The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1916.

Evening Star, Issue 16194, 16 August 1916, Page 4

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1916.

Two notable deliverances have appeared

in our cable messages dur--11 Our Duty ing the past 24 hours, is Clear.” On© is by the Prime Minis-

ter of the Commonwealth (Mr W. M. Hughes); the other by the Prime Minister of England (Mr Asquith). Speaking in the House of Commons, the latter is reported to have referred to “a “ time when the war had reached a “happy and promising stage”; while Mr Hughes, at a reception tendered in his honor, declared, with characteristic emphasis, that although the Allies’ recent “success is a sign that the tide has “turned, nothing justifies the belief that “a decisive victory is at hand.” There is nothing contradictory in these two statements; each reflects the temperament of the speaker, and the one is complementary to the other. The war has reached a happier and more definitely promising stage than could have been asserted with the same confidence two months ago, but there is nothing in the existing military situation- to justify the hope that the Allies are upon the eve of, securing a decisive victory. In- brief, the present is not a time for shouting and cap throwing, but for what Mr Asquith has called “absolute concentration” of every branch of human endeavor upon the great task that still lies ahead of the Allies. In view of a too common failing of possibly the majority to seize upon the least indications of change, and to translate these in harmony with their wishes rather than with tho facts, the words of iHr Hughes are as timely as they are essential. That Germany cannot now win this war has become a commonplace; and that her original scheme of European domination has been buried beneath the countless thousands of her own slaughtered sons—and that, in this sense, she is beaten—no one longer doubts. But there are gradations of defeat, as of everything else, and the one question that matters is How far and to what extent has she been beaten ?

Mr Hughes states the position fearlessly and, we think, wisely. That such a victory as the Central Powers long boasted was beyond dispute is now possible no one either in or out of Germany believes. But this "is not enough. The Allies have not only to beat Germany, but have to bring her to such a pass that will enable them to impose their terms upon her. In other words, Germany’s failure to achieve her main objects does not necessarily imply that the Allies can obtain theirs. If the Empire and those who are fighting for and with it fail to win, as well as to beat the enemy, then they have not won those things to crush which they picked up the gage of battle. What “those things’’ are all the world knows. And these will persist and send Europe back to barbarism unless they are fought and destroyed. In Mr Hughes’s striking phraseology : “If Germany is not beaten “decisively, those responsible for the “crimes she has committed cannot be “ be punished as an civilisation “demands.” ■ Should Germany not be beaten as she must be, it will be a mere wasting of words for Belgium to ask for restitution and redress, for France to seek for compensation, or for England to demand the punishment of those criminals in high places who stand charged before an indignant mankind with the sinking of the Lusitania, the murders of Miss Cavell and Captain Fryatt, and with countless foul crimes against our common humanity. All that the world could hope for—for neutrals equally with the Allies are interested in the outcome—is a continuance ■under even more desperate conditions of that heart-breaking unrest and ceaseless anxiety that preceded the present war. A Germany short of a thoroughly defeated Germany will be more hateful and more dangerous than any we have vet known.

There is one way, and only one way, to avoid this, and that, says Mr Hughes, is “to pour more men into the field.” These words of advice are sufficient to cover everything, for they embrace every sphere of human activity. Wa want not only more men in the field, but wo require every man and woman to be wholly possessed with the idea that this war is the supremest thing of all. We need in New Zealand, as well as in Australia and England, the abiding presence of that spirit that shall determine us never to grow weak nor to show signs of weariness in the task to which we are all pledged. There is room, ample room, even at this late hour, for greater intensity as well as concentration of purpose. The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, in the course of one of his Home speeches, said, in his incisive style: There are many who conceive that this war can be fought and won without resorting to heroic measures. They are patriotic, but not unreasonably so. They wish that England may win, but they do not wish it so much that all else—not only life, but their wealth, J,heir business is as dross. But, believe me, iWs not in such a spirit that victory in this great strhggle can be achieved. Victory will crown our arms only when we bend every energy to this supreme purpose, subordinating all other interests, sweeping aside all things that hinder us. For this is .not only the hour of supreme trial, but of our opportunity.

It will he noted that these eloquent words aie but an amplification of the message that Mr Hughes spoke to the people of Australia on Monday last; But they do not and cannot grow stale by repetition. As long as the war lasts, as long as men are what they are, for so long will there be the occasion for words that thrill and burn and smite us like blows. Wo would long since have ceased, to exist as an Empire had it not been that, so far in our history, there have at all times arisen those to lead and direct us along the path of moral as well as national regenon--tion. Wo have not, declares Mr Hughes, yet beaten Germany as she must be beaten; and ,we shall not do so until wo have given all we have, even to the uttermost, for this one purposed “ Therefore our duty is clear.”