Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 18 May 1916, Page 17

Current Topics

German Casualties

There are those who scoff at all attempts to estimate the probable duration of the war by calculating the rate of loss and wastage of the enemy as ‘ mere arithmetical guess-work’; but such people, as Mr. Hilaire Belloc points out, are in intelligence and science exactly on a par with the yokel who ridicules the doctor for using a thermometer to take the temperature in a case of fever. 'An estimate of numbers is the very soul of judgment in war. According to Friday’s cables, the London Press Bureau states that the casualties reported in the German official casualty lists for April total 91,162, details being:Killed and died of wounds, 17,455 ; died of sickness, 2495 ; taken prisoners, 1221; missing, 6217; severely wounded, 14,557; wounded, 4001; slightly wounded, 39,679; wounded, remaining with their units, 5637. The aggregate of German casualties, adds the cable, now totals 2,822,079. *

This figure furnishes a remarkable confirmation of the calculations that had been previously worked out and published by Mr. Hilaire Belloc. ' When the history of the war can be written with all documents available,' he wrote, a couple of months ago, in Land and Water, ' no careful student of the situation will be surprised if the total German losses of every kind up to the end of 1915 prove close on four millions. We have now established all the four categories of absolute permanent loss. The first category arrived at by the calculation already presented to my reader gives us one million dead. The second category gives us about a quarter of a million prisoners. The third category the. permanently disabled wounded, gives us 1,600,000. The fourth category, the permanently disabled from sickness, gives us 600,000. We should have altogether from these categories just under three million —2,850,000 men' ; which is almost exactly the figure now cabled as being shown in the total German official lists. Mr. Belloc continues : ' Then, to this number just short of three million (2,850,000), which are the minimum permanent dead loss, what have we to add for the wounded and sick that will ultimately return, but are still in hospital or in convalescence ? There again we have the analogy of the Allied statistics to guide us. The average period in hospital and convalescence is four months. The admissions to hospital per month, counting those only who will ultimately emerge cured and counting sick and wounded together cannot possibly, for an army of the German numbers, be less than 100,000. We have, therefore, to add to our total a floating balance of 400,000, and we bring to the end of the year an irreducible minimum off the strength of three and a quarter million. A man making out the very best case for German losses, pleading as a German would plead to some neutral power to prove the continued resources of his armies, could not by any form of argument whatever, get the losses below three and aquarter million up to December 31, 1915.' This is evidently a safe and conservative estimate, and one that may be absolutely relied upon. ' I have been at pains,' says Mr. Belloc, ' to put the very lowest figures admissible by any man who regards the problem seriously. I know very well.that those figures are below the truth.'

Press Comment on the Rebellion

It is only fair to the press of the Dominion, both secular and religious, to acknowledge the eminently reasonable and restrained tone of their treatment of the Irish situation. There has been no attempt, so far as we have seen, in any responsible or influential quarter, to make capital out of the position ; and there has been general recognition of the fact that both as to its leaders and its spirit the movement was not representa&ye of the Irish people. In some cases the references

have been friendly and kindly to a degree, and have shown a sympathetic appreciation of the historical causes that have led to the insurrection which is very welcome and refreshing. Of such a kind is the able editorial in our Presbyterian contemporary, the Outlook, which will be read with pleasure and satisfaction by New Zealand Irishmen. We quote from the current issue: ' The cables describing the rebellion in Ireland make sad reading : the rebels have not even the reason for revolt that they had in 1798. In 1798 all prospect of Home Rule was swiftly receding from their sight; they were faced with the thought of a lost nationality and a hated union with England, and this spurred them to all-unavailing resistance. Nevertheless, while scant sympathy can be felt with traitors to their country at a time of great national peril, it is well to remember that to some extent the recent rising, with its deplorable loss of life, its quick reprisals and suppression, and the lamentable devastation of the most beautiful portion of a beautiful and historic city, is the heritage of the injustices and tyranny meted out to Ireland and the Irish people in the past. A happier day has dawned for Ireland, and the Nationalists themselves, headed by Mr. Redmond, are loud in denouncing the authors of so serious and yet so futile an. attempt to aid the enemy. The pity is that the actual instigators of the sorry business cannot be reached and brought to justice—probably they are safely sheltered in America;and the brunt of the punishment falls upon a few misguided men who have been carried away by a false sense of patriotism. Nor should the fact be forgotten, as Mr. G. K. Chesterton has said of Mr. George Moore:—"One Irish quality he has which no Irishman was ever without—pugnacity; and that is certainly a great virtue, especially in the present age." It is at once this particular quality which makes of one Irishman a restless rebel and of another a splendid soldier. The records of the Irish regiments in France and Flanders are full of deeds of deathless renown, some of which are inscribed in the pages of such war books as Sergeant Michael Cassidy, It.E., and The Lieutenant and Others, the sketch entitled "The Sixth Drunk" in the latter book, a narrative of the sins and the achievement of Private Michael O'Flannigan, proving that it is possible for an Irishman to be lawless and valiant at one and the same time. The news of the rising, with its sad slaughter of men and women and its tragic finale in the court-martial and shooting of a number of the ringleaders, calls to mind the Irish poet James Clarence Mangan's wonderful lines "Kathaleen Hoolihan," this being one of the numerous poetic names for Ireland. The poem breathes a patriotism of" an intensity. seldom surpassed and rarely equalled. We quote three stanzas:

