The Daily News. MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 1914. THE CRAZE FOR "ARMIES"

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 77, 26 January 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 1914. THE CRAZE FOR "ARMIES"

The naval mid military competition of the Great Powers is a phenomenon that has its parallel in the craze for organising '•armies" by irresponsible individuals wlii) wish to promote some "cause" of other. When Sir Edward Carson unfolded his scheme for an "Ulster Army'' to resist Home Rule - , he little dreamed that he would have imitators; but it is now evident that lie has set a very dangerous precedent. It has been pointed out that the incitements to the men of the regular army not to fight against Ulster lire capable of being used :i! labor disputes, and it is possible that the trade unions may think it expedient to organise ''armies" of their own, ostensibly to protect their members in times of industrial strife. However that may be, there can be no doubt that the Carsonitii scheme has directly suggested the Suffragette army that has been started by Miss Sylvia Pankhurst. "It's the argument of sticks and stones from the East End that's going to give us the vote, and I, for one, am not going to rest until we get it," said Miss Pankhurst in a recent speech foreshadowing the establishment of the gangs oi' roughs armed with bludgeons which she is pleased to full an "army." A soldier and baronet, Sir Francis Vinie, has been found willing to take command oi this organised mob, and at a meeting held in How Paths he flourished a huge club and valiantly declared that he was ready to use it whenever he saw women injured. What the neighboring shopkeepers thought of the recruits under the Pankhurst banner may be judged from the fact that they all put up shutters and barricaded their shops long before the meeting. It was a tfise precaution, for rioting and disorder took place after the gathering, in which ] hundreds of the Suffragette "soldiers" j | took part. The declared intention i 3 to teach military drill to these bonds of ruffians. It is thought in muny quarters that unless this "army" scheme is promptly nipped in the bud, the result will be the creation of a force which may at any moment break loose and become a greater menace to London than a real army of invasion. And the position is this—that the Government does not think it expedient to arrest Sir Edward Carson and disperse his Ulster army, and therefore the authorities have their hands tied in dealing with the suffragette bands. It | iit patent, however, that if matters are ) allowed to drift, ,a position) of anarchy | or civil war may be reached,