The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1917, THE FIRST NEED.

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3050, 11 April 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1917, THE FIRST NEED.

. Very plainly and very emphatically, the Acting-Prime- Minister and Minister of Defence has informed the country that the most urgent claim on "'New Zealand today is to "maintain our "full quota of reinforcement drafts* That is the first need of the "hour. Sir Jajles Allen 'has"'special"'information on the- subject—that-is -to- aay, -he-is- in touch with the Home-Government and is kept informed-as to how we can best assist in tho struggle against our enemies—but even without, that special' information it has been made ..clear by ..-the-course of in Britain that the call for men for the"fighting lines is imperaThe- reasons-advanced by the Minister in support of the views to which ho. gave expression in our columns yesterday will appeal to the common sense "of most, people. "It is evident"to"any thinking man," Sir James'Allen'remarked, "that it is to the advantage of the Mother Country and her Allies that, they should exert as-.niuch. pressure ontho enemy, as they can : during the summer-in order to bring the war to a 'climax this year. And from this point of view of ourselves and of our Allies it "will be our niost economical plan with : regard to food supplies,, men_ and money, to endeavour .to finish, the war .if we can_ this.summer. .If we-have to drag.on. with tho war into another year, tie cost will be heavier .upon us both in men and in money." This, as ■we have said, is good sound common sense. It' is given added point today by the splendid news to hand of a further great and successful offensive- against the enemy on the Western front. This latest move by the British Commander-in-Chief is not along the line of the old Somme advance, which'made so big a bulge in tho enemy's front in France, but , extends from the northern'limit,of tho old advanco 'northward a distance of about 12 miles. The success recorded is magnificent news, and it means something more than tho actual advance indicates.; It means,, an extension of the intense pressure on the enemy's line over a further length of 12 miles, involving the employment in active fighting of tens of thousands of additional men on both sides.

To achieve -that decisive success which means complete victory in the speediest possible time, we must be in a position to follow up blow after blow with the utmost , rapidity, and this cannot be done unless we have the men. It is not merely a, question of casualties.' Men, "however well trained and however physically fit they may be, cannot - go on fighting under tlic terrific strain imposed by modern warfare without adequate periods of rest, to recruit their strength and steady their nerves.' The more men we have . available-, therefore, the better able are our commanders to adjust conditions so that the pressure on the enemy may bo maintained continuously by fresh troops at the highest possible pitch until the enemy collapses under the strain. Broadly speaking, every pause in the offensive gives the enemy time to recuperate and assists him to prolong the struggle. So it is that men and more men arc being called for' to ensure that the enemy shall have no respite, and thus bring the struggle to the speediest possible end. As Sir James Allen pointed out, the longer the war continues the more- it will cost us and our Allies in men and money. There is just one other point arising out of the- Minister's statement which deserves consideration. .Sir James made it clear that so far as this Dominion is concerned the reinforcements to be sent are not to be increased in strength, but will bo on tho scale of the usual drafts jivhicli yre have been dispatching for,

many months past. He also admits the- importance of maintaining the supply of our food products, though ho places this 'as a secondary consideration to the necessity for sending our full quota, of mcu. Yr> have therefore, as a matter ofi necessity, to find the men for the reiuforcemonts and at the same time we have to do our utmost to maintain tho production of foodstuffs. If it is not intended to increase our reinforcement drafts, then surely we are in a position to maintain those, for the time being, at least, without depleting tho country of the skilled farm labour necessary to maintain tho production of foodstuffs at the highest possible level. Already an effort is being made in this direction. What we would suggest is that this effort should be so that the eligible men who are engaged in skilled farm labour shall not be sent away on military service unless and until it is impossible to maintain our supply of reinforcements without them.