THE SOLDIER'S FUTURE

Levin Daily Chronicle, 3 October 1918, Page 1

THE SOLDIER'S FUTURE

WANTED—A POLICY. By C. G. Nieol in Auckland Herald. Next to helping to -win the.war, the country.'a'most; sacred-duty- is tir'provid® for its fighting men. . How remarkably familiar that spntenco look#' So familiar -that on o is inclinod'-to think that it has bocome part of What someone has "described as "the jargon of the war"— | first cousin to that wicked phrase '' doing one fa bit," which has exeufred more shirking than enough, sister r -to "the' last Jndn and the last shilling," tlfat ringing applau*e-producing extrava.gance, and blood'tclatianto' most of the 1 catch phrases of eyfcry humbug who evsT. talkedi patriotism. It would'almost seem that, sufficient rAgjfffrition could deprive the most 'fact* of any meaning and. > r»igiuffe<aee-> ttd condemn for ever the fipe#t a <entime*t. .Whether th&tfbe so or,not,khpwaver, the fact remains that all the term implies, 4Bpea?a to hare, been carefully tied up. with tape that is ted,and placed in a pigeon-hole until some: distant,.future 1-day.: <Ko; member of the Govemnent,hsts v »afd ; .ihything" t# t suggest that the Government ha# a plan or a policy in conncction.with th# oftrepeated ■ 'sacred duty." And to wego on drifting down, the good' intentions, .thinkiulthat we can ke»p bur canoe -in inidstr'eam and our ears to the roar;Oif.sW rapid* Igyer down. Was ever jwch patio**! folly—folly which wdl grow with - the days to a national crime f NO DEFINITE PLAN. .Of thev 96,000 soldiers, who have ,left New Zpaland, only 20,000 have,no;far returned," hilt already the repatriation problem is perplexing. Already ra*n are returning too jfast for- the" country '• ordinary powers of absorption. It must be admitted that special difficulty is creatcd by the impaired physical coadition ■of most men,.-but is, not thata very weighty reason why extra special efforts should be made to provide means of livelihoods for thorn f It- is- fi fact beyond dispute, that but for the .fiction, of many employers* though not all, in re-engaging men upon- their - discharge, the outlook for the returned soldier would be very b,leak indeed. Tho Government upon whom -the obligation primarily rests, has not begun to scratch the surface, in -/o.ur .years i-it.,hM.rß9.tr. been able to devise means of placing back in civil life the 20;000 men- who* returned. in that It is. * most striking example of official lethargy, official incompetence, or official m'Andv if this state of affairs is to continue what is to happen when , the war fit pien are being landed in.tWir thpii&auds at short in-.: tervalsf a wefully prepared plan absolute chaos Trill-, reign. Everyone .knows that no general ,f,e.yer attempts an. offensive/ opoxatipn . before working out hia plan, points of derail'. No t &:<,oree in th« time without having of retreat in case of tho Natipnal Government- it wo.uW appear, believes Itselfvabloi to dispWf® thousands of men. by*; spm<r, of • magic, A fund of, some mttUbna has _ certainly been-, established to-ribe used • for -repatriation purposes—-but,what are purposesf That is the Question which has inever been answered.,,... fund of ten "millions,-without. a be as ineffectual as an;arw witllout * l eader and without an .objftbtive. • CHANGE AND? HAPHAZARD. Tho very:hugeness,of the problem appears to have-pAralysed effort when it should have roused, th^ government to set the brightest brains working. The hugeness of the problem demands that not a detail should be left to ; eaanee. The very fact, that the men to be provided with reasonable , facilities Jfor \ making a comfortable UTing, h(iTe en most and suffered most for their country, makes it imperative that no- ] thing should be left to the rules of haphazard. - ~ - In dcfenco of tho Government'« inactivity, some speakers have dared to allude to the men placed on the land, to the numbers: upon the registers of the Returned Soldiers' Department, to the instruction given in technical schools, and to the assisted, tuition in «a«e« scheme, .but , what .is the it all. Land'settlement so more or less fthd great extent unsatisfactory, for KteMns which are only too well known; the records of tho department , represents visits J paid,i, ; by tosWchargod meii, audita? sch<«iieS ine men> newS:ocowM>°n st# #t .MS?' grossed .beyond the; initial £tfcgo», Jjjt senis to* be.nocessury to,, emphasise th« factvthat* the failute of manor a,hundred ;atio««s Government must-.thmk an and tens of thousands. T*x>-;o£~. the principal. essenti&lAM, those 1 -who are to doal with the, tclligent, sympathy, i to. see , the . VtrciPAudptfß _ which the -future holdfrnfor ill, and intelligent sympathy is nws «»r sarr to obtain a true knowledge of the soldier. This, perhaps, i« the greatest lack. : ' : ' ' .