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Evening Star, Issue 15480, 30 April 1914, Page 4

Nothing bnt good can result from the too brief presence of Sir Our Land lan Hamilton in our midst. Defence. It has enabled an experienced and accomplished officer of the British Army to s-ee with his own observant eyes portion of the fruits of that system of Military Defence which has been so scandalously maligned by a small but clamorous section of. the Press and public of Great Britain. Moreover, it will provide thf> opportunity for New Zealand obtaining a plain, frank report on the progress, deficiencies, and needs of her Land Defence policy. What General Hamilton has said in public on the bearing and conduct of the Territorials may be accepted without reservation as a sincere opinion. If there were nothing of a complimentary nature to be said. Sir lan would not have mentioned it, and we need have no fear that the reality and value of his report will miffer from the fact that he has been able to say so much that is flattering to our self-esteem. We have no doubt, not only that there is ample room for criticism, that General Hamilton has detected weaknesses, and that Otago, in common with other parts of the Dominion, has much yet to learn, but we also believe that these will be set forth kindly but fearlessly. Kew Zealand has the material for the making of as fine an army as any country in the world. Many of her young men have faced the enemy on the 'field,.and have stood firm under fire, and the Dominion is proud to know it. At the same time, she needs all the advice and criticism that she can obtain concerning her newly-inaugurated policy of Compulsory Military Training, and we aro sure that it wi|l be both given and accepted in the best spirit. In addition to'its purely technical side, the visit of Sir lan Hamilton has served as an occasion for severa} pleasant and welcome, we will not say speeches, but talks. In each of these our famous visitor struck the right key. There was an entire absence of aggressiveness and of desire to force homo any particular opinion. " The rights and wrongs of Compulsory Military Train- : ing were left severely alone. General Hamilton- contented himself with asking the boys and the officers*to use '■ their own brains and to think the position out fer thenieefoee. The true friends of [►jaasse are act those Wio do nothing to i ivftlptw prepare themeelve* to defend sh.fir

country, but are thoee. who, while *regrefcting that tho necessity far such preparations may some day bo called into beißg, loyally and cheerfully submit to temporary inconvenience in order to be ready for the demand when it comes. The greatest danger that threatens the- British "Empire 13 not that there is too much but too little organisation and preparation. Granting, as those who "use their own brains" must clo, that there are to-day some who would attack their near or distant neighbors if they dared, we are forced to the conclusion that it is the unorganised and unprepared State that is. most liable to spoliation. In other words, the nation whose defences are thoroughly organised affords a greater surety for the continued peace of the world thai a nation which attempts to carry through the teachings of the many miscalled peace societies to their logical conclusion. "You do not avoid war," says Sir lan Hamilton, " by shutting . " your eyes and pretending thero is no "such thing." This earth of ours is filled with the spirit of war to-day—aye, and as much to-day as ever it was at any time. It was a great Pro-Consul (Lord Curzon) • who declared i-ecently that Englishmen might bo individually better men than their forbears, but tnken collectively the peoples of the earth are just as cynical, just as selfish, and just as bloodthirsty as they were in the so-called Dark .Ages. We have- no need to go further back than the Balkan War of last year and the Chinese and Mexican rebellions of to-day for our evidence in support of this daring contention. The moral is so clear that he who runs cannot fail to read it; but whether ho will take its lesson to heart Is another matter. Organise, and again organise-, and evermore organise must be the motto of Empire. Nor is it the least among the advantages that will follow from General Sir lan Hamilton's "visit to New Zealand and Australia that this commonplace but indispensable condition of onr continued national existence will eeeure an even stronger hold on the youth and manhood of this Dominion.