Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 1917. EVERY EFFORT NEEDED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVII, Issue 3952, 8 January 1917, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 1917. EVERY EFFORT NEEDED.

The Minister of Defence gave a reminder, in a speech, at Motueka last week, that though Few Zealand had donev.(exceeding'ly well in. the matter'of sending troops to Egypt and France, there was as much need as ever for a combined and .sustained effort to maintain our reinforcements' at the promised strength—namely, 20,000 in France and 2000 in Egypt. The reminder is timely, because there is a disposition on the part of some people to argue that we have done our share, and that our account should be closed, j This point of view ignores the claims of the men who are in the trenches to periods, of rest from the strenuous life of the battlefield, and overlooks the necessity of replacing the inevitable wastage of war. Up to the present, ,New Zealand has sent nearly 8 :per cent, of her population, a 'proportion only exceeded by the 10 per cent, of the Mother Country, but since patriotism must not be measured arithmetically, but tyy the number of .men available, it should ba possible for us to claim ' the' honour, of [having sent to the did of the [Mother Country, a bigger proporj tion of men than that from any other portion of the Empire. I There are 84,000 men in the First Division, and it is anticipated I that at least one-quarter of these will be found eligible and available for service. ,:T,his number jwill bring the Dominion's total ( contribution to about 90,000 men, for already 62,000 have gone to [tie front and about 8000 are now in training or will go into camp I this month. That is a record which, the Dominion has every right to be proud of. It is con- . Crete evidence of the existence of tlie Imperial spirit which the politicians and the Press at Home are just now making the theme of many interesting speeches and articles. It has remained for the war to demonstrate that the Empire's overseas possessions are united to the. parent stem by more than a "thin red line." In the case of New Zealand, 10,000 miles of sea has not proved a barrier- to a prompt and efficient response to the call which the British race has never yet heard unheeded. The fact that it has been necessary to enforce conscription in New Zealand is uo reflection on the loyalty of the" pepple,:>v;hp do not, even yet, realise the-real import of the war. They have had nothing but Press reports and the general statements of returned soldiers upon which to base an estimate of the actualities and dangers and horrors of war. It is all the more remarkable, there-. lore, that the voluntary enlistments have been.so'great. Pride, of race must be deeply ingrained in men who recognise as a simple j duty the sacrifice of their prospects in life and even of life itself. This trait is not peculiar to ■volunteers. The men who are j called up under the Military Ser-j vice Act are not less loyal than those who, have enlisted, as they will prove when the day comes for them to stand the test. .