The Star. FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 1915. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11281, 8 January 1915, Page 4

The Star. FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 1915. EDITORIAL NOTES.

The political situation is much beclouded, but the public seems to have lost all interest in the activities of the Ins and the Outs. The excitement will be revived! if there is a by-election at Dunedin, but the spell-binders are trying to put the blinkers on Mr Statham, and may yet succeed in convincing him that it is his duty to hold the seat he has technically won, "in the interests of political stability," or in other words that Mr Massey may continue to hold tho reins, and the country thereby bo saved!

It is pretty clear to everyone by this time that if the Square Dealer had' acted up to his professions the Legislature Act would have been invoked and Mr Munro been sustained in tho position which he fairly won. But Mr Massey is bluffing that he has been "advised" (by nobody knows whom) that this cannot be done, and it remains for Mr Statliam either to " piny the game " or retain a seat which has been handed to him as the result of the laches of a bungling deputy.

There is some talk of a petition to unseat Mr Parr, of Auckland, Tau Henare, " the dark horse," Read, of the Boy of Islands' rat. Tliere wero, it geems,' some weird irregularities in connection with all these elections. Uniortunately under -bur electoral laws the question of petitioning is left to political opponents, and therefor© becomes purely a matter of tactics. In our view the Electoral Department should aot automatically rand take action where irregularities are alleged' without respect to persons.

For instance, Mr Monk was unseated . and disqualified some years ago on a charge of bribery perpetuated by an agent. Why should Mr Parr escaped It will probably be found that he will escape because it does not suit the tactics of the Opposition to have him dealt .with. This is obviously wrong. And the same argument applies to other tiL electorates where the free course of Kb voting has been hampered by irregulariEven if politics is regarded as a £ . game by those who engage in the (■' pasthne there is no reason why it not be played fair.

We are told in to-day's cables that the arrest of Cardinal Mercier has thrown, the Roman Catholic community into a state of consternation, and further that the incident has caused indignation im all parts of the world. This, under the circumstances, need excite no -wonder. His offence is obvious. In his pastoral to his people lie reminded them that their King and Queen, being their sovereigns still, had a right to their loyalty ; in other words, he told them that, although under the iron heel of German power, Belgium is still an independent country. Military occupation, he pointed out, does not constitute anything but military occupation. For military occupation to become conquest, various things have to be done before the allegiance of the people of the occupied country can be transferred to any strange Power. All of which is the absolute truth of the situation.

At the same time, the Cardinal exhorted his people not to permit their realisation of the situation to botra.v them . into any hostile acts against the military occupiers of their country. The reason is obvious enough, for the rule of "terrorism" enforced by those occupiers has many victims daily. r rhe Cardinal hud a double duty to perform. While inculcating peaceful endurance, he had to be careful of the rights of the people who still owe allegiance to their Sovereign, no matter what the military occupation ole . the country may be.

No doubt (as the " Now Zealand Times" points out) had he exhorted the people to accept the military occupation of the country and transfer their allegiance to the megalomaniac of Berlin, who is trying Jiaril to get the nations of the -world to recognise him as the rightful sovereign of Belgium, tho Germans would have treated

the Cardinal with gratitude, and reb?»oct. Had he done that, his exhortation would have been equivalent to a denunciation of tho brave Belgian soldiers who are fighting for the independence of their country, as rebels. Such a pronouncement might easily have •been taken as valid ground by the German occupiers of tho country as n reason for executing every Belgian taken fighting as a traitor to the Gorman Kaiser. But tho Cardinal did his duty to King and country, and for that the Germans have arrested him. But they have not shot him. Net yet, at ali events. They had no right to arrest him, for he has broken none

