THE CALL FOR MEN

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 6 April 1918, Page 5

THE CALL FOR MEN

STATEMENT BY THE PREMIER,

"NO TIME FOR HALF MEASURES."

BY TELEGRA.*S~~PItESB ASSOCIATION. . WELLINGTON, April 6. bpeatmg at th e unveiling of an Honors Board at Khandallah to-night, Mr Massey sa.d: "Victory depends upon S UT\ 1 b^?ve thin Ss will come l£ t, >' lt vtlie y fill come right only if tiie British people in every part of the'i Umpire do their duty: I can tell you, without .giving away Cabinet secrets that; aurmg a gr,eat;part of to-day members or the Government were sitting m Cabinet- considering how best to meet the appeal for increased assistance made by Mr Lloyd George. I am not in a position to state what the Government has decided. We have arrived at certain decisions which will bdP made public jn. due course. I might b e able tp tell you, but for the fact that some of our decisions have to b e submitted to the Imperial authorities for their consideration^ and approval. A cablegram that will be despatched within the next few hours will tell the Imperial Cabinet what New Zealand intends to do. Wo have asked,, for their advice, am? when we receive the answer to that cablegram we shall make a statement in Parliament as to what we have promised the Imperial Government." Mr Massey said the time had arrived for a great effort, and he thought Mr Lloyd George did absolutely the ri»h£ I thing when he sent out his stirring appeal t> the Dominions of the Empire and to the United States to send all tho men they were able to transport. « i h<>Pe and believe that the response of the Dominions will he worthy of the occasion. This is not the time for hesitation or naif measures. It is a time for steadtast determination The more men we are able to place in the field during the next few months the better it will b& for the Empire and for humanity. Our duty under existing circumstances is to do all wo are capable of doing. This is what the Government of this^ country is going to ask the people to pack it up in doing.' 5 The Prime Minister mentioned that up to the present about 100,000 New Zealanders had been taken into camp, •and 90.000 had left, for service overseas. About 17,000 of these men had returned to the Dominion, many of them being incapacitated wholly or partially, while thousands of others had fallen, and their names were recorded indelibly in the history of the nation.