WAR AND THE PEOPLE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2357, 13 January 1915, Page 6

WAR AND THE PEOPLE

ENGLAND WILL SEE IT THROUGH MR. JUSTICE CHAPMAN'S VIEWS Mr. Justice Chapman, who arrived back in Wellington yesterday, has just completed.a ten'months'.sojourn in the Old Country, and in view of the fact that the last few months of. his stay in tho Homeland will stnnd out for ever as one of tho most momentous periods in tho history of our glorious Empire, the observations and impressions of one whose calm judgment and alert intellect are geneially admitted will doubtless be found of the greatest interest to our readers. "As to the attitude of the English people over the war/' said Mr. Chapman, "I can only say that though there have been moments of depression, namely, during and after the retreat from Mons, ana at one time when the German pressure in Belgium was extraordinarily great, it is one of increasing confidence and absolute determination to win in this war. Prom the first the people have given ■■ expression to no opinion other than insistence that matters must go on, and there must bo no discussion until Belgium is absolutely clear of tho enemy, and England and her 'Allies have secured: compensation for Belgium, so far a 6 such ruthless destruction' and barbarism is capable of being compensated. Indeed, • the opinion held by many people is that if compensation cannot be secured from Germany, that Belgium's sorry burden should be borne by the other great Powers engaged in the war. \ Germany's Eoonomlo Ruin. "The one thing quite clearly expressed is that .England must stick to her programme, see the war out to, a finish, and as far as possible contrive that in the future peace may be secured. The people already see, and'are satisfied that the Germans see, that the war has brought economic and financial niin upon Germany—a ruin already extensive enough as to take many years to again place her affairs on a satisfactory footing. The opinion generally held in England is that all German manufacturing and trading concerns lean heavily on the banking system,'and it is diffioult to 6ee how that-system.could sustain the burden unless.'the Statein some way or other came to the aid- of the banks. Splendid Confidence. "As far as the progress and conduct of the war are concerned," continued Mr. Chapman, "the utmost confidence prevails. The fact that Lord Kitchener is at the War,olfice completely satisfies nil olasses as to the conduct of the war. They are equally confident of, those ; leading the forces in the field, and just as equally confident of the. soundness of the Navy and of its conduct at sea. So little is allowed- to leak ,out ( respect- . ing the movements and locations of vessels of the Fleet that there have occasionally been complaints as to what the Navy is doing. My answer to anyone who wished to know would be to take the short voyage down the Channel in similar weather to that' which the Mooltan experienced. We passed down the Channel in a fierce gale, seeing none, of the great ships, end we had to run into Plymouth until the gale abated and to get Admiralty orders. But out there in frightful weather, dancing about like corks, were the little patrol 'boats keeping watch and ward at sea in spite of the elements that threatened to o'erwhelm them. These were none of the Dreadnoughts or cruisers, which were all up in the North 'Sea, but the smallest and most -uncomfortable boats. The fact impressed me greatly, and must have impressed all who saw it with the incessant vigilance of the Navy. The news of the Scarborough raid reached us at Suez, but it must be remembered that even in that case the destroyers were on the spot. • •.•■'■.•

• After Forty Years. "When I went away I had not seen England for forty-two years." said Judge Chapman, ''and during that time all war vessels had been. completely changed as to .type and build,.and after being at Home for a while I felt quite disappointed that I had not seen a Dreadnought, a submarine, or a hydroplane. Of course ithey were all at the proper- strategio; points, but I had not happened to ' see .them, in my journeyings. In the Mediterranean, however, there were all the sights and signs.of ; war.; We saw■.'battleships. at, Gibraltar, but no Dreadnoughts, but at Malta, which is being used ; as the base for activities in the Adriatic, we were fortunate enough to see three of the finest.Frerioh' Dreadnoughts. One, the Paris, is the latest expression in French naval architecture, was; lying in the harbour of Valetta, and as we came out she fired a salute,' the band played, and her thousand men 'manned! the ship' in honour of-the new High Commissioner for Cyprus, whom we had as a passenger on the Mooltan. The Voltaire lay behind the Paris, and behind.her were two or three other battleships of lesser magnitude. At present Valetta is virtually a French port as far as naval matters are concerned—it is the baße for the Adriatic campaign, and the central point in connection with the policing of the Mediterranean. On the Way Home. "At Port Said we saw powerful cruisers, including a Russian battleship with' five, funnels. . There we also saw our first hydroplane flying along the Canal and alighting among the men-of-war. I saw it at close ' range, afterwards guarded by Indian soldiers. During a gale in the Mediterranean we passed a fleet of twenty-eight transports, making presumably for the South of France. It was significant that the convoy consisted of a.single British cruiser. We also saw the Australian cruiser Sydney between Malta and Gibraltar, making for the latter port we understood to have some slight repairs effected. She had brought'the captain of the Emden and a Prince of the House of Hohenzollern (who was a midshipman on the Emden) to Malta. They ore now prisoners in the Palace at Valetta. By the way, we heard on board l through the medium of one of the Sydney's invalided men (who returned in the Mooltan) that the Emden fired no fewer than 1300 shots at the Sydney, and the Sydney fired 600 before the Emden •ras shattered.: There was a fear that the lighthouses in tho Red Sea (all Turkish) might have been destroyed, but we found them all intact, having been guarded and remanned from British warships,-. Just outside British territory at Aden we saw the shattered Turkish forts, that had been destroyed by British gun-fire. Both the Canal and Red Sea appear to be perfectly safe for navigation. At one point on the Canal on the Asiatic side thecountry has been flooded over an area of 26 mites by 10 miles, and at likely points of approach such as opposite Ismaila we saw the country entrenched and held by Indian troops, and as we moved slowly along in the'dark at'night we could hear the friendly British shouts from our own men though we could not see them. The passage of the Red Sea is no longer dangerous, and all vessels make it without escort."

Secret Wireless. "There is still a lot of trouble at Home over secret wireless stations. Just before we left, I heard that there were presumed to be two stations still unlncated in London through which a deal of information was leaking out. These secret wireless installations must have been very numerous in England, and statements are still made that the; exist in larious Raits <tf the oojm^rj,

but it is very difficult to know if such stories are true or imaginary. • "There is immense satisfaction in England as to the action of the oversea Dominions in connection with the war, and the greatest enthusiasm prevailed over every fresh offer made by the Dominions and India. Thore is that in it, too, which cainnot but have made an impression in Germany, where they had been taught to believe that the Dominions were worse than indifferent as to the fate of the Empire."'