LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16589, 12 January 1916, Page 2

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

MILITARY LEAVE. SrR, —Without for a moment wishing to indulge in captious criticism, it appears to rne matter fot- complaint that Dunedin and Southland men granted leave from the military camp near Featherston, for tho purposo of visiting their relatives, should bo restricted to 14 days, whilst men belonging to the Wellington province are allowed the same term. The friends of tho Wellington men have thus distinct pull in this, matter compared with th ■ friends of those south of the Waitaki, certainly to the extent of two or more days, and it appears to me that tho time occupied in reaching the southern district and returning to the camp should be added to the usual 14 days' furlough granted by tho military authorities. Assuring you that this view_ of the matter is strongly held by those -immediately interested. —I am, etc., Pateb. Dunedin, January 11. INEFFICIENCY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE. Sie,—The letter m this morning's Daily Times by "Watchdog" hits tho nail on tho head. For a long time I have felt conscious that, as he says, "departmental heads are making everything as awkward as possible for the Massey Government." It is a notorious fact that previous Governments provided situations for many utterly incapable men, and that these men have been kept on in the public service by the Massey Government, most of them being sheltered at Wellington. I agree with your correspondent "Watchdog" that a cleaning up of tho Public Service officials would prove immensely satisfactory not only to tho Government but to the country. I wish to refer to one special department which for obvious reasons I will not name. It looks as if the majority of its staff were utterly unqualified for their work. Correspondence is behind hand; it is acknowledged that f° ur to six weeks are required to get an answer from this department. Ked-tapeism is rampant, and the utter helplessness of tho whole department is manifest at every turn. The Minister in charge is extremely loyal to his staff, too much so. Loyalty to subordinates is a very excellent thing, but the replacing of incapable subordinates by efficient officers is a better tiling still. If the department .is under-staffed,_ there is no reason why it should remain so. Any ■ number •>! efficient clerks can cosily be obtained without entrenching upon those of military age. What this department needs is tho placing of a couple of well-trained business men at the head of its clerical section, men who have tho organising ability to bring order out of chaos, and to place on a proper footing as a business concern a department which now is universally held up. to ■ contempt, as an example of incapacity triumphant. Threo days ago a cablegram from Koine appeared stating that the British Government had appointed a Royal Commission to inquire into its war contracts. If our New Zealand Government will follow this example, I think the results are likely to justify the appointment —that is, if one can believe what the "mail in the street" says. In these times we cannot afford to have inefficients in responsible positions, and tho Minister will find himself supported by tho people as a whole, if he disposes of a number of his "Government-stroke" officials and replaces them with sharp, shrewd, . welltrained accountants and business men who would lick his department into shape on its clerical side, making things a great deal easier for himself and entirely more satisfactory for the people at laxge. The general principle raised by "Watchdog" is one that merits some prominence at the present time.-— I am, etc.. January 11. Masseyite. WHY CONSCRIPTION? Sib, —I am not open lor a newspaper controversy, lor various reasons, but tor one reason especially, that 1 will ask you to allow me to state, xn.ic reason is that very few correspondents tal:e tne trouble to distinguish between lacts and fancies, between what is reality and what is merely an ideal. .Let mo give one or two illustrations. For example, l quote irom memory, the sentiment oi Lord Deroy, and it is reproduced in part as it it were my own. Again, because Britain is lighting for tho same end, along with a majority ol conscript nations, against a minority of conscript nations, it is assumed that "Britain is resigned to the admission tnat, it one powenul nation adopts conscription, its neighbours must do likewise or perisnl" Then, the question if asked, and answered, "If Britain were not divided from tne Continent by the sea, would her vaunted voluntaryism be the vogue to-day? To that there can be one answer—No." Adopting the same style of reasoning, some other person nngnt ask, "If the sun were as cold and dead as the ir.oon, would cither conscription or voluntaryism be in vogue on earth? To that there can bo but one answer —No." Further, it is said that "tho fanciful ideals enumerated Iby 'J. I. C.' are very fino to read, but this is not the time for kid-glove ideals." "Fanciful ideals!" What were they? They were: (1) That civil liberty is tho sublimest national fact in the world to-day, and is tho corner-stone of tho Const.itut.on of the British Empire; (2) that every true-hearted Briton is proud of this fact, inasmuch, as it is the highest expression of the genius and devotion oi our people, and ments whole-hearted loyalty; (3) that the results of civil liberty in this world crisis have been at once almost incredibly great and inspiring, forming abasia for the highest hopes of still better things to come; and (4) that thoso who have called for compulsion have not only failed to suggest any method whereby oi.r people might naturally reach the highest heights of their own development, but definitely confused the situation by their clamour, created disruptive influences where unity was a primal and desirable requirement, and proclaimed themsleves bankrupt in faith, unless revolution with a German flavour is effected. These huge realities, Sir. are complacently dubbed "fanciful ideals!" Hence, to attempt to elucidate a great and vital question by spending one's strength in clearing up such 1 statements would. I am inclined to believe, be a waste of your spibce and of my time. What, Sir, is tho absurdity of tho position

