BRITISH- EMPIRE AND THE WAR.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15603, 30 May 1916, Page 8

BRITISH- EMPIRE AND THE WAR.

NO. I. HOW THE OVERSEA DOMINIONS HATE HELPED. (SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOE ''THE PRESS-") (Br Mrs Jcr.i.vx Grande.) BERNE. March 23.

The ''Neue Zuercher Zeitung, ' the leading German-Swiss daily newspaper, and the "Journal de Geneve," the leading French-Swiss organ, publish a series of interesting articles showing what the British oversea Dominions have done or axe doing in this war, for the Mother Country. The writer appears to be not only well informed, but to be friendly and sympathetic to Great Britain. His articles deal with Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand.

Referring to Canada's help in the war, he says:—

"Perhaps the most important and enduring results of the present war will be those which were least intended, and are least material in character. This conflict will always be remembered by Britons as that in which the British Empire finally 'found itself.' That Empire, which its enemies expccted to fall to pieces in the hour of England's test and trial, -will emerge from the struggle with greater strength and unity than could have been achieved by centuries of political effort, and aspiration. Mr Bonar Law, the present Secretary of State for the Colonies, has expressed the truth in a few simple words: 'Our

enemies said, and probably they believed, that the outbreak of war would be the signal for tlie breaking-up of tho British Empire. They have been mistaken. After this war the relations between the great Dominions and tho Mother Country can never be the same again. Tho pressure of our enemies is welding us together, and the British Empire is becoming in reality, as well as in name, a united nation.'

"It is impossblo to estimate the effect of this common experience, unparalleled in the history of the world, on the countless races sheltpred under the British flag. Englishmen, Scotsmen, Irishmen. Canadians, Australians, New Zcalanders, Newfoundlanders, South Africans, Indians, and every other race in the Empire have fought shoulder to shoulder for the same objects and ideas. Hitherto the wars of the British Empiro have been carried on by comparatively small armies, not representing, as our armies in this war, all classes in every community. To-day the entire British nation is fighting on the fronts. Men of varied races are beginning £o know one another by personal contact and friendship, and those vast contingents when they return to their several States, will exercise a powerful influence in promoting the spiritual and political unity of the Empire.

When tho war bugles of the Empiro sounded in August, 1914, every province sprang to arms. It was no mere love ot adventure that prompted thja impulse, but a feeling not only that tho power and prestige and even the existence of the Empiro were at stake, but that the ideas of freedom and justice and fair dealing upon which the British Empire is founded were involved in the struggle.' It may be interesting to describe some of the many iorms winch tnis loyal and ungrudging assistance of the whole Empire took. Wo may begin with Canada as the Dominion nearest tho Homeland. "Tne promptitude with which Canada prepared for the conflict was astonishing. In less than two montns from tho outbreak of war the Dominion, which only numbers between seven and eight millions of people, concentrated, armed and sent to 'Europe an Expeditionary Forcc of 33,000 men. This was a voluntary army, tho first complete division evor assembled in Canada, and by far the largest force that ever crossed the Atlantic at one time. This first division was destined to do wonders. It was scarcely flung into-the furnace of war before it was called to stern and decisive duty. On the bate tlefield of LangemarcK it barred the way to the advancing Germans, and •saved the day for the Empire, the Allies, and tho world. This force, however, was only an earnest of the fighting power Canada was ito put in the field. Now, after twenty months of war; N power has been taken by Order-in-Council in Canada to increase the number of men to 500,000, and the recruiting shows that figure will easily be attained. Canada has indeed followed the arums. "From the workshops and offices of new cities, from the lumber camps of her forests, from the vast wheatfields of the West, from the farms and orchards of the East, from the slopes ot the Rockies, from the shores of Hudson Bay, from the mining valleys of British Columbia, from tho banks of the Yukon, from (the reaches of the St. "Lawrence, the manhood of Canada hurried to arms."

And a glorious account of themselves they have given and are giving on this "Western front. At Neuve-Chapelle, Ypres, Festubert, Givenchy. they have bxtilt a record of individual and collec-' tive valour which has never been transcended in the long annals of war. They have carried innumerable honours and rewards from «the V.C. to the "mention"; and the extent to which they have borne the heaviest brunt ot the fighting is shown by the figures of' 13,000 casualties sustained down to Noveruber3oth, 1915.

