The Dominion. TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1914. THE SOLDIER'S FIRST DUTY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2237, 25 August 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1914. THE SOLDIER'S FIRST DUTY

.Those who have l visited the military camps at Palnierston. .North and elsewhere speak very highly of the physioal fitness of the young men who have volunteered for our Expeditionary. Force. They are sound in physique—and,- that is a very important matter—and there can be no doubt that the young New Zealandor is endowed with a full measure of the fighting spirit. The soldiers now in cainjp have placed themselves at the disposal of the Imperial authorities, and are prepared'to go whenever and wherever they may be told, well knowing that a war like that in which the Em-

pire is at present engaged involves serious hardship and grave risks: They may at present be only "halfbaked," but they are of the right stuff, and when the baking is complete they will be fit to fight shoulder to shoulder with the best soldiers in the British Army. . The probabilities are that they will'receive further training ere they are called on to. enter into -the line of battle. This appears to be the intention" of Lord Kitchener, who seems determined that only picked troops shall- be sent to fight on the Continent; He does not think tha't good health and plenty of enthusiasm are all that a soldier needs. . These qualities are certainly essential, but :it is equally important that the men who are to face the machine armies of Germany should know their business thoroughly. This means that they must bo well drilled and disciplined. In modern warfaro an undisciplined.crowd, however courageous, has littlo chance of success when pitted against trained and seasoned troops; We do not yet know exactly where the New Zealand Expeditionary Force is going. General Sir Alexander Godley told the Canterbury Contingent that he was looking forward to seeing them again in a very short time. "It may be," ho said, 'in England; it may be in Belgium; it may be in France; and I liopo it will eventually be in Berlin." The soldier cannot expect to have ..the whole plan of campaign explained to him. It is his first duty to obey —often without knowing the why or wherefore. He must >trust those in command, and do his part to the best of his ability. The undisciplined soldier is worso than useless. He may even be a positive danger to his own side. Indeed to speak of an undisciplined soldier is almost a "contradiction in terms, for discipline plays such an absolutely essential part in a soldier's "life that a man can hardly be a soldier at all without it. General Godley was well within' the mark when he told the troops at Palnierston North yesterday that however good 'they may be., however anxious to sec active service, howover hard they may work, and whatever they may do, it would be no

good unless they realised. that all must be done with discipline. The spirit of prompt obedience such as is required of a- soldier is not incompatible with a proper sense of self-respect. The voluntary subordination of individual freedom of action is absolutely necessary if large •numbers. of men are t- 0 co-operate •in tho achievement of some great

end. Such subordination is a very high form of unselfishness, and fosters that spirit' of comradeship which helps men to face danger with cheerful courage, to. endure hardships, and to make sacrifices for one another.' However deplorable war may be, it- undoubtedly . tends to develop certain virtues which are inclined to languish in the soft and easy times of peace. In the hard school of war men learn bravery, endurance, self-repression, self-sacri-fice; they learn to bear one another's burdens, and to discipline : themselves. It cannot be denied that war has its moral pitfalls, but a soldier's experiences often givo a strength and depth to his character which nothing else could supply. The character of the nation as well as of the

individual is strengthened by discipline and danger. A nation is steadied by having to. face trouble, and a great crisis begets a sense of seriousness which helps us all to see things in their true, proportion. General von Bernhardi . tells us that "before the grave decision that war carries with it, all petty and separate interests shrink into nothing." Things : which have -happened during the last few weeks in all parts of the British Empire prove the truth of these words. And so it is with the individual soldier. He also learns • self-forgetfulness. His individuality is'for the time being swallowed up in a great organisation which can only achieve

its object by means of the loyal cooperation of «I 1 its parts. This ideal cannot be attained without, discipline and an instinctive 'rcSdiness to obey. It is because he knows that an undisciplined army 'is little better than a Nibble that General Godley properly lays so much stress on this phase of a soldier's life.