GERMANY AND GREAT BRITAIN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2746, 26 February 1910, Page 3 (Supplement)

GERMANY AND GREAT BRITAIN.

By Robert Blatchford.

VII.—THE COST.

But the cost! Yes, the cost would bo heavy, but consider the stake. The stake is honor, liberty, and the. Empire. Be the cost what it may, the stake is worth it.

Besides, as to the cost there are three things to be said: the stake, is worth the price; we can well afford the price; and if wo refuse to pay the price of safety we shall have to pay the tenfold heavier price of defeat. Richard Cdbden, who lias never been, accused of Jingoism, said, in a speech, at Itochdalc, in 1861: I would vote a hundred million pounds rather than allow the French Navy to be increased to a level with ours, because I say that any attempt of that sort, without any legitimate grounds would argue some sinister designs upon this country. A hundron million pounds—on tho Navy— Richard Cob den! And our Government is afraid of the. price of a Dreadnought or the cost of a general staff.

Now, if there exists a danger of war, and a danger of an Imperial disaster, I thin'k no Englishman would deny that let the price of safety be a thousand or two thousand millions it would be wise to pay it. But the cost of a two-Power standard Navy and an Army equal to that of France would not be nearly so terrible as might at first sight seen probable. It would not be equal to .the cost of the South African war, and we paid that, and paid it without serious inconvenience. Three hundred million pounds. If we can pay three hundred million- pounds for a war, liow much can we pay for peace? It is cheaper to prevent a war than to wage one, even if we win. But if we lose!

And, again, it must bo said that if France and Germany can afford to pay for universal military training- w© can. We are richer than Germany, and Germany is already doing all that we need do for safety. Germany can put four million soldiers into the field, fully armed and equipped. And the British Empire cannot afford the money for a general staff. The fact is that in our present dangerous situation we cannot afford to consider the cost. We cannot afford to be economical. We have to pa,f some of our money to save our all; we have to make a temporary Sacrifice of some of our liberty to avoid slavery. The trouble is that the nation does not recognise its danger. If Germany declared war against us, or if Russia at_ tacked India, we should not hesitate for a moment over the cost. Wo should understand that let the cost be what it would it must be borne. Once at war we should give our services and our millions freely; but then it would be too late. —War Already Begun.— Yet, if v.'o could only see things as tk'jv ar- t' dav, we should understand that the ivar has already begun. We ate at wai with Germany now. For years the British and the Germans have, been at war; it is a bloodless war, but it is war for all that. It is confined to the building of ships and harbors and the finding of money for material and men; but it is war. Again, the integrity of France is essential to our safety, and to-day France has a German pistol pointed at her breast. What is all this but a state of war; or how far is it removed from war? The cost of peace might be high; but peace is worth it many times told. Let us think of the cost of defeat and ruin. Some of us who are no longer young can remember the effect of the cotton famine in Lancashire. Thousands of workers were starving. Mills and shops were closed. Provisions were very dear. 'The distress in the North of England was terrible. And that was all caused by a temporary steppage of the supply of raw material and a decrease in. the supply of food. But imagine the effect of a disaster to the'Navy; imagine the effect of a German annexation, of tlie_ ports tn . France and Holland. Credit would be sunken to its foundations. Banks would break, food would -rise to famine prices, commerce and industry would be paralysed. And then as our power waned we should be starved and crushed into an abject surrender. Wo should Jose India and our colonies. Wo should lose .... , o ur -fleet. /iWe,should lose our trade. We should have to pay .ten times as much as security would have «x>st us,, and after unimaginable suffering we should become “the conscript appanage” of the men of blood and iron, and should be compelled to servo as German soldiers under German commanders. —Australia’s Example.— To say we will not serve and will not nav is folly; we must servo and we St pay. If wo do not sorvo our Ssh cSlitry wo shall have to serve a foreign country; if wo do not P a £ safety wo shall have to pay for defeat. '’jkSho price of peace is less than the price ZvTtL price of -security is mcom- ■ Jf-p arably smaller than the cost of dis V “The“choice'States have togtupon wiUnotbS “British jWp.«|£ serve, as British soldiers ; is the <*oi e as to whether we will build ( Brixasn ships or pay for the slups cmg in Germany; .it is the choice whether we will serve as or soldiers we must phy Germany’s. . , Australia, I rejoice to see, has a opted universal service, and is P r€ P_ jn<y the nucleus for a lf Aus tralia can afford it surely Britain can. Sws&M Australia, South Africa, an once trained and organised, w ■valuable military asset. _ We must rembmher, also, are already paying thirty-four ponnds for an Army which quite adequate- to our needs.. iW irres( 0 f forget that we have wealth unused- and untouched, wßhm the bounds of our Empire, and many workers now producing nothing A^ organised, would produce much wealth How should we find the money ? wttore did we find three hundred milZ Ser war? We Budget it from those who have much But it it m«mt hard pmchmg. > *

