AFTER THE WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 69, 21 March 1916, Page 6

AFTER THE WAR.

REBUILDING THE EMPIRE. MEED FOR ACTION NOW. MR HUGHES' HARD-HITTING SPEECH. t (Received 8.30 a.m.) LONDON, March 20. Mr W. M. Hughes (Premier of Australia) made a particularly brilliant Bpecch to-day when dealing with the subject of the Empire's future well-being. STUPENDOUS FOLLY. "Can such a task as building up the depleted wealth after the war be attempted without preparation?" he asked. If Great Britain's policy is going to be unchanged prcpraration is not necessary, but that is out of the question. Orcat Britain was the pioneer in the textile industry, in which millions of capital are invested and hundreds of thousands of workers employed, and I cannot find words strong enough to castigate the policy of permitting the enemy to control the aniline dye markets. It is a stupendous folly to give* Germany a monopoly of tungsten, which is essential in hardening steel, and therefore the lifeblood of modern war. Will we get sugar after the war fram Austria and (iermany, and allow the Dominions' I vast land to remain idle? THE LAST CHANCE. "The war has rung the death knell of that policy of cheapness which has not ; respected social or economic welfare of the workers, which has disregarded the /national integrity, which mistook mere i wealth for greatness, irrespective of whether the wcaltn was owned by Englishmen or German Jews. (Cheers.) This iis no time for a kid glove policy. This is the hour for acts, not words. If we let the opportunity slip it will pass for evqr."