MR. ALLEN'S RETURN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 4, 5 June 1913, Page 4

MR. ALLEN'S RETURN.

Mr. Jas. Allen, if we may judge from liis own ex parte statement to an Auckland interviewer, lias "made good" at Homo. We never expected anything else, because in a country with the possibilities and potentialities of' Now Zealand it would be difficult for any statesman blessed-with average intelligence to do otherwise. Mr. All en is eonnuendably modest at his success in the flotation of the three-million loan on comparative! v favorable terms at a period of financial stringency that has not been paralleled on the Exchange for many years, but is obvious, of course, that it was the name and the reputation of the Dominion that assisted him in this happy consummation, rather than his individuality. It is New Zealand that has to foot the bili, and Mr. Allen has not been called upon to give his own promissory note for the three million that he has raised. .Stili. it is satisfactory tc lean:, from ,1

financier of some experience, that the 'financial stringency is not likely to be prolonged, and that our credit stands quite as high, if not higher, than that of other dependencies of this Empire. Tho tightness of the money market has been freely explained in our cablegrams during the last few days, and it is obvious that it is only of a temporary character. Under the circumstances, it must b<! admitted that Mr. Allen has done well in providing for our immediate financial necessities. Naturally enough, a good deal of interest has centred round the explanation he had to give concerning the cabled statements attributing to him the offer of an expeditionary force in case of the Mother Country being ever involved in another war. The country generally lias very wisely reserved decision upon his reputed utterances, untu he was in a position to explain them. His explanation is perfectly satisfactory. His proposed expeditionary force 'was not a corollary to a. conscriptive movement, nor, it appears, was it his intention to despatch an army of Territorials, willy-nilly, in the event of foreign trouble with Great Britain. Bearing in mind, the ready response of young New Zealand at the time of the Boer War, Mr. Allen apparently simply suggested that instead of sending raw recruits, whose loyalty and patriotism catised them to volunteer for service, it would be wise to give those willing to offer tlieir, services some amount of expert training before allowing them to participate in international disturbances. Wo have always been taught that one volunteer is worth three pressed men, and on the basis one well-trained volunteered ought .to be worth at least half-a-dozen conscripts. His suggestion was simply an indication that it was wiser to be prepared for eventualities than to meet them with the morning paper at the breakfast table. Forewarned is foreaimed, but it holds quite as logically that forearmed is forewarned, and it is this that Mr. Allen seeks to impress. When the Boer War started, we had plenty of willing'volunteers, but they had neither the equipment nor the experience to make "immediate" soldiers of them, though most of them subsequently more than justified their enrolment. What Mr. Allen seeks now is to have some system of organisation by which in the case of a sudden call for voluntary assistance to the Empire we shall be in a position' to make a prompt and effective response. The details of his scheme we shall, of course, have to wait for, but in the meantime we do not think he has overr stepped the limitations of his responsibility in pledging the country to such an effort as he has suggested. His explanation of a somewhat ambiguous cable is thoroughly satisfactory. The matter is in 110 sense one of party politics, and his suggestion should meet with the ready apj roval of everybody who places loyalty and patriotism above the ordinary political dictates. For the rest, Mr. Allen's mission Home seems to have been quite as successful as he could have anticipated. As a matter of fact, periodical visits to the Old Country by our chief Cabinet Ministers ought to be made more rcpularly. It is to all our interests that we should keep in touch as closely as possible with the Imperial authorities, and spoken words and personal deliber ations are much more useful to'us thai reams of diplomatic correspondence. Apart altogether from any political convictions, we must all welcome Mr. Allen back in our midst with nothing but commendation for his prudent and diplomat'.c conduct of the mission upon which l:e was despatched.