The author of these articles is the best-known leader of the English Socialists, and is one of the founders of the modern Socialist movement in Great Britain. Under the nom de guerre of “Nunquam” he wrote “Merrie England,” of which one and a naif million copies have been sold. He is editor of the “Clarion,” which is by general consent the ablest and most influential of Socialist journals; and he is master of a style that for vigor and terseness has been surpassed by no English writer since the days of Cobbett.

self-denial, if it meant a period of poverty and hardship, we must find the money still. Whatsoever the price our safety costs us it will be trifling in com. pari son with the price we must pay for disaster. ' s *

If the situation is as dangerous as I .believe it to be (and I think tlie evidence is irresistible), then the people have no choice but the choice between security and ruin. The money price we could meet without serious hardship; the price of service seems to me a trifle. When I was a young man I served seven years inthe Army and three years in tho Volunteers. That is much longer than the service required from young Englishmen to ma'ko the Empire safe. I served that time and enjoyed it. No. The. service is nothing to trouble any young man. And for tho money, we must find it, as we have had to find it on previous occasions. Blood and iron: that is what we have to face. Our fathers and our grandfathers faced them often; faced them cheerfully, with fortitude and success. And I believe the men of Britain are as good to-day as in tho past, and that they will be equal to any demand the Empire may make upon them —if they only understand in time. If only we can get tho British people to understand in time.

VIII.—MAKING AN ARMY. Lycurgus told the Greelis that “the best walls a city can have aro walls of brave men trained to arms.” All the Continental nations have put the idea into practice. But Britain, becauso of her insular position, has' neglected to follow suit. .

Noiv, Britain is no longer an island in the military sense. Britain can be attacked by land—in France. Military training compels cleanliness and order and good behaviour. It gives a youth at the right time, and in the right way, good food, good clothing, healthy, open-air exercise. It provides a course of physical culture. It enforces early rising, habits of discipline, and regular hours of sleep. It improves tho health and the physique, and it sharpens the mind and breeds a habit of selfreliance and alertness.

