The Dominion. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1915. THE DANGER OF FIXED IDEAS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2564, 11 September 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1915. THE DANGER OF FIXED IDEAS

Just a little over two years ago Mb. Allen explained from his place in Parliament how ho came to arrange with the Imperial Government for the dispatch of an Expeditionary Force abroad in case of war. Tho Homo authorities, he stated, had inquired how many men Now Zealand would be prepared to send forward if required, and he received the approval of Cabinet to djscuss the question on a basis of a forco of ten thousand men. From these proposals developed the arrangements which permitted us to mobilise and dispatch the Main Expeditionary Forco of 8000 men. Our undertaking was planned on a generous scale indeed, for at that time the total striking forco of the Motherland itself comprised no more than a few hundred thousand men. Since July, 1913, the circumstanccs have altered' very much. Britain has something over three millions of men under arms, the Empire is fighting for its existence, and Lord Kitchener has appealed to us to develop our military resources to tho "utmost limit." Oan it be contended that tho Dominion is doing its utmost, or anything approaching its utmost, in the war 1 |In the first year of war we have placed under arms 26,700 men; and |m_the second year, according to the Minister's. owd. statement, we shall have to find a further 22,000, making |48;700 in all. Britain in the first twelve months of war, so far as we can gather, placed at least 67,000 men per million of population under arms,.-which is relatively nearly a third more in one year than we snail accomplish in two. Everyone must by this time realise the obstacles to be overcome before New Zealand can greatly increase her forccs. But such obstacles have been overcome before in the- history of the world, as, for instance, in ' the case of the American Civil War.

Indeed, the outstanding feature of the present situation in New Zealand is the lack of opportunity for the many thousands of willing volunteers who havo been tested' and parsed as fit for service. Men are. obliged to wait patiently for months before getting into camp, and nowhere else in tho Empire, we believe, have recruits had persistently to face such a. discouraging interval between the day they offer themselves and tho day their training begins. It .is not very pleasant to say so, but tho impression one gains from the position is that the people of New Zealand have a moro-lively' sense of the gravity of tho present crisis than the public men of New Zealand. Tho attitude of Parliament towards the -war has not been inspiring. ' The National Ministry possibly has not had time to sottle down properly to its work, but the promised concentration of tho best braias on both sides of the House on war problems has not so far produced a noticeable quickening of our effort. _ The War Budget gives little indication of the fact that the existence of the Empire is at stake, and that at the t'ime it was prepared our kinsmen overseas were making sacrifices unparalleled in British annals. Nor is the policy .of the Minister of Dcfence 'impressed with that determination to do our utmost, wliich alone is adequate to our need. On both sides in Parliament the disposition has been to rest well content with what wo havo done and to consider our present scalo. of effort as aniple. There has been to a.certain extent a failure to readjust our ideas to the tremendous changes which have taken place since . the earlier stages of the war. This is particularly noticeable in' tho statements of Me. Allen, who, as Minister of Defence, has been the chief spokesman on the subject. Mr. Allen, having given effect to the very excellent scheme drawn up before tho war began, for .; which ho deserves every credit, has como in the course of time to regard this arrangement, _ with some modification and extension, as_ the settled war policy of the Dominion, rigidly to be adhered to for tho duration of tho war. It is true that various adI ditional small specialist units havo I been dispatchcd from time to timo, j that the rate of reinforcement for tho I mounfed men has been made the same |as for the infantry, and that two extra infautry battalions arc in training and two others promised. Nevertheless the Minister has combated every. BUjarestion 'forward

for an adequate increase in the size of our forces. Looking back over The Dominion file, we find Mr. Allen 011 April 26 last stating that "any attempt to force the Defence Department to take'men before they are required is to bo' strongly deprecated." In June wo urged in these columns that an endeavour should be made to bring our contribution up to 50,000 men at the earliest date. To this Mb. Allen replied the following day: "Any attempt to force the hands of the Government at this time upou this question without adequate knowledge is in my opinion very unwise. . . What the Imperial authorities do want, and what Lord Kitchener has impressed upon us from the beginning, is a constant, steady supply of reinforcements to make up the wastage that may take placo ill the main body. . . That is tho, great service New Zealand can rendor to the Empire now— never to let her force fall below strength, but rather to increase it."

Loud Kitchener's attitude has since been fully defined in his speech of July 9, and in looking back on tfhat wc said on Juno 2 it certainly seems to us that our remarks were more in accord with Lord Kitchener's view than was the comment of tho Minister of Defence on them. The suggestions put forward by The Dominion, and in other quarters, for the dispatch of larger forces ceased for the time being on the publication of the following announcement, which appeared in our issue of Juno 15: — "His Excollency_ the Governor has received a communication from the Secretary of Stato for the Colonies, stating that . . .'as 110 arms and equipment, can bo sent to' New Zealand from the United Kingdom at the present time, it would not be desirable to depart from the curriculum of training and numbers arranged between them and the New Zealand Government for tho New Zealand Expeditionary Force,"

This message is curious in more than one respect. Ten days aftor it was published in New Zealand came the announcement that the. Australian Government had been requested to Eend forward every available man "with or without equipment." A fortnight later again came Loed Kitohenee's stirring appeal for men at the Guildhall. Me. Allen, however, has maintained his original attitude consistently, and to those who suggest doing more his reply has been to- invite them to stimulate the registration, under _ the existing scheme, and this despite the fact that the Department has on hand_ thousands more volunteers than it can deal with. Speaking on July 23, the Minister said:

"New Zealand had laid down a policy and had followed it absolutely, more closely than any, other country in the Empire. Our policy had beon to get every available man to register for service abroad. It had nover been quite understood that this was the policy, .and that tho object of it was to havo registered a large number of men, from whom the Defence authorities could draw for reinforcements, assured that they would have men available for months and months ahead." '

These words showed the extent to which the authorities-had allowed their freedom of action to be circumscribed by certain fixed ideas. The policy of keeping recruits waiting for months, moreover, is far from an ideal one. It assumes that a man resolves on taking what is for him individually a supremo step with the 6ame nonchalap.ee that he might decide four months ahead to spend his summer holidays _at Eotorua. In marked. contrast is the attitude of Loed Kitchener, who, in his speech at tho Guildhall, said:

"I was from the first unwilling to asfc for a supply of men fn excess of the equipment available for. them. I hold it to be most undesirable that soldiers keen to take their places in the field should be thus chocked and possibly discouraged. ..." The plain truth is that while events have moved forward and the military task before the Empire has gi'adually revealed itself as enormous beyond all precedent, the ideas of those in authority in Now Zealand to a large extent have remained fixed in the original groove. Our -men in Gallipoli have done nobly'indeed, but we are by no means giving them the backing and support we have it .in our power to render. The work that has been undertaken has been carried out faithfully and well, and for this the Defence Minister and the military authorities deserve tho fullest credit. But more could be done. It may be said that it is better to do a small task thoroughly than to attempt and fail in a more ambitious effort. To that we would reply by quoting the searching words of Lord Kitchener, words addressed, it is true, to possible recruits, but applicable to all of us, and especially to those whoso over-caution would hold tie country back from lending its full weight in "tho cause of its •honour and freedom:

"Excuses are often very plausible any very arguable, and seem quite good, until wc examine them by the light of duty before the tribunal of our conscience Be sure that hereafter, when you look back upon to-day and its call to duty, you do not have cause—perhaps bitter cause —to confess to your conscience that you shirked, your duty to your country and sheltered-yourself under a ■mere excuse."