The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, MAY 12. WAR AND DEMOCRACY.

Clutha Leader, Volume XLII, Issue 88, 12 May 1916, Page 5

The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, MAY 12. WAR AND DEMOCRACY.

It is a common opinion that though democracy may on the whole offer greater advantages than any other form of Government, it is not necessarily conducive to effective administration iu times of stress ami difficulty, particularly in time ol' war. This opinion finds plenty of support from general principles, It is clear that when the whole body of the people have to he consulted at least indirectly through their representatives in Parliament decision is not iikely to be so prompt and action so speedy and decided as if power rested in the hands of a single ruler or next to this in a single class. The Knglish svstem of Party Government in particular may well seem about the worst devised possible for obtaining consistent policy and firm administration. It is easy to back the conclusions arrived at by such general reasoning by appeal to experience. It is easy to point to instances of vacillating policy and blundering administration in recent British history. We have grown quite accustomed indeed to hear of our blundering British methods, our administration by muddle, and to console ourselves with the idea that if 'Britain muddles she does somehow muddle along safely. Recently British haphazard methods have often been contrasted with German system and thoroughness, to which, we are reasonably assured, Germany 's successes ( j throughout the war are very largely | ' owing. Probably if we were in a position to know fully we should find that I the good organisation and order facilitated by Germany's comparatively despotic system is counter-balanced by corresponding weaknesses. Our own difficulties and failures are brought home to us, while those of other nations may be unguessed at. The noted Knglish publicist, Dr Dillon, who iu the articles commenting on current history that he contributes to leading reviews has often strongly criticised Britain 's conduct of the war, and in a recent article in the •' 'Fortnightly " ascribed Britain 's diplomatic ami military failures to her , democratic Government. The article is answered in the succeeding number by another writer, who while agreeing that democracy rule by numbers has its drawbacks and dangers, controverts the parj ficular accusation that British military j failures during the war are due to democratic Government. British democracy ■, is a growth of recent date, of the last J two or three generations, indeed. Fp tn I the passing of the first Reform Biil in ! I ML' the British constitution was prac- | tically aristocratic. In the time of the Napoleonic wars the total number of British electors did not much exceed j ;:00,000, and a'bout one-third of the I seats in the House of Commons were in j toe gift of the owners of the boroughs, j who were usually peers. The Reform I Bill did away with pocket boroughs and widened the suffrage, but ior long after England's Government continued to be mainly aristocratic. Now our writer shows that during a period of nearly 200 years "Kngland committed under a purely aristocratic regime far more and far worse blunders than any that can be laid at the door of the present Government." The war waged from 177.1 to 17815 which lost us the American colonies was the most shameful and disjastrous in our annals, a long story of j j feebleness, incompetence and huinilia- J j ti on by sea and land. It was waged j I iimler a triumvirate consisting of King j j George 111., as great a believer iu the j I divine right of kings as Willielm 11. (if , Germany, and two incompetent Ministers, Lord North and Lord George Sack- . ville. Democracy would never have eu- ! dured such a War Minister as the latter. ■, | j The "0 years' struggle with France j closed by the buttle of Waterloo witj nessed plentiful defeats and disasters, [often due to badly devised plans and j bungling management. This war has witnessed nothing so disastrous as the two Netherland campaigns, and in par- j ticular the Welcheren expedition, in j which the greater portion of the troops perished from disease without striking ] a blow. Coming to more recent history, ! it is pretty well remembered how ter- i ribly British troops suffered in the j Crimea through the bungling of the , Government and military authorities at ' Home. This Government, headed by the Earl of Aberdeen, was a thoroughly aristocratic one, the greatest care being , taken to exclude iow radicals like Bright | or Cobden, or adventurers like Disraeli, The franchise was still what the first Reform Bill had left it, while the powers of trade unions was still undreamed of. The South African war was the first ' great one waged bv Britain under modem democratic conditions. Many and great mistakes were made in it, the , chief one that made at first in under- ; estimating the strength of our adver- j saries. 'But some features in it call for : unqualified satisfaction, the transport and provisioning of our troops, the care ( for their well-being, and the humane , treatment of the enemy both during and } after the contest. And in the present i war there are equal grounds for satis- j faction for the same things. Under I modern democracy the lives of citizens j will not be squandered nor wautonly injured; and modern democracy makes for justice and humanity to other nations. It is only necessary to point out the contrast between despotic and .aristocratic Germany and democratic, Britain and France,

