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Otago Daily Times, Issue 17081, 13 August 1917, Page 9

It is satisfactory to know that the Otago Expansion League and the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce are determined that the question of the conditions under which the lands of Central Otago are held shall be brought directly under the notice of Government with the view of securing, if possible, such a modification of the tenure as may contribute to the restoration of the country to a more favourable state, if not to its natural state. We are afraid that the time has passed when it would-be possible, except at a cost winch might be regarded as prohibitive, to bring back the country to the state of fertility that is remembered by persons who resided there 25 or 30 years ago. There is, however, nothing impracticable about the idea that, provided the terms of the tenure of the land are such as will encourage the holders to improve the areas in their occupation and as will admit of land being "spelled," and provided also that effective measures are taken 'to check and eventually suppress the rabbit pest, the country can bo brought back to such a state as will immensely increase its carrying capacity and its general productiveness. Such considerations as were advanced by Mr W. D. Hunt in the valuable address which he delivered a few weeks ago and as were supplemented by Mr C. Todd in the instructive remarks which he made at a conference on the subject on Saturday night encourage the belief that, under a favourable form of tenure Central Otago would become once more, in the course of a comparatively few vears' a highly prosperous pastoral country.* The suggestion that a Royal Commission should be appointed to advise the Government as to the steps that should be adopted to increase the productive capacity of the land should generally commend itself to the community, which cannot be indifferent to a matter that so vitally affects the welfare of the whole provincial district and necessarily also, of the dominion as a ] whole.

While the task before the Military Service Boards has never been wholly devoid of difficulties it is now becoming increasingly beset with problems, which demand serious Mid careful consideration. With the exception, perhaps, of one or two sittings in the very early days of the administration , of the Act, when a small proportion of appellants sought to gain exemption on more or less flimsy grounds the time of the boards has been mainly devoted to the consideration of claims which either merited a varying degree of favourable treatment or were genuinely thought by the appellants to be fully justified. It has, in fact, been a gratifying circumstance that the number of men who have endeavoured, by application to the boards, to evade their duty, or even to postpone on trivial grounds the date of their enrolment for active service, has bean remarkably grrmll

m proportion to the number 'who had, or thought they had, a just claim to consideration. A stage has now been Teached, however, when the reservists whose appeals were adjourned sine die or until the exhaustion of the First Division was drawing near are being asked to appear again before the boards in order that their cases may bo reviewed, so that as many as possible may be included in the reinforcement drafts before it is necessary to make a call on. the Second Division. When the appeals of these men were , first dealt "with many of them were adjourned on grounds which were probably legitimate at that time, the majority of the appellants being, by reason of their individual circumstances or liabilities, in a position that was practically analagous to that of reservists in the Second Division. This was particularly the case of those men who, after they had been rejected as volunteers, assumed financial or other responsibilities only to find that, when drawn by ballot, they were passed as fit.

The Military Service Boards have, whereever possible, dealt with marked consideration with appellants who, having been rejected in the first place, aa medically unfit, have been, as it were, tempted to incur responsibilities which they might not otherwise have undertaken. In doing so they have, in effect, indicated that they recognised a weakness in the Act in the respect that it contained no provision under which the hardships imposed upon reservists of this class might be met. Now that the boards are reviewing the cases of the men to whom an extension of time was granted before a decision should be arrived at it is being found that in the majority of instances the position has undergone little alteration since the appellants first appeared before the boards. As, however, the exigencies of the military situation have become more acute, the members of the boards are finding it necessary—reluctant though they may be—to deal more stringently wtith these cases, many of which are, in themselves, cases of considerable hardship. In this connection reference may be made to a point of importance to the appellant whose case has bean deferred, especially in view of the experience of a reservist whose unfortunate plight was described in our local columns on Saturday. It has now been arranged that where an appellant was not medically examined within a period of three months prior to the final dismissal of his appeal he shall be required to undergo* a further medical examination before leaving for camp, and it is advisable, as appellants in Central Otago were warned last week, that this examination should be completed before the reservist makes such dispositions as may be necessary for going abroad. The significance of the attirnde of the boards towards the postponed appeals which have come under review should be generally apparent, for it may be interpreted as foreshadowing more directly, and therefore more poignantly than hitherto, the increasing sacrifices that.will have to be made by the people of this dominion. The full severity of the strain cannot, however, be accurately gauged until a call has been made upon the men of the Second Division.

Well, Lord French, I have survived to be your guest this evening." Sixteen years ago, if a prophet had ventured to foreshadow the scene in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords on May 15 last when members of both Houses of Parliament gave a dinner in honour of General Smuts, with Field-marshal Lord French in the chair, it is probable that he would have met with scant credence. Not even all the past, experiences of what British reasonableness and integrity can achieve m the way of reconciliation could have quite prepared the mind for the developments wliicli have taken place in- Soufih Africa since 1901, when General Smuts ( with consummate bravery and ability," to quote the testimony of the opposing commander) Jed the Boer forces in Cape Colony. The diners in the Royal Gallery must have felt the thrill of dramatic contrasts as they listened to these distinguished soldiers and quondam foes exchanging reminiscences, touched with the salt of half-ironic humour, but, as is clear even in the cold print of a newspaper report, also marked with the sure stamp of candid sincerity. "Personally," said Lewd French, "I do not know which I am proudest of, having crossed swords with him, or fought by his side. Both as an opponent and as a friend he has taught us all great lessons." The Boers were worthy foemen and clean fighters, and the following emphatic tribute indirectly indicates one reason why it would never be possible for British and German leaders to indulge amicably and honourably in mutual memories of the present war

The British army has, as I hope and believe, fairly earned a reputation for conductmg war with that generous chivalry which can alone justify it in the eyes of civilisation, and I rejoice to look back into the past, and to realise how our enemy of that timo, commanded by such men as Botha and Smuts, continually vied with us in the constant maintenance of tiiose finer sentiments which bravo enemies should ever cultivate.

In the course of a remarkable speech, at once racy and profound, General Smuts made timely allusion to the anti-monarchic fallacies recently put forward by Mr H. G. Wells and other crotchetty theorists. Himself formerly a citizen of a republic, constrained to come under the British Crown, he told his bearers that the hereditary kingship was a roost potent factor in relation to the solidarity of the Empire. Ho emphasised the impracticability (apart from other considerations) of trying to mako a republic of the British commonwealth of nations.

If you had to elect a President, he would have to bo a President not only here m these islands, but all over the British iy •pivc~~in India, and in the dominions— resident who would bo really representative of all theso peoples; and hero you would bo facing an absolutely insoluble problem. The theory of the Constitution is that the King is not your but the King of all of us, ruling over every part of the whole conunon•T°i ♦ nations of the Empire; and i his place should bo taken by anybody elso then that somebody will have to bo clected under a process which will pass the wit of man to devise. Let us be thankful for mercies. Wo havo a kingship hero which is really not very different from a hereditary republic.

Prominent subjects do not directly praise the Sovereign in public speech; otherwise General Smuts might have pointed out that the force of bis argument was' enhanced by consideration of King George's admirable conduct and bearing— no t ort ]y blameless but actively virtuous in the best kind of kingly virtue—during this troublous and testing epoch.