"PREPARE, PREPARE, AND AGAIN PREPARE."

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13475, 15 July 1909, Page 6

"PREPARE, PREPARE, AND AGAIN PREPARE."

Dealing in a recent issue with the question of national defence, the London "Spectator" declared'that ."for the " immediate future the nation's motto "must be 'Prepare, Prepare, and again "Prepare, , " and that this preparation for war "must not be merely physical/ " but must also be* moral and intellectual. . Every man and wojnan in "the land must engage in a work of ''self-preparation whioh shall make ' : them, and therefore the nation, fit "to tear the coming strain." It was to impress upon the people of New Zealand the necessity for this preparation that the National Defence League was founded. It is with the same object in view that Lord Roberts, who ceaselessly preach cc, we fear to deaf ears, the urgent need for adequate home defence, introduced into the Bouse of Lords his National Service Bill. A cable message in this issue informs us of the rejection of the Bill, but it also indicates a growing sentiment in favour of tho (principle that it embodies. Opinions may, and do. differ as to whether the British Army is, in Lord Robert's phrase, a Rham, but even the military correspondent of "The Times," -who is outspoken in condemning the veteran's attitude towards the Army, admits that the strength of the Territorial Force should be more than doubled, and he grants that the case for national training rests, not only on that ground, but also on justice, law, and tradition. "We have " a struggle before us," he adds, "not "for supremacy at sea only, but for' "' existence, and in order to pass through "it with success the nation must be "ready, and it must be armed." The same necessity rests upon the most distant part of the Empire as upon the Old Country, and the increased attention now being given to the subject in New Zealand shows that the people are gradually being prepared for the introduction of some system of universal training which shall enable this little Dominion to contemplate an enemy's attack with comparative confidence. The speeches at last night's meeting wer& in, effect foroible and eloquent pleas for the people to realise that this is not a, question for politicians or governments, but for themselves. Their very profession makes several of the speakers devout and earnest advocates for peace; their patriotism and their common sense compel them to acknowledge that there is but' one way to preserve peace—and that way is preparation for war. It is a lesson England has ever been slow to learn, all the slower Because we have hitherto managed, in spite of our careless, slipshod methods, to "muddle " through somehow." But we are now facing a potential enemy against whom the "muddling through" tactics of the past -would be futility itself. To trust

to them would be, as Lord Roberts says, "wilful gambling with the coun- " try's safety." The expected blow may never be struck—but it may t» struck next year It may be averted altogether if we show that we are ready to meet it; to continue as we are, halfdefended and half-hearted In cur own defence, is simply to invite it.