HALDANE'S GREAT FAILURE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 300, 16 December 1912, Page 6

HALDANE'S GREAT FAILURE.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —I am sending you herewith a copy of Lord Roberts' warning to the British nation, which, no doubt, you will already have had. The portion, however, which I want to refer to reads as follows: The Territorial force is now acknowledged a failure—a failure in discipline, a failure in numbers, a failure in equipment, a failure in energy. ' Unless I am misinformed, the majority of the Territorials are now in favour of compulsion." I think, sir, that, coming from Lord Roberts, we may take this as quite conclusive evidence, if indeed we needed any, that the Territorial farce has now been played out. Mr. Haldane has publicly admitted that when he undertook the office of Secretary of State for War he did not know a brigade from a battalion, and he has most conclusively demonstrated his "knowledge." It appears from what he says that he took it up "because it presented some fascinating problems." Well, if he had been fascinated by the German Emperor I do not think he could have worked out those problems very much better —for any other country except England. My object in writing you now is to remind you that when Mr. Haldane's scheme was laid before the British House of Commons I wrote an article which was published in your columns with regard to his scheme. I forget what the article was called. I think it was ::Mr. Ha Wane's Army Scheme," - but I very distinctly remember the sub-title, which was: "Foredoomed to Failure." I have the original MS. of that article in my possession. ■ I read it several months ago, and I wrote to Lord Haldane enclosing him a copy of it, and telling him that things were in a pretty abominable mess, and perhaps it would •be a good idea to go into the matter and consider it. The reply was to ask mc to again lay my scheme before the War Office. My reply to that was that I had no time to do it. H they wished to see mc in connection with the matter I would make an appointment either at my office or at the War Office, and saying that, in any case, I was afraid that the game was about played out. You will, of course, have seen long ago that Mr. Haldane has played about with his fascinating problems at a cost of many millions to the nation, and at a [ lcaa-of time which mag ooncaivahly even

strike at the very root of the nation's life, and, in gratitude for that, a bleeding country presents him with somewhere in the region of £10,000 a year and a peerage, while you and I, who knew exactly what would happen, have to b» satisfied without any of these advantages—if thejsecond one can be called an advantage! The scandalous neglect aad the gross incompetence in connection with army affairs in England is so terrible that one finds it hard to write of them in anything approaching temperate language. I thought it would be interesting for you to quote the article which you published at the time Mr. Haldane submitted his scheme. The scheme has failed absolutely for the reasons set out by mc in your columns at the time, and it will go from bad to worse unless some radical change is made. The paltering methods of government in this country are so pitiful that if they were really known and appreciated throughout the Empire I am almost inclined to .think the contempt engendered would seriously threaten the unity of Has Empire. The time has come when we must give up the bald platitude system, and let it be understood that what we require is action and not words. About 75 per cent of <fcbe population in England live on swank. We, as a nation today, are, to an extent which is not dreamed of, ewank-ing on our posdtion of old, and every day, every hour, every nmmte, the margin of gwasik is getting less aad less," until in a very short space of time, unless there is an enormous awakening of interest in tbe affairs of the country, we shall have reached that point where we are no longer able even to swank. Some .time ago an Englishman said to ine, "You Odkm&ais are all swankers," and my reply to him was: "I would have you to understand that that word was coined in this country to express a felt want, and your statement shows that you do not understand anything whatever of the comditsoas of the places, you are referring to. The Colonial cannot swank in his otra country, for the simple reason that he Eves in places w.iicrc every man knows every other man, and hie sisters and his cousins aad his aunts, and his- bank bal? ance and the mortgage that is on bis property. So swank in a place like that docs not go. But here in England, where none of you know the otters, you can' swank all the time on the money that you have not got and the birth that you •never had, and as you are doing in yonr private life, so you are doing nationally. Swank, my dear fellow, I may tell you, when properly uaderefcood, fi« a noble art, but you have reduced it to a vulgar habit." And .that is about how it standi with England to-day. At times the unreality and the insincerity of the life as almost, overV powering. Tlie idea of citizenship S? not even in the air. An Englishman iir his own country has nooning whatever of the "Civis Romavus sum" -idea about him. Every Englishman is afraid of some' other EngKshman, and all of them have •a sneaking fear of the Germans, and' they have good cause to have this same fear, because we ore blundering on and blundering on with the same lamentable apathy which we have shown an ttie past in every way. But what England cannot understand is this, that in the pact the finest General she has ever had: has been "General Luck." I made this same remark some time ago, and, tomy amazement," wihbsn threeddys of the article appearing, -I noticed in all the papers that General Lack, whom.l had ■never even heard of before, had died. I hope that this may not be an- omen.— I am, etc., P. A. YAILE. P.S.—Blading Lord Roberts' statement calls back to my mind the day I eat is the War Office with Mr Haldane discutssing his scheme, when he told; ine that my rifle scheme was 4he only tiring wanted to make has scheme popular wHh the country, and told mc to get en with it. It w.'.a too amazing—and amusing— for words. I set it all aat an "Wake Up, England!" and if ever the cry of "Wake Up, England!" was needed, it is now. .