THINGS IN GENERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16178, 15 March 1916, Page 10

THINGS IN GENERAL.

"; ULEOTIONS AND WAS. . These'Trill ; : 'be- no .• elections; in any,, part of the : British;, Empire '.this -year'unless ' there be ; a stidden.end of the war or such ;;'■■' an unheal in British politics as to 'force an appea}'fe'the'people.: Neither:event .is • likely, so- for- the year., at-least .the Parliamentary >i franchise is dead. But for the war ,both.' Britain> and; Canada would • have held Parliamentary elections,' Britain at th«< beginning of ,the year and .Canada towards its close. ! Both, have decided on postponement. The Canadian decision was remarkable, because it was absolutely unanimous. ; There was' talk of no . election until 'after the war, to which there was some objection, but everybody agreed on a postponement from October, 1916, until October, 1917. Nothing of the kind has happened for two hundred years and then, as historians tell us, British Ministers Were, as much concerned over their own fate and the fate of the monarchy as they were for the wellbeing of the nation. To this prolongation of the life of a Parliament two centv/ies ago is doubtless due the provision in the Canadian constitution which makes it impossible for a Canadian Parliament to extend its own life. On account of this provision the decision of the Canadian House of- Commons' is technically not » decision at all, but a request to the British Parliament to give the present Cans-, dian Parliament a lease of life 'or another year. Since the request was unanimous it ia as' good as granted.

GEBMAN SOCIALISTS AHD WAR. A Belgian socialist has taken the trouble to compile some interesting facts about the relations of German socialists to the war. The Belgian socialists are bitter against Germany, and to their bitterness is added contempt for the so-called socialists of Germany. lour . pronvnent German socialists paid -visits to Belgium in the early stages of the war. One was.LieV knecht. against whom the Belgian socialists h.-j' have no-grudge. He seemed agitated and I'f irresolute. He .went 'to look for a lost "' relative; but it was' a mistake for Germany "to allow* him to go, for the,.Belgians, ■' though,they were unable to '■ take him to t}x ? Louvai^^shb^edf,him^sonie; evidence, of, German brutality which increased his agi- . tation, and it is recorded that he "sighed ft-fi continually and seemed "profoundly dis- , tressed," The others; did not: sigh; < they 'v • bouncsd. One Wendel, famed as an anti- '•:<.> militarist, came with a. story that France , ■ ■ ; and Belgium ) had "a Becret agreement ;to attack Germany',; and when the ; Belgians •■:■-".<■ nailed that lie to the counter'he showed , . himself .to be more' German than 'socialist ''"&■ by declaring: that ; in war time there could ; : be "no question of sentimentality.",; Then l ''■''} came Koster and Noske^=whose' behaviour fey gave' the' impression.that they were official ■ "•'•' ■■ emissaries ofihe German authorities., They . came with; hints that the socialists of "•':;:' Brussels could get flour if they would only ignore ;;their: own burgomaster : and - plead '..with the*. Kaiser; for : it-. r"j But 'the' Belgians' .' wanted ■ more • than flour.-'-. They/ told ' the. ; Germans' in effect that "Man cannot- lire '■■■.v. br bread : alone;"."They.wanted to know why these Germans, who' so charitably offered-,. them ; flour had come with their armies tlnipugh Belgium. To which ..the ■ .: Kaiser's; ' delegates" gave the truly, German .answer, "Would you dare to say that you ' put respect' for your neutrality above the lives of 100,000 men? We knew, that by ,\ our. entering France through the Vosges instead of by-way of Belgium we were ■■■..'; .bound to lose 100,000 more men. '-There ■-■ ■■-. Otrald be no 4 0 W»t about .our^choice." " Nor," I answered I the • Belgians, v could . there be any . doubt about ours when the ■ choice .was between our honour and free- ; dora on one side and 100.000 Germans' on . the other.; We stand by tho.ancient motto of our communes, 'Bather die by our own will than loseour country's frwdorn." sentiment Koster thought 'so amazing that ;..-. he called; Noske to hear it t repeated. It , was repeated with emphasis, and : both the ' : Kaiser's delegates ,went' back to. Berlin <to repeat throughout Germany; this'strange new tale of a people: who refused* to sell ' their birthright j for 'fa • mess■ of German > . flour* • ' ZEE LIMIT OF SKILLED LABOUR. ■ One of the wonders of the war is that ; Australia and - New i Zealand have never ['J> recruited 'skilled men for war work in • Britain. Mr. Balfour, First ; Lord of the Admiralty, stated the other 4 day that 1 the , Admiralty, was not satisfied with the pre-. ...-,■■ sent rate of shipbuilding,' But the limit of progress 'was: the limit -of- skilled labour.' ■;:;;!•>' Mr. Lloyd George,'■ Minister or Munitions/, has frequently made'the ; sanie ; statement •: with regard-to munition making. ' Canada . -_.: is utilising skilled labour 'in m producing ■ * - munitions,\but the contributions'' of'Aus« tralia and New, Zealand: in this connec- .. tion , are .far,'- below the capacity'• of their skilled labour.', Why is it .that no • effort is; made to move" the \ labour now .being utilised in carrying.on "business as • usual!" Britain's labour*shortage is a natural consequence.: ■ <> her/ enormous i war . effort.-': She has suddenly become a great military state,' in addition' to which she is . ' a greater.naval state and a greater manu- • . facturing state than'eVer she wag, and , at the same time is struggling to maintain :';-:■:::■:■ her position as an .exporting state. •It is '•-■ ~: little wonder thati there are, occasional ; - hitches, and -that the', machine does not always run smoothly. ,; ' .-.' : . i ' '; ' WAB AND POLITICAL ' OBEEDS. 'In the United States'as in Britain the , war is shaking: the tenets of the political • parties. The : best \ British ■< illustration •is the acceptance by the Liberal Party of the principle of .compulsory service. V It .was a . long and stern fight, and Sir "John' Simon, ''-" and a : few ; others/did not swallow their ~-■ medicine, but the party as a whole, led by Mr. Asqmth, submitted. ; In the United - ■ btates Mr. Wilson and the Democrats aro being similarly,,: compelled »by : circum- ■■; r : stances,, to, arrive fat an i unwelcome > decK *. ; -^^-^ lUeStion1 UeStion °i way organisation. .;•■. ■ Mr.-Wilson has apparently been driven to ■± the conviction that his party is wrong in >■:■, standing State control of the army ,-, ..-which means a weak and inefficient army ,- -against Federal control-which might lay the foundation of a strong and reliable P< army,. But Mr. Wikonha°sStocon! ;. v .vmce party. He is hopeful,' 'as his l- : recent speeches show, but not inclined to i,. -. drive the Democrats as Mr. Garrison late •Ji Secretary for War, thought.he might So Mr Wdson, because he. would lot Sffi u. ; declare his convictions and force a nartv X : vmm HviM national question, lost hk £fe % W % H \ lost hi Secretary ' v for State, Mr ' Bryan because he would ;.: not bo drawn the other way and mS -i the shameful declaration that there K ; '-. too high to pay-for peace or fo/ii ■ semblance of it. •On the whole, Mr Wil ; ; Bon appears.to be in some danger of faS . ing between two stools. .. ■ aU

