The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 1913.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3084, 23 April 1913, Page 47

The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 1913.) THE WEEK.

" Kunquam allud natura, aliud aapiontla dlrit."— JUTJOfAL. “ Good nature and good sense mu»t ever Join."— POPS. Mr Israel Zangwill, who some little time ago took London by storm The War God and with his play, “The War (he War Peril. God,” has just startled the same city with an article contributed to the columns of the Daily Chronicle, entitled “The War Devil,” in which, according to the cabled summary, he “pictures statesmen, mimed with culture, Christianity, and peace, and yet condemned to build, not God’s Kingdom, but the Devil’s.” The satire of the situation is evident to everybody, and yet there seems to be no safe avenue of escape; so both Germany and Great Britain continue to pile up armaments, build more and more powerful battleships, and train all their boys and young men to carry arms. Mr Zangwill goes so far as to declare that “The All-Red Route means the route of blood.” in the sense, of course, that Germany is certain to dispute Great Britain’s attempts to maintain the supremacy of the seas. One of the sanest among the many treatises recently written and published on the Anglo-German problem comes from the pen of Dr Charles Sarolea, the editor of Everyman, and the head of the French Department in the University of Edinburgh. And his concluding words are well worthy of consideration:—“No diplomatic negotiations can alter the fact that the whole fabric of German politics is

based on militarism and Imperialism. If, as tb~} result of some internal difficulty or external contingency, those military and Imperialist motives be allowed to gather strength, then, indeed, the political pessimist is right—war is inevitable. It is not a question _of economic values; it is a question of moral values. It is not a question of diplomatic moves and counter^ moves; it is a question of mental states, a question of ideas and ideals. Once again, then, it is the ideas and the ideals tliat must be fundamentally changed. And those ideals, once changed, all motives for a war between England and Ueimany would vanish as by magic. Bub, a as, ideas and ideals do not change by magic or prestige; they can only change by the slow operation of intellectual conversion. Arguments alone can do it. No banquets, even of journalists, no visits, even by Viscount Haldane, will achieve it. Uniy the systematic education of pub* nc opinion will perform the miracle. Tor wards that political education and con-i version the schools will do—must do—a. gi eat deal in the future. Thev are doing; very little in the present.” The gift of HALS. New Zealand to the Imperial navy, and the The Emblem* establishment of a Terrier P. ace. torial force—both of which. are having substantial materialisation at the present time, —> although in one sense engines of war, are at the same time the best emblems of peace that New Zealanders can in this period parade. Everyone knows that battleships cost money, and that the defence scheme is also a costly business, yet these additional burdens are bravely] borne by the taxpayer because he is conscious that they constitute the best kind of insurance—they are a premium for the maintenance of the pence of the world.It is for this reason—and not for any mere braggadocio—that advantage is being taken of the visit to our shores of this battle cruiser, bo enable as many as is possible of the inhabitants of thai Dominion—men, women, and children—to gaze awe-struck upon this mighty modem fighting machine. This is why the Government is granting free railway, journeys to all the children in the country', districts of Otago to enable them to coma to the Heads and view the vessel. And as the children gaze upon the great, guns and the shining hull the lesson they will learn is this: HALS. New Zealand spells peace to our shores, since it warns the enemy from onr coasts. In the same manner the passing to and fro of thousands of Territorials on their way to the annual camps is not without its meaning and its lessons. It says a great deal for: the loyal and patriotic spirit animating the breasts' of our young men that so early in the development of the defence scheme such camps should be possible* And General Godley is right when he insisted upon these ramps being thus early organised as an integral part of the preliminary training. It is inevitable that a few untoward incidents should occur in connection with the encampment of so many raw and untrained troops—the marvel is that there have not been many more similar occurrences, which are largely the outcome of ignorance, inexperience. and slackness of discipline. After all such incidents in no wise detract from the immense educational value of these encampments. Perhaps in no other wav can our young men be made to feel that they are units in/ a great territorial army, and that tho efficiency of that army depends upon individual prompt obedience to orders and. to personal efficiency, than by the annual holding of these camps. The success of an army in the field depends upon itd morale, and if these corps only aid in creating and maintaining the necessary morale a tremendous sten forward will have been taken. New Zealand mav bq proud to reflect on the foremost, position, she has taken up on such vital matters as contributing to the strength of tho Imperial navy and in raising up and maintaining a sufficient land force to protect her land from the invader. It ia gratifving also to he informed that the Imperial Air Fleet Committee, when offered Mr Hamel’s monoplane as a gift from New Zealand, accepted is as tho first unit of an Imperial air fleet. Mr 1 James Allen, who has just concluded what promises to he a meet successful and inspiring mission in England, said whert leaving London that he hoped the outcome of his interviews with Mr Churchill would he to place New Zealand’s naval defence on a concrete basis, even if the beginnings were small. The whole situation was finely summed up by th« Hon. Arthur Lawley. who, when seconding tho resolution in favour of conscription at Lord Roberts’s reception at Leeds, said that when Canada, Now Zealand, and Australia sought to strengthen their naval and military forces, it was not in a spirit of militarism, but in order that whep England’s voice was raised in the council* of the nations she might be enabled l< insist on peace.”