‘ Think not her a ghastly hag, too hideous to be seen ; Call her not unseemly names, our matchless Kathaleen ; Young she is, and fair she is, and would be crowned a queen, * Were the king’s son at home here with Kathaleen Ny-Hoolihan. .

‘ Let us pray to Him Who holds life’s issues in His Hands, Him Who formed the mighty globe, with all its thousand lands; Girding them with sea and mountains, rivers deep and strands To cast a look of pity upon Kathaleen NyHoolihan.

‘ He Who over sands and waves led Israel along — He Who fed, with heavenly bread, that chosen tribe and throng He Who stood by Moses when his foes were fierce and strong, May He show forth His might in saving Kathaleen Hy-Hoolihan.’

Some Waspish Criticism

As we have said, this .spirit of generous fairness is typical of the best utterances of responsible and influential journalism in New Zealand. But there are quarters of journalism that are neither responsible nor influential ; and amongst these lesser lights of the journalistic world it was inevitable that there should be found small natures that were unable to resist so tempting an opportunity to bite and snarl. Amongst these we must regretfully include the writer ‘ Ariel,’ who contributes a back-blocks column to the Dunedin Evening Star. In Wednesday’s issue of that journal ‘Ariel’ delivers himself of an extraordinary lucubration on the Irish questionrambling, incoherent, unintelligible in parts, and unimpressive in every way. We take his principal statements and allegations seriatim. (1) ‘ Ariel ’ insinuates, if he does not say outright, that there is no justification for suggesting that Germany had any active part or lot in the insurrection. . On this point all the available information is against him. Cable after cable has conveyed the Home authorities’ official and emphatic declaration that Germany was at the bottom of the movement; and the fact has been made the formal and explicit ground, as stated in General Maxwell’s report, for the very severe punishments inflicted on the ringleaders. But the omniscient ‘ Ariel ’ knows better than the Home authorities, and better than General Maxwell. (2) We are told that the fact is that ‘ Ireland has been in an ugly mood ever since any of us can remember.’ This is one of those facts that isn’t sosince the promise of Home Rule, from a Government that was in a position to keep its promise, it is a terminological inexactitude to say that Ireland has been in an ugly mood. Up till that period Ireland had good right to be in an ugly mood no self-respecting nation could be expected to stand, or ought to be expected to stand, the galling tyranny and injustice which was inflicted upon Ireland right up to recent times. It is an old story nowthe story of the wrongs of Ireland it need not be re-told. But to attempt to brush it away with a wave of the hand by saying that other nations have also had to suffer misgovernment and tyranny is the merest fooling. \ Ariel ’ might just as reasonably offer that sort of soothing syrup to stricken Belgium or to smitten Serbia. All history attests, as ‘ Ariel ’ ought to know, that the misgovernment to which Ireland was subjected was of a particularly odious, exasperating, and altogether exceptional kind. There is no merit in patiently submitting to such treatment; and if ‘ Ariel ’ is half the Irishman he professes to be, and were in his own proper person the victim of the cruel and blistering injustice which has for so many weary years been inflicted upon Irishmen, he would be the first to raise his voice against the oppressor. England now stands, and honorably stands, as the champion of the rights of small nations; and the time is fast approaching—if, indeed, it has not already arrived—when Ireland will be not only vindicated but admired for her heroic stand against a tyranny and misgovernment as insane and criminal as even the mad Sinn Feiners’ revolt itself.

