The Sun FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1915. THE "MUDDLING THROUGH" CANARD.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 561, 26 November 1915, Page 6

The Sun FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1915. THE "MUDDLING THROUGH" CANARD.

The unsatisfactory fluctuations of late in the local recruiting figures proved the need for the campaign now being so zealously conducted by Dr McNab and his eloquent lieutenant, Mr Jsitt. The seed sown at these recruiting meetings should bear good fruit in the days to come when the difficulty of obtaining the necessary men will be materially increased. At Leeston last evening Dr McNab stressed the gravity of Ahc situation in unmistakable terms, and we think his warnings are justified by the complacent idea in the minds of many people that since Britain and her Allies are certain to win there is no great need to worry over-much about speeding up our preparations. As the Minister has pointed out on more than one occasion the struggle has resolved itself into one of British resources and organisation versus Germany's organisation and resources. The side with the greater number of available men, the greater wealth, and the more material of war, must emerge victor if those resources are properly and thoroughly organised.. In this connection there has been l much loose talk of the Empire attempting to "muddle through." It is a glib phrase in the mouths of many who assume an intimate knowledge as to the conduct of the war. Britain's early efforts to answer the challenge of her arch enemy were admittedly in the nature of "muddling through," and this underestimation of the strength of Germany has played too much into the hands of the Central Europe combination. We have suffered many rebuffs for that early wrongheadedness, but if the experience of the first eight months of carnage was a bitter one, still out of evil good has come, the lesson has . been learned. The old taunt has lost its sting and its justification. To-day Britain has achieved an organisation for war which is nothing less than heroic. It has still to be perfected, and when that superlative standard is reached, Germany will harbour no such delusions as now possess her administrative mind of Britain's will and capacity to throw her whole weight into the scale. The "muddling through" phase was inevitable with a nation that loved peace so well and had such traditions as,-Britain, but the Mother Country has now left that dangerous period far behind. She has become one yast camp, while her hundred arsenals are turning out streams of shells and other munitions. Germahyj despite all her decades of preparation for the conflict that now racks Europe, for all her amazing, if ruthless, system of organisation, is up against the fact that her great rival is still capable of thwarting her illimitable ambition. It is being steadily forced on her that the old "effete and unmilitary" Britain has become a veritable Titan of war, whose unparalleled might has yet to be put forth. If the spirit that now drives England and her Allies is sustained there can be ao doubt of the issue. Let there be then less talk of our being content to "muddle through." The suggestion is both inaccurate and unfair, as recent events have demonstrated. In the days ahead, when the strain and stress of war more clearly indicate the superiority of the Allies and emphasise the weakening of the enemy's powers of endurance, the world will better understand the spirit with which the Mother Country faced her responsibilities, and the superhuman effort she made to reduce and overcome the initial advantages which years of insidious preparation at home and abroad gave to Germany. None but very misguided individuals would cherish the idea that Germany can be overcome by a policy of "muddle through" on our part. If England is not doing her best yet, it is because her task is so colossal. She will be doing her best presently.