The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 1915.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3196, 16 June 1915, Page 51

The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 1915.) THE WEEK.

"Jfunquam allud natura, allud saplentla dixit.** —Juvenal. “Good nature and good sense most ever Join.”—» POFA ' . ■ “The tale is in every Englishman’s mouth,” writes Thackeray The Centenary in “Vanity Fair,” “and of Waterloo. you and I, avlio were children when the great battle was won and lost, are never tired of hearing and recounting the history of that famous action. Its remembrance rankles still in the bosoms of millions of tho countrymen of those brave men who lost the day. They, pant for an opportunity of revenging that humiliation; and, if a contest, ending in a victory on their part, should ensue, elating them in their turn and leaving its cursed legacy of hatred and rage behind to us, there is no end to the so-called glory and shame, and to the alternations of successful and unsuccessful murder in winch two high-spirited nations might engage. Centuries hence wo Frenchmen and Englishmen might be boasting and killing each other still, carrying out bravely the devil’s code of honour.” This was written in 1848, 33 years after tha battle of Waterloo, the centenary of which will be celebrated throughout the British Empire on Friday. When, this, time last year, there was a great expectation in the breast of every Briton anent the celebration of so glorious a victory 7 , everyone assumed that it would be possible to look back over a hundred years and, while rejoicing at so triumphant a termination to the Napoleonic wars, also rejoice over the maintenance of that world peace which the fall of Bonaparte had so gladly ushered in. But, alas! between June 18, 1914. and the August 4th following—only a matter of seven or eight weeks —there suddenly developed on the part of Germany an arrogant and aggressive, attitude which once more plunged Europe into the throes of a devastating war. Thus the celebration of the centenary of the battle of Waterloo secs Brussels In the bauds of a Germany which, hating Croat Britain with a bitter hatred, is descending to all manner of barbarous warfare to achieve victory 7. And so altered is the inter--, national situation, that the French, our old enemies, are now fighting with us. against our old allies the Prussians. In the light of these remarkable developments, Thackeray’s narrative reads strangely; but it is worth recording. ‘‘All day long, whilst the women were nraying 10 mdes away, the lines of the dauntless English infantry were receiving and repelling the

arious charges of the French horsemen, tuns which were heard at Brussels were toughing up their ranks, and comrades filing, and tlie resolute survivors closing i. Towards evening the attack of the Tench, repeated and resisted so bravely, lackened in its fury. They had other oes besides the British to engage, or were preparing for a final onset. It came at ast; the columns of the Imperial Guard narched up the hill of St. Jean, at length nd at once to sweep the English from the might which they had maintained all lay’; and, spite of all, unscared by the hunder of the artillery, which hurled leath from the English line, the dark oiling column pressed on and up the lull, t seemed almost to crest the eminence, vhen it began to waver and falter. Then t stopped, still facing the shot. Then at ast the English troops rushed from the )Ost from which no enemy had been able o dislodge them, and the Guard turned ind fled.”

Che last hundred years has made a won-

The Change in Modern Warfare.

derful change in the conditions of warfare, and this may vividly be illustrated bv a comparison between

ihe battle of Waterloo and the vell-nigh continuous battles which have ieen waged in France and 1’ landers mr [he past 10 months. At Waterloo the ,vho]e force which, under W ellington and Blucher, arrested the advance of Napoleon was not quite two and a-third hundred jhonsand men, with rather more than 500 "Tuns. Of this allied army only about 18 >er cent, came from the British. Islands, ind of that 18 per cent: a very large projortion were Irish. According to v<">v well, the force commanded by the Duke of Wellington was ‘‘with few exceptions at ‘<n’een army,’ comprising British. Hanoverian, and Belgian troops. As Thomas Hardy in “The Dvnasts,” makes Wellington himself declare when reminded that the' Austrian and Russian armies could hot possibly reach the field of battle in time to be of any use; sfes, faith; and ’tis a pity. But, by God, Blucher, I think, and I can make a shift To do the business without troubling em— Though I’ve an infamous army, that s tne g?- truth, — , . . ~ Weak, and but ill-equipped—and what s as bad, A damned, unpractised staff. Napoleon's army, on the other hand, was just under one hundred and a-quaiter thousand, men strong, or just over half the total number of its opponents. It had, however, a heavier proportion of guns, which were two-thirds as numerous as those it had to meet. Rut, as Maxwell points out, ‘‘while the Trench army exceeded the Duke of Wellington’s in number, in its composition it was still more superior. The elements for its construction were ready for Napoleon s use, for the country was overrun with soldiers w—men, according to Duvaish s term, ‘whose trade was war, and whose battles [were as many as their years, 1’ rom the moment the return of the Emperor was Announced these veterans hurried to his Standards. To organise a practised soldiery was comparatively an easy task; and hence the army with, which Napoleon Crossed the frontier, as far as numbers went, was equal to any that he had ever [directed on a battlefield. That commanded bv Lord W ellington was formed of very different materials. A mixed force, ‘hastily collected and imperfectly put together, what unity of operation could be expected in the hour of trial from men whose languages were unknown ||6 each other, whose dresses were an familiar to the eye, whose efficiency was untried, and whose courage and ffnelitv were doubtful? The greater part of the Peninsular soldiers had been, unfortunately, removed beyond recall. Half the regiments in Belgium were, therefore, second battalions composed of militia men and recruits; and of the contingent troops many were hut recently embodied and few had ever been under fire. And yet, with this indifferent army, inferior in numbers, in discipline, in equipment, and in artillery, did the Duke of Wellington accomplish a triumph unparalleled even in the series of his own achievements.”

