The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1916. FIRST THINGS FIRST

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2682, 31 January 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1916. FIRST THINGS FIRST

| if Our first and paramount duty is to concentrate our energies and utilise our resources so as to ensure that no effort will be spared to win the war._ With this absolutely essential qualification it is well that our social, national, and industral life should proceed as far as possible ,on normal lines. But it is the duty of everyone of us to make quite sure that we are putting first things first, and it is certain that at tho present critical juncture the war is the first thing to be considered. We have a right to expect Ministers of the Crown and all other people holding responsible positions to take special pains to set a good example in this matter. As a rule our public men have shown that they are able to see things in something reasonably like their true proportions, but from time to time things are said and done which remind us how easy it is to lose grip and permit subordinate interests to occupy an unduly large share of attention. The Minister of Education, for instance, recently made a declaration of policy as regards our national schools, in the course of which he laid special stress upon the need for maintaining and improving the system of medical inspection—war or no war. Did the Minister, before making this statement, give full consideration to the heavy demands made by the war upon the services of the medical profession 1 The number of doctors at work in our military camps and at the front is already large, and the demand is an increasing one. It will become increasingly difficult for those remaining in ordinary practice to meet the requirements of the community, and it is quite possible that it may be found necessary to discontinue for a time the mcdical inspection of school children. No one realises the value of such inspection more clearly than we do, but can it compare in importance with the demand for doctors to tend on the sick and wounded amongst those who fire fighting and suffering for us on .the battlefields in Europe and Asia and Africa? We must organise our medical resources so that they may be used to the best advantage for the State. It is not merely what is good, but what is best in the circumstances, that should be considered. When a man's house is on fire the ordinary routine of the household has to be interrupted until the flames are extinguished.

Another illustration of failure to make a clear distinction between what is best and what is merely good is provided by the decision of the Government to hold the annual territorial camps this year, in spite of very reasonable protests from various quarters. _ One can sympathise with the desire of the authorities to avoid any interference with the system of compulsory national training; but due weight must be given to the abnormal conditions which at present exist. The Government knows that the holding of these camps must accentuate the industrial dislocation caused by the withdrawal of thousands of men from 'their usual occupations in obedience to their country's call for soldiers, and also increase tho strain upon the resources of the military staff. An effort is to be made to reduce the difficulty and inconvenienco to a minimum, and we have no doubt that everything possible will be done in that direction. We are told that full consideration is to be given to the. needs of farmers and other employers of labour. But, j&fta jvoighicg ,tha wewnoats for

and against, it is almost impossible to resist the conclusion that it would have boon better to have postponed tha camps altogether until after the end of the war. A glance at the long list of officers and non-commis-sioned officers who have been told off for the work of giving military instruction to lads who are too young to fight for the Empire 011 the present occasion gives a good indication of the large amount of much-needed energy which must bo diverted from the all-important task of training and equipping the men who are actually going to tho front. The attention of the military authorities ought not to be distracted in this way from their most urgent business. It is well to be prepared for future possibilities, but if we do not win this war. the shaping of our future may bo controlled by other hands. The advantages to be derived from the holding of the territorial camps in war time are more than counter-balanced by the drawbacks. It is a great mistake to throw this extra burden 011 the military staff, which is already working at high pressure. It is also most undesirable that the industrial life of the community should be put to any more inconvenience than is absolutely necessary. The maintenance of the essential industries of the country is only second in importance to the maintenance of the supply of fighting men. The holding: of the territorial camps cannot fail to have a hampering effect on both these aims.