TO WIN THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 May 1917, Page 7

TO WIN THE WAR.

I STRAIGHT TALK TO THE WORKERS. > BY SIR WILLIAM ROBERTSON. Sir W. Rooertson and Sir John Jellieoe recently addressed trade union deputations, and in the course of his remarks, I he former said:

"I am sure you are just as keen to win the war as anyone else, and therefore what I am about to say is not meant for you in particular but for everyone in the eountiy. I am a great believer in truth and publicity for no war can be fought to a successful conclusion unless it receives popular support, and this it cannot do unless the people are plainly told the need of support, labor questions are no concern of mine, but I know they are grave questions, and I have always recognised them as such, and I want you to believe that I am in great sympathy with the cause of Labor. Just as non-commissioned officers are the backbone of the Army, so the working men, as they are called, are tho backbone of this country. I ask you to accept me as a working man. I began at the bottom of the ladder, served several years in the ranks,, and I claim to know how the working man looks at these matterß. "The War Office has told the Government what it ought to have, "but it has always left the Government to devise the means of providing them and to specify Mie aiunrber. It has also been said that the War Office does not make the best use of lijhe men it gets. The War Office niahesj mistakes. Who does not? Bub lodk alt Jihe situation with which we were laced :at the beginning of the war. We were irnpre-paxed, as were all other nations (except Germany and France. We to improvise as 'We went along, and weibave ibeen living from hand to mouth ffln-BugTioiut the war. The consequence ml Smprovising is confusion, waste of (Bffort, friction, and injustice. With, the ■best ■will in the world, these things cou' mot ibe avoided. It is the fault of the system, or rather want of it, and that is fine to want of foresight and prepara4ion before the war on the part of the nation as a whole. '"•'' '• OUR CRITICS.

"Another point I wwli to refer to is the criticism of our military operations which has sometimes jifeeii made. | Here again mistakes have qccurrcd. 'bub' marvellously few considering we 'had to improvise new armies. The critics are chiefly disgruntled and otherwise undesirable members of the community, who, having failed in their own professions, think they know all about the professions of everyone else, and instead of loyally putting their shoulders to the wheel employ most of their time in sowing discontent and distrust of those in authority. Let us treat them with the contempt they deserve, as do the soldiers at the front. lam gratified to say that, more than in any campaign in which I have taken part, criticisms within the Army itself have been practically nonexistent, and this I regard as a great tribute to the loyalty and discipline of the nation which has produced the men of whom our new armies are composed. Our progress with the war is bound to be slow because of the colossal numbers engaged, and because Germany derived a great advantage at the start. It is a difficult and long business to make up for a bad start. WHY THE HIHS GO BACK.

"As to the retreat from the Somme, Gormany is retiring because Bhe dare not stand up to further punishment in the positions she occupied. No one retires in war voluntarily. But she is not yet beaten. She is going back in the hope of becoming stronger, and numerically she is stronger now than at any time during the war. She lias been preparing for war and nothing else for years past, and has recently made extraordinary efforts. She now has many more divisions in the field than last year, and has increased the number of her soldiers by about a million. "She has been able to do this by her domineering autocratic Government, acting in total disregard of the most elementary principles of humanity and international law. After ovec-running Poland she compelled thousands of men to emigrate to Germany and to work in German mines and munition factories, thus releasing large numbers of Germans for military service. By her Auxiliary service Law last 'November all persons, both male and female, in Germany between the ages of 17 and 60 were placed at the disposal of the Government. This measure alone has probably set free for military service; considerably over one million men. She has adopted slaveraiding in Belgium and -Northern France whereby thousands of' "Belgibn and French civilians have been compelled to work as slaves for their enemies in Germany, thus releasing still more Germans for military service. We must meet this desperate effort the enemy has made and to meet it we must have men. You ask how many men do we want? My answer is the same as I made to the Government a few days after taking up my present post. It is that we ought not to expect to win a war such as this unless and until every man and woman in the country does a full day's work of an essential nature. WHAT HE TOLD THE 23. -

