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Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume IV, Issue 203, 12 August 1914, Page 4

It is to be hoped that our citizens throughout New Zealand will endeavour to bear in mind that, while Britain is at war with Germany, all men of British birth are not necessarily at .war with all those whose patronymics indicate German origin. The war that is now being waged is not a war of national antipathies. It is essentially a war of personal and individual ambition backed by an entirely artificial caste created with the sole object of its gratification. The strongest assurance of success against the armies of Germany lies in

the fact that the hearts of the men who are engaged on her aide are not in the struggle to which they have been unwittingly committed. Between the populations of Great Britain and Germany there is no strong line of racial distinction. On the contrary, there are many bonds of kinship that should breed kindliness. That the two nations have been impelled to a deadly contest comes of no natural aversion. They have been rivals in the van of civilising forces and have in many ways cooperated in the advancement, of much that is for the benefit of the human race. Between Germany’s best and Britain’s best there exist many ideals which are common to both, and which each has given the other cordial and unselfish aid to attain. In our own small community of this Dominion we have among us men and women of German birth who have done much to promote the welfare and prosperity of ail, and who have filled with credit and distinction positions of trust and responsibility. While, then, it may be necessary for those in office to take precautions born of the suspicions that the present unhappy international relations arouse, there is no ground for generating or fostering individual animosities, which may go far towards making more bitter the conflict that is of necessity already hitter enough and which may assist in causing ill-feeling to long survive the time when it should be buried once and, let us hope, for all. Let us, therefore, so bear ourselves towards one another that, when the odious ambitions that for the time being put us on opposite sides have been effectively checked, we may feel we have played the game and behaved fairlv and squarely, as Britishers should, no matter how great a fever of excitement prevails, to the strangers within our gates.