* (3) We are told that ‘ She (Ireland) has insulted the King on every possible opportunity.’ • We can only reply to this statement by giving it the lie direct• it is, like so many of ‘ Ariel’s ’ other statements, simply not true. On the contrary, every time an English Sovereign has visited Ireland he or she has received a truly royal welcome, and has been overwhelmed with the demonstrations of personal loyalty and affection which they have received from the warm-hearted Irish people. As an illustration of the way in which the King feels himself ‘ insulted ’ by Ireland, we quote a sentence or two from his remarks to the Irish Guards on St. Patrick’s Day: ‘ It has been a great pleasure to the Queen to hand you the shamrock, the annual gift of Queen Alexandra. It is the badge which unites all Irishmen, and you have shown that it stands for loyalty, courage, and endurance in adversity.’ But doubtless ‘ Ariel ’ could give his Majesty quite a number of points on the subject of

Ireland. (4) We are informed that 'She (Ireland) never missed an v opportunity of electing to Parliament a traitor, like Eossa or Lynch.' Once again 'Ariel* is keeping company with Ananias. It is a remarkable and impressive fact that Ireland has not returned a single Sinn Fein representative to Parliament. The only member who has shown any sympathy with their anti-British propaganda is Mr. L. Ginnell, who describes himself as an ' Independent-Nationalist,' and who has never professed attachment to the Sinn Fein organisation. (5) 'Ariel' refused to accept the dictum that Ireland 'as a whole is sound.' Well, the statement was that of the London Times, which has never been given to saying kind things about Ireland merely for the sake of saying them. That paper's representative is on the spot, and the paper is famous for the amount of money which it spends in obtaining the best available information. The paper went even further than the quoted statement, and declared that what really saved the situation in Ireland was not General Maxwell's troops but the steadfast loyalty of the Irish people as a whole. ' Ariel ' knows "thinks he knowsbetter than the Times, and better than the man on the spot; but for the average citizen, who has usually a common-sense appreciation of his own limitations, the statement of the Times will suffice.

(6) ' Another thing ' which ' Ariel ' thinks ' ought to be looked in the face is the recruiting question in Ireland ' —and if the War Office was only made aware of ' Ariel's' views there would doubtless be a tremendous shaking up. 'The figures,' says 'Ariel,' 'are not easily obtainable,' but of course he has obtained them, and he ' quoted a reliable statement a few months back.' He does not repeat the statement; and as it is not likely that any of the Star clientele are sufficiently enthusiastic to pigeon-hole 'Ariel's contributions his readers are left guessing as to what precisely the reliable statement' stated. There is not the slightest difficulty in obtaining the figures, and the official numbers, together with the Lord Lieutenant's report, have been freely published. We summarise the salient portion of the report: On August 1, 1914, there were in the army 20,780 Irishmen. On the outbreak of war 17,804 reservists and 12,462 special reservists rejoined, making a total of 51,046. Later, three new divisions were formed, consisting of twelve battalions each, making, with the original sixteen Irish battalions of the Regular Forces, a total of fifty-two battalions. On October 9, 1915, the total number of enlistments since the outbreak of war amounted to 75,293, giving a grand total of 126,339 of pre and post war enlistments. Twelve months' experience showed that the calls for drafts for units for the front amounted in the aggregate to 100 per cent, per annum. Allowing margins for contingencies, an average weekly supply of 1100 recruits was required to keep Ireland's fifty-two battalions at an adequate level. The monthly averages of recruits, which in the spring of 1915 exceeded the 1100 per week, in the autumn fell substantially below it. An active recruiting campaign was started in October, and in seven weeks a weekly average of 1063 was obtained. That is the official statement as to the position. When it is remembered that, owing to emigration, the proportion . of young men in Ireland is much smaller than in New Zealand or Australia, that in some of the provinces, as, for example, Connaught, the proportion of the adult population engaged in agriculture—mostly the workers of single holdings— as high as 73.9 per cent., and that in a time of crisis it was feared that Ireland might be a source of weakness rather than of strength to the Empire, the situation ought, we submit, to be regarded as extremely satisfactory. We have so far referred only to the quantity of Ireland's contribution ; as regards the quality, that is universally recognised as being beyond criticism. We have said sufficient to clearly indicate.the narrow, one-sided, and jaundiced view of the facts presented by 'Ariel.' Irishmen do not need to be lectured or hectored in regard to their duty. Kindly and gener-ous-spirited appeal always evokes from them immediate

and warm-hearted response; but petty carping and cavilling, or the display of a swaggering dictatorial spirit, leaves them very cold. To adopt such tactics towards Irishmen is at any time stupid : at a time of crisis like the present it is little short of criminal.