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Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2712, 6 March 1916, Page 3

UNITED TO WIN

THE HEARTS OF ENGLAND. It is really very difficult- for us in New Zealand;to lorni tmydiing liko an adequate idea of all that Great Britain is doing in this war, of her immense resources, and • of the unconquerable spirit that will ultimately carry victory before her. Tho roal unity of tlie peoplo has been from tinio to tinio obscured by reports of dissension, of criticism, and or other things, aim false impressions havo been gathered in many quarters in regard to tho way in which England is caking the war. The following extracts maue from a letter written to a Wellington friend by a Cambridge professor may help to create a. different view. Ho writes: "You will see from tho cables what wo are doing here in regard to compulsory service. 1 personally do not feel the repugnance to it tiiat some do,. but see clearly that not only is it necessary to make victory certain, buf lair, both with respect to tho married men and those single men who havo volunteered 'at a much greater sacrifice to themselves and their relatives than many of those who have hung back. Lord Derby's scheme is opened again to-day (January 10), and if tho laggards come in in great numbers there will not be many thousands left to drive in. There is only a minority in England that does not see that compulsion is right. And after all it must be remembered that the war will bo won quite as much by the continuation of our trade and commerce, the making of ships and munitions, etc., at- home as by the numbers of our men in tho trenches. ..." The writer then goes on to write of the part that education must play in tho building up of the nation after tho war. . . . "What I feel most deeply, and see with absolute clearness, is that we need a thorough revolution in our treatment of the children in the schools. Our curriculum is bad. The inspectors and other officials como with their yearly changing fads on nature studies, basket-making, gardening, and whatnot, and don't see that the. Germans with their schools and gymnasia have been fitting their boys to fill situations in England and other countries through their superior knowledge, of languages and other matters. If we spare no money (it's the cheapest in the end) in grounding our children in the common, high, and public schools in things that will fit them to compete with tho Germans in their own field—so that English houses of business will not be required to do the foreign letters and can get out price lists, etc., in.-the languages of the countries with which we trade we shall have learnt something else from tin; war that we badly needed to learn. But I must confess myself somewhat pessimistic on this point. Many of our best educational loaders see this necessity quite plainly, and speak out with equal plainness, but unfortunately English education is not in tlie hands of the fittest., and wo are governed by the fact that the English nation as a whole does not see the necessity, and is not willing to. vote the money fpr a thing which it undervalues." "You speak of the British Cabinet and its divisions. You must get very garbled accounts, I'm' afraid. For these divisions aro as mythological as those which the German supermen fancy about England. The spirit which Bonar Law .and Balfour have shown, the honest and whole-heai ted way in which they have worked, and are still working, with the Liberal leaders in .the Cabinet is simply splendid. I never admired either so much as now. We must adopt the old English system of getting the tiling which works best. If it were once plain that the country wanted a Tory Ministry, and it clear a Tory Ministry would carry on the war more effectively, I, Liberal as 1 am, would offer no protest, nay, more, would loyally support it, and there are many like that." "The nation is really united, in spite of small minorities here and there, which can't be helped. The French, Russians, Dutch, Norwegians, and even the Germans 'admit it. If you were in England, and could see the swarm of men in khaki in every district drilling for war, note their seriousness of purpose, their splendid bonhomie, good spirits, and unconquerable hope, the swing with which they march) you could not suppose that England was asleep. I watched to-day about 200 march past pur window, quite superior' men, many evidently teachers, or young business men with education written in their -eyes and faces. This is repeated in every corner of the British Isles. All we want is good leadership in the Generals and officers, plenty of big, smashing guns,

and thousands of machine-guns to allow us to cope with the Germans on that side." "The .Zeppelins have not worried us in Cambridge, though they have gone over us, and been in the neighbourhood several times: But the streets are so dark at night, windows (both private and the shops) darkened, a glimmer from a blackcned street lamp at rare intervals, and every precaution taken to prevent the Germans from spotting tile towns." In ail earlier part of his letter the writer speaks of the way in which the nation received General Sir lan Hamilton's dispatch. "Deep pride in the daring that sticks at nothing, and disbelieves in the impossible, but straightway does it; deep grief when one realises tiiat such noble lives wore literally thrown away because of the inertia of Stopford and others, who had not the same spirit as the men, and deep chagrin that the prize of victory which was apparently within our grasp was allowed to slip from nerveless lingers, are among the feelings with which are read that account. Still,' perhaps the final and dominant feeling is that of pride in belonging to the British race, which, with its thousand years of splendid history behind, shows ho signs of decadence. Whatever else the war has revealed, it has given the lie direct to the myth of England's decadence. I am not speaking merely of the wonderful deeds of the Australians and New Zealanders, but of the deeds of those from our English counties, Ireland, and Scotland."