The Dominion. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1318. OUR SHARE IN THE BIG TASK

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2568, 16 September 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1318. OUR SHARE IN THE BIG TASK

In a statement given to the Press yesterday the Minister of Defence mado further reference to the question of sending larger bodies of troops to strengthen our forces already in the fighting lines at Gallipoli. With some of Mr. Allen's statements all will readily agree. Tho quality of the men sent forward and tho excellence of their,equipment and training reflect the fullest credit both upon the men themselves and upon the Defence Minister and his Department. Wc cannot too strongly emphasise this. The necessity for sending tho men fully trained (that is to say, up to the standard of past contingents) is another point upon which thero can be little room for disagreement. No one so fair as we know has seriously suggested that the men should be sent into the firing line until they are fully trained; and probably Mr. Allen is right in his contention that it is better to ' complete the full training of the I forces in New Zealand rather than to Bend them to Egvpt only partially [trained and finish their training thero. At the same time the Defence authorities would appear to have made an exception in this respect in the case of the Seventh Mounted Reinforcements. Probably the circumstances in this instance require that they shall be a,n exception to the goneral rule. So far we are in complete agreement with the Minister's views; and it is in no spirit of antagonism that we venture to differ from certain other opinions expressed by him. Nor do we wish in the slightest to underrate the admirable work already accomplished by the Defence Department nor tho splendid response already made by the young men of New Zealand. What we do suggest, however, is that though in tho first rear of the war thif. Dammljm has iteelf mojsjb_ p_rc d ita,c I y A tfro

'emergency of the situation as re- | cently disclosed imperatively demands that we shall still further adjust our ideas of what is required of 'us, and that we must put forth still greater efforts if we art- to bear our share in this terrible struggle which so intimately concerns our future liberty and status as a free people. In recent articles we endeavoured to convey to our readers some idea of our position in rel-ition to the efforts of the Mother Country. We showed that the cost of tho war per head of tho population was in Britain £17 14s. per annum, as against £'l in New Zealand. Wo showed that whereas Great Britain had, during the first twelve months of the war, placed under arms some 3,000,000 men, or at the rate of 67,000 men per million .of population, we I in New Zealand, with a population 'of one million, placed under arms during the same time 26,700. That is to say, in the Mother country tho effort per million of population was two and one-half times greater than it was here. Wo do not mention this with any idea of belittling our own effort—no doubt in any case Britain would be able to train and equip proportionately more men than we could do here. But the fact remains that Britain has made this tremendous sacrifice, and despite it Lord Kitchenek at the close of the first ]2 months of war felt it necessary to issue his urgent appeal for still more men. He called on every available man to offer his services to his country. We need not repeat here his searching words; but can anyone doubt that that appeal was made without full knowledge of the gravity of the situation? A local journal which questioned and disputed our contentions and sought to discredit them by force of assertion and catch-phrases, _ asked tho question: "Which pohcy is New Zealand to adopt FrancoBritish policy of reinforcements, which, means conserving our strength and retaining what has been won, or The Dominion's policy of spasmodic effort, which would make for exhaustion." ■ The suggestion that we have advocated a policy of spasmodic effort is a-s unwarranted as tiho pretence that oiir effort can in any way compare with that of Britain and Franco on a population or any other basis. The only purpose with which.such a suggestion could be advanced must be to confuse the merits of tho real issue, or it may be possible,- of course, that it was put forward in ignorance'. But since tho matter has neon raised it may bo pointed out that if the FrancoBritish policy had been on the same basis as that adopted here it would mean that on August 4 last, when Mr. Massey announced that we had at the front and in training 26,760 men.. Britain and France, on a population basis, would have had at the front and under training for the front, 1,242,000 men and 1,053,000 njen respectively, whereas Britain had more* than double that number, and France more than four times as many. The position will be more clearly seen from the following table: — On N.Z. basis. In reality. Britain 1,242,000 3,000,000 France 1,053,000 5,250,000 These figures, as in the case, of Mn. Massey's figures, tako no account of casualties. They serve to show the misleading nature of the contention that New Zealand is working on the same basis as Franco and Britain.

Our purpose in referring to these imatters is not to make comparisons which may be considered to reflect on our own efforts. It is necessary, however, to show what others nearer the scene of action, and better able to judge the seriousness of the issue, are saying and doing to impress on the people of New Zealand and its public men a proper conception of the real magnitude of the task which lies ahead of the Empire. The attitude of the Minister of Defence as disclosed by his latest public announcement still shows an inclination to dwell unduly on the question of maintaining our existing rate of reinforcement for _an indefinite period. No one questions the soundness of that policy so far as it goes. Regular reinforcements ■ must be maintained, but that is not the only issue. The question is not merely one concerning the regularity of dispatch and the fitness, of the reinforcements, but the total number of men sent forward. While in other parts of the Empire the appeals of Lord Kitchener and the heavy losses suffered have called forth renewed efforts and greater activity,' our plans for the second year of the war sltow no material extension. Yet the call is urgent. In Australia-at the present time, and for weeks past, tremendous efforts have been put forth. So recently as Thursday last the Federal Minister of Defence issued an official statement in which he said:

"The Commonwealth, has sent into the field a number of military units which it has. undertaken-by* means of reinforcemonts to keep up to their full strength. To meet fitis obligation, 6000 recruits per month , are required, but in addition to this, it is recogniscd that the necessities oT the great crisis constitute a strong call for the uttoost effort of which the Commonwealth is capable in men and money, in order to insure success to the Allied cause. It is therefore imperative that every man physically fit that can ho trained and equipped by the Commonwealth should be encouraged to recruit, and t£ is believed that it is possible to do tlfls in respect of at least 16,000 men per month; The aim of the Federal War Committee is to send a direct appeal throughout the various states of Australia, so as to insure a steady flow of recruits to at least this number.

This statement may be taken as indicating the view that the Government and the Defence authorities in Australia take of the situation. So urgent do they consider the immediato needs of the situation to be that they are anxious not only to dispatch their regulation reinforcements, but to increase, them nearly threefold. It is not a question of whether New Zealand, or Australia has' dono more than the other. • The point that we wish to emphasise is that the Government of Australia, lake Lord Kitchener in England, is calling' for "the utmost effort." Can it bo said tHafc New Zealand has put forth its utmost effort? Can it be said that any call has been made to its : people to exert anything like their full strength in this struggle? Have ye y et ? lealised the tremendous readjustment of ideas concerning this great (struggle which has taken place amongst those in Britain and elsewhere best qualified to judge of tho needs of the situation? At times it almost seems as though we regarded the appeals for greater effort uttered by Loud Kitchenek, . Mit. .Asquith, Mis. Lloyd George, and others afc the heart of the struggle as having no bearing on lis in these distant lands. Yet they apply just as much to every man and woman in New Zealand as they do to the people of Britain. Wc have done much; we are still doing a great deal; but can wc yet applv Lord Kitchener's searching questions to ourselves and answer with bcncKty" <ti»l Ciiadowr that w