LETTER FROM GENERAL RUSSELL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 240, 28 June 1918, Page 6

LETTER FROM GENERAL RUSSELL

INDUSTRIAL AND WAR PROBLEMS INFANTRY ALL-IMPORTANT NEW ZEALAND DIVISION IN BETTER COON'MY .... Hastings, Juno 27. 1 lie following letter from MajbrOieneral Sir Andrew Eussell, K.C.8., has been reooivwl by Air. Witherby, jjenerul secretary of the Empire Service League: I ■ , 'Trance, April 21. I am sending you under separate oover a few copies of memorandum drawn up by the trades union leaders at Home on the subject of the industrial problem after the war. 1 am very clearly 0 f opinion that a satisfactory solution can only bo hoped for if we approach the problem in the right spirit. 1 go so far as to sny that the key to the whole is that we sh-mld definitely and honestly apply the principle of the Eleventh Commandment, To love thy neighbour as thvsolf, to every social problem.' You will agree with me that thero is only one answer to the eternal question, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' And that is, 'Thou art- lam sura it is essential to discover and hold on to the true nriumole of progress in dealing with every pioilem. The Right Road to Travel. "While it is true in war that in tactical operations a bad plan well carried out in better than a good plan l-sdly carried out, the same argument is :ict true in strategy, when you may win local successes and entirely miss the big thing. Or, td put it in'another w„v. it is no good travelling along a br>rj, wellbuilt road if it leads you ultimuViy in the wrong direction. Better bv far to make your way up a muddy lane which will oventually lead you to your goal. "We Shall Ultimately Come Out on Top." "The present offensive, of which you will be reading in youi'i daily papers with considerable anxlely—l have no doubt as to where ils conclusion will find us—is, in my opinion, the very best thing that could hat 3 happened. I have no doubt that we shall ultimately come out on top, though I think it is po.-.;ible we may have in il'ro:il: of us yet considerable mishaps and disappjintnie'uts. Lessons the Germgns have Taught Us, "The Germans have undoubtedly taught us some very good lessons. They have shown life value of education (for the Allied armies, as a whole are not as well educated as the Germans), and organisation (which we havo always frankly admitted was a weak point, though I do not see why it should bo in democracies), and efficiency r-itd thoroughness (in both of which we. have fallen behind owing ten the successes of our forefathers), and last, but not least, discipline. Infantry thd Principal Factor, "In this war, which is literally a war between nations, it is the 'nfantry that counts. A nation like Austria,! which has studied, and specialised in gunnery, may have the finest artillery in the world; and a horse-loving and horsebreeding nation will produce a fine type of cavalry, but the infantry represents the nation as a whole, and by its infantry shall a nation be judged, for it represents the sum tolal of the nation's efficiency, education, and moral fibre. '' Division Getting on Well. "The division is getting, on very well, though we are not out of the wood, and it will not do to crow. The country where we are fighting is an .'iiormous relief to that abominable Flanders. Vie got out of it just in time."