The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1915.

Evening Star, Issue 15915, 22 September 1915, Page 4

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1915.

Most men and Women, if asked at any time during the pasL year How to Lose how the Empire and its the War. Allies were to win through

in the great waT in which they are engaged, would without hesitation; and therefore without thought, have made answer: " Only by an overwhelming naval or military success." AVithout going so far as to sty that the history and progress of the war, ;is we now know it, lecessita-te.s the complete transformation of any stick judgment, it is permissible to s.ay that our belief in military and naval Mice-ess a,s the sole arbiter must- to-day undergo some modification. We are not among those who have emphasised and insisted on these two factors to the exclusion of each and every other. We hare consistently and repeatedly laid stress upon what we have termed the moral ami spiritual as well m the material factors, and we have, in addition, frequently urged that the Empire can win provided it is united and loyal to the highest and besttraditions of the race. We have not, however, insisted overmuch on the truth of its opposite, though the implication has been always present—namely, that neglect of loyalty to the highest and best carries with it the possibilities of disaster. And, to-day, the slow-moving British mind is beginning dimly to apprehend that there is something in this attitude. The ufie of the terms moral and spiritual forces is now a common-place of journalism. It was not so 15 months ago, cither in .New Zealand or the Mother Land. Journalists, like everyone else, were taken by surprise, and had not- then adapted, or trained, themselves to the recognition of the new order of being that Germany's onslaught upon civilisation had created. We are all somewhat wiser now. We no longer say that the whole wretched j business will be over next week, or the j week after, when everything will go on jas usual. Nothing hereafter can or will j be as usual, although the majority, posjsibly, even yet have not seriously considered this aspect of the crisis. Still, itis something to be thankful for that the cruel pressure of the awful conflict is being felt and valued by some among us. Not. however, until the Empire as a whole, has come into active participation in, and co- ! operation with, the only possible line, jbe-th of thought and action, can the j .Empire hope- to crush Kaiserism, which is but another way of saying •' win the. | war." We need, in brief, a more definite : appreciation than the many would seem to j -have, of what, Kaieerism really is; what it I stands for, what its successful domiha- . tion would mean, not alone to the nations. •but to the individual, right, down to i.plain John Smith or Brown, who stands ; pipe in mouth and with hands in pockete : at the street corners, and tells you plainly j "he aint taking on any war, let them i light as want? to."

| These comments arc prompted by the j statement attributed to Lord Our/on | (Lord Privy Seal) to the effect that "there j''are several ways of losing the waT, bat | "one of the surest was to poison their ! "own wells." Should any ask: what this

most able, sane, and proved statesman means, the fact that it is found- necessary to put the (lueatioii must be regarded as the measure of our' ability to grasp the meaning of the many hitherto disregarded forces that have been called into play- by the war, and also, of our knowledge of ha meaning, bearing, and the powers it i< essential to rally to our side if the Empire is to emerge triumphant. The saying that there are several ways of losing' the war will, not impossibly, come with a shock to those whose thoughts have been riveted, to the exclusion, of everything outside them, on the etferigtli and disposition of the rival armies and navies. What else can matter? such ah ohe will ask, and his surprise, will doubtless be as real as it is uncomplimentary to his own intelligence to bo told that among the other things.that greatly matter ar e his own ignorance ; his talking, either on the Platform or in the Press, rashly, and, therefore, foolishly; his refusal" to do service for the country not a* he thinks best, but as those- ill authority think best for him, or in too many eases to render any service at alb These are a few of those things, multiplied many times ov«r, that constitute edihe of the several wars of losing the war.

j What can be more depressing, or give ,'rise to more anxious thoughts of the near [future, when we hear, as we are comrieiled' jto hear, of newspapers inventing all sorts | ; of political scandals, and working, not for j.the unity and success of the common cause, but of politicians -who would rather risk the life of-the nation than give wayupon some particular line of action which", ■howevbi- desirable diiriiig times of peace.

organised workmen carrying a resolution against what they aire pleased to term conscription, but which, in reality, is merely the enactment of legislation that will enable the Government to see to it that no man, rich or poor, shall shirk his duty in this hour-of'peril? .The. Acting President of the South Wales Miners' Federation is reported to have said that it would be fatal to introduce Prussian militarism in England! Is it possible for .human ignorance to reach a lower depth than these words disclose? If Prussian militarism of the genuine brand ever gets a footing in England those who come after Us may possibly remember to its credit that at least it proved '•' fatal" to patriots of this stamp. What the Kmpire needs is not the wild talk of the misguided and unintelligent, but that an attentive ear and ready will be given to the counsels of its Wisest men. The war has shown, says the Anglican Kishop of Bathurst, democratic disability to control all the resources of the'Kmpire at one time. Possibly: we recall having said something very, similar ourselves; but men may reasonably differ as to its accuracy. What is certain is that a divided, wrangling, self-willed democracy must tail, and, in time of war, conceivably perish. But the bishop is sound in his general argument. With" Lord Cuizou, he knows that there are more ways than one of losing the war, and that there is a very real danger of our being badly worsted. Have done, he says, with your .siHy British bluster; the courage and skill of the enemy are. equal to <>tir owli. And ill organisation, selfsacrifice, and singleness of purpose he would seem to be superior. Whether the men of England and Australia who thus think will succeed in arousing those to whom they speak to a sense of their present and possible future danger we cannot say. We do know that their warning was never more needed.