VIEWS OF THE PRESS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2482, 8 June 1915, Page 6

VIEWS OF THE PRESS

"ONLY NUMBERS CAN WIN." Again, and again since the war began tie highest military authorities in England and France (points out the Auckland "Star") have warned the Allied nations that this war cannot be brought to a, successful conclusion until we have established a distinct numerical superiority over the enemy in the field. The Germans and Austrians, on their . side, have realised to the full the im- , menso importance of numerical . strength, and so far they have been i able to put int-o the firing line more men ; than all the Allies combined, and i there is every reason to believe that, 'in spite of the immense losses they have . sustained, they will be ablo to maintain i this superiority for some time to come, i • Yet in the face of these iuconi trovertible facts, and in spite of the extreme urgency of the crisis by which i England and the Allies aro now con- ; fronted, our Imperial authorities still ! hesitate to take the only step that will i enable the Empire to put into tie field . enough men to ensure final victory for . our cause. . - . Quito apart from ; the gross injustice of tlie voluntary sys- , tem, which, generally speaking, sacrii fices the brave, public-spirited and pat- ! riotic members of the community in • defence of the selfish and cowardly . shirkers, it is surely manifest by this , time that volunteering brings to the ; front only a small proportion of the . population available for service. Eng- . land needs to put into the field every . able-bodied man who can be trained in time to march and fire a gun. This is j what our enemies have done, and im- ( less and until we are prepared to folL low their example and to emulate the , patriotic self-sacrifice of our Allies we ! will not deserve victory, and we need j not expect it. ■ A TARANAKI SUGGESTION. Commenting on tlio suggestion put i fonvard in The Dominion that an effort 1 should be made to bring New Zealand's > quota of men for service abroad up to s o(),000 at as early a date as possible, • the Hawera, "Star" says: "This is uu- ' exceptionable in principle. Every one ' realises that each part of the Empire ' must do its best. And yet the definite j proposal discussed in the foregoing ex--1 tract should be weighted with a qualij fication. That qualification is that the i Government should take power to com--3 pel and to discriminate. Here in the ! country districts we understand the 3 severity ,of the drain being made on the t very class of labour which is most valt uable and most scarce. Anyone who 3 scans the registration lists must see that they are.largely made up-if men who can ill he spared, and also many who have a good general knowledge of town'and country believe that there are i lots of men whose labour is in the last 1 resort less necessary in the public int terest who are not offering their services. In Great Britain efforts are be-, t ing made to distinguish." EMPLOYERS AND RECRUITING. It oannot be doubted, states the "Otago Daily Times," that in a good many cases young men who would ' otherwise enlist are deterred from doing so by reluctance to give up good situations with the risk of the pros- _ pect that they may have no employment to which to return. In this con- , nection it is desirable that employers should remember that it is in their . power to assist recruiting by undertaking that places in their employment should be preserved for members of their staff who volunteer for active service and return physically fit. It has been represented to us that heads of firms, not exclusive of citizens who are prominently associated with patriotio , organisations, are not in all cases aiding recruiting as they should and that they do not encourage employees to enlist by undertaking that their places will be kept for them. There should be no room for representations such as , wo.have heard on this score.. Within a few days 250 men are required from Otago for the next infantry reinforcemonts and all will wish to se© this •- military district provide once more the quota that is asked of it, even al- >. though, as the interesting figures supplied by our correspondent in 'Wellington show, that quota is very oonsiderably in excess of the number which, on >- the basis of the male population, should bo justly expected.