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Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16364, 8 November 1918, Page 6

The taking of Le Quesnoy. by tne New Zealaiiders was evidently a magnificent feat, aid an occasion for pride in the ekill and valour "of our. :nen. Throughout l the war they an-j th-* soldiers from the other Dominions have proved themselves to be at-least equal

to any soldiers of whom, history contains a record. In feeling proud of their men, however, most Now Zqilanders realise that they have no monopoly of justification for pride. Unhappily somo Australasian citizens do not realise this, and'one of them is Mr W. M. Hughes Tho mail has brought ns a full report of a boastful speech he made in London last September, to which we. referred at tne time. "Perhaps," he is reported in j the "Morning Post" as saying, "per(haps he was biased by the circumstances of his environment, and so he would not speak directly of what ho thought of the deeds of the Australians in the offensive of August Bth and in other offensives in which they had taken eo distinguished a part. But this he could say with perfect confidence: If the Germans did not hold Amiens to-day, if Paris was not still threatened, it was because of the .arcat valour and unquenchable spirit* of the Dominion troops." We can only conjecture what Mr Hughes would hare said had he not restrained himself. Even Lord Beaverbrook conld not quite swallow Mr Hughes's boast. Ho gave high praise to tho Dominion troops, "but he invited those who, like himself, came from the Dominions, to be perfectly frank and ask themselves if, on the other hand, the magnificent efforts of the British themselves had been estimated at their full value." ♦ In the course of his speech in the Address-in-Reply debate Mr L. M. Isifct pleaded very Btrongly for the inculcation of an active spirit of patriotism in our young people. Everyone must support this plea, and there is a great deal also to be said for his suggestion that no man who has been convicted of sedition should . be eligible for public office. But we do not think Mr Isitt thought very hard before making his further suggestion that legislation should be passed requiring from everyone who wishes to settle down permanently in this country an oath of allegiance. The purpose of such an oath could only oe the exclusion of peoplo who would not be faithful citizens—of people who would be traitors, that is to say. But such people would in the nature of things be particularly willing to take such an oath. And in the case of the others the oath would not be necessary. • At a recent meeting of the Wellington Public Schools Assistant Masters' Association, it was enthusiastically and unanimously decided that the Association was. "prepared to support any extreme action taken by the New Zealand Executive to obtain a just and living wage." Wo have bsen awaiting with some curiosity a statement as to the measures proposed by tho executive, but so far these have not been made public. The use of the words "any extreme action" suggests of course, what the Red Fed party would term "direct action," otherwise a strike, a move which would be received with shrieks of joy by many thousands of school children all over the Dominion. The only . possible other course which suggests itself is a species of "sabotage," another weapon, by the way, of the advocates of direct action, in the shape of unusually liberal and vigorous applications of the strap, by means of which they would vicariously punish' the general body of taxpayers. )

Seriously, the assistant-masters seem in soma danger of mating themselves ridiculous. To talk about taking "extreme action" is.' not, as they shoulcl Know, the best way in which to induce Parliament and tho Government to raise their salaries. There is> a fairly general feeling that the teachers in some of the lower grades should be paid more liberally, but public sympathy with them is liable to bo alienated when one reads of contempt being expressed for the bonus system as that of -throwing a sop to tho teacher and. the public service generally. The "sop" will cost the taxpayers something lie a million annually, and some people have described it as an example of the process vulgarly known'* as "greasing the fat pig." The arithmetic of the Assistant Masters' Association seems, by the way, as faulty as its methods of calling attention to tho needs of its members is questionable. At the meeting referred'to it was asserted that' the purchasing power of the sovereign having fallen to 13s, "the value of a teachor's salary had fallen 65 per cent." As a matter of fact, a drop of 7s in the value of the £ represents a fall' of 35,- not 65, per cent. If the claim that an all-round increase of 50 per cent, would be necessary to put teachers on the financial position they occupied before the war rests on tie Association's calculations of the loss now suffered, it should revise its arithmetic. I

; In his speech in the House of Common Tuesday, regarding tho Versailles Conference, Mr Lloyd George that a British naval representative would be associated with Marshal Foch in the event of Germany applying to*the latter for the conditions of an armistice. This is an act of recognition of the great part that the British Navy has played in the war. It is also a reminder of the existence of a body of which ono hears very little, the Allied Naval Council, who will, no doubt, choose, or at least recommend, the naval officer to be associated with Foch in receiving Germany's request. This Council was created last December as a result of the feeling entertained by the. several Entente Admiralties that closer co-ordination by sea was desirable. In the North Sea, the Channel, and tho Atlantic, the conduct of the naval side of 'the war was comparatively simple, because only one or two navies were concerned, but in the Mediterranean the enemy were opposed by ! eight navies. A Naval Council was, therefore, set np to facilitate co-opera-tion among them. It consists of tho Ministers'of Marine and the Chiefs of the Naval Staffs of Britain, America, France, Italy, and Japan, the other three navies, in the Mediterranean, those of Greece, Brazil, and. Portugal, not being directly represented on the Council. It is an executive body, whereas the War Council is only advisory, and it meets at intervals of some six weeks in one or other of the Allied capitals. As ,we have said, very little is heard about it, but it is said by one naval authority to have more than justified its establishment.