isted only by the
official forces trained and in training.

And whatever one may think of the possibility of raids, I venture to
suggest that the time has come when the present exclusive specialization
of our combatant energy upon the production of regulation armies should
cease. The gathering of these will go on anyhow; there are unlimited men
ready for intelligent direction. Now that the shortage of supplies and
accommodation has been remedied the enlistment sluices need only be
opened again. The rank and file of this country is its strength; there
is no need, and there never has been any need, for press hysterics about
recruiting. But there is wanted a far more vigorous stimulation of the
manufacture of material--if only experts and rich people would turn
their minds to that. It is the trading and manufacturing class that
needs goading at the present time. It is very satisfactory to send
troops to France, but in France there are still great numbers of
able-bodied, trained Frenchmen not fully equipped. It is our national
duty and privilege to be the storehouse and arsenal of the Allies. Our
factories for clothing and material of all sorts should be working day
and night. There is the point to which enthusiasm should be turned. It
is just as heroic and just as useful to the country to kill yourself
making belts and boots as it is to die in a trench. But our organization
for the enrollment and utilization of people not in the firing line is
still amazingly unsatisfactory. The one convenient alternative to
enlistment as a combatant at present is hospital work. But it is really
far more urgent to direct enthusiasm and energy now to the production of
war material. If this war does not end, as all the civilized world hopes
it will end, in the complete victory of the Allies, our failure will not
be through any shortage of men, but through a shortage of gear and
organizing ability. It will not be through a default of the people, but
through the slackness of the governing class.

*Arms and Equipment Needed.*

Now so far as the enrollment of us goes, of the surplus people who are
willing to be armed and to be used for quasi-military work at home, but
who are not of an age or not of a physique or who are already in shop or
office serving some quite useful purpose at home, we want certain very
simple things from the authorities. We want the military status that is
conferred by a specific enrollment and some sort of uniform. W