RESERVES FOR SOUTH AFRICA.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 10589, 24 February 1900, Page 6

RESERVES FOR SOUTH AFRICA.

The intimation that the Government have decided to form a reserve for service in South Africa is a gratifying indication that they realise [ that " New Zealand ' has not yet done all she should and' can to uphold the credit of the Mother Gount"ry and to help hey -in the great struggle for freedom and liberty upon,which, she is engaged. Private enterprise has done all that can reasonably Be demanded of it, more, aa has been said, than has yet been done in any other part of the Empire, and it remained -with the Government; of the colony to carry on the work which; they 'began, and, which has been continued *o successfully by the money, eneigy, and labour of the community in its private capacity. ~ -More, it cannot be gainsaid, remains _o-be done. The depths of New Zealand's .loyalty, as evinced by the willingness 'of hec oiti-sena to pay for the contingent- and the' large numbers who have volunteered-for active service, have not yet' been sounded. For every twenty men who have been wanted'hit-herto, from fifty to a •hundred have rushed forward, and the difficulty of the task of selection has been aggravated by the fact of so many possessing almost equally sound claims to be chosen. With the colony as a whole ready, we may say anxious, to "pay, and hundreds of suitable men eager to serve, there is no reason, to fear for the prospects of a Fi(th Contingent.' These is, however, one pomt, and an. important one, cm which we disagree with the Government's proposal. They apparently mean to keep the men in the colony until they see how Lord Roberts gets on in' South Africa. This is no time to procra-stinate. The British advance has been successful because for once the -Boers have been out-generalled. Their strong positions are now in our possession because' they left them, not because we took them, and the numbers of the enemy, and to a large,extent their strength, have not .been "appreciably"diminished because we are now invading .the Free State. More men are still wanted on the British side, and the greater the army Lord Robert- can command the more speedy will be the end of the wan * This system of waiting to see how things turn, out before se-ding more troops ha* been one of the most serk»is> blunders committed: by the War Office, end it has contributed more than anything else to prolong the war and intensify the difficulties of our Generals. - Let us not in New Zeeland commit the same fault. It would take at least a month to properly train and equip the men of tbe -proposed reserve, and another month to send them to South Africa. Supposing that we keep them here for that second month and then despatch them in hot haste on receipt of news that more men are urgently required, they would reach Capetown ft month after the emergency had arisen', and their services for that length of time would have been lost. Let us have no delay-, There baa been none in the past, and we are not yet so far out of the wood that we can afford to waste precious time. Mr. Seddon will have the entire approval of all loyal ookmi-ts lor hia action in this matter so far as it goes', and they will only blame him if-*he_oe_ not go further and despatch the men as soon as they are ready.