But it does very much more than that. It trains men in comradeship; it infuses what I call tho collective spirit. The difference between an army and a ciwd is enoromus; but its chief and most valuable factor is that collective spirit. A regiment is very much more than a crowd of men all dressed in. the same uniform. It is a regiment. It has that which a mob never has; a collective mind, a collective soul. The 10th Infantry Brigade is a very different thing from a crowd of 3000~young men in khaki; it is an organism: all its units are parts of the whole; all its units move and feci and act together. It is not, what so many civilians call it—a machine. A machine ha s no soul: but a brigade of Eoldiers has a soul. "When it marches all its 6000 legs move as one. When it charges all its bayonets are in line. When it sings it lias one great thrilling voice. It is alive; it is an organism; it is the 10th Infantry Brigade. Let the police attack a huge crowd of undrilled civilians and instinctively the crowd scatters. The men do not know each other, cannot trust each other, have never been taught to hold with each, other. But when the Arabs broke the. square at McNeil’s zaraba the soldiers did the very opposite to what a crowd of civilians would havo done: they did not scatter: they closed: they did not run, they stood: instinctively they formed together back to back, in groups, with their < faces and their bayonets turned to their assailants. Value of Military Training.— In camp and on the march, in action and at drill, in barracks and at nlay, the soldiers learn comradeship and acquire the spirit of collectivism. This is the great moral value of military training; this gives power and coherence to the people of Germany. The German nation is an army. . I think it would be. well, rn tins country, to pass first of all, a.. Compulsory Service Act for a limited number of years, say six. Two years’ training wo'iild . be etioiighy and all young . men over twenty should be liable. Bpt-at first, in order to get .’a large force quickly, it would be advisible to take as manv young men between the ages or ■eighteen and thirty as could be spared without disorganising trade too much. Such questions as that of sleeping in dr out of barracks could bo arranged very quickly. The military law should he entirely‘overhauled and much of it wiped out. Soldiers need not be treated like naughtv children. This army should 1 be put under tno direction of one man and the « Lord Kitchener. To him should bo mft. also, the arrangement of the plans or organisation and mobilisation, that is what Lord Kitchener was born for, and it would be a. pity to waste hint. I believe, and' I think most military men will agree, that in our often unsuccessful looking youth we have a material for the making of soldiers such as no nation could excel. I believe that, properly handled, our . y mith would train into one of the finest arrtn s the world has seen. - The German Army is very good; the French Army.is very good; but I bold to the belief that both are capable ol much improvement. I believe we could make the best army m the world in a couple of years. But anything I know, or think I know, as to these matters is not for publication. —The Way to Peace. — This much I will say: our Army should, as far as possible, live through, out the summer in cantonments and be engaged in confmual field training, under conditions as closely as possible approximated to the conditions of actual war. They would be scientifically and thoroughly taught the use of the rifle, and they should be trained to think and act for themselves. On the day when the Ivin* of was declared Emperor of Germany Britain ought to have adopted compulsory military service. Had we raised a proper army at that time. I think that, it is not too much to say that there would have been no Boer war, no Afghan war, no Russo-Tur'kish war, and no prospect of any war with Germityis essential to...the maintenance of the world’s peace that Britain should

be strong. Compulsory military training would make Britain strong; it would make for 'peace. Before concluding tliisi series of articles I shall endeavour to avoid or to remove l a few_ misconceptions; Firstly, as to patriotism: if a patriot is one who wishes his country to dominate the world I am not a patriot; but if a patriot is one who loves his coiintry as he loves his mother, or his friend, or his wife, seeing her merits as well as her faults, hoping that she may be happy and free, trying to be helpful to her when lie may, then I am a patriot, and have been always. Next, as to Jingoism. He who appeals to his countrymen to arm in their own defence is not a Jingo. He who warns them of their dangerous unreadiness is not a Jingo, He who tries to rouse them to consciousness or the threatening conduct of a foreign nation is not a Jingo. The Jingo is one who is boastfully and offensively aggressive, who vaunts his country’s power, who shouts for war on the . slightest provocation. I despise and dislike a bully. But if wo condemn a British' Jingo, why should we refrain from condemnation of a German, or a French or a Russian Jingo And if we wax indignant when our own country attacks or threatens a foreign Power why should we bo blamed for speaking the truth when a foreign Power attacks or threatens us ? —Readiness for War.— -

Next, as to peace and war. Those who object to the expenditure of money on armaments are prone to. call themselves the Peace Party. But most of those who think, as I do, that the Empire should keep itself ready for war are as much in lovo with peace as the fiercest "little navyite” of them all. But we think that a weak nation with large possessions is more likely to be dragged into, war than a strong one. Therefore we believe that readiness for war is the surest guarantee of peace. There are better methods of keeping the peace than the way I have been recommending. Universal disarmament would be better for all than universal armament. If all the warlike preparations, all the fleets and armies in tho world could be abolished, we should be happier, richer, and safer for the change. But Britain cannot disarm while the other nations are armed: Europe cannot disarm while America and. Asia are armed. Dismiss every soldier on the globe, and there will be universal peace. But is Russia likely to dismiss her troops? Is Germany? Is France? Is Britain? The man who suggested it would be regarded as an amiable crank. Failing universal disarmament there is still a better course than that at present followed by tho great Powers. It were better to have tho United States of Europe than the Disunited States of Europe. But wo shall have no United States of Europe while on© of "the Great Powers is bent on working out her destiny by methods of blood and iron.

