1939-05-23 — Page 18

THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH, TUESDAY, MAY 28, 19 89.

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The Press

IT IS an unfortunate commentary

on the state of world affairs to-day, that the Journalist, and the newspaper, have found themselves severely criticised for no other rea- son than that much of the news published is of an alarmist” na- turc.

on

Some unthinking people have even gone so far as to attribute to the Press the warlike atmosphere that is disturbing their minds. It is asserted that newspapers thrive "wars and rumours of war," Those who make such on osser- tion are sadly out of line with actuality. The "Straits Times" re- cently gave vent to its feelings when it stated: "If anyone is tempted to liken a

newspaper staff to the witches of Macbeth, stirring a hell's _broth......_with_evil delight, he is sadly. mistaken. Many Journalist has

been sickened by the contents and emphasis and atmosphere of his own newspaper in recent months, when the state of crisis has become al- most chronic in Europe; indeed, the reaction is perhaps stronger in him than in the public, for the latter can refuse to read the news, whereas he must deal with it all day long. Therefore the Journalist understands why it is that the public, reading its newspapers day after day, has. -fell a growing disgust at the end- less tales of re-armament and in- ternational threats."

The trouble is that the reader is Hable to become parochial, rather than International, In his outlook. He is able to blame the particular newspaper which be reads, and to unthinkingly brand it as "sensa- tional" when the news published causes him some apprehension. He fails entirely to realise that, could! he peruse a representative selection; of the world's Press on any par- tlcular day, he would discover" the same substance of news.

Hitler: “What's all the fuss about? I was only going to serenade the lady.”

IF BRITAIN WERE ATTACKED-5

Conscription the truth

H

BY LIEUT.-COL. T. A. LOWE

AD the crisis of last developed September

Into war it is reasonable to suppose that Wo should have had Conscription- and soon found ourselves, as in the Great War, raising armies on the Continental pattern.

They would have been poor armies with the minimum of training. Inspired with the valour of ignorance they would have headed for disaster.

That is one reason why the word "Conscription" is so much dis- trusted in this country; we feel in- stinctively. that it means chaos, incmclency

incompetence, and In Great Britain we feel that "cannon fodder” and “ Conscrip- tion" aro synonymous terms simply because we know by bitter experience that they mean much the same thing.

I BELIEVE that one volunteer is worth ten pressed men. I have the atmost faith in both our Regular and Auxillary Services, and a tre- mendous admiration for those men who led the ranks of the Auxiliary Bervices long before the country sa whole realised the extent of tho danger with which it was threatened.

The citizen sailor, soldier, or air- man had no delusions about the commitments to which they were pledged. Honeyed words from Cabinet Ministers mean nothing to them now because they have read the history of previous volunteer movements in this country, -

Exactly eighty years ago, under the shadow of a French invasion,

tion of news ́ are privileged to al- tend conferences-with-Government Should he possess a radio set, he

spokesmen throughout the Empire. may tune in to a trade by one of

It is not suggested that such con- the world's political figureheads, ferences provide the news, for such and with a sense of triumph, can cut la nut their object. The amelal ot- out the flow of oratory "which in titude merely recognises the useful- sults him and his country. Neverness of the newspapers, and wisely theless, he must realise that all is assists in explaining matters of na- not well in the world to-day, tional importance as circumstances merely refuse to bear will not re-

may warrant. move the tragle state of affairs. It

It ส

true that throughout the is better that the true conditions should be appreciated at their full world, some newspapers do play up the last value, rather than to refuse to lato sensationalism, but in

analysis, it is the reader who must ten or to read.

judge for himself as to the em It would not assist matters if the phasts placed upon current events bellicose utterances of certain Dic-by means of cold type. -talors-were-to-be-dented publicly- Many people-to-day call to mind The fact that Hitler's remarkable the sober appearance of the news- creed "Mein Kampf", has proved a papers of their youth, forgetting the best seller outside his own country, great difference in the atmosphere indicates that peoples of the rest of of those days as compared with that the world are eager to know what | ruling

have to-day, Newspapers

is likely to happen, be it a calamity not created the Hitlers and Mus80- or otherwise.

linis of the present era; no more than they could have been held res ponsible for the utterances of the

Britain has always shledat, tha very thought of conscription, 10 Neros, or the Roman Invasion of matter how sugar-coated the pill. England. Their mission is to recent To-day, the people of the British the daily happenings of the world Isles-have-accepted-cumpulsory ser vice, for none other reason than the they occur every hotte-of-the Tact that they realise that the stern day, and should those happenings realities of the moment must be cause the reader to recoll in either apprehension or disgust, the fault faced with resolution and grim de- does not He with those who endea termination

vour faithfully to record events.

It does not matter whether..."The The size of the type cannot aller Times" or the "Dally. Mall may be the sense of the news, although it the choice. It does not matter may emphasis, the gravity and whether the facts are presented-in. The newspaper endeavours to re- a simplo, manner.or: blazoned-in fect public opinion; it gives the headlines, they still remain facia news of the hour, and whether that] It is probably not realised by the is pleasant or otherwise, it must be average reader of a newspaper, that i conceded that it is generally Hated those responsible for the prezenta upon fact and not Betion.

Colonel Lowe served with distinction in France and Belgium, winning the D.S.O. and M.C. He was wounded twice. He is a well-known writer on

military topics.

there was another vast volunteer movement, stimulated by the citl- zen's natural instinct to defend himself.

