The Star. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1917. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11926, 8 February 1917, Page 4

The Star. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1917. EDITORIAL NOTES.

MANAGING SOLDIERS' AFFAIRS. i The suggestion put forward by Mr James l>ouglas, oi "Waikari. and Mr C. H. Elisor, president of tho Canterbury Agricultural Association, that County Councils should bo entrusted "with tho management of country soldiers' affairs, is prompted undoubtedly' by a sincere desire to pr-ooci- ihe farm-er-soldier's interests, bus that is about all that can bo snid in it- favour. Tho idea, as propounded bv these gentlemen, is that- farmer-t who are drawn in the ballot and who .ire- likely to siurificc much in forced sale\> should be cjyon an opportunity of appointhe: County Councils their trustees o:- o: having their properties managed for them m their absence by privar-.- tvuveos appointed by tho councils. Thi> scheme presupposes, of course, -■■me .<;->* cial qualification on the part <.i County Councils to conduct iho enure! of business affairs. "Most peopv'.; experier.e" of such bodies, however, i- ib.i; :ire singularly ill qualitK-d :o deal v. i.'h Intricate matter* of an industrial m 1 commercial nature. Some County CounHls have contrived to pet. their finances Into a hopeless tangle, and v. ■•• <-an Ecarcoly believe that rr.anv soldiers ■would have sufficient eonudeu'-o in tbe ■business ability nf n local body "o entrust it with legal power over their properties. Tt is not the integrity of * council that is questioned, but its competency to control in any way the means of livelihood and the landed r-.\-talo of the soldier. The proper body is obviously the Public Trustee. The State Trust Office was specially created to simplify legal procedure, and reduce tho cost of dealing with private to manage inpstate properties and to conch tci the affairs of absentees and other' who did not care to entrust their bn-i----ncs fa a lawyer or other private person. The Public Trustee and his skilled officials have exactly the expert knowledge needful in carrying on the -tiPi* of absentees at a minimum of loss. T'-ev hring to such a tuislnors tlm aceuniula*pd knowledov arnl disci*'"lion of many rears of experience, and they have liehind them the. solid guarantee of Mm State. Th«-- fanner called upon to take Up the r'fle should nor '<>;■ under rim necessity of disposing of his estate at a sacrifice. If is tho- clear dm*- of the Public to relieve him of hi-* business worries rend to carry en to tbc r>e c f 'advantage until ho returns. X r ' <kmbt it v. ill he. found necessary lo rtvidon the activities and increase- the ftatr of tho l>er)artm"T)t in order to hfing in every class of estate, but the )*eldPr has everv title to demand that the Prate, through the Trustee, should protect and conserve his interests to it-he uttermost..

JA-N INJUSTICE. J On several oceasons during the la-st I few months we have, felt compelled to j tflraw attention to what we considered : to be anomalies in connection with tho ; military system of t\io Dominion, and i although some of the incongruities have! <lisappeared, a number still remain. A \ peculiar rule is that which prevent!*: e returned soldier on re-en;,; mg from j Bitting for n commission. Oim would ! think that a man who had already !;>c,i ; oil active service would Ho much boiter : Qualified for leadership than one whn ; had never seon a fight-, but -.he otfi- I cials appear to take, quite an opposite' view, and as things are managed at j present active sorvico is held to be a : distinct disability! This is an extra-i ordinary position for snne men to take! i^p,. and certainly it requires sin ex-, plana i ion. The present position i<* this:; Suppose, for instance, a. ui.in had seen 1 earvifv on blood-stained Gallipoli, thai I he had hern invalided home, ohhor he- ! CftUSC of wf.Mnds or from any other Cause, and that- after reaching New i Zealand ho had been discharge.!. Sup-1 «oso. further, that later he <.o iar re-] eovcred his normal health ;;s to lie ; eble to pass the medical examination : ©n re-enlistmont. That man mi;-'. a>~- ■ eording to tho ukase of the Dominion si giilitary chiefs, clo camp a- a pri- | .■r9.te; ho is absolutely debarred irom ! going into the officers' training camp. ' aso matter what, his qualifieaiimv. may: %e. The man from the office stoo . who tjbad never heard a shot- firod "i other [#iaii a 6ham-fight or at tar-.-: x>rnc~ ||ice| has the privilege of -.;!;;- into jjlßis camp, and, if he qualities, obiainnng a commission, bur, the r< turned [feoldier. apparently simpb became 1m |f s a returned soldier, is barred : Could Anything be- more absurd!' VH-.v. n *nay be asked, is there this fjfcibn against returned solcbor' '.pnarcntly the only "reason" the avitbontties can. give is that it, would b.- nnfair to the men >n the mm die-, thnr. Jfcbse who were invalided :-:;'•'• -1 ■»' given preferment, thw* dopd-. Mr the m.6n who remained at- the r-r.-i .= i j>"omotion. That might have v, ipv > wntdn. jf it wero decreed that none but -those at tho front should receive, commissions, hut that is not die ease.

