CAN WE DO MORE?

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2619, 15 November 1915, Page 8

CAN WE DO MORE?

Sir, —Following the lead of tho United Kingdom, where of late a--.feeling of uneasiness ]ias caused a searching inquiry to he made into the methods of conducting- the war, we in Now Zealand ought to take counsel with ourselves and look Ae matter fairly and squarely in the face.

Can wo do more? If we were in Bel-' gium's or Serbia's place, would our present method of conducting hostilities suffice? There is only one truthful answer to that question—we are not doing our share, wo are not playing the game, we have not yet given our best.

Our obligations are plain. To Britain we owe a debt of gratitude for all that we aro'and have. Wc are discharging that debt by putting littlo more than half as many men (per capita) under arms as she is doing, leaving munition workers entirely out of the calculation. She is fighting for her very existence, and her fight is ours—not nieroly out of gratitude, but for obvious material reasons.

To Belgium and to Serbia we owe a debt of honour in that»we, in common with the other Dominions of the British Empire, have actually benefited by the heroic self-sacrifice of these two nations.

And to our other valiant Allies, who, have flung every ounce into the scale, we owe still another debt, and one which demands the utmost sacrifice on our part before it can adequately be discharged.

Let us be candid. Store than fifteen months hare gone by since "tho Day," and one can look around and see business and pleasure continuing as in time of peace. Many of our noblest men have given their_ lives, but when all is said and done, things are much the same as usual with us. Surely it is time for us to rouse ourselves, to take stock of our position, to resolve, one and all of us, to "do more." The „ Patriotic Society and other institutions are doing good work, but to-day tho urgent need is for a "Do More League."

Last Thursday's paper gave us the news 1 that against the 311 men required in the Wellington district for the November Reinforcements we have 873 registered!

Can we do more? How many more disasters and deadlocks will it take to teach us that we are in the middle of a fight for our very existence? How log will it be before we cease playing at war and begin in earnest? When will our financial magnates and the heads of our business houses realise the fact that the security of their investments is in real and deadly peril? If the King's pointed appeal for more men will not move us, will the cry from our brothers outnumbered in Gallipoli and Macedonia, leave us cold? They go on dying, w-hile we are counting the cost. The Government is doubtful about tho ability of the country to carry the burden of an amended N and improved Pensions Act, and a daily journal has pointed out that extra taxation has already been imposed. What of it? Has it caused any hardship? Are there any insolvencies traceable to it? One can safely assert that it has not been felt, for we are all spending as much on pleasure and amusements as before.

This is no time to count the cost, unless it bo to compare it with what wo should havo 'to pay if tho Teutons finally succeed in boating us.. It is not an exaggeration to say that if the Pensions Act were put "on a satisfactory basis 'by malting the- dependents of the fallen sure of their mite, our forces could be very largely increased, if not doubled.

It has been stated that even -under the present Act the country is going to be called upon to pay a million a year in pensions. Facts do'not support this statement. The Dominion on Friday last published a summary of the pensions granted for the week. According to the summary 33 pensions averaged just under £46 each per year. Wo hav\o riot yet dispatched 40,000 men, and at the present rate may never send more than 50,000, and if we. allow for 20 per cent, of claimants our total disbursement according to tho above average would bo under half-a million a year. But what if it'' wore two millions instead of the one million on which.the Government figure? The extra million is not going to make all the 'difference betweou solvency and insolvency to us, and nothing else counts. Who among lis would refuse to contribute his just share to recompense tho bereaved ones for the loss of "those who have died for the public weal?. The proposition is plain. "A few give their all—their lives—the remainder, £2 per annum. And still we. hesitate! If more argument were needed, it can bo found in the words of those who defend the present Pensions Act. The board is desirous of dealing generously towards dependents. If so, why object to alter the Act to give effect to this desire? AVe cannot all go to the front,' but we can all join in the agitation to removo this blot upon our patriotism. Only by continued agitation can wo induce the unwilling Government to alter the Act, and by doing this we shall be doing our part in the work. And when the Act is altered, wo shall see tho registrations piling up ahead of the requirements until the Government will realise that it is the will of the country that they should .'.'do more."—l am, etc., VINDEX. .