Greymouth Evening Star AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1919. THE PROBLEM OF DEMOBILISATION.

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 January 1919, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1919. THE PROBLEM OF DEMOBILISATION.

The manner in which Great Britain is handling the demobilisation is net giving general satisfaction. Marshal Foch is not very well pleased with the way in which the men are being hurried home without proper provision being made for an array of occupation. As he points out, the Germans are carrying out the terms of the armistice because they know that the Allies are strong enough to force them to do so. If the Allies foolishly demobilise their armies without leaving sufficient troops to compel obedience on the part of the Huns, then trouble is sure to arise and much of the fruits of the victory will be lost. The British Regular Army is at present non-existent and its place has been taken by a huge army composed of men drawn from their civil occupation and hastily trained as soldiers. It will take some considerable time to enlist recruits for the Regular Forces, and it is pretty certain that these will be difficult to obtain unless the pay and conditions of service are made very attractive. Five years of ghastly carnage have removed all the glitter that formerly attached to the life of a soldier. Men now know, what modern warfare really means, ard they have no desire to take up soldiering as their life’s work. Still the British people must have a

regular army to garrison important strategical points in their far-flung Empire, but as the force required will be comparatively small, no very great difficulty should be experienced in filling the ranks. The training of such a force will take some time, and until it is ready a certain portion of the present army must be retained •with the colours, ready to meet any emergency that may arise. It will be pleasing news to those who have lads in the New Zealand forces to know that their soldiers will be back in New Zealand in less than nine months. This is good news in one way, but we are afraid that it means hardship and suffering for many. Even with the small number of soldiers who have returned, the labour market is in a bad way, and many soldiers find that they are unable to find work. Complaint has been made that many of the e nployers are not playing the game. They persist in retaining the services of women instead of reinstating the returned men. The women, too, who have enjoyed good [wages during, the war show a strong disinclination to give up their positions and give the returned men a chance. Many of the women con--rder that they have a grievance. They say that they have worked hard during the war and kept the positions for the returned men ; but the soldiers have not been very thankful for what has been done for them. In many cases they have jilted the New Zealand girls, and ire bringing out to the Dominion lingiish and French wives. We ;onfess that we have considerable ■sympathy with the New Zealand nrls. nut if some of the tales that we

have heard are true, the New Zealanders who sought their wives outside of God’s Own Country are paying dearly for their breach of faith to the New Zealand girls. This is, however, beside the main question. The whole trouble has snsen through the Government’s lack of foresight. The short session of the Dominion Parliament was quite inadequate to deal with such an important problem.,- Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward were so anxious to get away to the Peace Conference that they had no thought of the great problems that were awaiting a solution ,in New Zealand. We do

not think that our two leaders are adding to the reputation of this L ominion by the fuss that they are making because- they are not both allowed to attend the Conference. The great Peace Conference has met to consider questions of vital importance to the whole world, and valuable time is being wasted listening to .the alleged gnevances of Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward. Russia is losing thousands daily through starvation. The Central Powers are in a similar state. The world is threatened with further strife owing to the belligerent attitude of the Bolshevists. The Peace Conference .is anxious to ..take

measures to meet the food situation and also to prevent the Bolshevists carrying out their plans. Yet they are annoyed and delayed by the complaints of Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward that New Zealand, a conn tr* with about a, million of a population, is not given the status of an independent nation. No wonder that there is an outcry against the Government and there is a demand for an election. The soldiers are the bitterest opponents that the Coalition Government has, and those who have examined the position say that the soldiers have right on their side. Mr. Fred Pirani, who formed ore of the Press delegates who visited the Western front, has taken up the cudgels on behalf of the soldiers. He is a

shrewd man and a keen observer and the least likely person in the vvorld to be led astray by plausible stories. He has gone into the question of soldiers’ grievances and is convinced that the men have ample grounds of indictment against the Defence Department and the Government. While soldiers are in khaki they are naturally reticent, but when they get back into “ store clothes ” there will be “ something doing,” and the Government is in for a rough time.