With the early return of Mr James Aliei to the Dominion interest DnursMc will anew he awakened iK Affairs: domestic affairs During

the recess the Ministers have not been idle, Mr Harries in particular having of late been busily engaged in informing himself as to the needs of the people in Otago and Southland.' Mr Massey has effectually repelled the charges of land aggregation preferred! against his Ministry by Oppostiion iournnlfi. and has specifically shown that whatever aggregation has occurred is traceable to the legislation of the Continuous Ministry. He, for his part, has declared strongly against all preventable land aggregation, and Ins Government may be depended upon to promote perman and profitable settlement by every means in their power. A report ha* been set on foot as to the likelihood of Sir W. being

offered and being willing to accept the Leadership of the Opposition. There can be no doubt that it would be Vi the best interests of _ the Government end of the' country at large it the Opposition were to enrol under a capable leader. And among the Opposition, as at present composed, there is no capab.e leader visible; Mr Hu.-.sell is the onlj possibility, and Mr‘Russell is not acceptable to many of the Opposition members. If Sir W. Hall-Jones is willing to return to the Dominion and uifdergo a Parliamentary -contest in order to win the necessary seat, and if one of the present members can be found willing to resign in order to give Sir W. Hail-Jones the opportunity; and if that gentleman considers that Ins health will stand the strain of ihnhamentary life, with a few more “if s added, there can be little doubt tint a w.s_ selection will have been made. At present the whole thing is so nebulous as staicelv to merit discussion, ihe appointment o Mr E. H. Hiley, Divisional Goous Manager of the North-Eastern • Railway at Newcastle, as General Manager of toe New Zealand Railways will bo bailed with a good deal .of satisfaction. ihe North-Eastern is one of the largest ot the more than 250 railways in the United Kingdom, operating nearly 2000 miles ot permanent way, owning over 2COO locomotives, besides over 100.000 other vehicles, and having nearly 4000 engine-drivers ana firemen in its employ. It may, of course, bo argued, seeing that the salaries paid by the great railway companies in Great Britain to their general managers range as high as £SOOO a year, that it would be difficult to tempt a really first-class naan to come out to New Zealand in a similar capacity. But the position is well explained by the late Mr Charles H. Grinling in his informative volume, “The Ways of Our Railways” : —“ ‘The humblest railway servant, if he does not, like one of Napoleon’s corporals, carry a marshal’s baton in his knapsack, may at least contemplate a field of possible promotion of almost as wide a scope.’ This statement of the late Sir George Findlay, in his book, ‘The Working and Management of an English Railway,’ has been exemplified in the careers of many leading British railwaymen. . . . Quite a number of general managers and other high officials have entered the service as lads in very humble capacities, and even the highest engineering posts have in former days been recruited from the lowest grades. But the tendency of the present day is to require a considerable amount of technical, as well as practical, knowledge from candidates for the leading positions in the various departments, and the avenues of promotion are not so free as they once were. Moreover, the number of high-salaried positions is proportionately very small. There are, for instance, only 110 officers employed by the Loudon and North-Western Railway Company out of a total staff of nearly 83,000. Under such circumstances, whilst promotions to a high rank and a big salary are possible to everyone who enters the railway service, they are, to say the least, improbable of attainment. For the vast majority, railway employment means a steady and rather monotonous grind, not at all magnificently remunerated; and not a few leave it to seek, but not always to find, their fortune in other spheres.”'