England and Germany

North Otago Times, Volume C, Issue 13147, 31 August 1914, Page 7

England and Germany

A SOCIALIST'S WARNING.

The author;- Of- those ; -artjcles; .is,, the best-known leader-,of-, .the, JJngl.isli .Socialists, and is/mm of the founders ol* the modem Socialist movemont,in Britain. Under tiiq- noni dfi. guerre of ' 1 Nunq'uam " lie wrote. Merrie land," of which one and a hall: million, copies have .been sold, - , lie is editor of The Clarion, which is .by -generjil. consent tliiv. ablest,and most influential of Socialist journals;- and-Oie is master: of a style that. for. vigour and terseness has been surpassed by,lyp English writer, since the days of Cobbett. [ln view of the present Euro-, pean crisis, a series.of articles, t . 1 which appeared,in tluj London , , lially Mail some.yifaw ago are,,, of absorbing interest. There are eleven;jn,;n)l,, and.we pro-,, ; , pose republishing tliem-in Hie columns of' North Otago Times."] • -v.-.-; V.-WANTED: A .MAN. * , ~ There is danger ahead-; '-''Mr Asqnith"' has told us so, Lord Roberts lias lold us so, Sir Edward Grey has told us 's'ri.' Ami we are not ready to meet; that danger, And we are not, ina'kiiig ready to meet that, dangcK, : Aiid the great majority ol' our people are oblivious of that danger or refuse to recognise its existence. * s ' " ' ; A few years ago Lord Wolseley said: ■We are never ready for war, and yet we never have a Cabinet 'that, dare tell the people this truth, That is a grave statement of ; a grave danger. Let us consider wliat that statement implies. It implies that we have had many Cabinets who were conscious of our unreadiness for war and were afraid to tell the people what they knew, It implies that Cabinet after Cabinet has failed in its duly 1 Id the nation through fear. > It implies that Cabinet' after Cabinet, knowing the Empire to be unsafe, has proved too -cowardly and disloyal to ask for reformation or to give 'the alarm.

It implies that British Cabinets are unworthy of the nation's confidence. T am afraid it implies more than that. I am afraid it implies that British Cabinet Ministers, for the sake of remaining in power, have time after time concealed a slate of affairs which in the event of war would expose the Empire to serious risks of'dishonour and defeat.

The statement is Lord .Wolseley's, not mine. It is a grave statement gravely made by a distinguished general of long and wide experience. ~V,; - Is the statement true? It was proven true in the days of the Crimean War, It is true to-day.

It is true to-day, for there is danger ahead, as several''Cabinet Ministers of both parties'have declared, and we are not ready for war, as all our'militarv authorities well know.

The members of tlie present Cabinet and the members, of the preceding Cabinet ai.fi mvare of tlie danger, Mr Balfour and Sir Edward Grey and others have told us so; and they are aware of onr unreadiness, bnt lack-the moral fcoiwigct.oe.onfess.it. The party that goes to the country with a sound and safe programme of national' defence will be 'defeated at the polls. The victorious "party will go into power knowing that the country is deceived, and will act 'once' more the disloyal and cowardly farce of guarding tlie national safety and husbanding .the national resources.' Every Cabinet, Minister in Britain knows this: not. one of them is man enough to tell the people and lake the consequences.

. Noble lords and honourable gcntVemen are afraid. Lord Wolseley says so, ' The facts say so. History says so. The debates ]irovo it,'the Budget proves it, the Army and tlie Navv know it, Noble lords and honourable gentlemen are afraid of the.- electorate, and will repent again and again a breach of trust rather than face their betrayed countrymen- with the ugly I mill. . 1 ' Should a great war come suddenly upon us, noble lords and honourable gentlemen' would liavo \vbrM things' I'd face than the hostile voles of the crowd too stingy to pay and 'tfm selfish to fight. The days .of disaster would be bad days for Cabinet Miiiisters, Now 1 nni going'to fiayj' in the leelh of,the anti-militarist and anti-palri'otie masses, what T believe noble lords and honourable gentlemen know and have not the pluck to declare. lam going ,t.o'Say ; tli,it iinless. the British people arc ready Id fight and pay and work as I hey have not fought and paid and striven - for ;a hundred years—if ever—the Empire will assuredly go to pieces and leave us beggared and disgraced under the conquest of a braver, better trained, and better organised. nation,

