The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1908. A FOOL’S PARADISE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2299, 18 September 1908, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1908. A FOOL’S PARADISE.

At lust we have a Ministerial 'admission that the people of this dominion are living in a fool's paradise iso far as the question of national defence is concerned, this reply having been given in answer to a question asked in the House on Tuesday. The statement was 'accompanied by the suggestion that the people should, in consequence, give moro support to tho volunteer system which, after all, is only a characteristic method with the present Government of evading an important, issue. The aeting-Minister of Defence, the Hon. R, McNab, appears to be following tho lead of tho Premier, and instead of meeting the. demand of tho country for « definite and practical systom for the defence of tho homes and properties of our people, wastes time, and attempts to confuse his hearers by trotting out tho usual balderdash about volunteering. No ono recognises moro than wo do tho wisdom and necessity of having a well-trained volunteer forco ns tho nucleus of a citizen’s army should we at any time bo called uiion to raiso one ; but time has shown conclusively that to rely solely upon such a forco is simply tho policy of madmen. If our people are to do for New Zealand' what tho Boors did for (South Africa and make something of a stand against tho foreigner in case of invasion, then it is necessary that overy able bodied person in tho country shall, in time of peace, bo taught to handle a rifle and shall also learn the rudiments of drill and discipline. The volunteer system, admirable though it is up to a point, will never achieve this end, mid in suggesting that wo should continue to rely upon the volunteers, Sir Joseph Ward is himself encouraging the people to live in tiie fool's paradise that ho and his Ministers profess to deplore. The fact of the matter is tho Premier lias apparently laid it down as a settled plan that he will not take up any matter Involving vital principles of national policy unless there is some distinct Party advantage to bo gained thereby. This is not the first occasion during the present session that the Ministry has evaded this all-important question. It will be remembered that when the member for Bruce, Mr Jas. Allen, speaking on tho defence report, proposed that every capable adult male should undergo a certain amount of military training. The Minister ;,f Defenco spoke deprecatiiigly of the resultant force as a ‘'private soldiery” wit-li customary perversion of sense and fact. When Mr Wilforil, who followed, went so far as to say that we have numbers of volunteer forces in New Zealand to-day that would be absolutely useless in time of war, the Minister of Defence, in replying, reiterated'liis familiar nousense regard*ing the last man, the (last gun, and the last drop of blood. It lias already been pointed out that a contest which will reduce us to the last man and the last drop of blood is the very contest that ail efficient defence force will aid us to avoid—simply by not commencing it. As the Wellington “Post” has aptly put this aspect of the case “it will not profit anybody in New Zealand that the last man dies gallantly, with his face to the enemy, even if that last man should be tho Minister of Defence, shouting “Ake 1 Akc ! Alee-” before he expires, like Rewi, in the sure hope of eternal glory.” W wish to save the blood of the first man, and to do that by making the defence of New Zealand so strong, and by making it so evident that the defence is strong, that wo shall make an enemy’s 'aggression dangerous or impossible. During the. Defence debate the last man who died in tho service of the oratory of the Minister of Defenco belonged to the British Navy. In the Minister’s imagination that last man died once more, and the British. Empire once more spent its last pound, in protecting important outlying parts of the Empire like New (Zealand- —about which the average Briton rarely bothers his head, except to grumble that it contributes so little to tho Navy, and claims so much from it. That final imaginary sacrifice is the very sacrifice that the British Empire historically has not made, has never undertaken to make, and cannot possibly make in justice to Britain. If an overwhelming attack is directed at the heart of the Empire, Britain will let tho extremities go for the time; she must let them go, being sensible, and knowing that Britain is by far of the greatest importance. to Britain. To believe .that, if the British Navy is urgently wanted in the Channel, it will waste its time in defending Wellington, is foolish. We are indeed living in a Fool’s Paradise and it is the duty of the Premier to prove his .statesmanship by bringing forward a system of universal military training.