But Canada's contribution is not exhausted in these fully and splendidlyequipped contingents of all arms. It has taken many other forms. Here is a brief table of the money raised .in the Dominion for specific objects down to the end of Novembet- last:— Canadian Patriotic Fund, 9,000,000 dollars. Canadian Red Cross Fund, 3,500.000 dollars. British Bed Cross, 2,000,000 dollars. Belgian Belief, 2,000,000 dollars. Machine-gun Fond, 1,000.000 dollars. Smaller gifts, 1,500,000 dollars. There have, however, also been most generous and -welcome gifts in kind. The Dominion sent 1,000,000 bags of floor; ■ Alberta, 500,000 bushels of oats: Quebec, 4,000,000 l& of cheese; Nova Scotia, 100,000 dollars for tho relief of distress (instead of 100,000 tons of coal, which she originally offered); Prince Edward Island eont 100,000 bushels of oats; Ontario, 250,000 bags of flour; Prince Edward Island, cheese and bay; Saskatchewan. 1500 horses: New Brunswick, 100,000 bushels of potatoes; Manitoba. 50,000 bags of flour: British Columbia, 25,000 coeee of tinbed salmon. This is by no means a cotnplote enumeration, and further gifts arc still coming in. Moreover, Canada'lias done a great work for the war hospitals. The Dominion Government furnished £20,000 for the organisation and equipment o{a hospital in France known as the "Hospice Canadlen.'' The women of Canada senfc £57,192 as a gift. £20,000 to be handed to ithe "War Office for hospital purposes, and the balance to the Admiralty for the Canadian "Women's Hospital at Haslow. The Canadian War Contingent Association in England are maintaining a large military hospital at Shorncliffe. ' The Canadian. Government have sent

a handsome contribution to the AngloRussian Hospital. . ' Hospitals are being maintained by the Canadian Red Cross. The Provincial Government of Ontario has provided and equipped a large military hospital at Orpington in Kerft. . And finally, must be mentioned che invaluable Canadian contribution in the manufacture of munitions. clothing, foodstuffs, etc., fo r the Allied armies. Sir Robert Borden stated in the House of Commons on February 22nd last thai. British purchases in Canada were much greater than most people imagined, and that large orders had been given for boots, clothing, blankets, copper, rifles, and foodstuffs. Even submarines have been produced in the Dominion and delivered for use, and Canada has actually placed her credit to the extent of ten millions sterling at the disposal of the Home Country. Truly, says the writer in the "Journal de Geneve." and the "Nene Zuer- ! cher Zeitung," all this constitutes a wonderful record in patriotic service, and its ultimate political effects will I prove as important as its immediate and practical utility. N^TTI.

"WHAT AUSTRALIA HAS DONE

BERNE, March 29

The writer in the "Journal de Geneve'' and the "Neue Zuercher Zeitung," in an article entitled "What Australia lias Done for the Mother Country," says that to those who know tho Australian spirit, and remembered tho share Australia, lias already taken in the wars of tho Empire, it was not surprising that this young cub of the British lion should bo ready and eager for the fray when war was declared in August, 1914. Australia seems to be

an ideal breeding and training ground for soldiers. The type of fighting man produced in the island continent—highspirited, athletic, and with a strong dash of fearless dare-devilry—is perhaps the finest in the world. Before the war, Australia had already provided herself with a system of compulsory military training, and also with a very efficient fleet unit, consisting of a great battle-cruiser, the Australia, three smaller cruisers, the Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, and flotillas of submarines, torpedo-boats, and destroyers. Immediately upon the declaration of war, the Commonwealth undertook to raise, equip, and maintain an Expeditionary Force of 20,000 men for service in Europe with the armies of the Empire. At the same time, with a loyal fidelity to promise, the entire Australian Navy was placed at the disposal of the British Admiralty. Among tho earliest gifts, £100,000 was voted as a donation to Belgium, "in grateful acknowledgment of the heroic services the citizens of that country have rendered mankind in the defence of their national right to live at peace in their own country."

Needless to say, these gifts of men and money were only first-fruits of the splendid generosity \vhich was to be shown by this young nation of five million people, planted on a continent of three million square miles. By the end of last year the original 20,000 appeared a < small matter,-ffar by then 150,000 had either crossed the seas or were training in Australia for the war. And it should be noted that "the entire cost of arming and equipping and paying these large contingents is borne by the Australian: taxpayer, every soldirff getting a' minim rim pay of six shillings a day. I need not here retell the story of how these troops from under tho Southern Cross won imperishable glory on the blood-splashed beaches and ridges of Gallipoli. They and their New Zealand comrades, have given a new name, "Anzac" ("Australian and. New Zealand Army Corps") to the scene of their exploits and to the pages of military annals.

