12 
LAND & WATER 
May 25, 1916 
men have been summed up by people who did not know 
them, in a phrase that is usually a variant of this, " Yes," 
they can fight like the devil, but they have no discipline." 
Never was there a greater mistake. At first it is difficult 
to see outward signs of it, but all the time it is there. It 
stands to reason that a man whose outlook on his fellows 
is as I have tried to explain it, does not take readily to 
constant saluting, or to the " Yes, sir " and " No sir " 
of the army. To sum it up in a sentence, he has sufficient 
brains to sift out all the artificialities of discipline and 
enough common sense to understand its necessities. 
No Looking Back 
One fact there is that it would be well to remember. 
New Zealand at the outset said, " Here are my sons, do 
with them what you will ! " and she lias never taken back 
that offer. Galhpoli was a failure, and the many crosses 
in Shrapnel Gully and back of Hell Spit testify to the 
sacrifice that New Zealand mothers have made. That 
sacrifice was made willingly, and without regret, and yet 
in the Heart of Empire we hear loud voices demanding 
satisfaction, asking for enquiries : " Whose plan was this ?" 
they shriek " Who sent these men to their deaths ? " 
We can answer them. New Zealand sent them, and 
she is well content, looking back, to know that they died 
with their work well done. To all such clamourers we 
would say, " Let our dead lie in peace. If you want 
enquiries, if someone must be pilloried, then wait till the 
war is over. Only don't ask us to go a-muck-racking 
with you ! " 
There is another way in which New Zealand has proved 
her loyalty in this crisis. Not only has she sent men, but 
she has sent money and produce. Her gifts were not 
spasmodic, but from the commencement of the war with 
generous hand she has poured out her wealth. The 
Government realised early in the trouble that prices of 
foodstuffs would soar to an unprecedented height. It 
consequently took the only course open to it and acquired 
the meat, wool and produce direct from the fanner at a 
reasonable figure. The transport of all this material was a 
matter of some difficulty, so again the authorities came 
to the rescue and provided the ships to carry it to the 
world's markets. 
The generosity of institutions and private individuals 
has been extraordinary. In many large business houses, 
from the head partner to the lift boy, each contributes his 
regular weekly quota. And this will continue as long as 
the war lasts. We are a small people, but what we have 
given, lives, money, produce, has been given cheerfully 
in the cause of Empire and for the freedom of the World. 
South Africa's Record 
By C. D. Baynes 
THE true measure 
of South Africa's 
share in the great 
war is not to be 
taken by men or money, 
fhe 50,000 men who 
were raised in South 
Africa for the campaign 
in German South- West 
Africa ; the 30,000 men 
who have been raised 
for the campaign in Ger- 
man East Africa ; the 
. indry thousands who 
liave come spontaneously 
to Europe ; and the 15 
J millions sterling repre- 
senting the actual 
amount spent by South 
Africa in the prosecution 
of the war — all these make a goodly appearance, stand 
for a signal achievement in arms, and are eloquent of 
energy in the support of Empire, more especially when one 
has regard to the small white population of the sub- 
continent, which numbers not more than 1,500,000 souls. 
In order to do justice to South Africa's service to the 
Empire — and it has been very substantial, even dazzling, 
and in the heroic vein — it is imperative to pay the 
nicest attention to the circumstances of the country. If 
e 
FRICAN UNFANT 
In Sf>uth ATrican Infmitry 
(Expeditionary Force) 
that be done, she emerges with an achievement to her 
credit that is destined to make a bright page in the World's 
Book of History and to be to all nations for an example. 
And the achievement is threefold — South Africa has been 
saved, South Africa's honour and fair fame have been 
preserved, and, in the process, the ethics upon which we 
have based our Imperial being have been justified, the 
power and prestige of the Empire enhanced and its very 
foundations strengthened. All this has South Africa done. 
The call that came to South Africa came at a delicate 
moment. When in ii)i4 war in Europe broke out, the 
Boer War was still a thing of yesterday, memories were 
still green, and not yet had the sore places healed. 
Responsible Government was but a dozen years old, the 
Treaty of Vereeniging not much older, and the residues 
of the war were a lingering racialism, which, cunningly 
nursed by mischief-makers, still had much bitterness in it. 
That is not to say that responsible Government was not 
succeeding. Actually, it was working wonders, restoring 
the sense of dignity and self-respect, even of in- 
dependence, and nurturing a new spirit of good faith 
to the Mother Country. Nothing less than responsible 
Government would have served in South Africa, where 
the spirit of the soil is so strong, the love of land so deep- 
rooted, and the gift of it was far-seeing 
But a dozen or more years are a very brief period where 
it is a case of conciliating racial antagonisms and healing 
the wounds of war ; and in 1914 it was too soon to look 
for unanimity. There were still the Irreconcilables 
through whom enthusiasm for Empire was retarded. 
Botha and Smuts 
Happily, however. South Africa had Botha and Smuts, 
who rightly knew what South Africa had received in the 
gift of responsible government. These two had a 
nice regard for pledged words and the Treaty of Vereenig- 
ing, as for the very real benefits and blessings it bestowed ; 
and loyally they went about its faithful observance, 
standing out for two vital things — conciliation at home 
and closer co-operation with the Mother Country. 
It was at this juncture in the autumn of 1914, war 
having been declared, that the Imperial Government, 
through the acting Governor-General Lord de Villiers, 
invited the Union Government to " seize such part of 
German South-West Africa as would give them command 
of Swakopmund, Liideritzbucht, and the wireless stations 
there or in the interior." It was a sensational invitation, 
containing a call to duty which meant putting to the 
test the good faith of land and people in an hour when it 
was still easy to expect too much of both. Equally was 
it a flattering invitation, suggesting a very confident 
feeling in London that South Africa would not be 
found wanting. But Downing Street must have 
known that, though the right response would be made, 
there could hardly be unanimity, though there might 
not be real trouble. 
It was a dehcate moment, and a difficult one. The 
opportunity for playing a great part, for building up a 
greater South Africa, and for rendering a great Imperial 
service, was at hand ; and the instinct of General Botha 
was to seize it instantly. But he also had his country 
to consider. Could he carry it with him ? Would it 
respond to the summons to do a splendid and unselfish 
act ? Would it bear the cost ? 
He would not have hesitated a moment on any 
one of those heads, or as to his cajmcity to command 
the country's consent to the campaign and its complete 
confidence, had he had his people, pure and sim])le, to 
deal with. But in the interim the}' had been largely 
" Germanised." Active agents of Germany, posing as 
peaceful settlers, had been abroad, tampering with men 
of the veldt, undermining their loyalty, engineering 
dissensions and producing political feuds, so that many 
were alienated in sentiment, and already anti-Bothaism 
was but another name for pro-Germanism. Many were 
ready to seize any opportunity for pulling down General 
Botha and his colleagues at the first sign of Imperial 
confidence. Plans had been prepared for making the 
first occasion an excuse " for regaining South Africa's in- 
dependence ! " 
The situation was not simple — not even when the 
Germans had actually invaded the Union at Groendoorn, 
which is called Nakob, and furnished the cause of war 