of most conscription advocates? It is die monumental assumption that voluntaryism baa failed, that Britain ought to adopt conscription boeause her allies are conscript nations, that conscription -would operate liKo a magician's wand, placing millions of men at the front in a few weeks, and bringing a glorious victory just at our convenience, eta Jt is so easy to believe in the magician's wand, and so difficult to grapple with an almost unthinkablo problem. Must it be hammered into the heads of intelligent men that the British system of government haJ weathered the storm for 17 months, has revealed powers of adjustment to utterly unheard of conditions, which have amazed and outreachcd even the most sanguine amongst us (amazing, too, rnethinks, the miraculously prepared for), and still holds on its unique and triumphant way to a glorious issue?. British Imperial life is like the rising tide of the ocean, whose waves form crests and hollows, but whose whole movement is upward. Conscription cannot produce officer* by the thousand, train and equip men by the million, turn _ the constitution of a country upside down in a few weeks or months, i If it is not political madness, it is a very near approach to it to attempt, in a world crisis, to rule Britons on German lines—men whose mothers' milk was seasoned with the love of freedom. As for the assumption that Britain ought to adopt conscription because her allies, are conscriptioniste, well, Sir, wa ought to fight to the very utmost where our honour is pledged and where tho very existence of friendly Powers is in imminent peril; but it'is monstrous to suggest that, because we have done so, we must stab our British life at the heart. Our Empire, while being true to others, must not bo told that it ought ,to be false to its own highest life. That is Daily Mail doctrine; that is Ger-manic-British doctrinc. That is doctrine that ends in Kaiscrism, mailed fistism, Prussian militarism, not in British Imperial life. Its own highest life. But do I not see that Britain's highest life, and 'whole life are at stake? For £0 years, Sir, I have had an intuition of this very thing. I have felt, in a sense I might say I have known, that the spirit evolving itself in Britain, and the spirit evolving itself in Germany, were fiercely and irreconcilably antagonistic to each other. At the same time I was quite aware that Germanism was not all confined to the German Empire. But I have been surprised, and sometimes distressed, to find how readily mitny Britons are to forget the rock whence they were hewn and the way by which they have come—how ready to tlee to a form of arrested development for safety and salvation. " Lord God of Hosts, be with js yet; lest we forget." Providence has been, and is being, kind in this connection. If the finger of God can be seen by us, Ho is making it plain. How is Ho doing so? In New Zealand about 40.000 men have volunteered. Behind thesu stand a body of men who have set it down in black and white that they are Willing to serve in any civil or military position they are fitted lor —109,(XX) of them. In Britain a million of men are at tho front (four times the standing* army of 17 months ago), and several hundreds of thousands must be in training, and 2,832,000 have enlisted under Lord Derby's scheme. Besides those now •' in training, one million and a-half of these enlisted men are required during the next 12 months. Yet in face of these gigantio facts, persons in the Home Land, as well as in New Zealand, are clamouring for oonscription, instead of explaining these numbers, and commending the spirit that has made them actualities, and using every legitimate means of inspiring other men to " go and do likewise." Oh, but it would take _ months to arrange ■ for .an educative and inspirational campaign 1 How ridiculous men can be! It has been done since August, 1914, spasmodically, and as the spirit moved individuals; and it is being done by public-spirited parties now. What we need is national, scientific, faith-inspired work. Setting ourselves for one whole year to teach our young men, and .to awaken tho hero in those who have not yet felt the spell, will produce results worth working for, will give ineligibles an active share in the great cause, will do a service for freedom that will benefit and set an example for those who must succeed us. Wisdom, Sir, calls in every part of; our Empire for evolution, and resolution; for true British persuasion, not conscription; for men who are volunteers, not men who' are forced; for Britain holding on in the way that Providence makes plain and glorious, not in the way that has led Germany into savagery and the delusion of superman-and-superrace-ism. Yes, but thia is only compulsion and force for a time. We are constantly meeting persons, full of 1 the best intentions, who are willing to sell their heritage for a me6s of pottage, who lose their life by trying to find it. —I am, etc., J. I. 0. January 11. THE NOXIOUS WEEDS ACT. TO THE EDITOIi. . I beg to draw your attention to the under-noted provisions of "Tno Noxioua Weeds Act, j.b1)8," and "'Noxious Weeds Amendment Act, 1910," and to remind yon that unless - effective measures are takea to comply with its requirements, as regards tne noxious wee eta on the land (including roads, if any) of which you are deemed to be the occupier in'terms of the Act, you are liable to a prosecution: without further notice. Kindly give tho matter your immediate attention. Sik,—The above notice, from the Department of Agriculture, makes very pleasant reading at the present tune, when the farmers are driven to distraction to know how to get their work done, when it is not possible to get a single hand to do anything. The Peninsula, has sent something like 1(J0 men to the war, and yet tho Government! issues such nioely-worded notices to farmers requiring them to out thistles. It is a pity that the Government could not send a few of the available inspectors to the war, instead of worrying the 60ul out of the farmers at the present time. Moreover, I understood the Peninsula was exempt from the requirement to cut thistles, as it is purely dairying land. —I am, etc., Highcliff, January 11. _ Peninsula.