Nelson's history of the war. Vol. XI., The struggle for the Dvina, and the great invasion of Serbia

70 HISTORY OF THE WAR.

making his own vindication in the House of Commons, and then resigned the sinecure of the Chancellorship of the Duchy, and joined his regiment in France. The controversy as to the apportionment of the blame for the Dardanelles awakened little interest in the country at large, and need not be recounted here. The responsibility for the naval adventure was with the whole Cabinet, acting' under the advice of various naval experts. Mr. Asquith laid the burden for the land campaign upon the military authorities in charge of it, but for the appointment of these authorities the Cabinet was itself responsible. A Government shares in the glory of a victory in war, and it must bear the chief weight of a failure.

Meanwhile a vigorous effort was being made to solve the recruiting problem without adopting legal compulsion. The National Register had been compiled in August, and in September a conference of Trade Union representatives decided to organize throughout the country a special Labour Recruit-

Ost) i1 ing Campaign. On 11th October Lord " °° Derby, who had served as PostmasterGeneral in the last Unionist Ministry, and was the most popular and influential figure in the north of England, was appointed Director of Recruiting, and a vast activity was set agoing. The campaign was regarded as the final trial of the ““ voluntary ’ system. If before a date in the beginning of December sufficient recruits were not forthcoming, the Prime Minister in his speech of 2nd November had foreshadowed—with many qualifications—a conscriptive method as the only alternative. The conduct and the results of the Derby cam-