LORD HALDANE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 49, 21 November 1917, Page 6

LORD HALDANE

Sir,—Your correspondent, "R.H.M.," may fairly claim to have put up a very plausible defence for this lnnch-dlEcusscd peer._ Indeed, if only n fair proportion of his statements and suggestions were correct then the English nation collectively, must be a monster of ingratitude, and Lord Haldane, instead of only drawing- JCSOOO per annum for life for a not very long or brilliant tenure of the Woolsack, must be one of the most ill-treated public men known to'our history. The weakness of "B.H.M.'s ,, case lies in its overstatement, over-sugges-tion, nnd omissions. Ha was, in fact, skating on very thin ice. If he had contented himself with the bald if incomplete statement that Lord Haldane, acting on the advice of his expert advisors, had placed the Territorial Act on the Statute Book, we could all agree with liim, for it is true, and Lord Haldane is entitled to credit for it, although it is equally true that lie would liavo failed to place it there but for the solid and unflinching support that ho received from his political opponents. But Lord Haldano was not the originator of the system now known to us as the Territorial! system, That, in its main features, was devised forty years ago, I have read, by four officers of the Eegulnr Army. I am sorry that I cannot remember their names with sufficient certainty to quote them. Three of them died as general officers, the fourth, and most brilliant of a brilliant quartet, died a colonel. Neither, perhaps, can any particular Government or party lm blamed for tho fact that the Act did not become law Tears More. The blame must lie with the nation as a whole, be-' cause it chose to be influenced more by the peace-at-any-price policy of Liberal Governments than by the more enlightened and progressive policy of the latter's opponents. ' i

Now, what did Lord Haldane's Act give us? It gave us a framework', sin. excellent framework; in which all tlie main features borrowed, as I have said, from the four officers were brought up to date. And credit may probably bo Riven Lord Hsildnne that'in these'technical matters he seems to have placed himself very fully in the hands of his expert advisers. But having done this, he took care to ensure that the Act should only be used for the purpose of 'dressing the window." For, strange as it mav seem, no real serious training wsis to tako place under the provisions of the Act until war had actually begun, and the course of training was to extend over six months. The Territorial Act was, in the main, a party and political narcotic; while, on the* one hand, it could bo, and was, accepted by tho Conservatives as an -instalment towards n complete and real system of national defence by trained soldiers, on the other hand Lord Haldane could, with perfect truth, tell his own party that (he machine he had made would not work until it was too late.

It would tnXe up too much of your space, sir, wore I to attempt to deal with all your correspondent's point* and quotations. But let me take one. The Morning Post" (a leading London paper which none of our Wellington libraries are sufficiently up to date to file is berated for having said that Lord Ha dane weakened the Army and Navy. ioS r t i « s P Mkin & on January 4, 1906 (just before the general election), he said: 'My predecessors (tho Conservatires) laid down a programme for tho manufacture and supply of modern fieldguns which will bring our artillery equipment up to the modern scientific standard, and that is being curried out I would rather resign my seals than be a party to reducing that expenditure by a penny.- (Cheers.) It is absolutely essential that in point of artillery our Army should bo up to the latest modern standard," and later, in the same speech ■. Some people, I know, say that the Liberals cannot be trurfed lo look after fighting efficiency. I have the authority ot Sir H. Campbell-Banirerman to say S a i stress does la y on efficiency that, if necessary, he is prepared to find more men and more money ior the promotion of efficiency." In March, looif, the general election- was over. Hero is what Sir H. Cwapbell-BaLnurmaii had to say on March 15: "Ho (Mr. Haldane) has, broadly, reduced the Army Estimates, as he found them when lie came into office, by .£1,500,000 or .£2,000,000. That was not an easy task, and it shows'that my right hon. friend has an earnest anxiety in the direction of economy." How many brave lives and how many millions of pounds has this hideously Wee "economy" cost us? Aβ it "was not an easy task,' it obviously did not consist only of cutting down palpable waste. What did it consist of? Mr. Haidanc should be a good authority. Here is; what he said in the House on July 6, 1906: "The ten battalions of Guards'were to be reduced by two." Public opinion, happily, rescued one of them. But in revenge, 'a number of batteries of field artillery (the most important arm of the service in modern warfare) were destroyed. Also, a number of line battalions, for, ha says on December 29, IMS: "I cut off nine battalions. They wero fine battalions." Aoir Zealanders, as residents in on* of the distant parts of the globe, will ho interested to know that (December !) 1911) Lord Haldnne's fondisl desire "is to see Germany (which he has elsewhere told us if his 'spiritual home') expand herself overseas, nnd make her beneficent influence-that of a great and civilised nation-felt in the distant parts of the world."

Thoughtful Britons long since appraised lord Haldane at his ttue value. What " thoughtful German opinion of him* They (Lord Morley arid Mr. J. Burns) ought to hare remained in the Cnbinet in order to be able during the war to Influence the decisions of the English Government. T do not share this view myself, but you sec how, even from the German point of view, Lord Haldnne's remnininj in the Cabinet is cnnnhle of being differently judged." (Prof. Quigge of Miinioh to Prof. Davidiohn at Florence), good friends of Germany nrc no good te Bngland.—l am, etc., " ENGLISHMAN.