"Many times during the last sixteen months the question of man-power has been considered, and I have never varied my statement to the Government. I have always said that it is impossible to put a limit to the number of men needed for the Army, because the task is so huge that wc must have all men who can be spared from the Nafoy, the various industries, agriculture, and other employment essential to the prosecution of the war. Surely it should be possible, seeing the great reserve of men still in the country, and with a proper adjustment of man-power, to give the Army the men needed, and our immediate needs are half a million of men between now and July next. The failure to get these men will undoubtedly involve a prolongation cf hardship and misery. We have done much. Our troops at tho front are the wonder of tho world. No one has ever approached the colossal task that we have so successfully accomplished. The question is, Have we done all that we can do —for Germany is not yet beaten? I am perfectly confident of success provided wc remain determined to win, but the way to victory may be long and certainly "'•' ' ■ hard. We have been saved j, v our ••-••' -vom the horrors of war beiv '- "' '*' 'to our own homes, with tb- •'' ' iimy people in this land nr • '. of the urgency of our p ' ' my part, feel that an ,i ' iiuility rests upon me, Hi ' b " "' -o win the war, and it is

impossible to do that unless sufficient irie'n are forthcoming. "hi order to obtain the men needed it seems to me that, for the duration of the war, we must one and all be Willing to subordinate our personal libciy and will to that of the State". After all, what is demanded of us at home in comparison with what is demanded of our men at the front, many of whom ure every day making the supreme sacrifice? Or what are our privations as compared with those of the countries which have been invaded and devastated for generations to come, homes broken up, industries ruined, men deported as slaves, and old people and children left without food or shelter? It is upon these methods of outrage that the Germans are relying to induce tho Belgian and French people to submit to their terms. As I have said, it is difficult for us at this distance to realise what these things mean, but we may realise them one day if we do not before it is too late take every means in our power to crush that overbearing spirit which has degraded a great nation, has brought all this misery upon the world, and has defied every law of God and man. We mu3t, in fact win. The point is, What do we mean by winning? I doubt if It is properly understood. I take it there, is no desire on the part of any one of us to crush the German nation, and the sooner tho German people know that the better. Our aim is, as I understand it, to deal German despotism such d, blow as will for generations prevent a recurrence of the horrors of the last two and a half years. In short, we are fighting in the cause of Freedom, and before we can get Freedom Germany must be taught to realise that might is not right. Until that is done there can be no true Freedom cither for individuals, or families, or societies, or for the Empire. Wo are a law-abid-ing race, and as far as I know my countrymen, all they need in a situation like this is to be told the truth and what it is they are required to do. I have told you all that it is possible to tell you with regard to the number of men we require, and although a great Btrain has already been put upon us, I must also tell ypu that we must be prepared for a still greater strain before we finish the war. I know you are ready to face that strain, and if we all face it, resolutely set our teeth, and are true to ourselves we shall with God's help secure that freedom for which we have been compelled to fight." , , ADMIRAL JELLICOE'S SPEECH.

"The Navy,' said Sir John Jollicoe, "cannot win the war; the roar has to be won on shore. We cannot get at the Germans. Their ships stop inside their porto, and if they come out to. fight they will not go back again,-1 hope'. To win the war we must have, aa Sir William Robertson says, men for the Army. Some directions in which the Navy exerts its power are to defeat the High Sea Fleet whenever it appears; to sink enemy submarines whenever they are found (as difficult a task, I suppose, as was ever put before any Navy); to keep open communications for our food supplies and munitions, and to stop .supplies getting into the enemy's country, and to see that any enemy ship which gets afloat has a very short life. The enemy is now forced to attack under .water, and although that has limited very much the activity of the submarine the wunter to that' attack is much more difficult. To give security we want not men but large numbers of small craft. We want every man who takes part in the building of ships to do his utmost, because a fleet of small craft prevents losses and the building of merchant ships replaces those lost. "The of the submarine menace should not be minimised by anybody In this country. There is no one sovereign remedy. The methods for dealing with mbmarines are a combination of device and fresh schemes are daily introduced. Enemy submarine losses are not published because of tho difficulty of being quite certain when a submarine has gone down. You know that the submarine's dive has been involuntary when some survivors are picked up. But the cases of ,that sort aro not many, because when a submarine is attacked she gets all hands inside as soon as possible ready to dive. At the same time, while tho submarines are by no means getting off scot free, there is undoubtedly a serious

time before the country, and economy in food consumption should be the order of the day. It is due to those who are fighting so gallantly in the Army to see that no negligence on our part ashore shall nullify their efforts. It is duo to those gallant fellows in the mercantile marine—(applause)—whose ships are sometimes sunk 300 or 400 miles out in the Atlantic, to see that we put forth every possible effort to combat successfully the menace. We can do this by keeping our consumption down to real necessities and by working bard each in his own sphere with one end in view—to carry the war to a successful ending at the earliest possible mo-1 inent.