CALL TO ARMS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2479, 4 June 1915, Page 6

CALL TO ARMS

i>. I; THE EMPIRE'S NEED o. SHOULD NEW ZEALANDERS ' DO MOKE VIEWS OF THE PRESS tt, 'J'lie most hopeful sign for the com:1. pletely succosstul culmination of tho ! > Allied plan of campaign is the steadiness with which the United Kingdom and tho a Empire are accepting the probability that rite war will be prolonged until ■ r Germany anil Austria are exhausted and that tins exhaustion can only be reached by strenuous and sustained exertions. . . . The .Umpire recalls Lord Kitchener's forecast of a three years' war, V and begins to realise that it can only '• shorten tho term of trial by making £ such sacrifices as will more speedily destroy the military strength of the aggressive powers. As an indication of 3 . the eltect of this realisation the position of recruiting in Auckland may bo quoted. (Jll Tuesday, after ton months »- 0!: war, a record was achieved, no fewer than 101 l new recruits being here eny listed, if the authorities do not cheek >) this movement of patriotism and loyalty I 1 b.y entanglements of red-tape, New Zea- ® li'.nd may get lifty thousand men to 3 tine front by sheer weight of a magnifi- . cent enthusiasm. It is paradoxical but true that tho moro we expect and preu pare for £ long war the shorter tho 0 vrar is likely to oe, the more ready anil . eager we are to make sacrifices tho . fewer will be the sacrifices -we sliall have - to make.—''Mew Zealand Herald." n ; > The Empire's Paramount Need. s That it should be possible at the end . of ten months of tne most cruel anil s far-reaching war 111 history—one, too, 111 whicli ui© fate of tins Dominion is ut slake—lor iht> Mayor of Duuedin to say, as he is reported to havo said' at the meeting of the Hospital Association, that people in Mow Zealand wero only beginning to iealise the fact that the JMupire was in danger is a rejection upon some, at least, of our fellowcitizens. Wo do not propose to question 1 tho accuracy ol the statement. On tiio ~ contrary, there are reasons for believing ' that of some of the community, hero and elsewhere, tho charge fails to express tho position with sufficient em- " phasis. . . . The simple truth is that none of us, perhaps, uelievcd that sjtch a crisis as that with whicli tho Empire is to-day faced was possible, though we doubtless all thought whatever might come in tho way of war wo should somehow "muddle" through. ; • ■ The Empire's paramount need - Is consistent effective eifort that shall f tirelessly and ceaselessly devoto itself, i 'unhampered and unbroken, to tho one - supreme, common purpose. The cry of ■ the hour is not for ill-timed chatter about peace, nor for a due apportioni ment of responsibility, but for the putting forth of the whole combined strength—moral, spiritual, and material —that is ours in the service of tho Em- | piro.—Duuedin "Evening Star." Magnitude of Struggle Not Realised. The wholo energies and resources of the nation must he directed to putting moil into the field and giving them nit unlimited supply of munitions. If the losses in the Eleot at the Dardanelles cause a realisation of the magnitude of tho struggle, and of the difficulties which lie ahead, there will be nothing to regret. One is inclined to wonder sometimes if the Allies would not havo been stronger to-day had the Germans taken Calais, or even I'aris. Britain would have been thoroughly roused, and .not until Britain is thoroughly roused will the enemy feel the full weight of the Empire's strength. When Now Zealand is similarly roused by an un- , derstaniling of "existing facts" t'hero will be 110 lack of 1 ecru its. "Britain is awake"—the news is tho best that we have had for many days.—"South-, land Times." Every Man May Be Needed, The greatest sacrifices of war are made, not by the men who go forth to fight, but by those who wait and watch at home. And much as parents suffer the loss of a gallant son, wives and children suffer most. Every single man who volunteers is not simply doing his duty to his country; he is filling a place that would have to be occupied uy a married man. _ He is helping women and children of his own community. Tho call may come directly to married men: but it should bo unnecessary until the singlo men havo done their part. Every able-bodied man —married or single— may be needed to defeat the enemy. No one can tell yet how long the w.ir will last, or what surprises may be in store for us._ Is there anyone who will say that it is not the duty of every single man who is not honourably tied )->ere,_ to _enlist at once in tho service of his King and country?—" Nelson Evening Mail." No Occasion to Do More. r A suggestion has been made that New Zealand should immediately raise its contingent to 50,000 men, on tho giound that we are not doing our share in the defence of tlie Empire, [t is quite true that we are not putting into training the same proportion of our manhood as they arc doing in Great Britain. There one man in every 20 of the population is under arms; here the proportion is about one in every 40. But the circumstances of the two countries p.re not the same, and we agree with Mr. Allen that there is no occasion to do moTe than we are asked to do. The country is thoroughly, in earnest, and is anxious to help to the uttermost. Hi ere will not, wo believe, bo en.v lack of tne.i in i.nswer to tho Empire's call. But we may be suro that tho Imperial Government knows what it wants in tho way of help. For tlie present it would appear doubtful whether tho supply of men had not rather outstripped the supply of munitions. In any case the war is not over yet, and it is a good. policy to keep something in hand for future emergencies.— "llawke.'s Bay Herald." A Crcat Effort Required. This is a Croat War, a, war which is going lo shake tho wholo world to ils foundations. We aro accustomed lo sneak glibly of tho might, and majesty of Iho I!rilish Empire, and because of that instilled belief, lo think Unit we as a-people are unconquerable. But unless (here is real force behind it all, morn holier will not maintain I be Emliire of which we profess lo be all so nroud. . . . Men. moro men. and slill ; morn men aro required. That, fact beiim realised, Ihe sooner tho men of , this country set alien! honouring I heir 1 national obligations, Ihe better for Ihe j cninl.rv which harbours iln-m.—"lloki- 1 lilta. Guardian." A Llfo and 09atli War, 11. Is 11 life-aiid-dr'alli war. \\Y. nmsl. ! 1 win nul.rnrlil or we will die. A drawn J war in of no me lo us, lor il would i onlv pnl. oil I lie aconv of our 'l- iriis<> I 1 lor a few veal'. "The Time." say; I :>». 111 re h • i|ii 1,1 iiill v lo da v ('< 1111 in 1' 111 - 1 iii!' on Ihe lo.;.: ol' bnII le'diip« al llio . lie .. "The Tillies" «iv.-r. a ivonl, a 1...-••in - "Il i" noeesw* I hat all should'! ' |i"''iil;il in;' oil the eru lv end of I I lie- loir, and face Ihe o\klim> facts !| ll'i I,' ill,"IT OI Te;,,-. While [~■■- : I '.erl eondil ions obtain we shall |iroh- < iM' I"-." nili'T l,a| 11<" |ii|r4 . . IVilnin i 11:1 ■. ill". lieavilv for her unprenured- , re , idi-1"! 11" 11! "chielai'ce 1,, f , !' •• e| ~ of I 1,0 I I That iii tho spirit. Slop the mouth c

of tho optimist— not the optimist who comes alone with the legitimate word of good chcer, for ho is worth his weight in gold now, but the one who savs that it will he "all over" in so manv weeks or months. It happens to be Show Week, and this word is particularly addressed to some of the farmers' sons. It was a fairly common idea in the country districts in February that six weeks or two months would "see the end of it." Years may not see the end of it if it comes to sheer solution in blood. ft must he clearly realised that we have on our hands the most efficient enemy that the world has seen. —Dunedin "Star's" Military Correspondent.