A SOLDIER-AUTHOR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2141, 6 May 1914, Page 4

A SOLDIER-AUTHOR

SIR lAN lIAiIJJON t . HIS VIEWS ON COMPULSORY c TRAINING ! y h The Inspecfcor-G-Biieral of Overseas Forces, Sir lan Siandish Montcith i Hamilton, who arrives in New Zealandh next week to commence an Wpst-tion ! t of the Defence Forces, lias, at tiio «»o I e ot 41), had many experiences iu tho n army, which ho entered fit the m of 1 . 20. In addition ho has. won a place in { [ literature and wields a facile pen/eitlwr |t as a high military expert and authority as a writer of description, scenic and" ," personal, and as a poiit, Nothing better in the way has been done than Sir l's-n y Hamilton's "A Staff C/Jicer's Scfapj{ Book," which was Written by hini day 0 by clay, and "cuto-'ito ealanio'" in diary t form, while he was with tho headquartl tors staff of the Japanese Army as British Attache: during' tho war with Russia. This book has the snap and tho vigour of an Edward Wallace, the " directness and plain speaking -uf a ' Forbes, and tho graphic case of a William Howard Bus-sell. Sir lan can well j. claim tho right of entry to tho glorious companionship of war* ecu-respondents, 1 which in Britain and the Vnfted States " have arisen mid shed the light of" their penmanship since tho days of the j Crimea, or, mere properly spwikini'. . since the FraiieOvPrirssian War, Sir tail j Hamilton is not merely an expert, but he is an export who knows when to divest himself of technicalities and of 1 technique. Ke does so almost ccmpletely in iiis "Scrap-Book," which, puh- * lislied in 1903, makes no preterit*! at ' fiiis writing" (although ho is often guilty of it), and simply sets out to be i the daily chronic]© of ono who parti" '. cipated in many of the rnofe important i land battles between tho troops' of the Mikado and those of tho Tsar, i t Soldiers ant! Spatta Work* ' In.his "Serap-Boak," General Ha-mit, ton, who had experience in-'South • Africa of New Zealand' saj&s—at ) Elandslaagtc, LadysmiSh, Waggon Hill, i and Diamond. Hill, and afterwards in 1 tho Western Transvaal—lias more that! l one passing referenda to colonial troops. s In one portion of that very readable, , journal of the Itusso4ap«mcsa War, Sir -• lan comments .von tho dislike of British : soldiers, oven of sappers and miners, to' spado work, to digging, oiitranchmeftts., > erecting forts and redoubts, and oom- . trasts that dislike oil the Britishers' . part with the natural ineliinvtimi and i aptitude of tlie Japs tor that eln-s* of i work. In this regard Simian first of all - condemns the. inadaptability of Tommy Atkins to spade work, in which also, lio t says, tho colonial contingents did net , show to advantage, lie remarks :->- In saying this it would bo migrate-: t ful not to acknowledge' some of the eil- . during work feed.by soino of tttem on tho face of the Western Transvaal at p tho end of tho- war, qr to forget th'at . those solid redoubts were dug daily, or : rather nightly, for at least a woek, ; after much longoj- inarches than tho . Japanese havo even contemplated raa'te- . mg up to date. The. colonials did it be- [ cause they had esceUont officers to lead t and coax, drive and persuade, t-fa'dm, and . because they Were .good, keen fellows. , But they hater! it like poison, cousider- , edit was outside the bargain, and if tho operations had lasted two ttavs longer they would c-cHainlt have oa.sed off, and their prey would have escaped them. I say that henceforth ability to dig is going to raltk .high in tho everIcngthening list of qua'iilicatiofls demanded of a good soldier— cavajrr, artillery, or lino'** . ' ', . In /mother portion af this o'ntertalftt mg chronicle, General Hamilton lias ) something to say regarding' Japanese' patriotism'-and courage, which lie cart- ■ trasts with British patriotism and' '• courage. '-Tho Jap is not a fanatic'of the type of the Mohammsdan O-hazi-, > but ho is a, wliole'soulotl reliMows patriot. ■ . . . . ■ Japanese Mribtlsifi. l ' "All Japanese soldiers go'into batUe ■ expecting and. prepared to conquer and die; bravo British soldiers go ' into battle hopeful and prepared to conquer or die. : There is a mighty difference ' between the two. The faces of the tiro races as they advance to the attack ' wear-a very different expression. , . . ' In some cases Japanese patriotism may take the form o£ a deep-rooted dislike > to foreigners.;' in others it may assußio - tho disguise «f an Overweening eon* tempt for everything ontsids their own islands. But if such iWhiigs are tiiiati- ? cal, then surely John Bull himself is a Ghazi of tho most rabid typo, which is absurd. Tho motives of'the Gba«i . arc sollisli. H:e hopes by his Act to gain access to a very jftsterial paradise, whoro'homay flirt v.-ith hosts of htfuris.- ' Tho motives of tho Japnhoso are as . purely imporsoiial as it is possible for thoso of a human being'to lie. Though troubling' himself little about a future life, he has a .firm idea that if killed in . action his spirit will be aware of tho gratitude tho Emperor and tho nation will bear him for having sacrificed him-, self on their behalf. He longs to die for. his country, not in'order" that ho himself may reap some glorious reward,. but in the hopo that lie may bo worthy, of thoso who have preceded him, ana* ( that his example may 'usefully guide the ; unknown generations who are to 'fol!o#-, ' him in the hereafter." . ~ These extracts, brief as they are, givesome indications of Sir -lan Hamilton's literary skill. On the fly-leaf of the first volume of this book, Sir lan quotes W. E. Henley as- writing: ."Oils eye-witness, however dull and prejivdier cd, is worth a wilderness of sentimental historians." The saMicr-author now in ! Australia is assWcdly not a dull, not even a prejudiced Writer.: and though he. is a cdrrent llrs'toriait, lio is neither ■ sentimental nor pw-sy. "Jaunt fn a Junk/' , . In his "Jaunt in a juivk" Sir lan Hamilton is entitled "to rank as the. Jerome IC: Jerome of the Chinose seas and waters, for this brilliant "ca.tiserie" upon moving adventures by flood and field is nd full of scintillating iuimoqi- as ' "Three Men iu a Boat." Sir lan h as also wooed the Muses in verse, more or 1 less fugitive, but his "Ballad of Hadji" is a poetic Orictitalisation that would charm that other soldier-poet, Colonel Kenneth Macltay, whoso Light Horse Camp at Goulbtirn Sir lan visits shortly. "Icarus" also ranks the authorgeneral high in ho rhythmic world. "The Ballad of Hadji" Oejievai Hamilton now modestly looks npwi as "an immature, juvenile effort." Dr. Johnson told Boswell, so that veracious chronicler rewards, that "Much may bo made of a SkroiehiaaH—if fa be ' naught young." Sir i an Hamilton must havo been captured as a ntvenilo He too, would havo sukllers cauFhl'-jx)rai<»' or rather ho would train thf voiiiic to bo soldiers. Ho. is a decided 'anti-oon* scriptionist, even apparently an antU nompulsionist; but he is a, Hrm believ>r in and virogous ndvocato af compulsory . eadet 1 raining. -It will he intcreatiiiK la ' hear-General Hamilton's views tman cumpulsory defence after his vnpPi<<yM« ' m the Commonwealth. He liai dealt ' with this question of Coinpnlsio n ver . '-. sua voluntary effort in- many forms in ■ hooks and artiol'es, and speW'iips. ' In his "Compulsoiy Service" ho innkes "% ' study of the qiifslion in the li'-'ht of ox pei-ionc,"." This bonk has a lein«th'v i;--lioduelioii by Lord llald-ane, Sn-merlV Secretary of War, and now Lord Ciiaacollor. Sir lan Hamilton also Innl "wi article on this subject in the "Army Bcview" for January, 15H3, wlnVh oiii* bodied an address delivered l>v i/iui in the Centennial Hall at Giimiiigham in the previous ScptemW. That addrc-s is redolrnl of midniiilit oil.'or' its' modera ekctircal counterpart. It is'thoti«ut-

