PATRIOTIC RALLY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 211, 25 May 1918, Page 8

PATRIOTIC RALLY

LECTURE BY THE HON. T. M. WILFORD

PRESS BABY CAMPAIGN

The Press Baby campaign for the Red

Jersey and lied Cross i'uiitls was concluded last nignt with an entertainment or "Patriotic Kally" in the Town Hall. Chorused were suug by a choir of silvorvoiced children ot the Stato schools—a choir of DIM) voices—conducted by Air. liobert Parker. .Mr. Frauk Cuarltou sang thu American •'Uattle Hymn," and the euudrun sang the old "lilury, Glory, Hallolujan" chorus. Similarly the children suug the "Kule Uritaniiiu" chorus to Mr. Cnarlton's solo. Tlio choir aloiib eang three ottier choruses, two patriotic, ami one other—the last the best of all. Energetic parties of ladies cold programmes and sweets (made by Mrs. T. Martin) to help to swell the tunds, anil made calls upon the pockets of the not-too-willing mules for loose coin. Unfor tunately the day had been stormy and the evening weather was still capricious, and the crowd, although very big, wao not so great in consequence as it otheiwise would have been. The chief item of tho programme was a lecture on tho war by llie Hon. T. 11. Wilford. Mr. J. P. Luke, Mayor of Wellington, presided, and introduced Mr. Wilford to the audience. He offered thanks on bohalf of the people of Wellington to those patriotic people organising the effort for the Keu Cross and the lied Jersey, and especially to those working for the Press Baby. Mr. Wilford said that he could not, as the Mayor had suggested he might, predict the end of the war, but he would say this—that there was no chSnco of the soldiers giving in if the civilians would only stick it out. , Nothing but the failing of the spirit of the civilian people would ever lose this war for tho Allies, and he did not fear that the peoples of the Allied Powers would fail their soldiers.' Mr. Wilford dealt in interesting lashion with the problems facing the Prussians in their policy ot brigandage in Ukraiue. "The Brest-Litovsk peace foolery entered into by the German propagandists, Lenin and Trotsky, on behalf of K\f. the JJolsheviki," said Mr. Wilford, "had for i,ts object on the German side food for the German people and the paralysis of Russian endeavour by military effort. The. separate peace made by Germany with Ukraine was entered into because the Ukrainians feared the Bolsheviki and their land annexation proposals, and because .they needed cloth-

ing and boots. Ukraine is a huge area of no less than 850,000 square kilometres, with a population of 25,U00,000. It contains the towns of Kiev, Odessa, and Poltava, through which towns 72 pet' cent, of the grain grown in European Russia passes. It produced in 1913, the year before the war, 16,000,000 tons of

wheat, rye, and barley, In that same year it provided no fewer than 30,000,000 head of cattle. From the rich mineral district of Kherson !)9 per cent, of the anthracite coal issued by Russia was won, while one-sixth of the whole of the ninuganese used by the world comes from that 6ame province. Coal there ie in largo quantities, while no less than

