Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star SATURDAY, AUGUST 21st, 1920. THE WEEK.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 August 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star SATURDAY, AUGUST 21st, 1920. THE WEEK.

iiiE welcome visit of tlio delegation lor Canterbury which has been in progress during the .past four days, has been favoured with perfect weather for the inspection of Westland, and its pos-' sjb.i.lities and the splendid opportunity *W a d? should have its result as the days go by. The <jglegation is due back fom Eolith Westland 'this afternoon and it will be interesting to learn of flip impressions that the southern district has made upon the members, as a result* of their three days tour of inspection. There can be no doubt but that the impressions cheated will be of a favorable nature, and so South Westland, together with other parts of the district will recoivfe further that favourable publicity pnd favourable recommendafhat its ,r t sources undoubtedly deserve. Judging by the expressions of the visitors at Wednesday night’s public gathering the district will receive a, ygry flattering recognition of its future possibilities at their hands and the wants of Westland will have secured able and powerful advocates, who will as opportunity arises do their best to further the interests of the district.

The report of the fall of Warsaw which came through the cables on Tuesday, proved u, be untrue, the Poles being successful in the defence of their capital against the militant fled Army. The later news to hand is to the effect that the danger to the capita) for the pre.sent at least, has been averted, and that the Tied Army has been forced to retire for some miles, suffering substantial losses, and showing signs of demoralisation. The progress of the arrangements for an armistice and pence treaty are also reported to have broken down at the present, so that there does not appear to be any immediate possibility of the hoped for truce becoming an effective reality. The war zone in°Europe continues in a state of chaos, the reports coming to band being of a most conflicting nature, so that ft is | somewhat difficult to gather what is the actual position.

The recent action of the Labor Party in Britain in taking up the attitude of intervention in the case of Pubmd raises a very big question. Practically Labor declared its right, to interfere and has assumed, at the same time, the attitude of sovereign arbiter. It lias called for tiie conditions and terms now under discussion and intimate that in the event of disapproval it will call for a general strike. The forms and conditions "matter nothing, because the determination of Labour not t-o permit any interference with the Russian pro-

jeers nas neon uenuioeiy uuciuruu uu- , forehand. Tho mention of conditions and terms is merely camoullage—a device to give convincing plausibility to , the baldness of The Labour claim to the . exercise of sovereign rights. The thing j that matters is the claim to exercise j tile sovereign right of veto. That right pertains to the constitutional representatives of the nation, not to any section of the people. It is asserted by a section. Therein is the throat, plain and | simple, of revolution by means of Direct Action. The straight out> declaration by Hon. Lloyd George on the subject, in reply to the Council of Action will tend to clear the air very materially and bring the actual position in its true light under notice. The programme of the Defence League was outlined at Wellington recently, by its Vice-President, Mr Firth, who said that the league was formed for the security of the Dominion from invasion, and was of opinion that proper preparations should be made for defence. The majority of the people were in accord with the objects of the League, but there was a minority who put forward a. number of schemes. One was what might be called the De Luxe scheme, which meant that in case of need the country would muddle through . somehow, putting trust in Providence, and the British Fleet; while there was yet another—an easy one which advocated the placing of defence upon the shoulders of the Education De- ; partment. The League’s scheme "‘a; the exercising of rigid economy in regard to military matters, but to stop short at nothing that was absolutely essential. To advocate that a military system was out of place during times of peace was like insuring a house after it had taken fire. Others said that the country had to be careful of military control, which made “cushy” jobs for nijen who ought to he kicked back to ■ work. What, he added, could have stopped Germany if there had been no peace training in Belgium, France and England? It ns absurd to say that peace training and organisation had alV ways proved a failure. He appealed to the members of tho chamber to give the * league a helping hand if they considered it*>objects to be right.

Commenting on tile programme outlined an exchange says the League stands for the defence of the country, and against militarism. The League is in its friendship patriotic, and in its hostility practical. In the matter of national defence, the league recognises the first and foremost essential, the essential without which nothing organised though it he in other ways to the last paper requirement, can succeed as a •Heme of defeno*. The essential thing is military training. Force must he met by force, and as the only force ever likely to bo used for the invasion of this country is a military force properly trained, it follows that the only force that can hope to resist invasion is a military force properly trained. The fact that this lias been recognised in this Dominion from the earliest time#, has been forgotten by most objectors to the military system of defence. The Militia Act recognised the obligation of every citizen to defend the country whenever called upon. It also accepted the principle that, in order to perform that duty properly, every citizen must be called out to practise military duty. The course ol events throughout the world required the detailed practical extension of thU recognition, and the present 1 system of defence was in consequence established.

The war coining overshadowed the system during its course, and though the war filled the land with a great number of the best soldiers in the world, the need lor the defence system remains as imperative ns ever, The need is, ■ in fact, permanent', hut the soldiers ol the war will in due course pass away. These soldiers, by their success in war, justified the principles on which the defence system was founded, Had they been sent without preparation to meet the enemy they would have been massacred. But for the preparedness of France on land, the preparedness of Britain by sea, and the half-prepared-ness of Belgium by land, and the preparedness of Italy by sea and land, the time for the further preparation, including the preparation of the New Zealand forces, would not have been secured, and the war would have been lost, with the result of •German possession gf this country. The war lias addpd to th e abu/ufapt historical proof of the essential pepd fqr military preparation in Hm defence of nations.