The Dominion. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1915. "OUR DEAD FEARED THIS ALONE"

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2570, 18 September 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1915. "OUR DEAD FEARED THIS ALONE"

We in New Zealand at the . present moment should; not forget that war is something more than a mere matter, of guns and munitions. In. the last analysis it is an issue of tho spirit, for, as every soldier knows, it is the will to win, tho clan and morale of the army ancl the nation,' that brings a people victory. Battles are won, when all is said and done, not by the guns, but by the determination and resource of the men behind the guns—tho men 'in the trenches, the. men at the depots, the mon in training, and those who train them, the men in' administrative office, and the nation that backs them all up. No war is won by hanging back and counting the cost of victory. To withhold our effort when an increased effort is called for is to botray those who have already gone forth' and maybe laid down their lives for their country's liber-

ties. This point, of viow—a point of view which wo can evade'only at the price of our honour—was finely put in some verses wo quoted not so many weeks ago:— Our dead feared this alone—to give too little. Then shall the living murmur at the ' price? The hands withdrawn from ours to grasp the plough Would suffer only if the furrow faltered now. Is any price too dear for us to pay to bei.sure that that furrow shall not falter? 'With every day that passes the call comes in more imperious tones, and not. alone from those to whom) tho Empire looks foi guidance, but also from the. humblest soldiers in the ranks. Writing to his father in, Otago from the Gallipoli Peninsula,'an officer says:—

"I have just censored some hundred tatters. Many were pathetic, -and it makes you feel that any fit singlo man who has no absolutely justifiable excuse for not being out in the field ton never raise his head again and consider himself a good citizen and a true Briton if he fails to offer Tiimself for foreign service. This is, first and foremost, a single man's job." This is the feeling of every man in New Zealand worth his salt. Could anyone read the official figures of the casualties at Gallipoli published to-day without realising what it must meanl to our sons and brothers in tie firing-line to know that we here are straining every effort' not only to fill the gaps in their ranks, but to send more and more men in order to lessen as far aa lies within our power the burden of the heavy task they are so gallantly performing 1 Tno men are here and willing jto serve, and fretting at the delays imposed upon them. They are told that the door cannot be opened'widor to allow of larger forces being sent to the Dardanelles because of this obstacle, that obstacle, and the other obstacle. Some of these obstacles are real enough, others are laa-gely imaginary. All could be overcome if approached in this right spirit. Among other things wo are told by the Defence Minister that be foresees the difficulty that

"if we call up' all the men we have now, ■ wo shall take men away from the productive industries of tlie country which are almost as important to the Empire us military aid." This 'sounds reasonable enough, but what does it actually mean"? If it is intended to convey the impression that wo could not send larger forces than wo are doing without interfering with our productive industries then plainly Mr. Allen has been mislecl as to tho facts of the position.

In our issue' of September 4 wo went fully into the question of our available resources in men, and showed how groundless is the fear that wo cannot increase our quota of military aid without "danger of an industrial collapse. The latest census figures arc now four and a half years old, but taken generally they afford a sound basis for calculation, and are well within the mark in view 'of the subsequent growth of population. The figures show that we had in 1911 some 224,500 men between the ages of 20 and 45. It is next required to discover what number of these arc engaged in industries of the first necessity for tho maintenance of our own population and the provision of foodstuffs and raw materials for Britain or her Allies. These essential industries may bo taken as agricultural and pastoral work in all its branches, manufactures of foodstuffs, manufactures of clotning, etc., coal-mining, and all forms of transport.. These various occupations absorb a total of 101,5(30 of wso -284,600 iiicn 0£ military AYftilahis

for military service. In the first year of war wc placed 2G,7G0 men under arms for service abroad, in the second tlio Minister tells us wo shall have to find a further 22,000, and it is stated that in the event of a three years' war. our commitments under the present schemo will reach a grand total of 77,000 men. . It is necessary to remember that if the war lasts three years three annual drafts of 5000 young men reaching the age of 20 will become availablo for service. If allowance is made for replacing wastage in the essential industries we should have still about 10,000 of these three new drafts availablo for Eorvico abroad, making thus, with the 123,000. men already in the non-essential industries, a grand total of 133,000 men. A simple sum in subtraction will show that if we deduct the 30,000 men. now at the front and in training we still have in the non-essential industries 103,000 men of military age. .Our commitments for the second and third years of war have been stated to amount to another ; 47,000 men, and it is obvious that this number could be greatly increased. The figures will bo more readily comprehensible from the following table:— Men ' 2045 yrs. Total in age group during 3-year period ' 239,000 Essential industries absorb 106,500 Under arms to-day 30,000 In non-assential industries, not yet under arms 103,000 These figures indicate plainly what oan bo done without interfering with the vital industries of the country, When touching on this subject previously we showed to what extent Britain at the end of one year of war had drawn on her available reserves. Tho figures are interesting as indicating how far we may safely go, provided we profit by Britain's early mistakes in recruiting men from essential industries. The English figures are for the male population between 17 and 55 years not engaged in industries of the first necessity. Tho New Zealand census does not give tho figures in theso oocupations for exactly this ago group, but they can be computed fairly closely. Taking tho British military foixes to-day .at 3,000,000 men, a low estimate in view of the latest .figures, as set out in The Dominion yesterday, the following comparison is afforded:— Men Employed in Non-essential ' Industries. Britain. N.Z. 17-55 yrs. 17-55 yrs. Percen'tngo enlisted...!.. 52 17 • Percentage in civil life 48 83 This makes it clear enough that to call a halt to increased efforts ■ for fear of undermining our productive industries would be to deal with the situation with an excess of caution commendable only if we were in tho midst of peace. Yet. wo aro told, that this is one of the reasons which influences the authorities against sending more men. Aro the other reasons of tho same character 1 Aro wo seeking for ways of overcoming obstacles, or for methods of conjuring them up 1 And as we turn to answer these questions let us do so with the words of.Mr. Lloyd George ringing in our e&rs: —

'•// the nation hesitates, when the needs are clear, to take the necessary steps to. call forth its manhood to defend its honour and existence, ij vital decisions are postponed until too late, if we give ground for the accusation that we are slouching into disaster as if we were walking along the ordinary paths of peace without an enemy in sight, then I can see not .a'hope,"