possessed, rather than placing themselves under the control of other bodies. A second attempt to gain the agreement of Militia colonels to the proposed amalgamation was made in late June, and was strongly opposed. All fourteen of the Militia representatives insisted that overseas service should be done by complete Militia battalions, rather than drafts sent to regular battalions. A third meeting, in October, proposed that the Militia join with the Volunteers as the senior element of the Territorial Force; this, too, was rejected. As both possible approaches for dealing with the Militia had been strongly opposed, the decision was taken to do away with it entirely and replace it with a newly created force, the Special Reserve, which would incorporate those elements of the Militia willing to be transferred. Meanwhile, Haldane faced strong opposition from two other quarters: first, the National Service League, led by Field Marshal Lord Roberts, and backed by many retired senior officers and some Conservative MPs and peers who argued that auxiliary forces would be ineffective against Continental armies and that conscription was the only solution. Haldane worked closely with Lord Esher, to win over potential supporters of the League, including persuading him to lobby King Edward after Lord Roberts persuaded Edward that Territorials could never be competent in areas like artillery. At the same time, the Labour Party members generally opposed any increase in military strength and they found support among more radical members on the Liberal (government) benches. With these pressures compounded by opposition from some volunteers to compulsion in overseas wars, Haldane decided to legislate only for compulsion in home defence but continued to argue strongly for the 'Second Line' as late as his Army estimates speech on February 25, 1906 "...they would be ready, finding themselves in their units, to say - 'We wish to go abroad and take our part in the theatre of war, in the interests of the nation...'". Just eight days later, introducing the bill, he abandoned this line and repeatedly stressed that the Territorial force was to be for home defence. Nevertheless, he went on to remark that 'They could go abroad if they wish.’. The change was a tactical one, his aim remained unchanged and the planned design for the Territorial Force went ahead: 14 divisions with a full range of supporting arms and services, a large force indeed for the home defence of an island