LONDON NEWS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 27 March 1915, Page 5

LONDON NEWS.

AUSTRALASIA 'S STAKE IN THE V 'All.

OVERSEAS DOMl?>Tl"oxs' RIGHT TO BE CONSID v Ti]RED-

RECRUITING CAMPA IGN RE-

OPENED.

A TRIBUTE TO NEW Z&&T AND

SOLDIERS

LABOR MATTERS

MAGNITUDE OF ARTILLERY REQUIREMENTS NOAV REALISED.

LONDON, Marcn 26. Lord Milner presided at the Colonial Institute, when Dr Horsfall read a paper on "Australasia's Stake in the War."

Dr Horsfall said it was incalculably important* that the first occasion on which the Imperial tie was subjected to a real strain was in a war in which there was complete sympathy between the Motherland, and the Dominions, also that the latter realised that a victory would mean everything to them. They were liable to be involved in the most momentous experience without the slightest voice in the policy leading thereto. This was fundamentally unsound, and, in the long run, impossible. Britain should, when peace was negotiated, negotiate with the fullest knowledge of their views and with full sympathy for their viewpoint. Lord Milner said that Britain's overseas kinsmen might not be parties to the peace negotiations formally, but ought to be so virtually. They should be consulted discreetly and in full time. The* acknowledgment of that right would obviate misunderstanding and be a great step towards a perfect and permanent partnership. The British recruiting campaign has re-opened, and is likely to assume considerable proportion*.. Everyone recognises that enormous casualties are inevitable in the spring campaign, and fresh men must be found to fill the gaps.

Many. Liberals favor, conscription, and it is believed that others will yield, if necessary. The Daily Mail declares that the only means of filling the grievous gaps is by a steady flow o ( f reinforcements secured by compulsory service, which is fairer to the individual than voluntary service, as it prevents shirking, and is more democratic in that- it treats all alike.

The Telegraph's Cairo correspondentl pays a tribute to the excellent training the Australasians have undergone. All are sound marchers. The New Zealanders are specially fit, and are a pattern on which all colonial troops should be modelled.

A committee of the General Federation of Trade Unions is petitioning the Government to stop Sunday labor wherever possible, owing to breakdowns due to over-strain, particularly amongst girls.. The resolution adds that men must put aside their industrial disputes. The executive af the National Union of Dock Laborers issued a manifesto on the refusal of a minority of the Liverpool dockers to work during weekends, adding to the congestion, which has actually prevented the distribution of munitions to troops in the trenches in the past week. Unless disaffected members fall into line, the maiority of the body outside the union will adopt drastic measures to the union's detriment.

The Port of London Authority is prepared to refer the waterside workers' demand for increased war bonus to arbitration, provided the Government reimburses the Aiithority for increase, or the Authority is willing to hand over control to the Government if it guarantees an income equal to that of 1914. The Times, in a leader, says : "Every combatant, with the possible exception of France, failed at the outset to realise the magnitude of artillery requirements. The sooner we turn out shells in abundance, the sooner the war will be over."

At a Slav relief meeting, a letter was read from Govemykin, saying: "I promise that any sympathy you show to our people will meet with a hearty response. We are all allies now, and, I hope, for ever. The war which joined our forces will also bring together our nations. Every Englishman will be well treated in Russia as a friend. I firmly believe that in our union lies the hope of the world's peace." Lady Jellicoe. addressing soldiers' wives at Ilford, said she was glad the Government was giving a medal to war workmen as well as to soldiers, and that she was sure that none who did not possess this medal in future would ever have a wife.

Brevet-Major Harold Sutton Williams, of the Dorsetshire Regiment, a New Zealander, died of wounds.