RETURNED TROOPERS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVI, Issue 12588, 24 August 1901, Page 6

RETURNED TROOPERS.

We have heard a good deal lately of the restlessness of troopers hack from the ivar and of their anxiety to return to South Africa, and it is urged- hy those who appreciate the position that the Government should do something to keep these men in New Zealand. The position is probably more serious than the public are willing to admit. The ambitious and enterprising young men who went to South Africa in the first place were simply following their natural inclinations, seeking excitement and 1 profit perhaps more than glory, and now,- when they have rested and visited their homes and their friends, the glamour of South Africa, the vastness of its resources and the prospect of making money are drawing them back again. This has more to do with the 'exodus than the lack of employment. Hundreds of troopers are leaving Australia, and every week New Zealand loses some of her young men, and we know that an organised effort is being made in our midst to collect a large number of men willing to go to Cape Colony, to the new colonies .or to Rhodesia, for the purpose of settling there permanently. No doubt fortunes are to be made in the Transvaal more rapidly than in New Zealand, and there is, too, the added spice of ‘ adventure so attractive to Britons. In urging that prompt measures should be taken to check this movement we need not, appeal to sentiment. The grateful country shows no disposition to reward its gallant sons and takes the more practical view that ’the gallant sons did no more than thousands of others would he glad to do if they were under no obligation to remain at home. It is true that the Government promised the departing troopers that they would not find the country forgetful; it is true that the men behaved mqst gallantly at the front, that they served the country well and that they upheld the prestige of the colony; it is true also that private employers urged the men not to think of the day of return, but to rely upon their patriotic readiness to find plenty of employment. But if we place those considerations entirely on one side, and adopt a purely selfish attitude, we cannot help seeing the folly of allowing so many men to leave the colony. Audit is not merely returned troopers that are affected. The .attractions of South Africa arc being preached in season and out of season, and men who had no thought of leaving New Zealand are "beginning to join the exodus. We have paid heavily for our share in the war, but unless some action is taken now we shall speedily double our losses, for population is of more value to us than money. The correspondent who -writes to us this morning suggests the granting of cheap leases to troepa-s willing to take up land. We are not enamoured of the system, but the suggestion is a timely ’ one, and the spirit of the letter is admirable. The Government can and should do something, and we hope that the matter wilT bo brought up-in Parliament at the earliest possible moment. The State may be under no obligation to find employment for its soldiers, but for its own sake it should make strenuous efforts to prevent the diminution of the most vigorous and most useful portion of its population.