As we said "before, those who had jjever donned a uniform until going into camp have the privilege of joiuv Eg tho officers' training camp, but returned soldiera on xe-enlistmg have not. We coukl understand the argument if commissions were reserved exclusively for xhose who have seen active service and who from any cause fcad not been discharged or invalided home. Bub that is not the case. Those ■n-ho have never "been at the front, who never fired at anything more formidable than a paper target, and who had never heard a bullet whistling past their cars, are given privileges and opportunities which are denied to men who can be described as veterans—'those who have already risked their jjves and limbs in the cause of Empire tmd civilisation. Is this fair? We certainly think it is not, and if some preference cannot be shown to returned "adders on re-eniisting, then the very ' 'least *ho authorities ought to do is to rftje-them the same opportunities for deferment a* those who have had no experience. The besb type of soldier be produced • on mimic fields; iSkU. - > ' - ,- A i:

it requires actualities to evolve the pure metal, .and consequently we hold that except m exceptional cases the soldier who has passed through the crucible of actual fire is in every way better fitted to lead than the parade soldier who is really but p theoretical fighter. To be a successful' soldier a man requires to he well versed in theory, but if theory is wedded to actual practice ho is doubly valuable. Again, we contend that it is an utterly fallacious policy to give the man who never fought a. crushing handicap over the man who has fought and bled for his (•••■iintry. AVe are aware tha- this quite ioexpl'oabio attitude of the Defence authorities is haying a strong doterrent- effect, in preventing efficient-, returned soldiers from again offering their services, and w" certainly think rhc Government would be well advised if ir were to revoke ilm absurd and unjust rule. We commi'id the matter 1-n the careful attention of the Miniver, and if ho will aside ihebarriers that now stand in the way of the advancement of the returned soldier and adopt a common-sense rule lie will do the .Nonunion a service for which ho will deserve the thanks of the community.

PROGRESSIVE FORCES. The unopposed return of tho Laltf>ur candidate. .Mr Art hut Richardson., for tho Roiht-rham seat in the House of Co in mo ns. rendered vacant by the elevation to tho peerage of the sitting Liberal member, the RiglP' Hon .1. A. Pease, who was a prominent member oi tho. As'iuith Coalition Cabinet, ,<bov, - clearly that- the progressive parties in the Home Land are drawing closer am.: closer together, both prohablv having realised that without co-operation either is iin[xitent against the roartionnry foreo.s. As in New Zealand, there if amongst the loaders of t!i<- great parties at Houm a tacit, understanding that during the currency of the war contested elections shall as far as possible he avoided, and that- in ease of a varam-y the seat shall he filled by the unopposed return of a man of the same political frith as the late member. Tha,t understanding has been honourably observed during the past two years, and, although there have been''-few contests in consequence of the intervention of so-called Independents, it he majority oi the vacancies have been tilled by tho unopposed return of men of the same political principles as the previous member. Tinier ordinary circumstances .: would have been expected that Rotherham, one of the great Yorkshire mining and industrial centres, would have been filled by a Liberal nominee, but no ■doubt -Mr Llovd George recognises that tho seat ought to belong to the Labour Party, and so, in recognition of the valuable services which the partv has rendered during the crisis, and possibly in deference to the wishes of his Labour colleagues, he has consented to a, member of that party talcing: the place of tho distinguished Liberal who previously pat- for thr constituency. If this policy is pursued in tho Home Land, there can be no doubt that itwill make for the strength of the progressive party, and will prevent those exhibitions of bitter feeling which have not infrequently been caused through Liberal and Labour aspiring to win the same constituency, with the result that frequently, although the progressives polled a substantial majority, the reactionaries carried the seat in consequence of lack of solidarity on the part of their opponents