fnl, carefully and'skilfully phrnspd, and logical from his point of view.' Sir lan's views, after witiiKsini; the results of cadet training in Australia, would make good "copy" for any interviewer who can get hold of them. In his address General Hamilton said: — "No keener advocate of the value of voluntary eft'nit? as opposed to effort under compulsion exists, I suppose,than myself." And again:— "Look things fair awl square in the face, and press for compulsory cadet ' training .in all sclio&ls, pnMV and pri- : vate." He makes no bones about it, H<i says there yimst htt no shaui b.v dccla.r----1 ing that cadet training is merely to be ! a means of the physical impr-ovwftent oi tlie people. U nmst he a trainiim fitting the youth to undertake in.manhood the defence of their country, and it must inculcate, net militarism, hut pat- : riotisin; i»t servility, hut citizenship. It must teach the youth that he has "a : counti'v to defend, and that it is Worth defending. "Tim youth.'of the country shwrid 1 be induced voluntarily, cv»rt.ly,' in the face : of' ail men, to place their lives at the' l disposal of tin? State in danger. As tho Church Canfwnis.a. Wy in his religion, so should the State confirm the \outh definitely iii cifeesislfip, 0r oermit him definitely to adji'fe his political rights. But dn mt let a man vote, i.e.. take his skire of novernijj." the country, when he has in hjiticuktion . refused tMitwratr.lv to shed in its defence <uie drop of the Hiln, usMscncrwis mm, imftgiired hy him to he blood "