Out in the Open

Canada's reinforcements debate was out in the open at last, First Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, his dander up, defended his determination to stick to a policy of voluntary overseas military service. Then James Layton Ralston, fired as Defense Minister in last fortnight's crisis over the issue, told why he favored compulsion.

The Prime Minister spoke his mind first, in a Dominion-wide broadcast. He told Canadians that there was no overall shortage of army reinforcements. The only shortage, he said, was in the infantry, which suffered unexpectedly high casualties in Europe (see below). This shortage will be repaired, he said: 1) by more recruiting; 2) by trying to persuade home-defense draftees ("zombies") to volunteer for overseas service.

It would do no good, said Prime Minister King, to send Canada's current batch of zombies overseas because out of the 68,000 on hand, only 8,000 would make good infantrymen without months of training. Then he hit at what he called a "false impression": that most zombies are French Canadians. "Only 23,000 are from . . . Quebec and only 25,000 ... are French-speaking."

Answering charges of "disgraceful national failure," Mr. King insisted, rightly that the Dominion has made an impressive war contribution.

Vocal portions of Canada's population were unimpressed. Veterans' organizations, in particular, denounced Ottawa by letter and telegram. But the sharpest retort to the Prime Minister came from ex-Minister Ralston.

Urgent Need. On Sunday, Mr. Ralston ended a twelve-day silence, issued a 2,000-word statement which accused Mr. King of taking chances, of poor reporting. "The Prime Minister's summary is not sufficiently complete," he said. As Defense Minister, he had gone overseas to determine whether reinforcements were really inadequate. He found they were, he said. The need, he said, was "urgent." Recruiting would do no good, for a man recruited now would not be fully trained "before next June." "I came to the conclusion that the only [solution] . . . was to recommend that we draw on the [zombies]. . . ." In refusing to accept this recommendation, the Government, Mr. Ralston felt, was climbing out on a limb, counting on a quick end to the war, on reduced casualty rates. Said Mr. Ralston: "If we were to be fair to our fighting men, we could not afford to take chances on these uncertainties." Nevertheless the Government moved doggedly ahead on its fixed course.

Meanwhile there was another casualty in the Dominion's military hierarchy. Lieut. General Kenneth Stuart, chief of staff overseas, had backed Mr. Ralston's arguments for compulsory overseas service. Last week General Stuart was "on leave," soon would follow Mr. Ralston into retirement.

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