AT THE TRAVELLERS' CLUB

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2755, 26 April 1916, Page 6

AT THE TRAVELLERS' CLUB

A BIG GATHERING

SOME APPROPRIATE SPEECHES,

In the movement to . raise men ■ and money for the prosecution of the war, the Commercial Travellers' anil 'Warehousemen's Association took a nrominenl part from the commencement of the war, and yesterday the association was first to celebrate the first anniversary of the landing of the New Zealand troops at Gallipoli.. A special meeting was called for the club's monis'ni 11 a.m., when a big gathering of members was presided over by Mr. 1?. W. Manton. Those present by invitation included the Prime .minister (the Right Hon. IV. P. Massey), the Minister of Finance (the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Ward), and.many, returned soldiers under the command of Captain Donald Simson. Apologies for absence

were received from the Hon. J. Allen, the Hon, A. L. Herdmau, and tho Hon. A. M. Myers. Justice of the Cause. The chairman submitted the following resolution to the meeting:— "That on this, the first anniversary of tho lauding ol' tho Australian and New Zealand troops on the Gallipoli Peninsult, no, as citizens of Now Zealand and us meiiibtu'ri of tUe Commercial Travellers' and Warehousemen's Association, place on record our iugh appreciation ot the patriotic spirit, undaunted courage, heroic endurance; and ready self-sacrifice exhibited by our troops at the Anzac landing; and tuat, while lamenting the loss of so many of our brave fellows who freely surrendered their lives on behalf of the Empire, and the great principles for winch it stands, we. affirm our unalterable conviction of the justice of the causo for which tliey suffered, bled, and died on that memorable occasion. And we further affirm our steadfast determination to' loyally' support the National Government in tlie steps it is taking,to assist the Mother Country and her Allies in the more vigorous prosecution of tho wk'r, which has been forced upon them by an unscrupulous and inhuman foe, whose infamous deeds have shown hiiu to be destitute of all sense of morality, honour, truth, and justice,' and to be absolutely devoid, of the spirit of humanity and fair play, as between both belligerent and neutral Powers. We further call on the citizens of £.ow Zealand and the Empjre to streugthen tho hands of those wiio, like ourselves, are striving, as members of the All-ior-iimpire .League, to eliminate us far as possioie, both during and alter the war, all enemy trade and influence,, by making alien citizenship impossible in all cases where mental reservations permit such aliens to retain dual citizenship (as' in the case of Germany), aud to yield their primary allegiance to their country of origin; and, furtiler, by reiusiug to de&t in enemy goods." In moving tlie resolution, the chairman said he did so with the greatest confidence that what was embodied in it was going to be carried out until tho war had been brought to a successful issue. Throughout the Empire, meetings would be held for the purpose of commemorating Anzac Day in a solemn and Godfearing manner, and they were gathered together for a similar purpose. The Anzacs hud set an example tp all parts ot the British Empire, and not only were they honoured by citizens of the fimpire, but also by their foes, who recognised that the Anzacs had played the game and played.it in a sportsmanlike manner. Tlie ground where many of their comrades had fallen would 'always' be regarded as holy ground, and An^ac' Day would go down as a new tradition in the glorious deeds of Empire. (Applause.)

