The Press. THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1900 . THE BRAVE SONS OF NEW ZEALAND.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10867, 17 January 1901, Page 4

The Press. THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1900 . THE BRAVE SONS OF NEW ZEALAND.

There .is one fact wl_:ch has be_n made : abundantly clear da ing the last twelve months, and that is that the race which is it .ringing up in these colonies is not at all defi-i?_t in the good eld British qualities of plu_k, a love of adventure, and a love of lighting for fighting's sake. Our London correspondent quote's what Mr Rudyard Kip'in:; hr,s to Sity ah•;.ut our boy?. " I came " across soma of tbe New Zc-ala-ndsrs in " South Africa, this spring," he says, " and " they are a st:parb lot." Nor is Dr. Cor.an Doyli's testimony any less emphatic : " Be " it said once for all," he remarks, in his history of ths war, " that throughout the whole " African Army there was nothing but the " utmost admiration for the dash and spirit "of the Lard-riding, straight-shooting sons "of Australia and New Zeal.snd. In a host '" which held many brave msn there were *' nona braver than they." The special correspondents, £.lmcst without exception, tell th;- same tal_, and the generals, from Lord F-übert. downwards, do not withhold their praise. We cannot imagine that ail these authorities are in a conspiracy to please an-d delude us with flattering insincerities ab'.ut our sons. If we thought that, the _n:mory of their deeds would rise up to give tha lie to any such impressions. The story of Rhtr.osttr Kcp, to take only a single example, is one cf which we shall long f. el proud. It will live to remind our childr.n cf whit stuff New Zealanders wire made a. th? end cf the century, the middle of which saw the colony's b'rlh. Our boys at the front not only fight well, but they show every disposition to remain thera as long as there is any fighting to b? d-m.. The telegrams from the Agent-Gene-ral, which wo published a few* days ago, pave tho following as the relative proportions of the oversea contingents sent ho_ii_ to December 31st:—Canadians, thre-e----fifths; Australians, one-third; New Zealand.rs, one-sixth. Our troopers want to stay at the front, and Lord Kitchener has not only shown very clearly his desire to keep them there, but has expressed a keen anxiety to get some more of them. And he

is going to get them. The unwavering enthusiasm, the keen-set will, shown in the volunt-eving for the Sixth Contingent, is, to

cur inir.ds, the mo.t striking evidence we have yet hud of the soldierly instincts and "clean grit" of tbe young New Zc-alander. There is no glamour about the war now— no hypno.'ism of applauding crowds—no falsa idaas as to what soldiering really

means. Those who have been to South Africa ar.d fought there, ar.d suffered there, are the keenest to get back again. Those who have not been there know perfectly well that filth, hardship, wounds, disease, and death are all to be reckoned with —

soma as certainties, some as possibilities only—yet they clamour for admission into the Contingent as if these were the highest guerdon that earth has to offer. And we are proud to know that what is going on in New Zealand now is but a reflex of what is takifig plac3 in other parts oE the Empire. England is not yet in the decadent stage, and only the most stupendous misgovernment can ever wreck an Empire which is upheld so strenuously by such gallant lads, such stalwart sons.