The New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1917. THE NEW BRIGADE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9623, 31 March 1917, Page 6

The New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1917. THE NEW BRIGADE

Sir James Allen’s zeal lias ofEcrcd a new strength to the Dominion’s army in the field, but his discretion, if ho has any, ought to have firmly said l“No.” It appears that there is an accumulation of reinforcements somewhere in England. The men were the reinforcements ■ intended for the firing lino in due course. But the due course of war did not make gaps' enough in the firing line to accommodate them. The reinforcements, therefore, after their long voyage and their perfection of training, find themselves without the occupation for which they were sent from our shores. Instead, therefore, of being somewhere in Franco, at the present moment, they are somewhere in England. Instead' of usefully fighting the enemy, they are ornamentally practising their drill, which, being perfect, requires no further exercise. Like coach horses in had weather that blocks roads, they are eating their heads off. The sight of these men in this unfortunate condition of happiness stirred the fiery zeal of Sir James Allen. In them ho saw the opportunity for adding to the strength of the army in the field and the glory of New Zealand; all without asking for volunteers, or consulting Parliament or asking the Finance Minister for a single penny additional. Zeal and economic instinct thus appealed to, the War Minister of New Zealand offered the perfectly-trained military windfall to the Empire. Another brigade marches into camp. It is no longer somewhere in England; it lives somewhere in Franco; and great is the cleverness of the great Bashaw who has manufactured it out of nothing. These are the reflections on the side of zeal. Discretion sees the other side. It is the side of fact. Hard, undonying, practical fact. For one moment the eye of Sir James seems to have travelled along that line; of vision; Ho saw the obvious objection, and stayed in the line just long enough to allow his natural optimism—of course, ho is the champion optimist of the Dominion, who would never be able to spell '‘dismal” if ho lived twice as long as Mothnsalch—to find the answer. The objection, of course, is that this new force will increase the monthly demand for reinforcements. Like alt other forces, it has to take its chances in the field. Like other forces, it must lose men, by high explosive, by shrapnel, by machine fire, by cold steel, by frostbite, by sunstroke, by fever, by any of the thousand

deadli.uesses of which the .soldier in the held and in the trench has to run the gauntlet. Obviously there must bo an increased drain 'on us for reinforcements. But the. well-known AHenic optimism refuted this objection in the twinkling of an eye. As soon as the objection caught his eye on hia travel along the line of discussion, ho was ready, master of himself and the fate of ths newly-discovered Brigade. Says ho, promptly, “It will require no addition to the reinforcements” What! The new Brigade will go through the fortuno of war seathlossr It will not have a single man fall out on the march? Not one will be sent to hospital even with the measles? What splendid optimism 1 If only it were well-founded the Empire would end the war without losing a man, no matter how long it might last. What charm has our champion optimist discovered for making the men immune to shot, even against the silver bullets of the enemy? Why does he not serve out rations of the charm to all the troops besides the now brigade? Why not tost this optimism to the very utmost? Wo arc loth to discourage tlie optimistic virtues, but really this instance does socm something too much. Sir James Allen should reflect upon the possible consequences of an error of judgment. "When the new Brigade presents gaps, it will ask to have them filled up- Sir James will, as War Minister, back up their demand. Ho will do it by talking of our duly and that sacred promise of the last man and the last shilling. He will not be able to do anything else, and then a hard, censorious world will say things about the success of that statement that no additional reinforcements would bo entailed. It might even ho hinted that his zeal to add to tho glory of New Zealand outran his discretion,' which' ought not to have ignored the known truth. Men of tho pettifogging type might go so tar as to roundly declare that the new brigade was obtained by false pretences. Sir James Allen’s only possible reply would bo that tho very existence of the' now brigade is proof that tho ratio of reinforcements has been placed too high, and, therefore, that as tho reinforcements have not been absorbed by due course of war, they can ho safely added to tho field force, which, with'the addition, .will'bo kept up to full strength by a smaller ratio of reinforcement. But the answer is obvious. Tho waste of war cannot be regarded as a matter of ratio. An army will lose nothing near tho ratio perhaps for . months, and then one day’s battle will leave all ratios far behind. Prudence requires us to consider the new brigade not as a force that, having escaped the hazard of war, is available for immediate use, but as a margin big enough to meet tho demands of the worst possible battle.

It comes ,to this. If wc want to add to our contribution in men we must face the question fairly, arguing it, if argument is necessary ; on its merits, without any blinking of the facts, without exaggerations, without inordinate optimism, without even the uubreezy optimism of Sir Janies Allen. Facing the facts, wo have to weigh the case of the Second Division, the married men who have given hostages to fortune, and, according to universal practice and for the best interest of the nation, are kept from battle service as long as possible. Now, the country is meeting its war obligations in the field magnificently well. Its sacrifice is as great as the sacrifice in men according to population as Great Britain’s, and proportionately greater than the sacrifice of any other State of the Empire. Patriotism, especially patriotism of the most exalted, is not a matter of bargain and barter, it is not a thing to be judged by tho principles of the huckster. That is eminently true. Nevertheless, the pull of patriotism should be controlled by prudential considerations. Of these, the highest is that our strength must not bo used at once in a single effort, or at a rat© which may fall behind. the duration of tho war. Our strength must he conserved to ensure its fittest use. That is really what wo undertook when we offered the fullest /extent of all our resources. It is so because that is tho only way in which these resources can be made properly available. Wo must have strength in reserve for the last great push of the war. In case of such, a push it will be a hard push, and inexorable and decisive. Increase of our effort now would seriously diminish that vitally necessary last reserve.