In World War I, Colonel James Layton Ralston, then a battalion commander in the trenches, demanded that Canadians at home be conscripted to fight overseas. Last week in Parliament, Colonel Ralston, now Canada's National Defense Minister, told Canadians no conscript would fight overseasso long as Canada had enough volunteers.
Minister Ralston had been baited, by a purely political maneuver, into restating Canada's compromising manpower policy. The Parliamentary Opposition had demanded that Canada's 73,000 "zombies"home defense conscriptsbe made available as overseas reinforcements or released for war jobs. Minister Ralston flatly rejected both suggestions.
Soldier's Defense. Ex-Soldier Ralston offered a soldier's...
