Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star FRIDAY, APRIL 5th, 1918. THE TRUE SPIRIT.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 April 1918, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star FRIDAY, APRIL sth, 1918. THE TRUE SPIRIT.

' How well the new armies of the Empire have followed the steps of the veterans gone before, is evidenced over and over again by the tales id’ th*. war correspondents at the front. It was the Bishop of Newcastle who s aid in the first months of the war: “We watch our young fellows pass out to the trenches to face bullet and shell, and poisonous fumes for onr safety. They take our lives and property in trust, and go out and die cheerfully for the idea bf national security.” Philip Gibbs has the same tale to tell to-day of the Australians and New Zealanders Ima.rching into the front lines. He sayst “These Australians come swinging down towards the old Somme battle, field with the spirit of men coming to the rescue of a great cause. . . Long columns of infantry marched day and night towards the fighting line, their dear-cut hatchet faces showing a grim spirit of resolution. The New Zealanders followed, spick and span, debonair lads who had already seen many' adventures.” Here we have epitomised the true spirit of the age, and no wionder that in this hour of gree. crisis Mr Lloyd George appeals across the seas for the brother nations of the Empire to send more men. Let it he done. Let' New Zealand now, as here, tofore, help to hear the burden of nationhood, and do it in the- true spirit—the spirit of our forefathers, the spirit of our sons in tho firing line. Let there he no haggling about quotas, or what this or that country is doing, or is going to do. The men are wanted now, and now’s tho time for action. In the first flush of the war, our Prime Minister, in a moment, of enthusiasm, said the Dominion was prepared to spend its last shilling and send its last man to maintain the national freedom we enjoy. If those words were uttered with a sense of their value, it is up to Mr Massey to lead the country boldly in the way that they might he fulfilled. If the cause of the Allies fails in this war. neither money nor men avail for our safety and freedom, even in this distant outpost. Last, week’s happenings perhaps brought home io many what the prospects would lie even for New Zealand if the enemy prevailed in tinpresent offensive. For the moment that offensive lias failed, but the enemy are not beaten, an v more than the British, who suffered their line to hond rather than to break. The offensive will he resumed with violence by one side nr the other if a victorious or even advantageous peace is to he reached. General Hinderiburg with all his splendid organisation failed to reach Paris by April Ist. That appointment h>'s not been kept, hut he will make many efforts ere the montli passes to make his belated entry into Paris. We believe that by this time he is doomed to failure, but the pressure will he great, and the resources of the. Empire must be poured forth to meet the demands made. It is opportune that Parli--ment is meeting so soon, and the emergency calls for a response to Lloyd George’s request as hearty and as whole hearted as the spirit in which the call for more men is being made all over the Empire.