The undermentioned men have been called up to report at Milton on Wednesday, May 17, at 8.30 a.m., reporting at Treutham on May 18:—A. F. Burns and J. 'G. Wrigglesworth (Kakangata). Passed as fit: John Oliver (Kaitangata). A ease involving the sum of £1 l.'is occupied the attention of the Balclutha Magistrate's I'ourt for close on four hours on Tuesday last. According to the statements of learned counsel for both plaintiff and defendants the money at stake was a very minor consideration, but both were fighting, for a "principle." These "principles" are at times very costly affairs. During the hearing of a civil case at the Owaka Magistrate's (_'outs on Wednesday a most unusual position was presented to the magistrate (Mr 11. A. Young), it. transpiring that a firm of Dunedin solicitors was representing both plaintiff and defendant. The magistrate manifested considerable surprise at such a peculiar occurrence, and it was some time before lie could convince himself that a mistake had not been made. Mr D. Allison (Puerua) had a field day among the ducks on the upper Puerua the other day, securing a bag of 25 well-conditioned birds. Shooting on the lake at Kaitangata, Mr Smith had a very successful and enjoyable day, 25 ducks and several geese falling victims to the shootist's marksmanship. Mr .1. Finn knocked down half-a-dozen ducks as the result of an hour's shooting the other day. At the Kaitangata Magistrate's Court yesterday William F. Crowe claimed from David Rennie the sum of £lO for damages sustained by reason of defendant on September !i0 last so negligently riding his motor bicycle that he coii lided with plaintiff's motor cycle. After I lengthy evidence had been taken the j magistrate (Mr If. A. Young) gave | judgment for £fi 10s, court costs His, witnesses ' expenses £2 Os !)d and solicitor's i fee £1 fis. A full report of the case had to be held over till our next issue on account of pressure on our space. A glance over the Variety Store's premises (next Oddfellows' Hall), which will be opened for business to-day, discloses a most comprehensive stock of goods at astonishing low prices, and as these-are the days when high prices are the rule the new firm should be assured of strong -public support. The stock seems to comprise everything from a needle to an anchor, and to mention a few lines at random, there are fancy leather goods of various descriptions, plain and fancy chinaware from the common or garden variety of dinner plate or teacup to dainty afternoon teasets in Japanese ware, fancy goods of all kinds, a capital variety of clocks amiwatches, music cases, lampware, tovs, school requisites and a very pretty line of artificial flowers which looks a sure seller.®** A narrow escape from what might have been a serious accident occurred at the Finegand freezing works on Wednesday afternoon. A young man named Robert Angus, about 21 years of age, had been out rabbit shooting with a rille, and called into the freezing works, where he was shown round the premises. He had occasion to use the telephone, and after concluding his conversation was walking along a passage in j company with Mr Simson (who is in charge of the erection of the new machinery plant), when the rifle went off, the bullet passing through the knee of Mr Simson's trousers. Mr Sutherland (a resident of North Balclutha), who at that moment came out of the office, received the bullet in the calf of the leg. Mr Sutherland was wearing leggings, and the bullet pierced the leather on the one side, and passing right through the fleshy part of the leg lodged in his underpants on the opposite -,ide. The sufferer, who was attended to by Dr Stenhouse, is making satisfactory ; progress, but will be confined to his bed j for a few days. Accidents due to the j careless use of firearms are unfortui natelv of almost daily occurrence in • New Zealand, and in almost every case ! had the slightest care been exercised j the accident could have been averted. In the present instance' the rille was a Martin repeater, and Angus states that he was ejecting an empty shell, not knowing there was a live cartridge in ifhe weapon, when it unaccountably dis- ! charged. Irresponsible youths who wander about in the inferior of buildings with rifles, not knowing whether they are loaded or unloaded, are certainly not fit and proper persons to have charge of a rifle.