GERMAN PRESS BUREAUX. ■' The German spreads his net widely and : makes it with a tiny mesh. No fish J 5 small for him.'A good example '* •■s,♦* $1 5 t0 7 Bpr - ead in Switzerland . that British trade unionists are not wel coming Swiss munition workers while bis I wages are. waiting them at.Kruppa gS S/ n °v° übtin , S** ter need of ,-.: ; . smiled munition workers than Britain. : '' 2? ■' t ' iS gwd : German business to ;;■ prevent Swiss workers from going to m S Solthe '■ story i a senfthLgh wh h et f o by - *«£ ' the puSoie v ha ™ established for is affife f . duCatinß "neutrals.. I* . bunwiT v. -TKi i the'work of these all Balking- a l been > Power in Bulgarians. as til I Kinfr ™? * he and the Greek -,d\i S ' Conßtantin ° doubt busV-in'tT mi "till HO * * --snrioM'dil^^^J'-^t-.^ la ' --• Something ; tion wortersVfesS" 8 rauni ' '

"COME ON/-' OB "GO ON," It seems ,that.'the Kaiser had been in« structing officers up to'the. rank of gen- . eral to lead their men instead of driving them. 'The traditional method in $ the British army is for junior officers to, say "Come on, boys," the German method is to say "Go on." The British officer influences his men by personal initiative and personal bravery... The German officer does not influence at all j his v men are trained to docility and must, go forward shoulder to shoulder when they are told. We must not suppose that the Kaiser has suddenly been seized with admiration of the British method. The Germans may be getting less docile; the partiallytrained German officers now available may be less capable to driving than the real Prussian junker. In either case leadership depends upon the leader and an officer who is sent to the front by order of the Kaiser is not necessarily a leader, nor i 3 it by any means certain that the Germans, once they arrive at the stage of refusing to bo driven; will' consent to" be led.

THE MOEWE EXPLOIT. There can be no doubt that the men on the Moewe deserved the Iron Cross or any other decoration the Kaiser ■ could confer upon them. Their exploit was in many respects the best the' German Navy so far has to its credit. Compared with the Emden their record is 13 ships against 20, but then •they got "hack, which is on tho whole rather annoying and 1 as likely to cause irritation among British naval men as it is to cause jubilation in Germany. Still even in,our annoyance we must admit that.,the adventure had something of the real spice of tho sea about It was & bluff with a large element of risk, but the risks were taken. British sailor men can admire the crew of the Moewe, while they have nothing but contempt for the submarine murderers who glory in sending women and children to the bottom of the sea, and who have no taste for fighting when they meet an armed ship. The Genhui.