The North Otago Times TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1917. NEW ZEALAND'S SHARE.

North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 13934, 17 July 1917, Page 4

The North Otago Times TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1917. NEW ZEALAND'S SHARE.

Notwithstanding the rhetoric of one or two Ministers of the Crowli, and the- utterances of ah isolated „mpmber.. or two. of l -. Parliament, that it,would, be to the lasting dishonour of this country if New Zealand cut down the. monthly reinforcement draft, there are quite a numerous body of'members of Parliament as well as 1 several courageous newspapers' #o refuse to disregard the .question, of our future supply of men,.as a grave economic and financial problem. The. whole business of our military obligations is shrouded in such impenetrable gloom that'-thc question is being asked: "What is there in hide?' TheChristchurclißllll, with strong and definite. convictions which it voices 'Witluommendablc courage and .. urirdlfciiting lpei\sistence, analyses question of j*e inforccraents with startling results O.ur northern contemporary meets the Minister of Defence on military grounds, and'claims witir some emphasis.that:"as one thoroughly imbued with-.the. military

spirit and passionately loyal to Imperial principles'oif Avar, Sir James Allen will appreciate a inference to "Field Service Regulations," Part IJ, The edition from which the quotation is taken wan issued December If), 1914. Fu; the informatiQii of laymen, is is explained that'this manual is the work of the Imperial General Staff. "Field Service Regulations" is, in a-word,■ the 'liiilitaiy, Hible.. It is a work issjied by conpnand of■Bk" Army Council. Other war manuals and establishments of all arms, .and departments are leased on these regulations. To all intents nnd-piirpo:ics the British and Colonial forces now at the front are manned and lighting accarclmg tpH'iie fundamental prin-

ciples laid ;down in this little rod volume. Under the 'heading of Provision!'and Maintenance oi Personnel question of rein-JorcoraentSj-etc.—the manual prescribes; "In the first year of a war, the following percentages of the troops in the field will be reQuired in order to keep up the war establishment: Eighty per cent, of infantry." That figure, (says the General Staff) includes first reinforcements, which are calcuand file of the unit. Our conteiii-

porary remarks' that the significancc of the eighty, per cent, .of infantry per annum is that it works out at, something less than seven per cent, of reinforcements per month', and that'figure represents the rate of-monthly drafts, each •7000. men, fixed by the War Office or the Government for keeping Australia's five divisions up to Strength, According to that stan-dard-.New Zealand, with one division in the trenches, should b:! sending 7000 divided by -five; 1400 men. / If there are 25,000 troops to;l)e reinforced, then', on the,same basis .(the "War Office's cstimat'. and that of; ."Field Service Regulations") our- monthly offering''! should''be 1750. That means tin:!. New Zealand js sending from 750

' to 1100 more-men in proportion lo her force in tile field than the Com- . nionwealth. ■; jWe are glad to sec that the question of our monthly reinforcement quota is engaging the consideration- of some of tlif less,'timid of the press of New Zealand.. Eronii some time we-haw • fdyocafcd a Thorough stock-tak-ing, and recent developments luive. jinorQ than ever convinced us that, j the whole situation should bif rei viewed'and'!the .'members of ParI liament and the people must know I tli'e reason; for the attempt to *imj Pose" upon tlxis yoiih'g and impe;.'cb'iihti'y a"disf)ro-" -portionate share of the bnrdeii; of ■;the, war. Yes, let us have equal- < ity of-.sacrifice, by all means,, apjy:-'.'-/: > v. r : ■

plied, not i only ,to this, tiny corner of the vast "Empird, but to -the whole liation, Our • . ijoi'thel'fl tMt&inporary asks the Hon. Sir. James, Allen : WhoSG.wisli itisthat Now Zealand with' only. 22,000 left in the First Division-, should be doing so much more in proportion than Australia who'- lias; still: 140,000 single and 280,000 Second Division men' and whose .'quotas have been- reduoed from 16.500 to ,7000 f The people of New Zealand who have to bear the burden are entitled to an answer. If 7000 recruits are able to maintain Australia's five divisions, why should this Dominion be asked to supply 2500 men. every month ,if our forces at , the front comprise one, division, and an extra brigade added 'Svithout the consent of 'Parliament? The people of New Zealand give'place to lio race in their splendid patriotism, but they detest secrecy, and they are entitled to know why New Zealand "is sendingfrom 900 to 1300 reinforce-. roents per year more than, according to the Imperial military regu-. lations, she is entitled to send. Fine pluses about patriotism and the. reiteration of the inflexible determination to fight to the last: man and the last shilling—mostly the other man and the other fellow's shilling—will not "satisfy the .persistent demand for a full statement by the Defence Minister. Mr Hughes has taken Australia into his 'confidence. What have we inNew Zealand done that we-should not. be told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the '.truth, concerning our military obligations? What is meant by our pledge to the Imperial authorities? Has a pledge been given? If we arc to believe tiic Hon. Sir Francis Bell, Leader of the Legislative Council'and a member-of the National Cabinet, no pledge has been given; if a pledge has been given, what does the following dialogue meau?—

. . _ Hon. J. D. Ormond (speaking in the Council): New Zealand had been asked to provide more men proportionately than any other Dominion. ■ " Sir Francis Bell: I deny that we have been asked. 7 Hon. Mr Ormond: We have done it. Sir Francis Bell: That is. a different question. If.' this means anything, it means that all the talk of our pledge, is moonshine. Let New Zealand do its share by all means, and let us continue sending forward reinforcements—but let the number bemore commensurate with our resources and requirements; and a P'-oporl ion based on the principles of reinforcements laid down by the Imperial military regulations, 111 the.course of his recent speech on New Zealand's obligations, the Ministerot' Defence statecTthat, our casualties to date were: Dead 7500, wounded (18,879, less 60 per cent, who recover and return to the .firing, line. 1,1;327) 7552—a total loss of 15,052 during two and a-half years of- war. That is to say, to , meet a loss of 6028 per annum, this country has been sending forward 29,000 men each" year, or more than four times the number required. Thus the. Minister's figures show that at our present rate of loss New Zealand should have enough men already on active service to last for the next four years. As we have said before the Government must come out into the open and submit a full and frank statement regarding our military obligations, and ask Parliament for direction;. This contention is supported ,by •quite-a number of members of Farliament and bv "the Hon. J. D. Ormond and the Hon. Sir' William Hall-Jones. Why does the Government,, hesitate ? Can they not trust the Parliament and the people to decide their own affairs?