EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10773, 23 May 1911, Page 1

EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

'l'iji: ii;nf lias irono oi' Uit» leather and the yold */!r Fawltiscn Jace.oimilitarism. We !'.7i]|iai-yseri'is3. have disposed of mili- .«- - ■'■-•-• liu-isni in the obifcct tollable sense and. substitutedthe duty in the soldjer plainly performed. 'J'h'e right tiling to do is to reco-jmse the t:h:tn<iO and abide by it loyally. vi'u|ii;< ; •opinion is free about ei iticisilii; the details of what we have. Heaven forbid

tlcit.it- should not! But -freedom "of criticism. does riot excuse . tliu piojwsal made in the north the other <lsi>-- ■ tliiit all the young men covered by the ; j'hH of .service should "'strike" against.: the law, icfusing to obey. Where, we may :isk.in---passing, nre the. ideals of these hoys who talk in this fashion ? Is there in their: eye an enemy more formidable than the football referee who decides against, their side-and lias to : submit'to public : scurrility? Do they ever read the records of their time ?" If they do b,oiv is it that they cannot seethe imminent fact of war? We. do not mean imminent in the sense of today, or even perhaps_to-morrow, though of that tliere may easily be two opinions, but of the thing that one day u-jll be upon this Dominion which will. Have to iiglit for the"-liberty of her sons and the honor of "her daughters and tlie religion of the fathers' arid mothers of the'land. We will not add to the argument we based the other day oh the aspirations of the Japanese Count Oktuna for the spread of Japanese colonisation into all the countries of the earth. AVe. mention it merely .to remind, our readers that the eyes of' the most powerful, formidable, and progressive of the yellow peoples are set oil the best countries of the temperate zone which arc in British hands,- and for the most part in the'occupation of none. In this matter of alertness. Mr Fowlds has given a good example in the' speech - he recently delivered, on the forces and the obligation of the service they represent. -He understands, that if the law which requires all meri to turn out at the call of the Dominion in the hour of danger is to be anything but a prelude to a general massacre of the flower of our youth by practised killers, the onlv thing to do is to train the material liable- to this patriotic summons. Thus patriotism will be not onlv theoretic, but practical. It will not be reach' only to bo killed, lint it will be able to kill a good many of the enemy. It will be a force instinct with the patriotic spirit, every c.i.tizen .rceog, nisiii" his'obligation to the land of his fathers and proud to fulfill the same Patriotism under the lighting flag, will shine with a new "and more imposing lustre., and men will hear with quickened pulses of-the determination to maintain a white New Zealand in the proud-as-surance that the honor of that motto can be safelv left in their keeping. As Kitchener said; tl* other day ot the Scout movement, it will break down class distinction, raise the public spnit and improve the. nation both moral > and physically; promoting the ideals of comrad'erv. discipline, and ,-esourcefuluess. Tlie Scout idSils, said the .greatest of our soldiers, are "the highest Christianity .and- patriotism. LJie same precisely .may be .said of the mili-tary-training of the. men who recognise their duty to the fatherland and d'o it cheerfully arid, with thoroughness of spirit. We shall have, belore manv years a quarter of a million men and "bovs imbued with this spirit, niicl. r-s Lord Kitchener .said-.-of the million Scouts who will be on the rolls shortly in Britain, we shall be -is proud of them as thev will have the right to be of themselves. Mr Fowlds developed this line with logical power worthy of the patriotic spiritand practical wisdom for which he is remarkable. It is. he warned us. a matter-, of money. But the -cost is- small in - -iynw of the result which is to save the country from the unspeakable and unthinkable thiiu/s which successful invasion by Asiatic hordes will bring in its train. This is the right spirit in which to discuss the military problem among us. !Mr Fowlds deserves the thanks of the country for the opportune manner in which he has taken up the subject. .

It is invigorating to see the energy with which the settlors and

"East.Coast members of the North ; Railway Matters Island •■ an- pirshingi in the North, their interests tor'; .-_•:-- ' road and rail for--■ward ('vci'.v . uinmeiit they ran set during the recess free from their private engagements. Tin* latest is the self-appointed coihniission wjiie.li has. just made-a-journey to one of the ports .of ".the Bay of Plenty,-three days' march from Waihi. -.-A bird's-eye view it -was, cliiefly of a shaking- morass. But that did not prevent instant recognition of the merits of the E.C.K. Let us remember those are ■ all "experts." Time - was when the country in question, was declared to he quite unfit for railway enterprise. But the time lias changed. We are sincerely glad to hear it. for the sake of the people interested, because it.shows that when they-pull together-with sufficient determination even the powers of nature come round to their-ways of thinking. They appear to do this in the north independent of political xoljor. In: the south Nature is/-less accommodating Here, only the power: of the Opposition side of politics is of avail in the natural domain. For example, a railway— Roxburgh' way—was once declared to be about- to be -made through a--coun-try unfit for producing revenue, and that railway was- virtuously-struck off the list "of -'Government works. But the Opposition "ot hold-of the business and they got their jugglers and medicine men to perform the usual strings of platitudes, and, lo! the country round about declared that the line would pay well enough to justify construction, and the Government, impressed by the verdict of the conquered, and convinced Nature gave way? That line is now going ahead like a house on fire.- There are persons who declare that if it goes on a. million billions of years it will never find enough grease 1 to : lubricate the wheels without calling for the. help of the Consolidated "Fi"i|id. But that is mere rabid"nonsense", of course. In the same manner the dusty antiquity of the Governmcrit'House'at Auckland was among the things not doubtful once, lint now it is in the youth and elegance, of the charming domicile which tells, and the archaic simplicity of its details is the most delightful thing on this earth. Whether the same tendencv to be impartial will be extended by "bountiful Nature to the South Island in the fulness of time we may, if we are to judge by the performances ni' Liie prist, hesitate to;disch.ss. But as the northerners are - not tumbled" with aiiv problem like -that. "we can only wish them every success—a - rather "Tnir neressory proceeding "it seems—and sit down to watch thenr with the" envy that consumes.- That the Kast Coast railway will pay. and must, therefore, be pushed on. is a. thing which no selfrespecting northerner- woulo -dream of I doubtin" Let "us hot dream.'liad dreams ■ •linef!" ;'.." - . ' V.