
House welcomes the statement of the Prime Minister that the Government
are going to reconsider the whole question of separation allowances for
the families of the men and for the pensions. I am sure I am expressing
the view not of our own party, but of the whole House, when I say that
the country realizes that when these men risk their lives for us they
are making a big enough sacrifice, and that the country will be glad
that in every way every possible generosity at the expense of those who
remain behind should be extended to those who go out to fight. [Cheers.]
* * * * *