Letter: War, Conscription and the Workers (1941)

Letter to the Editors from the March 1941 issue of the Socialist Standard

A correspondent (C.A.C., Southend) says that he has heard members of the S.P.G.B. express the opinion that the workers willingly take part in war. He asks why, then, it is necessary to have conscription.

To what extent the workers are willing to support war and all the suffering it involves is and must be a matter of opinion, since there are no means of finding out what all of them think on the subject. Judging by the results at by-elections last year where there were anti-war candidates, the great majority would appear to be in favour of the war.

The question of conscription raises other issues. The fact that conscription is applied does not necessarily mean that the majority are opposed to war. It is possible to have a majority who are themselves willing supporters but who resent the possibility that the minority may escape. They therefore favour the imposition of conscription in order to put the minority in the same position as themselves. During the last war the reverse arose. While conscription was imposed in Great Britain it was not imposed in Australia, and when a plebiscite was taken on the question a majority of Australian soldiers who were themselves serving in the army as volunteers voted against the imposition of conscription in Australia. Their view was reported to be that they preferred to have with them men who were volunteers rather than men who, as conscripts, might be less reliable soldiers.

Editorial Committee