This encouragement from the record of

The Encouragement of History.

history should stand the British Empire in good stead in the time of trial and stress through which

it is tailed upon to pass. From the point of view of preparedness for war, whether in the matter of size of armies, weight of artillery, or accumulation of munitions, neither ■Great Britain nor, indeed, any of the allied nations was u’n a position to compete with Germany. Great as was the miracle of the battle of Waterloo, compounded of the genius of ■Wellington and the dogged bravery of the •British soldier, still greater was the miracle which, compounded of the genius of Joffre and French, allied to the brilliant dash of the French army and the unconquerable imperturbability of r .ho British “Tommy,” during these long months has held the German invader at bay in France and Flanders. Russia, although greatly handicapped and discouraged by some serious reverses, has put in some solid work; and now Italy has plunged into the fight and is scoring some initial successes. For the nonce the onward march of the Allies has been checked for lack of explosives: but the appeal of the Minister of Munitions for a deluge of shells that can be rained upon the enemy for 40 days and 40 nights seems likely to ho responded to with cheerful alacritv, “The more shells, the surer and speedier will be the victory,” is the motto under which the people of Great Britain are getting to work. Factories all over the land are being transformed into war factories, where munitions may he manufactured, and woe be to the factory owner who places obstacles in the way of the necessary transformation. For the moment shell-makers and skilled engineers are in greater demand than soldiers, and everybody is being requisitioned to assist in the national.

undertaking. “1 am asking you,” said Mr Lloyd George, addressing at Bristol a great gathering of people belonging to industries in the West of England concerned with the manufacture of war munitions —“1 am asking you to plant your flag in your workshops, to convert your lathes and machinery into battalions which will drive the foe from the lands they have tortured, trampled upon, and disgraced, and see liberty again enthroned.’' The Minister of Munitions seems to have at last reached the heart of the nation, and by taking the responsibility from the shoulders of the employers and laying it upon the individual worker he has set machinery in motion which will see this thing through. The memory of the 10,COO officers and of the 250,000 men who have already suffered disablement or. death in this cruel war has stirred industrial Britain to the highest pitch; and ere long the British soldiers in the trenches should be able to follow up the forward movement which the French have already initiated. And, should the reported recovery of the Rusianss have foundation in fact, the whole war may, ere the summer has passed, put on quite a new complexion. Whatever be the immediate issue, it is encouraging to know that the Homeland is at length waking up to the real seriousness of the situation.

The bulletins this week have lengthened

New Zealand's Death Roll.

sadly the casualty list of the New Zealanders fighting in the Dardanelles; and

the number of killed, wounded, and missing totals nearly 2500, a very heavy percentage of the entire force, and a vivid commentary on the desperate nature of the fighting. Of these, more than 4CO officers and men are reported among the killed and over 150 as missing, intelligence which will make mourning in many homes and create a pathetic number of widows, orphans, bereaved mothers and fathers, and stricken relations. Among the nearly 2000 wounded men there is/ happily, a considerable number whose wounds are slight and who will soon be able to return tO' the firing line. But with an ever-increasing casualty list and no sign of a cessation of fighting, but rather the reverse, it follows that the needs of the dependents and of the disabled will be very great. There are two lines of duty clearly open to the people of New Zealand, and it is gratifying to be able to report that the community as a whole is realising its responsibilities adequately and fully. The first duty is to keep up the reinforcements in order that the gaps made at the front may be properly filled. The news of the havoc made in the ranks of our men by the Turkish fire has stimulated the recruiting, and especially has Otago risen to the occasion. There need be little fear but that from now on the stream of recruits will be sufficient. The second duty is to raise a sum of money .largo enough to make ample provision, not only for the wounded, but as supplement to the pensions given by the Government to the dependents of those who have fallen in action or who have lost their lives while on service for their country. Here again the activities set in motion for . the purpose of raising funds are being entered upon with most commendable energy, and are being seconded by the public in the most cheerful and generous fashion. In short, there is every evidence that the people of New Zealand are living up to their reputation of being among the most loyal and patriotic in the Empire.