110,000 square kilometres nre coveied with forest lands of great value. Ukraine is a huge territory, and contains the districts or provinces of Kiev, Kherson, I'odolia, Poltava, Volin, Ccrnigov, Eketerinoslav, Tauridn, and Kharkov.' The production in Ukraine fell 50 per cent, in 1915, and again SO per cent, of that amount in 1916. The record of production in 191? is not available; but we know that lines of railway of a broader gauge than Germany's were destroyed; bridges were smashed; rolling stock sent away to tho north; and nearly all the cattle slaughtered for food. Germany has promised its people who need food wheat 1 from Ukraine. 'Give me'three months, , said Dr. Clemens Delbruch, who has been given ch'arge of collecting and organising the. delivery of grain to Germany, 'and I will increase Germany's bread rations. . Unfortunately for Germany and luckily for the Allies there are no elevators in Ukraine; there are no methods of quick mobilisation of the grain held by tho Ukrainians, and, with a disorganised railway system and the only method of collecting being by way of the 'shumptchick,' or small cart, the immediate prospect of Dr. Delbruch keeping his word seems/ far distant to me. Moreover, the population of Ukraine is largely made up of peasant holdings, and, with the loss of production, each peasant is, metaphorically, sitting on l:is sack of wheat and refusing, to Hand it over until lie : ; s given in exchange : lotji-' ing and boots. The Bolsheviki try to buy his grain with paper money issued since the revolution; the Ukrainian sujs: 'What is. the use of your paper money to me? I want clothing and boots. You cannot sell them to me for the money, for your industries are closed down. 1 had better keep my grain. I can at least feed myself, even if. I go barefooted and with little clothes.' Germany nas offered clothing and boots in exchange lor the grain. That wils the lying promise that brought the treaty. She cannot fulfil hor contract. She has not slothing or boots to exchange, liven the leather strap on the soldier's knapsack has disappeared, and a substitute fills its place, while even the Army leaders admit that Germany is short i in cotton-wool and leather. When the Ukrainians find that Germany cannqt give them the clothas and boots they promised for the grain will they hand over thoir grain? And if they will not, liqw long will it take Dr. Delbruch, even with efficiency engineers and an army, to wrest that giain and transport it from Ukraine to Germany when there.-are no railways snd the bridges have been broken ? Some experts, say he rould not move it to Germany under a year. Tho German pciplft will not wait that length of time. If he tries to move some of it after he ras got it by force from Odessa across tho Black Sea over to tho Sulina mouth or Varna or Constantinople ' it has' , to pass through starving Bulgaria .and Austria before it reaches' Germany. That seems hardly :i eafo way. The delay in the West may bo duo to many causes, but jit is clear in my mind that the twenty-eight million residents of Ukraine are not going to part with all their food except after a fight, and twenty-eight million people cannot bo exterminated without a military force, and that military force will have- to be kept from the Western front and in Ukraine to do that work. I admit that wholesalo massacres are the orders of the day with the Germans. 1 know and havo read of the massacres of all the Armenians in Bitlis, Mush, Erzingan, and iSrzeruin by Turks under German officers, and I am prepared to see these hell-hounds exterminate, if.possible, those who resist in Ukraine, b-Jit even then the question of transport is of vital importance, and tho question of collecting the grain-to transport it is a matter of urgent and vital necessity. How meny , thousand soldiers will Germany have to keep in Ukraine to do this bloody work? And what effect will tho non-delivery of the wheat and grain have on the German people tiro questions which only time will decide." Mr. Wilford, speaking more generally of the war situation, said Hiat there was one way, and one way only, of.endini' war .ind that was by beating tho German Army. If the German Army were beaten, the rectification of the frontier lines would be a matter of paper and pencil. It was wrong, therefore,, to; refer to the map to learn of the progress of the war. What we should consider was not how much territory had been won by the one side or J.hu other, but how many nun. were lost in the taking of it He believed strongly that if the German Army were ence defeated decisively tho moral of the German peop e. would smash, and their a titudo towards this • world war would change. But there would be no republic in Germany until after the war. "I wish to say this to the people of this oily where I was bom," said Mr. Gilford: "Do make a solemn resolve that no matter what you have to sutler, no matter what losses have to be borne, slick it out! What the Germans believe is that we can't." ' ... , ~, Mr Wilfortl spoke of the splendid work'of tho Allied'air services, and ho answered tho .everyday question: \Uy don't they bomb Berlin? Ho said that Berlin, was 400 miles from Nancy. Weight-caiTving planes used in bombing flew at the'rnte of from 70 io 90 miles per hour-slow speeds for aircraft-and it would be wrong to send such slowflying craft on mcli a long flight with-

out mi escort of sufficient fast fighting planes, furthermore, ic would lx> oi uu iuiU(.iiL-y vuluu tu iwnil) bt'iliu. Tliu elfcot would bu mural only, and our air service did nut cliousu to bomb private residences and lied Cross hospitals. (Applause.) Nearer tho trout tho airmen had done feats of tremendous mililnry importance, destroying enormous factories and smashing communications. This was Uio real reason for the German demand fur tho discmiUmiancu of thebombing of towns from tho nir. Uo tiiid thnt (he position on the front wns still by no means unfavourable to the Allies in tho vital northern end of the West front. Tho Allies held the hills, and tho Germans were on tho flat. But ho insisted that the fight would not Iμ over for , us if (ho Germ/ins won to the Channel ports, and forced even I'ranee and Italy to make a separate peace, if tho Allies wero forced into this position, England and America could still hold tho soa, mid could still in the end beat down Germany*