The New Zealand Times. MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1912. TERRITORIALS AND STRIKES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8263, 28 October 1912, Page 6

The New Zealand Times. MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1912. TERRITORIALS AND STRIKES.

“ Civil force has always maintained and will maintain law and order in this country.”—-Tho Minister of Internal Affairs.

When he suggested during the debate on the Defence Act Amendment Bill that the Minister of internal Affairs should give an assurance “ that the Territorials would not be called out to interfere in any industrial dispute,” we are inclined to think the Hon. Mr .Paul asked for rather more than the Minister was in a position to give. Any statement made upon the point raised by Mr Paul would obviously be no more than an individual expression of opinion in no way binding upon Governments of the future nor likely to have any weight with those people who see in our system of military service an instrument for use in emergency against the industrial classes. Mr Paul appeared to be anxious that “a thorough understanding should exist as to what tho territorial force is for,” and to imagine that this could be defined by tho Minister saying it would not be employed for a certain purpose. Tho answer given by the Minister seems to us tho only one possible, namely, that he did not think any other force than the cTvil force would ever be employed to maintain order.

Does any section of the community really believe that the liberty of working men and women is in any way threatened by the existence . of this Territorial force —that it stands as a power in reserve to be used against them for the suppression of disputes entered into by trades unions and similar organisers? Wo very much doubt it. The composition of the citizen army is alone a guarantee that its use in tie manner spoken of by Mr Paul is beyond the region of reasonable ap prehension. On tho day the , Territorials are called out to take part in internal strife on that day civil war trill commence, and none of us require to be told that on that day also our system of universal military training as we know it now would have hopelessly broken down. So far, indeed, from our military force being a weapon with which active trades unions may be oowed into submission we are very much inclined to take the view that it happens to be quite the opposite, and that its organisation completely protects the community against any at tempt being made to employ the military here for the sinister purposes reported from time to time in other coun. tries. One of the objections advanced 111 Australia to universal military service was that the result would ba to place the country at the mercy of an armed Labor dictatorship, and absurd though it may seem this argument re ceived quite a fair measure of coun tenanoe from a section of flustered Conservative politicians- In England, also, it is frequently contended _ that universal military seme* must inovit aoly lead to revolution, since ‘‘the working classes,” being armed and drilled, would seek to secure by force all those things they now struggle to obtain by constitutional means. It is, therefore, a little odd to find anxiety

expressed in New Zealand that military training will bo followed bj - consequences exactly the reverse —that we will one day have a Government mad enough to try the experiment of endeavoring to use a force __ existing by popular sanction to suppress popular movements.

There is, we suggest, no reason for us to look forward to the electors en trusting the administration of national affairs to a Cabinet composed of imbeciles or to the settlement of our industrial disputes involving the community in anarchy. If any such reason existed it would be time to abandon the democratic theory and place everything m charge of an imported autocrat. The universal training system has been established m New Zealand for one single purpose and none other—in order that tho country may be in a position to defend itself against at tack. The dangers to bo apprehended are not that tho people will commence fighting amongst themselves, or that constituted authority will endeavor to make them do so. Tho dangers are of a different character altogether, and they are real enough to excuse us sug gestmg that Mr Paul and his friends should keep them always in mind without vexing their souls about the likelihood of occurrences haring no more substance than evil dreams. One of these dangers is that tho ready sponso of the people to the new system may be interpreted by official and other jingoes into justification for plunging into what they consider the 4 4 duty of the Dominion to the Empire ” and entangling us in various undertakings—naval and military—for gratification of their own delusions and personal ambitions. Another danger is tho ever-present one of something like a military caste developing in our midst, and of the democratic basis on which our system now rests becoming in time obscured, and perhaps destroyed. To check these dangers tho community will require much vigilance, but in a country so accustomed to self-government as this, we feel certain that they will bo averted as successfully as have been other evils inherent in our method of controlling national affairs.