And while these troops -were bivouacing under the Pyramids, before the great Dardanelles adventure, the Australian "baby fleet" was quietly but efficiently mopping up the German colonies and possessions about the Pacific Ocean, and dealing with the stray German commerce-raider. It was in the very early days of the war that the little Sydney at last rounded up and battered to pieces the redoubtable Emden near .the Cocos Islands, in the Indian Ocean. The first of the German colonies to -be dealt with was Samoa. But the choicest jewels in this island coronet belonged to Germany, and the British flag was hoisted over tnese amid a concourse of surprised natives, within a few weeks after the declaration of war.

On September 12th, 1914, Rear-Ad-miral Patey, on board the Australia v telegraphed the occupation of Her-' bertshoho and Simpsonshaven, in the Bismarck Archipelago, and very soon all these islands, together with the German slice of New Guinea, were secured. There was a good deal more of Germany however, left in these tepid, coral-hued waters. The Solomons, hitherto held jointly by England and Germany: are now held solely by England. 'These form the largest group of islands in the Pacific, covering a seaspace of over 600 miles. They are extremely fertile, and their loss will bo severely felt by Germany. The German possessions in the Marshall, Caroline, Pelew, and Ladrones groups havo shared a .similar destiny, being occupied either by Japan or Britain; and Germany has now entirelv disappeared from the surface of the 'Pacific Ocean. Australia, never asked for war with her neighbour, but she has not witnessed with any great pleasure the establishment of a bullying and aggressive Power such as Germany almost within cannot-shot of her own shores. The revelations of Prussian character during the present war have abundantly justified her fears. Moreover, there were other reasons for Australia's distrust of Germany. Nowhero in the world had Germany carried further and with more determination that policy of commercial penetration which lias everywhere had its ulterior political objects. From the beginning of the war Australia began resolutely to tear away the tentacles of this German octopus. Germany had secured almost a monopoly of Australian metals. Whatever metals Britain wanted had to be purchased through such German, firms as the Hirsches, Beer Sondheimers, the Metallgesellschaf t, and the rest. Even munitions, the life-blood of moderp war, flowed into British hands through these polluted channels. Mr Hughes, the Premier of the Commonwealth, has told us how he proceeded to deal with the strangling meshes of this Teutonic net. "After fourteen months of war we are able to say a change had been made. Markets have been formed for Australian products direct with Great Britain and the Allies. The policy of the Government is to encourage the development of the metal industry, so that all ores produced in the Commonwealth may he treated therein, and, above all, the policy of the Government is that the industry must not fall into German hands after the war. We are going to cut every trace of the German cancer out." Metal exchanges have, been established under the control of the Australian Government, and the sale or purchase of practically every ton of metals and ores must be registered. All sorts of pre--cautions are taken so that the enemy

shall not secure either representation on the metal exchanges or any of the products of the industry. Tho authorities have erven insisted that all enemy shareholders in companies incorporated in Australia shall surrender their shares to a Public Trustee, who will see that such shares and dividends are saved up until the end of the war. As the Australian Commonwealth Primo Minister has Baid, the "mining companies of Australia around which the octopus tentacles of the great German metal combine wore so tightly drawn at the beginning of the war now all breathe freely. Every tentacle has been cut, and the severed ends completely destroyed. If Germany ever gets a foothold in the metal industry of Australia again, it will be because Australians voluntarily surrender themselves to the embrace of tho beast. Not only is every German contract annulled, but fresh channels have been opened up, and markets found with Britain, the Allies, and friendly neutrals. And when war ceases. Germany will have lost that control over the metal industry which has done so much to enable her to wage war effectively ar.d to build up. her industrial and commercia 1 position." Verily this may ( prove a shrewder loss than even the alienatiin of her Pacific possessions.

Much might be said about the efficient way in .which the Commonwealth took in hand the distribution and carriage of the wheat crop in the interest of producer and consumer as against the speculator and cornerer. In all these and other tasks Australia has had an able and energetic leader in her Premier, Mr Hughes. It should be added that, like tho other Dominions and dependencies, Australia has set no limit -to her generosity in money and kind, which have already amounted to millions sterling. Nowhere has the sentiment of Empire loyalty reached a more splendid and practical expression than in this Southern Continent.