The Star. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1913. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11507, 1 October 1915, Page 4

The Star. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1913. EDITORIAL NOTES.

' General Joffre has issued the second , fcf those remarkablo proclamations, which tell more clearly than a hundred official communiques, that the soul of France is nerved to victory or death. The inspiriting message tells even more than this. It tell 3 that the offensive that has opened so auspiciously is to bo carried on with unrelenting fury until the great end is achieved. As if to confirm and add point to General Joffre's manifesto, it is officially stated that the second line of German trenches has been pierced, and that the attack Is progressing. It is not often that General Joffre speaks. He spoKe to his armies the night before the battle o the. Marne, and the glorious achievements of the following days showed Jbat he had spoken with effect. Before Saturday's attack he delivered his Second order, " The offensive will bo ; parried on without truce or respite. ; Remember the Marne. Conquer or | die." "We have seen with what signal sucwSess the first objective of the attack hag been achieved'. Meanwhile there has been a respite, caused by the necessity of consolidating the newly-captured positions. But the attack has not shot its bolt, and we may expect to {hear at any time that it has been renewed with unparalelled fury. We will probably not have long to wait for feews of big import, and we may rely . <m General Joffre's message that " something's doing." Of the man Joffre, the idolised leader of the French army, it may be said that no feneral ever enjoyed the confidence of is countrymen to a greater extent. He Is looked upon as the modern Carnot and the ultimate organiser of .victory. Joffre is an engineer, and that branch of the French army is virtually his own creation. The present struggle has been called an engineer's war, and this is espacially the case when every village is a fortress, every K-eet a rampart, and every hotfse a rfc. The whole campaign on the west mt has been of the nature of a jfiitic siege, and Joffre has found a oblem after his own heart. His nous process of "nibbling" at the emv has become famous, but the :t week has shown that he can inch a hugs offensive Vjien the oprtunity presents itself. The patience of the man has been aiarkabie. With the Russians pushed >m one position after another, he | must have felt urged to attack and re- * lieve the pressure on his sorely tried y- ally, but his judgment never faltered, nor was he tempted to take a rash step. A premature offensive might have Spelt disaster, and the issues were so r terrible that he very judiciously hided his tima. I Joffre's strength, acoording to one .correspondent, is said to lie not so ; much in any exceptional military tnius, but in his exceptional military mperament, which makes him an ; ideal commander in the circumstances. ! . yjfrn who have been with him at the front declare that his calm manner, his i gros rire," splendid physique, leaves one the impression that he is peri' Jrectly indifferent how long the war j lasts, or how terrible it may prove, for \ sia is absolutely confident how it must toodk Joffre, this correspondent further ■toys, is not only the popular idol, the Joffre" of the soldier; he is absolutely the most trusted servant of the Government. The peril in a French Republic regime engaging in a peat war was either a monarchical restoration or a military dictatoriship wider the victorious general-in-chief. The?former peril has vanished because of tike absolute nullity of all the pretenders. The second peril is almost as baseless, because the present Com-mander-in-Chief is a thoroughly sound Republican, and is not stirred by any other ambition tlistn to save France and preservo the Republic. Consequently the policy of the Government has heen to give Joffre all the credit for what happens. Nobody in France knows much of what any other general has accomplished. People know vaguely that General Dubail has stepped over tlio head's of many seniors, and that Pan went on some vague mission to Russia and to the Balkans. But all ;>!>p is ascribed to Joffre, even what is called " the miracle of Jhe Marne." It is satisfactory to have the assurance of the Minister of Defence that the voluntary system of recruiting is to he adhered to, and there can be 110 doubt that his remarks on that point will be very welcome to many who were apprehensive. In order to keep up to full strength the force abroad the Dominion must find a very large number of men, and the Minister is anxious that there should be no slackening in recruiting. To ensure a steady supply of men, Mr Allen proposes to make appeals from time to time, and yesterday ; he ma y de a short, but pointed, appeal

to the employors of the Dominion, Thft appeal, it must be admitted, is not of an inspiring character, and i? it should fail in its purpose tho blame must rest upon the shoulders ol tho Minister. The duty of doing what one can for the Empire is ft personal matter. It is for every man to decide for himself, or, as one speaker recently put it, "It is a matter that lies between a man and his conscience.''

Any appeal for men, therefore, should bo addressed to tho man who must make the decision. Tho call for soldiers must bo directed to thoso fit for tho work and to no one else. They must make tho choice and they must do the work. Any effort to force that decision will not commond itself to tho people. An attempt along thoso lines was made, or threatened, in South' Wales, and the result was not an increase But a decrease in the number of men offering. Wo should have preferred to 6CG Mr Allen's appeal directed not to the employer, but to tho employee, and for very obvious reasons. "I each of you," the Minister says, "to arrango that medically fit unmarried men in your employment may be free to register for service." Very few, as far as their employment goes, are prevented from registering. Not very many men over twenty years of age are bound down in any way, and, it follows, that the reasons why they have not volunteered must be sought elsewhere.

In cases where men are working under agreements for specified terms tho Minister's appeal may have some effect, and the employers and employees may, by mutual consent, determine the agreements. But that will not affect many men. In tho great majority of cases the only way an employer could respond to the appeal would be by dismissing unmarried men of military age. If at the present time these men are free to register and have not done so, in what other way can an employer " arrange" that they shall register? And it is apparent that any movement made along thoso lines would be in the nature of compulsion; economic compulsion it might be termed. To appeal to a man to offor his services is one thing, and to put him into a position wnere he must offer his services is another.

Many an employer has felt it his duty to have a chat with his employees on this matter, and many have shouldered additional burdens in order that employees might he free to go. It was not a case of employer ana employee, but of two patriotic men discussing how they could best help the country. In many cases, of course, young unmarried men could not go, and the employer knows that that is so. If Mr Allen, "by his appeal, aimed t<j extend tlm system of mutual assistance, then it is to be hoped that it will have a ready response. But if, on the other hand, workers read into the appeal, and especially into Clause 8, an attempt to force their hands, then the blame must rest upon the person responsible for the wording of the appeal. To "arrange" matters between employer and employee in a spirit of joint sacrifice would be a splendid thinfj, but to " arrange" matters so that a young man had to choose between enlisting and unemployment would be a retrogressive move, quite contrary to the spirit of the volunteer system.

The Lyttelton Borough Council is anxious that the Diamond Harbour settlement should be carried out on the most up-to-date lines. Its efforts may be blocked temporarily owing 'to the absence of a comprehensive Town Planning Act on the Statute Book of the Dominion. The council has secured the best advice it could on the matter, and town planning ideals and' advantages are known to members. It is not often that an opportunity such as that afforded at Diamond Harbour presents itself, and it is to be hoped that the council will be successful in its efforts to develop a true garden suburb. The situation and the climatic conditions are very favourable, and all well-wish-ers of the port will be pleased should' the House give the Borough Council powers to make its new suburb a model for other local bodies to copy.