THE Movement to organise voluntary ser- ́vice ̄ ̄ ̄for" defence "thus celebrates its eightieth birthday this year. The task which we are to-day facing with confidence is to make a field force of 340,000, citi zens, all of whom will be prepared. equipped and trained to meet the event of war in any theatre.

The immensity of this effort has for the moment overshadowed the fine work which is also being. done by Auxiliaries in the Navy and the Air Force. The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve consists of 123.310 officers and ratings, who disappear into the Navy on mobili- sation.

These men are trained at Lon- don, Clyde, East Scotland, Mersey, Bovern, Sussex, Tyne and Belfast; and additional ships are about to be added at Southampton, Cardiff and Hull.

The cost of this Reserve for the coming year will be about £472,700, and as a distinguished Naval officer put it to me, "It is the cheapest bargain the Admiralty. ever made."

A much larger proportion of the

Air Estimates vast sum £205,000,000' will be expended on the Auxiliary Air Force, which in- cludes the balloon barrage squadrons.

be allowed to get a grip in Great Britain as it did in the Great War. Everything is changed. To begin with we have a clear-cut policy.

The Territorial Army is divided into two parts with two distinctive roles (a) Home Defence, to repel invasion by air and sex, and (b) a Field Force to meet the event of war overacas.

When Mr. Hore-Balisha ̈ an- nounced the restoration of Home Defence to priority, he gave those engaged in anti-aircraft- and Coast Defence work a sense of recognised importance which they, had previously lacked. Recruit ing was stimulated to such an ex- tent that the Government decided to increase the A-A divisions (all of which belong to the Terri- torials), from five to seven, and thus create a covering force of guns and searchlights for the whole of Great Britain. A bic -effort is now in progress to equip these divisions to the required establishments.

Training in the Auxiliary Air Forco, which includes twenty fly- Ing units of the R.A.F. Voluntary. And rightly so-but simultane- Reserve, is done in the volunteer's leisure hours. Ho does this so that, should tho need arise, he may be able to take his place in zer- vico squadrons without delay.

It is one thing to talk glibly about conscription," but another

put it into practice.

to

Men without weapons and equip. ment quickly become “cannon. fodder" In modern warfare, and already observe a dangerous tendency to count them in terms of rifles instead of fire-units. -

"We have enough rifles to arm everyone who joins up," said Mr. Hore-Belisha, but I trust he meant that the rifle was only the begin- ning of the equipment effort.

If this huge Field Forca

of 340,000 men is to mean anything at all it must be modelled. ti terms of amali, flexible Infantry divisions trained to use Bren guns, anti-tank rifes, Carden-Lloyd carriers, and mortars, as well as the rifle.

་

•

ously the Field. Force of the T.A. renched its peace-time establish- ment of 130,000 men-and the same concentrated effort to equip them is not apparent..

+

NOW that this Field Force has been made up to its war strength and the whole is in process of being doubled,_the_ armament situation. becomes more critical than over.

This sudden

of its doubling strength came as a complete sur- prise to the Territorial Army, sa doubtless it must have done to the armament industry. So far as the T.A. le concerned, the organisa- tion as it stands is excellent, and

citizen

forces will galni

our

enormous prestige.

But the armament industry must see to it that men are not sent to camp for training with nothing but a rifle.

For too many stagnant years the Infantry

itry has been playing at a of training which everyone knew to be obsoleto. Field days

form of

were only too common in which the

blank troops banged off

ammuni- tion

tho manner of little boys playing at

may bo foolery

and the whole mate

THE cry must be-wo have the men, we have the money,

and, by Jingo, we must have the proper. material and tacapons with which to train them! Otherwise one

This worth ten volunteer is NOT pressed men. Instead he will and himself on the same basis as the millions of half-trained, goose- stepping conscripts whose minds are filled with a delusion,

That delusion must never again

GRIN AND BEAR IT

By Lichty

*NIFTY BRUSH

RESTUVO BEAND

Co.

EVERY

SHES

Foor

THE

DOOR.

naroleil salesmen seems to be more caûtious about pestering housetoivos than out-single meni"!

efort

dissipated unless the equipment for training on modern lines is forthcoming. The men are not joining up for Saturday-afternoon soldiering, or for holidays in the sunlight. They areefillating to be trained as a citizen army in the their defence of up-to-date country.

-SOMETIMES-one-won

ders if we are not trying them too highly and overloading the willing horse. As a Territorial officer said to me recently; If only I'd joined the Regulars instead, I might have found time for my business," and this is a point of view which the Government must consider before piling further responsibilities and commitments upon the Territorial Army and upon our auxiliaries in general.

There is a great stirring in tho hearts of the people, a new prido -of-race-evident on all sides but this must not be over-exploited, For the moment this great volun- tary spirit of service must be har- armaments, but some day the danger will pass.

nessed to

Whether he has taken part in an Expeditionary Force.or not, aur eliizori soldier, sailor or airman will be none the less a hero. And let it be emphasised now-ho wil expect and be entitled to a land'nt for heroes to live-ini

WIDOW, 90, LIVES ALONE

Conneaut, Of *: Ninety-year-oldy Mrk. - Marletta Annia has lived alone ince her bugs barid died in 1931, She keeps her. own house, cooks her own meals,

And Luke It, abe "Anidl“It gives. me time to think.seinik