I believe our Cabinet' Ministers-of both parties .know this and'arc afraid 1.0 say it. It woiild : be : so'unpopular. Loose speeches about national defence,; the Navy, and the Territovials'wc shall have in plenty. • ' The/'outs" will volubly denounce'.tli'e "ins,!' and 'will sail so,, near the'truth as. to assure us that the Liberal Cabinet are not to be trusted, to do tlieir duty by the Army and the- Navy.-

But will any lioble lord Gr-.honourable gentleman in either- Cabinet havej.he manly .courage, to toll the people all that is wanted? No. Not a Cabinet Minister will darp to mention the .vast sums and. the drastic-' measures which in his own mind .lie Itiiows to bo required for the safety ..of the Empire. Affainsj; the flprnuiiifi, our Miuisfe have to work under serious disadvantages. . Here the AVnjy, the Navy, and the Cabinet- are separato institutions, and the 'naval .and ' military- policy changes - with:■ each* change of .governx

: V'—■■>'\o/' :y ' : : '%<Q^'- :: hC'v 1 STIRRING ARTICLES BY ROBERT BLATCHFORD.

monk Here the Cabinet fears to .demand suppliosj fears to,demand sei'vieo, fears to disclose facts. The' Services are starvbd and disorganised for fear of ail electorate who like their glory cheap and tlieirisecurity cheap, and whose, ignorance of foreign affairs and of all matters, military' and naval, causes thenf to swallow with avidity the dap-trap bf amiable doctrinaires who preach peace in tho face of armed nations marching to battle. The people arc conceited} self-indul-,gent, decadent, and greedy.' They want .to, keep the Empire without sacrifice, or service, They wHI sliont for the Empire, but tliey will not pay for the' J'lmpire to fight for it. Germany,knows tins. Tho world knows it. The Cabinet. Ministers know it. But no Minis--tor dares to say it; We are in sore need of ,a man. In Germany the men aro all trained and disciplined soldiers-or sailors. In 'Germany the work of the Army and iKavv organisation, control, and diree--tion is not tossed from Cabinet to Cabi- 'i net at the whim of an uninformed body 'of.'..(civilian electors: it is continuous, II goes on steadily day after day, year ialter year. To it is devoted the best work of the best brains in a military nation. - What chailce have' we against such thoroughness, experience, and diligence as' that? It is related of Von Eoon, the Prussian War Minister, that when war was declared with Prance he went home totake a few days' rest. His work was done, The Army was ready, ■ The War Minister had nothing to worry abijut, Imagine the British Minister /of"War's condition of'mind if war were declared again3t Germany to-day! The French were defeated by the Germans because they were not ready; the Spaniards were defeated by the Americans because they were not ready; the Russians were defeated by the Japanese because tliey were not ready, We are not ready: Germany is ready, We:are never ready: Germany is always ready, The Liberal Government made a, fatal blunder when they hesitated to lay down the four extra Dreadnoughts, They were trying to economise. They were hoping for a cheap way out of the difficulty. Tliey were waiting for something lo' turn up, The Germans knew this and made a tremendous effort to get ahead of us.' It; is not safe to trust'the tradition of Micawber agaiußt the tradition of blood and iron. Had the British Government, instead of trying to save a few millions, asked the nation boldly for the full amount required, and set about the necessary work in earnest:, the Pan-Germans might have had an'unpleasant'"l'imc'wiih the German taxpayer, II; is lime our Government and our people recognised the'facts, Germany lias challenged us, If we show weakness we are lost. We cannot bluff our enemy. We cannot, evade liiiu. We cannot buy safety for an old song, We can only hold oar own against so powerful and resolute an antagonist by showing an equal power and resolution.

hi the crisis to which I have just referred we took the weak course when wc ought to have taken the strong one: Economy at such a time is the most . profligate extrnvagance. ' 'When the Government, held' the. four Dreadnoughts back they should have been pushing a dozen Dreadnoughts forward; when they tried to save a,few millions they should have laid out, fifty millions, .Instead of .reducing the artillery and pottering about with a handful of Territorials they should have demanded an Armj\ tin I; the Cabinet, was afraid, JVe 'want a man. To be Published To-morrow: W.—ARMAGEDDON: THE GREATER DANGER.