The Dominion MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1919 “EACH FOR ALL”
In bidding farewell to t\ & jr CT Zealand Division, which L j ia; commanded for three years; I'. haif, S;r Andrew Russell ij truck \ note that ought to awaken ! a w j ( j e spread response. He was [ Mk&s ing directly and primarily CTa j laht soldiers of his Divisia ho said that success as a that won in war would , bL reac j 1 ed "«-»e continue to be af; iinatc( by the same spirit pi each , Such a message, however, 1 wo ' r th\ of attentive regard from w j,j e g possible audience. In thej Dar (jj n , words of General RussS* as n < lays down his command ffi re j, evidence that he has' lookeir into the heart of the probl.eil of day and perceives the on. go j u t-iori. From whatever angjV are viewed, the problems resolve, themselves, into, a reejj Qr ' parent clash' of class and ■interests. Whatever. un< L r t a i n fr may.arise in regard to it > not in doubt that the essenty rem edy for the social and i»d us fc r i a disorders to which our owi m^ol like others is now a- prey r t<) found in loyal union of ejj orfc nation, in fact, can only co^ fc - n^e t( exist and prosper if its pe fl j e jj V( up to the standards of.na^ onhoo< and set the national inW. ests j, which they are all mi all narrower interests. _ TheL WQU j ( be no excuse, for stating ( u , u y so trite and obvious if i + , n ' o so commonly ignored. $\i talk 0 the hour is rather of . than of national .invests.but tb ne.od of the hp.u.r un i ty ,^ d loya combination of ,% Sovi as ijjetweei one. section or/group andanothei If national \^ ns [ s are «, uted . 0 ignored no, y ass interest wjl be ad vanced, '#, at a n eventS) ; w ju j,, advanced :'for long. | The essential need of tie hou: c ? u a& not be better or ffore effec fr.fely summed up than in th jfiirase of "each for all' whicl '•General.Russell has emp'Wd. Th phrase bears witness to jlear in sight, and embodies much'pi'actica TH'isdomi Its immediate irspiratioi is no doubt to be found ii the ex perience of the years of: war h which the New Zealand.Divisior travelled steadily along thj road t< victory. No child needs 4 be toi< that the glorious record of thes years could never have takp shapi if the loyal co-operation of al ranks had not been an erar-presen feature in the life of the Division It was by acting each for all' tha our soldiers won fame anjl honou: in battle after battle, arid through out tlie long and grim ordeal of th war, and their commander certain ly could have given them bo bette: advice than to carry the same prin ciple and rule of conduct into civi lire. At its best, military, organi sation inculcates and justifies ai unquestioning mutual faith as be tween one section and another of i total force, and it is only while thi; faith endures that a division, o: an army, is able to fight its wa; forward to victory. The same mu tual faith and the unrestricted co operation it makes possible are i vital condition of national progres in the' largest sense. _ A nation oi a . country whose various section are unable to _ pull. together fo: common ends is in a state in al respects analagous to that of a mili tary corps which has lost its organ isatiou and the capability of actinj each for all, and invites analagou penalties. In civil life just as trulj as in war men are confronted bj problems which it is in the commoi interest to solve and which cai only be solved if all loyally com bine their efforts. This cardina truth is being perversely ignored to day by great sections of the popula tion in Great Britain, and ahead; great loss to the whole nation ha resulted. Whether workers _or em ployers are most to blame time an< more detailed information mus show, but it is a conspicuous fea ture of the disorders at the stagi they have reached that big bodie of workers are pressing demands o such'a nature that if they wen granted the prosperity of the na tion and their own would undoubt 3dly<.be shattered. Anyone maj grasp the truth of Lord • Lever hulme's observation that Britisl workers are acting against, then awn interests in limiting output To affirm the soundness of the prin siple which is so. aptly summed uj in the phrase "each for all" is not af- course, to say that this or. tha section of the community'must _bi ;ontent to accept without complain jc protest whatever conditions, goot ar bad, are allotted to it; on th contrary, even-handed justice be bwcen the parties concerned is ai sssential condition of loyal co-ope'r ition. What is implied is tha there is a point at which the.asser lion of class interests as distinc from national interests becomes sui ;idal for all concerned, and, whicl is even more important, that it v mly by mutual fa-ith and loyal co operation that the sections anc ;roups'of which a nation consist: :an hope to better their Jot and at ;ain the benefits of nationhood. _ Generalßussell has done nothinj so narrow and petty as to invent i oarty' political catch-cry. Th ohrase which stands out so boldl; from his farewell message to hi iroops is much too broad in signi kance and scope to suit the pur ooses of any party politician. I in that account so much the bette: leserves to be adopted as the watch ,vord of political action in thi lountry. The aim of the party pdh iician is to divide. What this coun ;ry needs and will need in thi sriticai days to be faced is sucl :ounsel and leadership as will tone io eliminate all divisions that an irtificial in nature and tend tc lampcr progress. There has beer litherto far too much class preju lice in our politics, and all classes lave been more or less at fault. The mly thing that will serve : orth, unless we are to go rapidly lownhill, is a really national :outook. General Russell's/ crisp ihrase "each for all" strikes the ,rue keynote of the action that k lecessar'y. In three words be has dmirab'ly summed up the working irinciple that.made the brilliant uccess of the New Zealand Diyiion possible. It is not less certain ,hat he has at the same time epiomised the conditions of political n'ogress in this country, or in any lemocratic country, and the only onditions in which it is capable of leing indefinitely extended. _ His irief but suggestive utterance is all .he more significant and timely ince it gives pointed expression to entiments that are widely enterained, very, notably bv New Zea-
aimers who have served their cotmiry in the field. For instance. ° 'each for all" might well have been £ ;he text of some observations which ( vere made at a social gathering the t ither evening by Me. John Fox, an I ictive and popular official, of the t Wellington Returned Soldiers' Asso- ° :iation, who is temporarily severing j lis connection with that body in . >rder to visit Europe. .It was the j essence of what Me. Fox had to < say, evidently with tho warm ap- ! proval of the returned soldiers who listened, that while those who had : served their country at the front expected to take an active part if. j shaping its future, they would do it . in a spirit far removed from that of • narrow political partisanship. All soldiers, he said, had joined together as comrades in a common cause. They had fought together without .prejudice, class or creed. Surely now they could work together again without sectarian or political differences. Such utterances suggest that there will be no failure on the part of the men who .have returned from the front, or those who will return during the next few months, to perceive the necessity of adopting and carrying into effect the principle of each for all. It will be wholly to their own advantage if the people of this country generally show themselves capable of the same broad outlook.
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 128, 24 February 1919, Page 4
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1,398The Dominion MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1919 “EACH FOR ALL” Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 128, 24 February 1919, Page 4
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