LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 42, 13 November 1917, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

THE ATTACK ON LORD lIALDANE f)ir,-rlu your issuo of November 6,. under the heading "Scathing Comment,"' you (iiioto from a lender in the "Morningi'onl' which attacks Lord /laldano in.( connection with tho rovolations recently, published by tho "Manchester Guardian." It is rather unfortunate for thocfc' whom Air. It. G. Wells describes as "our'' wild-oyed desperadoes of the 'Morning: Post'" that thoir literary efforts oter nomctimes deemed worthy of preservo--tion. Turning to tho "Morning Post"', lilofl of 1011, in a leading article ofi' March 25, wo find tho following connnenfc! on tlio work of Lord Jlaldanc: "As Sec-' rotary of State for War ho has accom-< nlished more in five years than any ofc nis predecessors since Cardwell. Uoj found tho military forces a mighty njnzo, with hardly a plan. ... Ho has' given them an organisation. Thatrepre-' Dents n great work,"

Coinpnro this with a sentence irf tho loader you quota: "lie participateid inv the polity of weakening tho Navy and! Army." Why this alteration in tone? Must wo assumo that in Mil tho watchdog slept? How nccount for this laud»-'. tion of a statesman now only worthy oS' abuso? Surely it cannot be that hysteria/ linn so upset tho judgniont of our "wild--! eyed" critic tluit tho establishment of 1 sottled plans in placo of chaos now ap-' pears to him as a weakness!

It is ovon moro difficult to follow his 1 , mental gropings when we read that Lord! Haldano "stirrod u)? strifo between Eng-i land and Ireland." Even tho editor of. the "Morning Post" can scarcely claim, that it was Haldano who imported armtf from. Germany into Ireland in 1914, at circumstance which thero is good reason; to think was soizod on by the war party;! in Germany to wean over tho Chancel-' lor and other half-hearted supporter*' of poaco, in tho belief that a favourable momont to strike had oome. The fact i#' that tho rovolations of the "Manchester Guardian" havo destroyed most of tho weapons of which Haldano's opponents hitherto have boon froo to make such.'good use. Thero remains but one —his.: silence as to tho danger of war. The-; ideal statesman, as seen from the edt*> torial armchair of tho "Morning Post,'-' would havo como back from thoso mis', sions to Berlin with bloodshot eyes andj hair on end, shrieking to tho man in tbsrstreot (and the Stock Exchange specular tor—don't forget him) that we must pre-*' pare for immediate war with Germany* And ho would havo been right, for war\ would have followed Brtt Hal-" dane, fortunately for tho Allied cause,., was not a statesman of tho "Morning Post" type. Ho realised that in his: position an injudicious' word or doedt' might have precipitated the world-war,-With this responsibility he chose the; courso any sapo man would. there remained a ohanco of peace hef, strove to improve that chanoe, but afc the same time ho did all in his power,, quietly and without bombast, to put thai Army and Navy in a state of efficient True, he mado no jingoistic or sabre* rattling speeches, but that is quite rn-* other matter from deliberately mislead ing the nation as to the ohances of war* It must be admitted that certain mem- ' bers of the Cabinet were less 6crupuloua, in this respect. These belonged to att; extremist clique which opposed actively}; all expenditure on either Army or Navr o and like most extremists gained muohi prominence by reason of thoir much* speaking. Haldano and those of his who thought as he did, were obviously; in a difficult position, since they could. 1 not appeal to tno public without destroy* ing the hope of peace. Yet despito alt. difficulties, tremendous changes wera 1 wrought in the obsoleto and chaotic mess which repre6«nted tho arnly as Haldano inherited it from the Conservative administration. The spirit of reform ore-' ated by the revelation of the Boor War' had evaporated as the result of clumsy; handling by incompetent persons. Tho psychological moment had been lost, andl it was a hopeless and spiritless body; which Haldan» set himself to revivify * Further, he had to work in t the faca d£ opposition both from anti-military} party on his own side in politics, and, from those who by the exercise of .social privileges had done so much to destroy; military efficiency in the past. That h<s succeeded in spite of these difficulties was admitted even by the Gonservativa Press at the time, and, though the scopa. of his aims was sorely limited by tho activities of the Social Beform Party, he made in the words of the Commander-. in-Chief, Lord French, "a military fighting machine and a system of national| defence such as this, country never had: before." He pruned the Army of allj that was merely ornamental, but in es-! sentials enormously increased its power.; 1 The Expeditionary Force, which has played so vital and glorious a part in! the early stages of the war, was the, chief product of his energies. He found it a body-of 80,000, without proper oiv ganisation or transport. He left it with! a strength of 170,000, and with an organisation the efficiency of which if , now historic. Take also liis handling ofit' the Arinv Medical Corps. Eead what Sir* Alfred Keogh has said as regards tliq importance of preventive against sickness in the Army. "It was; not until the advent of Lord Haldnna that, the triumph of army sanitation! was complete. Then began that study,, of the technical problems of field sanitation which has meant'so much" in tha' present war. I cannot take up your space bv rfr< cording all the directions in which rM forms were effected during Lord Hal-i dace's tenure at the War Office. Thas opinions of the Commander-in-Chief audi of the head of the Army Medical Service; should suffice. The foundation on whicty rests the whole huge structure of our, present Army was well and truly !aid| by the statesman of whom the* "Horning Post" now asks how ha daretj hold up his head! "Scathing comment"!) truly, but on whom does the comment] reflect—l am, etc., E.H.M. ' November 12. 1