TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 50, 27 August 1914, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

The pay of soldiers by the British Government is not mi incitement to marriage. The scale is evidently one for single men; the figures are a warning that recruits should not have such "encumbrances" as wives and children, and should not give such hostages to fortune later on. For example, Imperial reservists (privates) who are leaving New Zealand to rejoin their regiments would draw, ordinarily, Is Id a day from the British Government, lfc is understood that an additional allowance of Is Id a day for a wife and 2d a day for each child may be granted, but there seems to be some doubt about this matter. When the subject was mentioned in the House of Representatives last night the Hon. James Allen said that the New Zealand Government would /bring the reservists' pay up to 4s a day, and would make some provision for dependents, in the expectation of a refund of this maintenance cOsY from the British Government. Undoubtedly the pay policy of London is not one to win admiration here ;' the Imperial Government, as the agent of the general public, protected by the men who form the Army, should make the pay and ' allowances less unworthy of the service. Meanwhile the New Zealand Government has an opportunity to act in an Imperial spirit, which would heartily please the people of the Mother Country. The cost of equipping an Expeditionary Force is being borne with enthusiasm by New Zealanders, who,, we are sure, will not hesitate to undertake the care of families of reservists summoned to the Iront. Applications for refunds from the Imperial Government in a comparatively nmal) affair would tend to mar the splendour of New Zealand's great gifts..

Imperial Reservff ts' Families.

A month ago Belgium wag a happy country with pleasant Help for orchards, rich pasthe Belgians, tureb, and golden cornfielde. Swiftly a garden has been made a desert; the most industrious harvester has been Death, whose scythe has swept in wide swathes from th« German frontier to plaoes near th© sea. A beautiful country has been laid waste, and homelce« people have black ruin about them. Farms have been destroyed by ruthless invaders, determined to make Belgium feel tho weight of the maited fist for her refusal to agree to a breach of the neutrality agreement. The wurage of the little country proved to be a very serious check lo the big German Empire, for the Belgians' stubborn stand at Liege ana at other strategic pointe gained very^ valuable tune for the French and British Allies. The baaic principle of the German plan was to be a quick turning movement of the French left wing. France was to be struck beforo she was ready, but this scheme was frustrated by the Belgians' valour, skill, and wonderful endurance. They have done well for France ; they have done well for Britain— at great cost of lite and property to Belgium— and now the despotic occupante of Brussels and Liege are placing the people under tribute. The Allies obligation to Belgium cannot be aAses«!<i in mere monetary terms, but some of the gratitude can be expressed in material help. The value of the time- gained by tlie check to the Germans' advance army must run into many millions of pounds; without that spirited aid of the Belgians the expenditure of the French and British, in blood and treasure, would have been greatly increased. Belgium haa a special claim on Britain and France, who are mainly responsible for the present status of the little Kingdom; a buffer against Germany. • The Kaiser's people covet tho Scheldt and the port of Antwerp, and their possession of that very important waterway would be a menace to Britain. Belgians are helning Britain to keep Germany away from the Scheldt, and it is the duty of all Britons to help their good, brave friends. New Zealanders can aid ; there is no cause which deserves better honouring than the appeal for the Belgians. Those people who may be hoping from hour to hour for some Battles Long decisive news of the Drawn Out. great battle which is spread over many miles near the French frontier are apt to forget ' that each side has several large armies engaged. It is a series of fights, in each of which the armies may be bigger than the forces that met at Waterloo. This struggle, over a long front, between the Allies and the Germans is the first of its kind in ths whole of history. Nothing in the Franco-Prussian, South African, Russo-Japanese, or Balkan wars bears any close resemblance to the present stupendous combat. The nearest approach to it may he seen in the chronicles of the Battle of Mukden, where the Japanese defeated the Russians* with a loss of 90,000 men to the Tsar. Each side had over 300,000 men, in several armies. When the Japanese advance began, the operations extended over a front of ninety to a hundred miles. Gradually the Japanese drew in their forces, and at the end of a fortnight's fighting, when the Russians were forced to retreat hurriedly, the distance between the Japanese flanks wa* about thirty-five miles. This battle, which began on 25th February, 1905, after some days of raids and skirmishes, and finished onthe night of 9th March, whon the pursuit of the fugitives was briskly started, revealed great power of endurance in the Japanese. Sections of the combatants, widely «eparated, bad to wait for news of important clashes at other points ; it was a very compound battle. The comment of an English officer, attached to one of the Japanese corps, was :— "Where, as in this crowning victory of the Japanese, 'five armies aro combined to break tho enemy's power, the movements of all of which are closely interwoven, it is not easy to decide to what extent the action of one single army — more especially of one not posted on a flank — has affected the general issue." There is a similar difficulty in regard to the battle which has been raging since Sunday. The Germans are pressing forward at all costs, in their plan of a turning movement— which the Japanese achieved at Mukden — but the Allies have, apparently, well prepared for those tactics.