100 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS,

First, that it may lead to militarism—i.e., the belief that war
is the only way of settling disputes, and that the country exists
for the sake of the Armed Forces, not the Armed Forces for the
country. Second, it may actually weaken the efficiency of the
Forces. Their whole training encourages the habit of obedience,
and of accepting things as they are; after years of such training
it is not easy to keep the mind open to new ideas. The reluctance
of the Navy to realise the importance of the submarine, and the
slowness with which the Army adopted the idea of the tank,
are illustrations.

In all three Forces, the officers are drawn from one class, the
men from another. Promotion from the ranks does occur, but
it is not the rule. The dangers of this to liberty have already
been noticed; there may be the further result that the grievances
of the ordinary soldier and sailor about pay and conditions will
not be fully understood by those in command. The mutiny at
Invergordon, in 1931, when cuts in pay were proposed, might
never have occurred if the Board of Admiralty had realised what
the proposals would mean to the men. It is an unfortunate fact
that Governments have usually been induced to make improve-
ments in naval life by the fear of mutiny. Recent improvements
in Army conditions have also been caused by the impossibility
of getting sufficient recruits without them.

All the Armed Forces are recruited voluntarily; the system
of compulsory military service, so common on the Continent,
has never been used here except in wartime. The old dread of
increasing the power of the Crown, and the natural objection
of citizens to compulsion, have made the idea of conscription
unpopular. If military discipline turns citizens into people who
will always do what they are told, and regard war as a permanent
habit of mankind, no lover of peace or liberty can approve
conscription. On the other hand, if all citizens have some military
training, the danger of a seizure of power by the Armed Forces
is much less.

Finally, there is the problem of co-ordination of the