Prime Minister's Remarks, The Prime Minister said 'Anzac Day was being celebrated, all over the world— at Westminster Abbey, in Canada, in , bouth Africa, in Australia, in. India, andeven m America. He had personal know- - ledge of the fact that celebrations had ' been arranged in America. He ventured ] to say, however, that the commercial j travellers' meeting was the first held anywhere. He did not need to say mucli to f the returned soldiers present, because ! they all knew exactly what he thought of - them. But he wanted to ex- - press his aj>preciation of what • the • Commercial travels had done since : the beginning of the war in raising money ' and in. sending men ; to the front. It ' would be a Ion"; time before the people ! of New Zealand would forget the lead 1 the commercial travellers had given them) ' He went on to commend -their efforts to 1 establish th'e All for Empire-League,'and 1 hoped that it would be the means of convincing the people of the necessity of shutting out enemy trade. The mistakes ■' that had been made in the last quarter of a century shoilld not be repeated, because these mistakes had undoubtedly helped Germany to build up her Army and .Navy when both were known to be directed against our own. As to the war itself, no one could say it was in . any senso of tho word a sectional war, but one in which all the--people of the-Em-pire were concerned. We were fighting for our country, for ourselves, and our families. What it ; "was necessary to guard against was indifference on' the part of any. members -.f the community. He had heard of people • who expressed the opinion that it does .not matter who wins. One man had, according to a newspaper, stated that he would just as soon be under Kaiser Bill of Germany as under Kaiser Bill of New Zealand. The 'worst he wished sudi men was a few years of Kaiser Bill in Germany. ' (Laughter.) , . Happily, this tfeeling of indifference was not shared', by.' most : people. There were two classes of people Mr. Massey said he objected to—croakers and Shirkers. He. did not believe there were many real .shirkers, and there would be far less but for the croakers, who were ready to make excuses for them. While deploring bickerings among some of Hie leaders at Home, he thought New Zealand could claim to liave set an example in the manner in which political parties had joined forces. . He felt convinced that in a small way the enemy was feeling the effect of the union. (Hear, hear.) Speaking of the men who had gone to fight,. Mr. Massey said*they had gone voluntarily, and had covered themselves with glory when they met tyie enemy. Hp to the present, 55,000 of our hoys had taken up arms on behalf of King and country, and many more would, 1 he believed, be ready to follow, them. Tile- proper way to commemorate Aii'zao Day would be to fill ,uip the ranks, and to those men who were eligible for military service, but who had not , yet como forward, he would commend the speech or Henry V before Agincourl: "And .gentlemen in England now abo<l fc'hall think themselves accursed they were not here, . And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks That fought with us upon St. Crispin's Bay.-" (Applause.) Sir Joseph Ward. Sir Joseph Ward thanked the association for invitiug him to bo present at the 'celebration .and to refer to the men who had done deeds and faced dangers in an unparalleled .manner. The commercial travellers had a magnificent recurd in connection with,the war, and the'Austrnlnsitui Association, ,'of which the Wellington Association was a branch, had already sent over 1000 of its members to the war. The spirit which animated the gathering that morning was but'a type of tho spirit which th* commercial travellers had created throughout New Zealand. It would, he felt .sure, go oil to the end of the war, aiul far beyond. Without being offensive, he wished to say that tlie men responsible for the war were the commercial travellers. They had planted the Hag in all quarters of Iho commercial world, and "had mado the pacu so iiot that the Kaiser and his I men had thought it time to, come along and capture the trade. Had the commercial travellers hot been so enterprising - there would have been no war. (Laughter.) to - the - new commercial structure that would arise within tne J-hnpice us a result of the war. Sir Joseph Ward said that one or the great trade problems that would confront the leaders ef commerce would lie how (n k-:'eji trade within the -Empire as Far-.as possible, and at the same t.imo : prevent neutral countries from falling into the arms- uf Germany. As to the men, it war. on >w,vd that few 7 ( =alan<i hau raised 5n,0f10 men. and this was tremendous in proportion to the population. The Ok! Country, in raising an army of '1,0(10,000 men against, its original 300,000, had exhibited wonderful drganisatiori. Tlu men who were sleeping in the windi etricken iparls of Gallipoli, and their 1 comrades who survived, had been responsible for deeds which had not limi, equalled in the military history of tho world. And the campaign could not l>o sfitl to have been a failure, sinea it must havo had an important bearing on the other theatres of the war. ' (Ap. plause.) I Mr. E. A. Phelps, who seconded the , chairman's resolution, declared that the ■ All for Empire League would soon be t seen in-operation.

The motion was carried by acclamation. Mr. M. A. Carr, in proposing a votn of thanks to the Prime Minister and Sit Joseph Ward for attending, pointed to the armv of 55,000 men as a striking tribute to the work of the National Government. C'atitain Simson returned thank?; on lwh.alf of Uie returned soldiers, and appealed for generous treatment for the tne.u, vhn would be coming back from later h;it<lt».

The gnllu'rini concluded with the singin? of "Rulo Britannia" 1 and "God Suvo the Kin?."