MINISTERIAL SPEECHES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 26 April 1918, Page 5

MINISTERIAL SPEECHES.

BY TELEGRAPH —PRES? ASSOCIATION

WELLINGTON, April 25. At a gathering at the Commercial Travellers' Club, the Prime Minister, after paying a tribute to the Anzac heroes and the part New Zealand had taken in the war, referred to the development of the war. He said that the British Empire and Allies had to face two chief dangers at the present time. One was the submarine. He believed the effects of the submarine attack were decreasing, and that in time the submarine would be relegated to the same category of ineffectiveness as the Zeppelin. The other danger .was the tremendous attack made by the German armies on the West front. The first stage of that attack had been passed, but nobody must imagine that the German offensive was at an end. The danger was not over by a very long way. The Germans wanted to smash the British forces before the American reinforcements; could take an effective part in the campaign, but he did not believe for a moment" they would succeed. He believed the British were going to stop the German advance, and that the enemy would be unable to reach the Channel ports. Sacrifices would have to be made by all the peoples of the British Empire, in order to tide over the period of danger, but Britons all over the world were prepared to stand firm and see the thing through. Sir Joseph Ward said that the men who had died at Gallipoli, while fighting under terrible conditions and against great odds, for the cause of human freedom, would never be forgotten. Their names were recorded on the hearts of the nation. There had been criticism of the inception and conduct of the Gallipoli campaign. He believed it was a fact that if those responsible for the effort had arranged for sufficient forces to be available at the right time the peninsula would have been won, and the war would by this time have ended. Somebody had blundered, but let it never be imagined that the men who died on Gallipoli had died in vain. They had fought a good fight, and maintained, unstained, the very highest traditions of their nation.

Sir Joseph Ward added that the New Zealanders were commemorating the third anniversary of Anzac Day with the firm determination that, whatever the further efforts might be, the sacrifices that had already been made should not be in vain. He did not believe that Britain or her allies would end the war until a full victory had been assured —until they had turned the tide back, entered German territory, and carried the flag of freedom right to Berlin.