The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1930. A SMALL ARMY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 72, 26 March 1930, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1930. A SMALL ARMY.

For. the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs ' resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

It was once cited in Germany as a proof of Britain's degeneracy that she maintained so small an army in India. After what happened between 1914-1918 this criticism is not likely to be fired at Britain again, but the fact of a small army in a vast population remains. In all India, so it is revealed in this year's Army Estimates, there are only 60,0,00 white soldiers, a-total 17,000 less than the strength when. the -war ■ began. This figure, and the whole of the statement by the Minister, for War, shows lioiv absurd it is to attribute a spirit, ofmilitarism to Britain. The actual strength of the Army is 209,000, which is surely not excessive for a force called on to police a world-wide Empire,' which, if the mandated territories are included—and what British troops had to do recently in Palestine, is fresh in the public memory—is actually larger than it was before the war. : Another feature of the situation that illustrates the essentially non-military character of-, the British people is the reference to difficulty in recruitment. The soldier'to-day is in an infinitely better position than his predecessor who stormed Badajoz and relieved Lucknow. He is better paid, better fed, and better housed, and his prospects of employment afterwards are brighter. Moreover, the-whole tone of the Army is much higher than it was in those days. Yet, with hundreds'' of, thousands of men out of work, the Army, is 14,000 short. There are several reasons for-this, but the one we arc s concerned with here is the old ingrained dislike of If the people of Britain were really a military .race they would surely, especially when unemployment is so rife, supply the modest demands of the War Office. •As might have been expected, an attempt was made by some members of the Labour party to reduce even .this strength. One cited the demand of .the Prime Minister that risks •Should be taken in the cause of peace, and said that the reduction in the Army Estimates represented a risk of only one per cent. The real risk, however, is to be measured by the relation between possible dangers and actual precautions. 'For example, to most people who have studied the Indian question it will seem that a considerable risk is being run already. These objectors are doctrinaires, prepared to push, a conviction to extremes, regardless of consequences. As the Secretary for War remarked, further reduction of armaments must be reciprocal. Both on 4 the sea and on the land Britain has given convincing, proof of her sincerity in this direction, but sho has responsibilities that she cannot neglect. Even .if Europe disarmed completely to-morrow, it might still be necessary for Britain to maintain an army for oversea service.