LORD KITCHENER'S TASK
All Lord Roberts's warnings were proved true [350]
Many people nevertheless still believed that the voluntary system was a success [351]
Lord Kitchener as Secretary of State for War [353]
His previous record of success [354]
His hold on public confidence [354]
His grasp of the simple essentials [355]
His determination to support France and make a New Army [355]
His remarkable achievements [356]
His want of knowledge of British political and industrial conditions [356]
His colleagues, however, understood these thoroughly [357]
MATERIAL OF WAR
Industrial congestion at the outbreak of war [358]
Need for looking far ahead and organising production of war material [359]
The danger of labour troubles [360]
Outcry about shortage of supplies [360]
Official denials were disbelieved [361]
METHODS OF RECRUITING
The first need was men [364]
A call for volunteers the only way of meeting it [364]
The second need was a system to provide men as required over the period of the war [365]
No system was devised [365]
The Government shrank from exercising its authority [366]
Trusted to indirect pressure [366]
And sensational appeals [367]
They secured a new army of the highest quality [368]
But they demoralised public opinion by their methods [369]
Public opinion at the outbreak of war was admirable [372]
It was ready to obey orders [373]
No orders came [374]
The triumph of the voluntary system [376]
From the point of view of a Belgian or a Frenchman the triumph is not so clear [377]
The voluntary system is inadequate to our present situation [379]
Folly of waiting for disaster to demonstrate the necessity of National Service [380]
PERVERSITIES OF THE ANTI-MILITARIST SPIRIT