To show how thoroughly staunch the IJoiherham constituency has been in i'.i adherence to the Liberal or progressive fai,th, it is only necessary to look at the results of the several elections which have taken place since the last redistribution of seats away back in the. midole eighties. At the general election following the Home Rule split in ISsil ivhen the Liberals received a severe setback, which relocated' them to the cold shades of Opposition for many years, Mr A. !1. D. Ada.iv,: carried the seat by a majority of nearly .'IOOO votes, his Unionist opponent, being a kinsman of ib-' 1 urgent Governor of tho Dominion. Six years later, when the Libera! Party was returned at, the poll-; by a majority of forty->t.wo, Mr Ad.nnd increased bis ma-

jority 10 more than 0000. and on his necepiaiice of ofuVo a few months later and seeking re-eW:Tion be was returned unopposed. At the general election following the defeat of Lord Ro?oV>cry' c '. Government in ISH.7 Sir A. IT. F>. A cland was once more returned unopposed. At the beginning of IP'!!) he resigned, and Mv W. 11. Holland CLibe.rnß was retr.roed wit-h r. lend of 1907. and nt the khaki election in October. 10(10. he held the sp.it with an increased majority, notwithstanding the cry which was raised that the return of the Conservatives was vital if the Empire wn s win the Bee- war. Tn IPOO. Sir W. 7T. Holland had the honour of nn unopposed return. At tho first general election held in imo. when the country wj;s asked in settle "rent constitutional questions. Sir William scored a very decisive, victory, dcfea.'-nc his Conservative opponent hv rfiftO. Shortly after th" election. Sir William TToilond raised lo the peerage, and Mr J. A. Pease wn« returned unoppespd, and at i-lie second election held towards the close of that year Mr Pease defeated his Conservative opponent, Mr J. H. Dransueld, by nearly 0000 votes. T> is a coincidence that two ! members for "R other ham should bo ele- ! rated to the House of Lords within eight years.

ONE SINGLE COMMAND. All the enemy's threats and subterfuges and ail this tali; of puper-sub-marino " frightfulness'' should not distract the Allies' attention from the paramount fact that the war must be won on ibe western front. In no other sphere, and in no other way, can a decisive smashing blow be dealt at the Kaiser'a power. It all resolves itself into this, that a tremendous concentration ol En ten to forces upon one. single front is the one method tof crushing finally the German hosts. This spring and summer in Europe will see the war either won for us or indefinitely prolonged, and more than ever the need is apparent of a. single undivided undistracted policy which would roll the whole available fighting power against the enemy in quick and irresistible volume. Our armies are used in minor fields to very little purpose; little or nothing is being effected in the Balkans, and the .Mesopotamia enterprise could very well be left until

the war is sottled in the main theatre. Tho hand of a Kitclwmer or a Napoleon was never more than at this hour, a soldier unfettered by politicians and discreetly blind to War Office -signals when tho occasion demanded. Failing one great figure, who would sweep away the incompetents and tho doubters and the hesitating, who would disregard the meddlers of tho (Thurchill typo and refuse to be cumbered by administrative muddlers, what is needed is a, va-sily greatermeasure of power for tho soldiers at tho head of the four Power armies.

"When M. Rriand declared in Pans last March ilia* the Allies mind have " one single, army, righting on one front, under one. single command," lie undoubtedly mount to convoy iho fact that there, should be a closer co-opera-tion between the commanders or the Entente free from interference nnd free to carry on- operation,-, on purely military principles, lie. must, have recognised that (-oiii'err-nccs at which the politicians heavily outnumber the soldiers arc useless as a means toward a quirk winning of (he war. This point is given emphasis by Mr Hamilton Fyfe, the. ".'Daily Mail's " correspondent- in Rumania, in a recent letter to hiv paper. Taking the Humanism blunder as his text, be shows that the Allies, being wuhouv. the advantage of a single command, allowed Rumania to come in unprepared, with a plan of campaign of her own. with a light-hearted nation that- all was over bar th" shoutiii'i'. "Instantly the Germans fonned and began Jo carry out a plan. i I ungari;.ns, Bulgarians. Turks, all had their places alioicd to them. German divisions, or parts oi divisions, were detached from the Verdun and Riga, fronts tor service in thir. region. in a very short space of time Rumania v, a- in danger of being wiped off tho map. It w:is urgently necessary that tin.- Allies should send help. With a single command, tins help, so --oreiy needed, could have been arranged as quickly as the Germans arnniged their attack. The commend being divided among a number of people, separated from one another by great distances, it was necessary to exchange, enormous quantities of telegrams, which, as every

•man of business knows, are a poor substitute for meo-to-t.u-e parley." It was necessary to call \ conference at Boulogne, and so most precious time was lost, all for the want, of a single, central command. To-day there, certainly is <i considerable degree, of military co-operation and collaboration on our Bide, but. the commanders are hampered at every turn by political exigencies. If Sir Douglas Hair; and Sir William Kobertson for the British mid -the French ;md Russian commanders were permitted an entirely free hand, their Governments confining themselves to keeping them furnished with all the men and arms and munitions they need and refraining from attempts to direct, the, plan of campaign, the war would bo the 50011 or won and the world saved enormous loss and suffering.