WHAT THE WAR MEANS IN MEN.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 210, 9 October 1914, Page 6

WHAT THE WAR MEANS IN MEN.

LORD KITCHENER'S PROPOSAL. PREPARING FOR A LONG CAMPAIGN. What the war will mean to this country in terms of men wanted is shown by a remarkable article in '' The Times" by its military correspondent, in which he shows how Lord Kitchener is preparing for a long war. France Can Do No More. "The country is in for the greatest war of its history, and it'must rise to the height of a great responsibility," says this article. "What is the situation? We are fighting a nation in arms of seventy million people, and we have no good reason to suppose that they have any object in life but to crush us if they can. We have stout allies and many other advantages for which to be thankful, but our two foremost allies, France and Russia, have certain characteristics to which,we must not remain blind. ;.' "France h*a already thrown the whole of her manhood into the war. She can do no more, and except for her new contingent of recruits she cannot even-increase by a man her power in the field. " Russia is a mighty power with immense capacity for defence, but with untried and unproved offensive powers. We may beat back the German attack, but behind the first German line are immense reserves, and we must take it that Germany will fight this fight through, as< the .well-kii'own saying has it, 'to the last breath of man and horse.' • • Chances of a Long War. "In such conditions the war may be long, very long, arid whether tbis turns out to be the case or not it is Lord Kitchener's duty to prepare our land forces so that they may not only second the efforts of our friends by weak 'contingent but may by their steadily expanding numbers and their constantly increasing efficiency enable us to play a part worthy of England in the war and at the peace impose terms most in consonance with our interests. "//, at the pence, there is a iveaTcchcd France, a commanding- JRussia, and a negligible we/shall only have: a voice in the terms equal to the weight 'of our sword,' wftich will be slight, and as the map of Europe has-been torn up-, and wholly new conditions will arise when the fighting is over, we are bound to neglect for a time the arts and crafts of peace and to apply ourselves sternly, to the business of war in the defence of a righteous and impregnable cause. Peace on Our Terms. "At the, base of Lord Kitchener's plans, therefore, lies this need for preparing for a long war, and this further need, experienced long ago by Chatham and by Pitt, of steadily increasing our military power, day in, day out, and year by year, until at last —since the race of war is not only to the swift but to the pertinacious—we may figure in arms in a manner, befitting the wealth and spirit of our Empire and the legacy of a great and honourable past. "Lord Kitchener, therefore, may quite conceivably have to employ 500,000 additional men, and it is possible that when other Powers have exhausted themselves, we shall be, as we have been in the past, most capable of continuing the war. . "There must be no question of peace except on our terms., Even if all our allies were struck down we should continue the war,until the enemy had relaxed his grip, / and, as Russia at least is equally well prepared for a long war, any misfortunes —which are not, indeed, to be foreseen but may befall anyone in war —must not turn"either Russia or ourselves by one hairsbveadth from our resolution. No, disasters must affright 'us. . ...',■-.: ••• : : ". ■ "We are fightintj. for the liberties and' even the existence of Europe, and we must make the'iworld learn what it means to turn the thaughts of our people, and their stupendous energies, to war. The Regular, Army. "Certain things Lord Kitchener cannot change and does not mean to change. The Regular Army and its Expeditionary' Force, as well as the Special Reserve destined to feed it, may not-be all that Lord Kitchener would have wished it to be, but it is an instrument of merit, immediately at disposal, and capable..;of, serving, our cause. It will therefore remain, as it is, and it will be Lord" Kitchener's business to use it in the" best interest of the general cause,-/but not, in" any harebrained enterprise. In the Regular Army little or nothing will be changed, and during the present crisis all the machinery for mobilising arid concentrating- it has worked with: admirable perfection.

The Territorial Force. "But by one nieaus or another the land forces available: for oversea service must.be..-.increased, and, as a large part of the Territorial Force is able and willing to go' abroad, Lord Kitchener naturally desires to render it capable of going. "Lord Kitchener therefore proposes to divide the Territorial Force into two categories —namely those able and willing to serve abroad and those whose business .or occupations absolutely preclude them from.so doing. There is no invidious distinction drawn between the two categories nor any suggestion that one category are finer fellows than the other. "There is no idea in Lord Kitchener's wind of flinging half-baked troops into the war furnace. He will keep a "roster of units in which the place. of each one Will depend upon, the degree of efficiency which it , has attained and those most efficient will be given the place of honour in the war. There will be a distinction in the degree of training to be given to those ready to serve abroad, and to those, who serve at home. The former will be thoroughly trained, and will be raised as soon as practicable to the standard required for fighting with regular troops. THE DOMINION FOBCES. "Not the least valuable, and certainly not the least welcome, contingent of the eventual oversea army will be composed of the forces which the Dominions have gallantly proposed to send to our assistance. These will be composed of complete divisions from Australia and Canada, and of large contingents from other Dominions. All these will form part of the' organisation for

foreign service, and will stand in line with our troops at the point of danger after the necessary finishing course of training has been giveu to them. India, too, is allotting certain divisions to the work of the Empire, and they will soon draw nearer to.the theatre of hostilities. With the reorganisation of the armed forces of India, Australia, and New Zealand, Lord Kitchener has had much to do, and it will be a proud moment for the Empire when all the gallant young men reach our shores to prove to the world at large that the British Empire is one and indivisible. NEW ARMY. "Lastly, Lord Kitchener's new army is to be an army raised for the war, and to be disbanded at the peace. It is enlisted for three years, or for the term of war, and whenever the war ends the army will disappear. It is not practicable in ordinary times to maintain an army larger than we already possess, and "Lord Kitchener is well aware of the fact." ._" .„■ . .... ..