These two arrangements being as yet impossible, the next best course is the maintenance l of the balance of power. That course requires that Britain shall be prepared for war. Whil© she has not a sufficient Army she is not prepared for war. Next, as to the use of the word Anny. Many of those who advocate the raising of Volunteers or Militia, for home defence make the mistake of supposing that a large number of soldiers is an army. Such a force could be raised in less than a year. Yet it would not be an l army in tho true sense of the word. It is possible to make a sol_ dier in a year, or less; but! not an army. An army must bo trained as an army, not as a number of separate squadrons or battalions. Regiments must be used to working in divisions; divisions must be trained together as an army. It is the. training of the officers and generals and tho practice of coherent action by large numbers of troops in strange country that take up the time. Then there is Hie organisation : the transport, the hospital service, the communications, and thero are the scientific branches of the modern soldier’s work, tho signalling, telegraphy, ballooning, mining, entrenching, scouting, mapping, cycling, motoring, and ambulance work. All these require intelligence, diligence, and time. But an army must havo them. —Two Years’ Training.—

Therefore it is absolutely necessary that at least two years shall be given to diligent and serious training. That is why the only possible way of getting an army under present conditions is by means of comxmlsory service. The training must bo continuous and the numbers large. Next a word as to the strategic positions of tliei German and the British Navies.

It is generally understood, not only in German and British, naval and military circles, but in the naval and military circles of America and Europe, that in any contest between Germany and another nation hostilities will precede a declaration of war. The Germans do not intend to give warning of their attack. They mean to- attack suddenly. Before any declaration of war is made they intend to do, on a larger scale, what the Japanese did at Chemulpo and Port Arthur. Let us consider what this implies. It implies that until it suits Germany’s hook to strike wo have to remain continually on the defensive. "We have to maintain day and night a sleepless watch; we have, to maintain contimiallj’ in the North Sea a fleet of sufficient power to meet, tho whole concentrated naval forces of Germany at any moment. This fleet must never relax its vigilance, must never extend its line too far, must bo always ready for action, because we shall never know the day or the hour when tho Germans may attempt their coup. Is it necessary to enlarge upon the immense strategic advantage which this state of affairs gives to. Germany ? Surely this is patent, even to Mr Winston Churchill or Mr McKenna. .—Threat of Sudden Attack. —

With the threat of a sudden attack in force, in the night, in the mist, continually banging over their heads, a great fleet lias to wait and watch in the North Sea. It must not quit the North Sea. It must not divide its forces nor suspend its readiness .for instant action. It must not lie in harbors nor in rivers, for there it will be defeated if attacked in force. It must remain at sea, where the best authorities declare that no l fleet is safe, from attack by submarines, or torpedo-boats, or mines.

Finally it must never go and seek its enemies'; it must never approach the enemy’s coast; because the enemy ip a friendly Power and war is not declared.. i

Such is to be the strategic position of the future. And I hop© that even those who edit Liberal newspapers will understand that such a strategic-situa-tion demands a Navy of overwhelming force, manned by officers and seamen of a vigilance and courage more than human. What the British nation stands most in need of in this portentidus' hour is a man. . ' .

The German nation is homogeneous: organised. Their imperial policy is l continuous. Their rulers work strenuously, sleoplessly, silently. Their principle is tho theory of blood and iron. I do not want war: I want peace. I am not an enemy of the Germans, hut a friend. I like Germany; but I love England, as a man loves his mother, or his wife, or his comrade, or his home. vAnd the Empire is in danger; and we arc unready; and wo need a man.