of the rules of war niul ignored none of the requirements of armies occupying hostile countries. He has in fact, done nothing to justify his arrest in the eyes of tlio Germans themselves. That, to them who have r ins-sacred so many persons innocent of auy kind of offence against their troops, is perhaps a reason for astonishment at their nun moderation in not. shooting him. Logically, indeed, as they are claiming the sovereignty of Belgium, as a •' fait accompli " they are hound to shoot the Cardinal, just 1 as they shot the priest who recorded certain facta at Lonvftiri in his diary. On the other hand, if they refrain from shooting him they admit that they have no right to the sovereignty of the country. They are in a dilemma. It is a bad dilemma for them, for they cannot shoot the Cardinal without shooting every Belgian soldier they capture in battle. For the offence of the Cardinal is their offence. Both have asserted their loyalty to King and country. Badly as they have behaved, the Germans lnu r o not yet got so far as to massacre every inhabitant of any country they choose to seize as a rebel against their sovereignty. They have progressed 111 that direction, it is true. But they have not nearly gone the full distance. The.V dare not go so far. Therefore they -will not shoot the Cardinal.

Recruiting was at a low ebb in England early in November, but at the departure of tho latest mail it showed distinct signs of revival. One reason and another for this was variously sought and variously found. "It is clear enough, at any rate, that the spirit of the nation was only partly to blame," writes a London correspondent. "No one who saw the glowing fire of it a few weeks ngo can believe that, it was merely illusion. It is asleep, not dead. It lacks some impulse which is essential to its inspiration.

The War Office has had a gigantic task. At the beginning of tilings it had suddenly to transform unpreparedness into tremendous efficiency. From one end to the other of army outfit it did that—and the battle-line of weeks past is proof of what it did. But unpreparedness is a huge handicap in an affair of this magnitude, and some of the detail has never been adequately covered. Thus., when enlistment was at its height, the enthusiasm of many a man was damped by the seeming coolness of the official response. The numbers could not be handled. Provision was defective in many directions. The recruits were chilled by an apparent neglect which was really incapacity to do more than the humanly i>ossible.

Moreover, the War Office lias a way of its own of urging men to the colours. It is sometimes not an effective way. Now, when the machinery is all in order, it is a way which fails to draw the men towards it. In particular, the War Office has thought it not worth while to use spectacular and emotional aids to its work. There is none of the fine parade of war about this call to arms. There is no military musio in tho streets. Soldiers are for ever marching, but they have to whistle their own tunes, though the great regimental bands are all in barracks.

Further, the War Office prefers not to inspire the nation with, news of the war. Glorious deeds are being done, but no one hears of them. Regiment after regiment has put to its credit valiant feats which will never be heard of. The war correspondent has been banished from the field, and with him an incalculable aid to national enthusiasm.

Yet another cause of lax response to the demand' for men—the poor provision for the wives and children of soldiers—is gradually being rectified, but the other, causes remain ac.tive and effectual. Clearly the War Office is in error if it thinks the people can be aroused by the feeble hint of war, which is all they get.

The fighting spirit has always needed some impetus, and until now has had it in the thrilling story of battle heroism. More light and fuller will be necessary if the existing coolness of the young men of this country is to be thawed and' dissolved. And the splendid spectacular of war cannot bo wholly replaced by an "Eye-witness" describing how a chauffeur cleans his teeth.

The rush to subscribe to the British war loan was the outstanding event of the time in London. It exceeded all expectations. A great increase in applications had been anticipated, but the elaborate arrangements which had been made to deal with them proved inadequate for the task of sorting and classifying the huge number of subscriptions which were received. The Bank of England had provided a. special staff of about fifty clerks to deal with the first postal delivery at 8.30 a.m., and for over two hours they were occupied with merely extracting the forms and cheques from their envelopes. Throughout the day subscriptions poured into the bank, and at closing time it was impossible to estimate the amount which had been applied for. Insurance offices proved large subscribers. The attitude of insurance companies generally seemed to be that all those which had funds available would', apart altogether from the undoubted attractions of the investment, apply for the loan from patriotic motives. To the composite offices the loan had special attractions, and they subscribed for large amounts.