AUSTRALIA AND WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 66, 17 March 1916, Page 4

AUSTRALIA AND WAR.

STIRLING BPEECHL ••.■-''!■: HUGHES MEETS "SHOULD COM2 TO LONDON!" (Times and S.rdicj Snn Settle*.) Ai; LQNDOX, March i O . , The stage for Mr. Hughes' firtt important speech in England wae the 61d "•'■'■ panelled Hareourt Room in the », T- : - : cincte of the House of Commpi* tW '' scene of many great- Imperial' pro- ■ nouncements. There the Empire ParW'•■ mentary Association lunched the Au.v "-■}■■■ traiian Prime Minister, the 'gatherin» being a small but thoroughly representa- stvve one of 'parliamentarians. xiii> Colonial Secretary, Mr. Bonar Law, pr»: uided, and Mr. Fisher, Mr. J. M. Hei-* der=on, M.P.. Sir George Perley, Aetiftc--' High Commissioner for Canada li» Harcourt, a former colonial Secretary' ' Lord Buekmaster, Sir George Cave, Lo'rt Selborne, Sir R. B. Finlay, Mr. E. jjMitchell, Mr. Abbott. Mr. Fred Flower's' \ Sir Thomas Mackenzie, High CoinnuV - ; : sioner for New Zealand, the Agents- 1 General, Captain R. M. Collins, Jlh -fc Shepherd, Mr. Manifold, Lord Denmanj Ai the Duke of Lcede, Viecount ■ Lord Mersey, Lord Emmott, Lord Pluh' i

ket, and Sir Arthur Parker were also -? present.

Mr. Hughes received a magnificent te-

eeption, the typically cold and formal atmosphere of his surroundings, thaw-., ing when he rose. His speech wta; a.\ ■ severe test, following the eaey and". ■ graceful eloquence of the Colonial Sec- ; retary (Mr. Bonar Law), but when tne • ; Australian Prime Minister got, fully ;- : into hie stride the attention of every- VV body was keenly riveted on his epigram--matic and forceful phrases. He.wte. cheered and cheered again. '■

Mr. Hughes struck a new note : fo; \ England. He was uncompromisingly anti-German, claiming the Empire - for. ; the Anglo-Saxone now and-for ever, The •; effort was generally admitted to be one': .%' -. of the most forceful speeches of the war. ' Several prominent members of tWi l House said it was a pity- that it wat not delivered in the Commons itself. :/V> ; .

"Australia is all right," added one.":' "Hughes should leave it and come ''■ here." :■

HIS EAELY DAYS. ;; Mr. Hughes referred to his ftoyhota ,^- : and youth, which were spent under the shadow of St. Stephen's, and eaid tbtl "■_ he now stood in the reflected glory of s great Dominion,. and particularly in : the glory of the great Australian Midiere. He assured England that the\ people of Australia realised what the ■":-- Australian eoldiere had done.

Australia intended to spare, nothing. ./' money, care or attention, in 'providing for her ex-soldiers and their needs. Xbe l, war had come to many as a veritable;• I;: bolt from the blue, and to those .amiable' gentlemen who had browsed in the seductive pastures of pacifism it wt« something more than a shock.- It w»s an intellectual insult. Some were etill ■, trying, by mental effort, to put. back as they were before the war. ;-- ; WAR"ffAS CHANGED ALL. :

But the w&r had changed ill .tha activities of the *rhole of the , ; pfeojjle £ | of the Germaojjr, tor *brty h > ■years, had never allowed herself to he M beguiled by babble about peace, and * therefore had,recruited all her financial - : and physical resources" for the destrucv''.■,;■; tion of mankind and civilisation. She was happy' over the prospect of much ;vj;| loot with no risk/ What she sought was not so much the downfall of Great ;, Britain a£ the commercial and induetPil ; domination of the world. (Cheers.) -_'>i: Mr. Hughes referred to the unpo» ; ; ; bility of business being carried on as -J'y, usual, pointing out, amid repeated : cheers, the fundamental facts that to | Allies were warring with every atom | of energy, every pound of money, 'and every possible recruit. The bueinert as J : usual policy wae, he said,' fatal to.- the safety of the nation. It overlooked the--;.; fact that partie3 and classea and doe- -; trinee had disSppcared in the presence of the essential, single aim of securing- J

complete victory.

THE METAL INDUSTRY. Tested by the" ordinary,/standard ;' business in Australia before the wh: had been the most satisfactory for • decades, and' had witnessed amazing / etrides. But the war had disclosed the • fact that the metal industry itae ahep-, A: lutely under German influence. It Te- ; v fleeted no credit on the British race that v , a year after the war lead and zinc,' the',; |; lifeblood of munitions, could not be" • bought in the heart of the Empire | . except through a German agency. Uer-; ;;■ man firms that called themselves lish took the oath of naturalieaV.on ; glibly, characteristically assuming the ( > flag of the nation that proposed to betray and destroy. German influence \ compelled Great Britain to pay £90 and A : £100 a ton for spelter, whereas it' Could ' be bought in Germany at £30 a "ten. V: The Australian Government was ewa': -■ informed recently that it was impossible to deal in metals except through Ger-■■ man channels.

Mr. Hughee* description of Australian'--•■ legislation on this subject raised a etorra |S of cheering with the statement that .. every company in the Commonwealth •'.;•.{' had been instructed to turn out German shareholders. He hoped that the . Imperial Government would learn "witf- ■- dom from Australia's metal experience./: ;' (Cheere.) FEDERATION FOR WORLD'S PEACE-r^ He had a strong opinion regarding ". the Empire's organisation. "One fourth _,'.': of the human race," he went on, "de-'His pende upon British goods, and we ha*e- <' the means to cement for ever a federi-, .-p tion or empire—call it what you will—_3' which will ensure the peace of the ' ! ; world."

Great Britain had expanded her in- > industrial and commercial prosperity at" the expense of national eaiety. Tha,'..\close relationship of commerce and' ;. safety should henceforth be recognised. V He -would be the last man to cover. '.: every German with a mantle of shame, B but they would 'be fools, or worse, if they did not learn from their betrayal, p

"Australia, thereiore, eaid Mr. 'J ', Hughes, "has declared itself for a policy, ' which shall pluck this cursed : : root and branch, giving us in truth n fi Anglo-Saxon community. Germany hits.'forfeited her right to enter our lands on ;: the terms of friendship and brotherhood, which she has betrayed." In the past, policy for Empire had , , many phases. He "could only say that before the structure was erected mucfc . must be destroyed. "We must," he con- .'•; eluded, "start "by plucking out the Ger- y ; ttian influence everywhere at all coeta, : : subordinating everything to the destrue; tion of Germany. Destroy lier eominiT; cial and industrial influence in Allied :*<~ lands, and you strike a blow equal to ».: . ; decisive land battle." (Loud eheere.), .-'/}