A BOOKMAN'S VISION.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 199, 11 August 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

A BOOKMAN'S VISION.

Tin a war of nations victory will be •won by three things: (1) Numbers; (2) <eeonomic strength; and (3) the iraorale, the fighting quality of the .combatants. Tliere £.re probably fe>v

.civilians more qualified to speak •with authority on matters pertaining to thi' present war ?than Mr. John Buchan, the

author and compiler of "Nelsons history of the War." While disclaiming any title to call himself a military -expert, it is well known that Mr. Buchan has long made a study of military questions, and that he has had the privilege of seeing a good deal of rthe fighting on the Western front. It was doubtless because of'his recognised •standing as a civilian authority on tho iacts and prospects of the war that Mr .Buchan was invited to deliver a special address before the annual general aaeeting of the Booksellers' Provident institution, which was held : n London «*arly in March. A perusal A the report of his address is at this time-now rfchat the Allies' offensive has actually commenced—both interesting and encouraging. For many months we have Veen passing through a difficult time That kind of time of drag comes in •every great war, after the first trial of strength is over, and while the forces are concentrating their energies for the tfnal struggle. It came in the American Civil War in the spring of 1863. The North were compelled, »s ■we have been compelled, to introduce vl .. measure of compulsory service. Three months later came the victories •of Gettysburg tnd Vicksburg, and the tide turned. Mr. Buchan accepted that historic fact as a happy omen, and, .speaking in March, he expressed his belief that the ensuing three months -would see the beginning of the final

stage. Mr. Buchan, when lie r,poke, i,ad not the slightest fragment ->f -doubt as to how the final stage is destined to end, but he did not look tor ;■ very sudden or brilliant end. On the contrary, he considered it probable that we might have a long and des■perato struzgb before we win the only kind of victory that will give us peace -with security and honour. Mr. Buchan

supwrted bis conviction by argument on the re'at : re strength of th?

opposing nations in regard to the three essentia's we have enumerated above. By a process of exhaustive analysis he made it clear that m •all of these three vital factors the Allies possessed a marked superiority "Briefly stated, the conclusion" at which Mr. Buchan had arrived nearly iour months ago was that the Allies had got the decision into their hanas, •or, in other words, that they held thf cards to win the game provided they

played them rightly. Victory, ho said,

means simply to beat th; German mam armies in the field: "It is not neces-

sary to get inside the frontiers ot Germany. The final blow may be strucn many hundreds of miles from the Ge>-,

man borders, and be quite as destructive- as if it had been delivered n Prussia itself. If we defeat the mam German armies so thoroughly that thev no ionger constitute an adequate defence of the German fortress, then thas fortress has fallen." -*r. Buchan rejected the idea that the war could in« •ended by mere attrition, by merely starving Germany into surrender. "Germany," he said, "will not go

down easily, but d we are not betrayed into a premature offensive our -«low, when the time comes to deliver

it, may be decisive. It will be a time of desperate and costly struggle. We

•may see on Germany's side a dozen new. devices, and we may see many ■floca! and temporary successes; but ! 'firmly believe that nothing can alter the main factors. We have the men. "With care and self-denial we can preserve our economic strength, and,

■above all things, we have the morale—the spirit of the offensive, the spirit

that wins battles. I have no doubt about our men in the field, or abo.it our men on the sea. If the country ; » iiind them has one tithe of tbe'r devotion and their resolution, we shall beyond doubt, be victorious.'* That prophecy is backed by the s.erene confidence and inflexible determination >f the Allied nations. Our is that latter the last shot has been fired they -sviil be found equa ly united in their endorsement of the noble sentiments with which Mr. Buchan adorned hia prediction. "Then, he said, "it wi'l be for all of us, even the humblest ot us, to make certain that the fruits are

not tho last of so much gallantry and sacrifice. We shall have to build up a weary and broken world. If wo jan arry the great brotherhood of the trenches into the years of peace ana make a cleaner, a better and a justei .Empire, where class hx.' ed will abate "jeeause class selfishness has gone, then, with the grace ot God, the war mav vet rank as one of the happiest events n cur history."