The Dominion.. MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1915. THE PATRIOT'S DUTY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2403, 8 March 1915, Page 4

The Dominion.. MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1915. THE PATRIOT'S DUTY

There is further news to-day of the shortage of food supplies in Germany and of food riots in the western provinces, and there seems to be good ground for the discontent and unrest which exist there. Here in New Zealand we have no shortage of food and no riots. But if the Kaiser's' Army could read of the complaint that is being raised on behalf of our well-fed, well-paid population about the increased price they are called upon to pay for their generous allowance of necessaries, the soldiers would surely be heartened by the news nearly as much as they are by tales of the sinking of British merchantmen, and the murder of British seamen. We say this agitation is being raised "on behalf of" our population, because it has its origin not in the spontaneous sentiment of the people, but rather, in the scheming of pseudo politicians who wish somehow or other to embarrass the Government. It is related of one Fox that he confided to a friend his extreme satisfaction at the triumph of the French Government over the English as the outcome of a war that our arms , had waged with divided fortunes, because by that triumph of the French, and the humiliation of England, Fox's hated rival Pitt was also humiliated. The day of the Foxes has not passed. Dr. Johnson wa9 credited with the saying, "Patriotism is tho last refuge of scoundrels." For the purposes of our argument it is not nccessary to subscribe to this strange doctrine, but there have been many queer manifestations of patriotism to be observed in these lands of plenty in tho last few months. When the Government were doing their best to equip a' forcc at short notice to leave our shores, a task of a magnitude hitherto undreamt of in tho history of responsible government in New Zealand, there were ccrtain petty soiils who raised their voices about the price of lemonade, whilo ignoring ' altogether the splendid marism l lit which tl\B mitboritieis bed met all the essentials necessary to

the succcss of an unprecedented enterprise. Since then the text of the grumblers has been the cost of living. Do these gentlemen and their admirers ever take counsel among themselves as to how much wo have, instead of working themselves into paroxysms of self-pity about the things wo have not 1 While millions of people in Europe ate on the verge of starvation, while the whole world is dazed with the horror of the appalling carnage and the unspeakable hardships of the most pitiless War ever waged, wo live practically in peace and in the enjoyment of plenty in a smiling land. It may 130 that the sovereign will not buy quite so much as usual, but the people have the sovereign to spend. There is no evidence that anybody is compelled to subsist on less than enough because of the war. At any rate there is machinery ready to j hand for the relief of all real distress that may occur, so that the grumblers may postpone their grumblings without fear. Then they might with advantage consider what the Government of this country have done. They have provided against a bread famine by importing wheat, and, in marked contrast to other Governments in Australia, ftiey Jackled the problem in time. If the Government had not done this there would have been no question of the 4id. or the sd. loaf; the question would have 'been whether there were loaves enough to go round at any price. Ministers, without any precedents to guide them, have provided by legislation for every war emergency that has yet arisen, or that seems likely to arise. With the loan account in debit and the market closed to them when war broke out, they have, with the aid of the Imperial Government, made arrangements to tide the country over until better times. They ha,ve also provided for huge extra- expenditure necessitated by our share in the war. "Business as Usual" is the watchword of the British in this figEt, but there is no part of the Empire where business goes on so much as itSual as in these remote islands. Perhaps if things were less "as usual" the war would be brought home to us all with greater force, and tli£re would bo less grumbling and less paltering with unessential things. Just now "business as Usual" ought to be interpreted to include putting up with a little, without outward sign of disaffection wßich may gladden the enemies of the Empire, as we are told to-day the strikes in Britain havo done.