FRUITS OF THE WAR.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 240, 13 November 1914, Page 6

FRUITS OF THE WAR.

A NEWER, NOBLER PATRIOTISM.

Some of the most remarkable effects of the war and those which have the most far-reaching results are not easy to record. Effects in thought, in habits, in outlook—effects which are to revolutionise life for the present generation.

Mr Lloyd George indicated some of these changes: —

J "It is a great opportunity," he said. "It only comes once in many centuries to the children of men. For most generations sacrifice comes in drab weariness of spirit to men. It has come to-day to you —it has come to-day to us all in the form of the glory and thrill of a great movement for liberty that compels millions throughout Europe to the same noble end. It is a great war for the emancipation of Europe from the thraldom of a military caste which has thrown its shadow upon two generations of men, and which has now plunged the world into a welter of bloodshed and terror. A New World. '' Some have already given their lives. There are, some who have given more than their lives, they have given the lives of those who are.dear to them. I honour their courage, and may God be their comfort and their strength. Those who have fallen have died consecrated deaths. They have taken their..part in ~ the making .of a new Europe—a new world. I can see sighs of it coming through the glare of the battlefield. The people of all lands will , gain more by this- struggle than they. comprehen.d at the present moment. They will be fid of the greatest menace to their freedom. A Newer Patriotism. ;

' "That is not all. ■ -There is another blessing, infinitely greater and niore»enduring, which is emerging already, out of this great contest—a new patriotism, richer, nobler, more exalted than the old. I see a new recognition amongst all classes high and low—shedding themselves of selfishness—a new recognition that the honour \f. a Country does not depend merely upon the maintenance of its glory in the stricken field, but in protecting its homes from distress as well. It is a new patriotism which is bringing a new outlook oyer all classes. ThV great flood of luxury and ;of sloth which had submerged the land is receding, and a-new Britain is appearing. We can see, for the • first time, the fundamental things that matter in life, and that had been obscured from our vision by the tropical growth of prosperity. Our Sheltered Valley. "May I-tell you in a simple parable what I think this war is doing for us? I know a valley in the north of Wales between the mountains and the sea —a beautiful valley, snug, comfortable, sheltered by the mountains from a4J the bitter blast. * It was very enervating, and I remember how the boys were in the habit of climbing the hill above the village to have a glimpse of the great mountains in the distance, and, tq be stimulated and freshened by the breeze's which came from the hilltops, and by the spectacle of that valley*" • "We hare been living in a sheltered valley for generations. We have been too comfortable, too indulgent, many, perhaps, too selfish, and the stern .hand of fate has scourged lis to an elevation where we can see the great everlasting things that matter for a nation—the great peaks of honour we had forgotten —Duty, Patriotism, and—clad in glittering white—the great pinnacle of Sacrifice, pointing like a rugged finger to Heaven.

; "We shall • descend into the 'valleys again, but as long as the men and women of this generation last they will carry in their hearts the image of these great mountain peaks, whose foundations are not shaken though, Europe rock and sway in the convulsions of a great war."

''These are noble words and true," says "The Times." ''They do but explain the immortal question, ' What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his ; -own soul?'.'.' "" ' ; ;

Lord RoseVery'bn the r oppo*tututy.^ : Lord Kosebery, speaking after Mr Asquith, in 'Edinburgh, also pointed out what the war is doing. ° ■'' One compensation for this war,''. he said, -'is the refutal of another of those endless lies on which that unhappy nation which sought to oppress the world has been nurtured, that is that w r e were a- decadent race. We iheard of it.■■■among, our own critics. There were too many cigarettes smoked. (Laughter.) I believe that riot to be a lie, but to be the truth. (Laughter.) There were too many onlookers at football in the afternoon. Well, I won't even deny that. I San believe there are amusements more stimulating , more energetic, and more wholesome than looking on at a football match with envious pipes in your mouth. (Cheers;) But, after all, they were misleading and deceptive symptoms. (Cheers.) "I venture to say that if we were proud of being Englishmen and Scotsmen and Briton's at the end of Julyy we are ten times prouder of, that title noAV. (Loud cheers.) Our little army, launched like a torpedo into the millions of European hosts, has more than held its own, and has received the honour due to it from the allied army and its commander —(cheers) —and even, it is said," saved the Allies at a critical juncture. (Cheers.) "Whether that be so or not, it has shown itself valiant in victory, and, what is infinitely more difficult, valiant and stoical in retreat. (Cheers.) Are there not many here who, hearing of those deeds, will wish to join in that host? (Cheers.) If they live to the age of Methuselah they will never have an opportunity so to distinguish themselves on behalf of their country as now. (Loud cheers.) Here We Stand.

"It is a war which must be fought out to'the bitter end. It is a war for supremacy, the supremacy of liberty, the supremacy of all that we hold sacred, even, as the Avar is conducted, for our Christian faith against a rude

and barbarous paganism. It is a fight '-* for the" supremacy of those great principles. That being so,.we cannot afford to lose. All we have in the world is staked on this war—Empire,- country, . honour; our place in- history, and in the nations of the world. And yet; so placed as we are, we can neither flinch nor eome to any patched-up truce. (Cheers.) This devilish thing that we * are fighting must come to an end for • ever," concluded Lord Rosebery. "Standing fast on principle, firm' and brave, and bold, we may say with Luther, 'Here we stand, and»ean do no 'other.'' " (Loud cheers.) • Empty Parte. A remarkable glimpse of the effect* of the war on the gay world of Paris is also given by a " Times'' correspond dent in that city. "Paris is a city of long, empty distances and unutterable calm,"" he writes. '' The boulevards still show some attempt at bustle and the outlying faubourgs are well peopled, but the Rue de Hi voir, the Rue de la Paix, the Place Vend 6m e, the Champs Ely sees, and all the avenues leading from the Etoile are deserted. ' Where are the Fashionables? "Where are the fashionable women! Simply-dressed girls and soberiyelothed women are all one sees, andshould some feather-headed creature so far forget herself as to appear in fine raiment she is received with cold displeasure. ~ . ~ '' Where, again, young»men who, less than two months ago, were dancing the Tango, wielding; the fan,' ' turning a graceful phrase "for a pretty *.. woman's ear, and revelling in all the ' luxuries of :eivilisationj in ;. their most artificiaL forms?. ; Where are all the young ..idlers—the i. poets, ' the , play- , wright's, the, music-makers, the "lawyers, the doctors, the men of. business,; .the • the. shop, assistants, the stone v maspns,;the plumbers?.'"' \__.,. : J "We know well where they are. They are in the tf ehches, are meeting ' the enemy/in the open .'field, they are ; lying wounded in the hospitals, land V many, we know,, have paajsjed on to the ;'. other side, is no war and ; 'where- croytfed"'p'Jaces are made straight.' " . . -