The Daily News. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8. IS CONSCRIPTION COMING?

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 128, 8 September 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8. IS CONSCRIPTION COMING?

The diluted system of military conscription to be instituted in New Zealand and the new order of military service in Australia and Canada has set Britain thinking. The ineffectiveness of the Territorial scheme in Britain has been the most potent factor in spreading the truth that conscription must come. While many influential persons are suggesting that Britain should raise a loan of one hundred million pounds for naval defence, it is reasonable that great soldiers should be dissatisfied with the strength of the standing army and its auxiliary army and the apparent lassitude of the authorities. There is no question that the Navy and Army of Britain are interdependent and that a crushing blow to the first line would make it necessary for the Army to launch a counter-stroke. The old voluntary system of Britain was considered ineffective. Instead of the conscriptive method of Continental countries, Britain depended on the patriotism of its men when it introduced the Territorial scheme. In the first place, the ex-volun-teers were highly incensed at the destruction of historic units. Recruiting was slow and ineffective; volunteers by the thousands simply threw in their arms and went out of the service. The Territorial Associations worked like Trojans for recruits. Great soldiers lectured, patriots canvassed, Parliament became oratorical, and so at last the'

Territorial Force became almost as strong in numbers as the old volunteer army. Lord Esher, a member of the Council of Defence, now says the Territorial system has failed. It has been

.shown that Territorial units lack cohesion, training, physique and interest, and that an army of 275,000 is the maximum that can be obtained. It is deduced from these facts that as in the Dominion, so in the Mother Country—men will' not voluntarily enlist unless there is urgent need for the service for which they join. That is to say, if Britain went to war on the sea or land tomorrow, the recruiting trouble would be at an end, but the huge army available would l be comparatively ineffective and the rush of raw troops a danger to the country. Britain knows the dangers of untrained troops, and must very soon enlist recruits compulsorily if she is to i have an army big enough and capable enough for any emergency. The national standpoint is the same yesterday, to-day and forever in the Old Lan'd or in the new ones. The man who is permitted to enjoy the incomparable advantages of I living under the protection of the British flag—a security gained by the genius, the enterprise and the training of our forefathers if he is not willing to take his share of the of defence, is merely a coward. ordinary man, wishes to sit still twiddle his thumbs while foreign are sacking his town, eating the his children and menacing his mother, hut the fact that he will voluntarily learn to defend his his wife and 'his family is the only son there has ever been to force While there is no war in progress, realisation of its horrors are British untried and untrained have time without number fought ly and died gamely, but the next between civilised nations will Ktrate the fact that the best army, the Ibest led army, the physical and numerically strongest ariny victorious. Buit the physically stron'glß and largest army is a mena'ce if ifj is not adequately trained and led. In time to come the Briton who has to admit that he is not considered capable of bearing .arms will feel the ignominy of his position, for it is a sad thing to admit that one is unable to strike a ■blow for one's country, and for the women, the children and the aged. As the greatest military nations have found it hopeless to keep a sufficient army on a fisrhting footing in peace time by mere invitations to join it, they have been compelled for national reasons to make service general and compulsory. The diluted system of conscription favored by the dominions is less fair than general conscription, for in conscription the exemptions are refined to an irreducible m|nimum. If .'a nation thinks it worth while to have fighting men. it must resolve that the only fair and reasonable method i 3 to insist that every man shall be capable of fighting. Britain is not the sole property of the sailors and soldiers who protect it, but the joint property of them and those they protect. No person who is the physical equal of j S»y soldieT has Any right to claim that the soldier should take his life in his hand while another man runs no risk. It is because the citizen who is opposed to military service refuses to see the injustice of fighting a national cause with a mere proportion of its men that Britain's system of {Territorial service has failed. The smart old umtruth that "one volunteer is equal to ten pressed men" (or any other number for that matter) has been shown fn its naKed unveracity. The idea ?hat .the Territorial Army of Britain—le3 by Territorial officers—oould puf up a imsonaJble effort In battle with a European "pressed" army Is at least open to doubt. So inevffahly Britain will have to TaTI initio line wiiiE Continental countries.

WAIHI SHARES. There has been a flutter in the dovecotes of shareholders of the Waihi mining company recently owing to the drop in the price of shares from £lO 6s last February to £0 13s yesterday. The cause is found in the following statement of one of the directory:—"As the grade of ore being crushed is somewhat lower i it da anticipated the monthly returns will be less. They will probably come down to about £68,000 each before the end of this year. It is anticipated the average of about £68,000 can be afterwards maintained. I may add that the above was announced in London less than twelve hours since, and that the next return of the company, due on September 16th, is shaping to he about £70,000." One shareholder, speakins at a meeting of shareholders in Auckland last week, did not think the dropping of the monthly returns to an average of £68,000 was an'-thin? to cause a panic in shares, and in his W it would not have done so had the fact been stated at once. A glance at the past record of the mine is rather reassuring, and it is hard to believe, in the face of the vast wealth it has yielded, that "peterinig-out" is a possibility of the immediate future. Lecturing at Christchurch last week, Mr. W. Wilson, of the Auckland -University, sketched the history of Waihi. The great Martha reef was discovered in 1878, but only casual interest was taken in it, and it was three years before a. company was formed to exploit it. Success was assured i by the advent of. the cyanide process which was adopted in 1894. In 1892 the company treated 18,000 tons of ore, producing gold of the value of £i6,000. In 1909 the ore that passed through the mills aggregated 417,000, representing a value of nearly one million sterling. The share value has increased from £22,500, when the company purchased the Martha reef in 1889, to four and a-half millions at the present time. In 1'893, the year : before, the cyanide process was adopted, a dividend of 3s per £1- share was paid. In two years the dividend increased to Bs, in 1900 it was 10s, and then the dividend increased by an average -of Is per share each year, until the dividend in 1909 was l'Bs per £1 share, which was equal to 90 per cent, imprest, on the invested capital. It will thus be seen that there is hardlv anv warrant for the tremendous drop in price that has taken place.