The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1917. THE DEFENCE MINISTER AND THE WAR.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 17062, 15 August 1917, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1917. THE DEFENCE MINISTER AND THE WAR.

The full ttxt of the important and memorable speech delivered, by th<? Hon. Sir James Allen, Minister of Defence, in th« course of the debate on the Address-in-Reply, occupies height full pages of "Hansard," and makes roost interesting and instructive reacing. The telegraphed report of the speech, as published at the time, was '*>) necessity greatly abridged. After 3 careful perusal of the full text we feel it is to be regretted that a copy of thia rarticular number of "Hansard," or at; least that portion of it containing the Minister's speech, is not available to uvery man and woman in the common ity, In his position as Minister of Defence, Sir James Allen has been calle.l uoon to carry an exceedingly heavj? burden of work and responsibility. His task has been, and is, a thankless one. As the Ministerial head of the entir9 war organisation of the Dominion, h* has had to bear the brunt of an almost continuous torrent of criticism. Many of his critics, no doubt, have bee-i honest and well-meaning, and some o ( their criticism, possibly, has been wellfounded. But there have been other critics, some spiteful and partisan <n their motives, and other hasty and irresponsible, and not infrequently ignorant—who have don-3 much to prejudice the Minister in the estimation of the public. That there have been mistaken both of omission and commission in connection with the crention and maintenance of our Expeditionary Forces goes without saying. It would have required a Super-Man aided by an army [of Super-Men to have accomplished without error the organisation, equipiment. training, and transport of the thousands of splendid soldiers New Zealand has placed in the field. What the Minister's hostile critics have over

looked, or, rather, what they have purposely refused to acknowledge, 3 that the job was as new as it was big, and that a great deal of*, the wo.k involved had to be, -erfcrce, delegated to responsible sub-ordinates, many -.. whom, like the Minister himself, were «alled upon to face tasks of unprecedented magnitude upder unprecedented conditions. In view of these circumstances, the record of achievement to which the Minister of Defence, is able to point is one of which the people o* New Zealand have reason to be proud. The Minister's steadfast adherence to his purpose and policy has been interpreted as obstinacy, but .we believe tlmt this very quality has contributed largely to the value of the work he has carried out for the Dominion and for the Empire. Our readers will remember how, in the earlier days of the war, the.-c were those who clamoured for the increase of ihe number of men we were then sending away. In the Press and from the platform the Minister was told that it was his duty to double or treble the strength of our reinforcements, tho argument being that the placing of the maximum number of men in the firing line at the earliest possible moment would lead to the earlier termination of the war. It was a popular cry pt the time, but Sir James Allen turned n deaf ear to it, with the result that as the war has dragged on.from year to year the Dominion hag been able tv steadily and effectively maintain her forces in the field. To-day there ar? among those who associated themselves with the rash agitation some who ar? prepared to go to the other extreme, nnd hint at the cutting down of our re""f'nvernents. So does popular opinion ebb and flow. But, again, Sir James Allen stands firmly to his policy, and ■nsiste upon the fulfilment of our honourable obligation to maintain the strength of our main bodies by the sending of such reinforcements as tht? Imperial authorities deem adequate for that piirpose. Are we to call this obstinacy, or is it not rather an evidence of prudent and patriotic statesmanship?

'"•pnking on this subject, in the course of the speech to which we have alluded, Sir James Allen said:—

There has been some talk about limiting the number ol: men we 'should send, some having said we should not send more than a hundred thousand. Such statements will encourage our enemies, and may be disheartening to the brave men we have sent and who are enduring all the trials of this hateful war. \ hope to goodness that the war may end this year—no one prays more earnestly for it than I do. Can any one imagine that it will be a pleasure to the Minister of Defence to administer the Second Division Reserve — to call up the married men for service at the front? Ido not look upon it, i can assure you, with any pleasure. It may be a solemn duty one has to perform —a duty to the men who have gone to the front, a duty to the men who lie buried in Gallipoli and on other battlefields. Many of us have had experiences of having lost those very dear to us. But, Sir, though we have made thos<j losses in the body, we have some consolation, in the spirt and in thought. The spirit of these men whose bodies Lie in many places ol the globe call to us today, "Keep up the main bodies to the r full strength until the war is won." I say again I pray the war may end this year, and that we shall not have to call on the Second Division of the Reserve. But' if the war goes on over the winter, if it passes into next summer, then some classes at any rate of the Second Division of the Reserve will receive the call lo duty,-and 1 know what the response

will be. We heard doubts about the First Division men v anting to go. ■ I remember the doubts expressed abodt the b&llotud men —that they would cause difficulties when they got into camp, if we succeeded in bringing them

in. I'he balloted men have " played the game" >n camp, and I am proud to ■<>«- knawledge it, and that they .are just as ready and as willing to do their duty a>s the men who came in the early stages. Probably most of the balloted men had greater responsibilities thati those who had found it convenient to volunteer, but they were all actuated by the same spirit—a spirit, I believe, that permeates New Zealand —loyalty to the country, to the Empire, and ,bo the Crown--and 1 am perfectly sure that when the men of the Second Division of t1 c Reserve are called upon to do their duty they will not hesitate m *lo it Sir, we have sen away nearly seventy-seven thousand men. I cannot say what percentage of reinforcements may be deemed necessary when the War Office considers the question, but it will be a great relief to me to know that it may be reduced, end that instead of sending so ne two thousand two hundred men every four weeks we can fulfil our obligations with a smaller number, assured that our main bodies at the froivo are kept in full strength until we have won the war. . . . With regard to the suggestion that because our fellow Eng-lish-speaking people of the United States have come into this war, with all their millions of men and their capital, therefore the time has come when New Zealand shall draw out —well, Sir, I am sorry if there is any man in this community who- would suggest that the New Zealanders should draw out when the climax is approaching—that our men should not be there to see the finish and to have their share of the glories and the honours of the final effort, for there will be glory and honour in the last days of the war for our brave men and for our country when we realise that we did our duty right to the end. But some say another nation has come in to assist, and therefore we can slacken in our efforts. • When can tha United States of America come in effectively witti their forces? We know something about the training of men — we who have liad the advantage of our Territorial scheme—and I venture to say that the United States of America have a very large problem before them before they have half a million of men trained efficiently for service at the front. If they had five millions of men, I, as a New Zealander, would be ashamed if we were to ask the Mother Country to permit us to withdraw the men who have earned so many honours—if w? asked her to withdraw our men from their mates of the British and Frencn armies who are fighting with them for the honour of New Zealand and the glory of the Empire, and to secure peace, justice, and righteousness after the war. I want our men to be in at the finish, and I say it is their duty to be there when the last stage is enacted in the horrible drama which is taking place to-day. Yes, we want to be there so that we mia;v later on rest satisfied in the assurance that we did our part right up to the end—that we did not «hirk, did not grow weary, and did not become down-hearted at the last moment. I

These, surely, ar=i the sentiments c;f a patriot, a man who in his own flesh

and blood has paid the price of freedom, and not the callous protestations of v jingoistic militarist careless of the sufferings of his rellow men. Sir Jameb Allen is as anxious as any man that the terrible war should be ended, but h.G realises that for our Empire there can be only one end, towards the attainment of which, we are in honour bound to contribute our full share of effort antf

•sacrifice