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Evening Star, Issue 16050, 29 February 1916, Page 4

Germany, for a long time past, has been appealing to neutral Powers The Freedom in behalf of the Freedom of the Land, of the Seas, but it is significant that she is absolutely silent on the subject of the Freedom of the Land. The pi)rase “freedom of the teas” has a large and liberal sound, calculated to ■win. the sympathy of neutrals, and it is obvious that it is with this object in view that it has beeru used. It is but natural that men should desire to act as they please, whether on sea or land. But their freedom must be limited by the freedom and rights of others, and so must Germany’s; but this Germany fails to see By the “freedom: of the seas” she means freedom of attack for vessels that camfood and mu.itions for her own use, whilst British merchantmen, ami even passenger ships and. fishing boats, may bo legitimately destroyed. She knows that however powerful her land forces may be, she ij no match for Great Britain on the water, and so screams aloud to neutrals about Brit a in V; violation of the seas. Freedom of the seas, forsooth! How mveh freedom would there he if she had! her way? 'We can see what her ideas of freedom are by the way in which she has acted on land. First she snatched Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark, then Alsace and Lorraine from Franco. Luxemburg was and is occupied by German troope. So are Belgium and Poland, the north of France, Western Russia, and. Serbia. Freedom of the seas, indeed! 'What freedom is there in those lands that are occupied ly German armies? Tens of thousands of women and children whose protectors have been 'slain, whose homes have been destroyed, and whose persons have in many cases hem violated could tell us what freedom means to the German _ mind. It is freedom to break treaties, and lie, and rob, and violate, and destroy as ho pleases, whilst none may dare resist. _ This is hi% idea of freedom. Unbridled license for himself and slavery for everybody else. Well, this is not tho British idea of freedom, and wo are not going tU tolerate it, and mean to deliver the world from it, as we have done before. The “freedom of the, seas” does exist for all legitimate purposes, but it was not made by Germany, and it does not mean that she is going to he allowed to tyrannise on; the water as she has don© in the past on land. Tire freedom of the seas has l>sen mado and is maintained chiefly by tho might of the British Navy. It is this freedom that enables tho vessels o c every nation to sail whithersoever they will—so long, an they do not assist the enemy—in almost perfect security, whether they bo Dutch or Swedish, American or Danish. It is the freedom of tho seas as maintained by Britain that makes muown harbors safe so that vessels can come and go almost as though there were no war. What freedom of the seas would there be for New Zealand if that freedom were controlled by Germany? Yes, thank God, the ireedom of* the seas is still oure, maintaining tho freedom of our land, and, if we are wise, we will take good- care to preserve it by sending every man and every shilling we can spare to help in destroying the Power whoso conceit. and insolence would allow freedom to none but itself.