AT THE FRONT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 162, 6 July 1918, Page 4

AT THE FRONT

NEW MINISTERS,

VISIT T© THE DOMINION TROOPS.'."'

SPEFCHES BY MR 'MASSEY AND SIR JOSEPH WARD.

(■Special from the Official War Correspondent.) ~~~-' ,Ist July. Mi- W F. Massey and* Sir Joseph Ward arrived at the Headquarters of ; the Ntw Zealnd Division on the Western front on Saturday evening. They lost no time in getting in touch witfl. the men of the division, for af tev their long journey by train, ship, and car tliev attended a p rfonnance given in tho' late afternoon by the divisional theatricals. The scene was a memorable one. The 'stage was- St in a natural.; Amphitheatre in beautiful woods; and in the interval of the performance, to, the accompaniment of tho booming or ; guns, the great crowd of soldiers lis- . tened to the message that those ambassadors had brought to their soldiers irom the furthermost part of the Empire. For the moment this, wood in Franc, became a little 'bit of 'New Zealand, and. the spirit of democracy invaded a portion of Republican France that not so far back in history had' been part of a ducal demesne. This friendly spirit of di mocracy was evidenced' in the gcod-natnred interjections with which speeches we're punctiiiated, and in calls of "Bill" and "Joe" that arose from tho soldi; rs' audience. I An English visitor was struck with the I heartiness and informality of the proj eeedings, and th e interest taken in the visit. The excellence of the performance surprised the visitors. In a .speech during tho interval, Mr' Massey said he would be very pleased t.<i listen to any grievance the men ha. - ]. H« added that he was intensely prou 1 of the splendid record the Division hrui put up, and he could tell them that the . people of New Zealand would * not yo back upon their soldiers, but would' stand bv them and see that they were properly reinforced. After the war was ov«r he felt that New Zealaid' would be proud not only of what had. been done by her soldiers, but also of , what had been done for her soldiers. Sir Joseph Ward expressed .grat ■ pleasure at seeing so many New ..Zealanders under such strange circumstances. Even in New Zealand! he had not seen so large a gathering, of New Zealanders for a long time/. The scene made one realise to what a great. ex : ' tent New Zealand had 'helped; .and he' felt sure that they would continue in' this determined spirit until tK« 'great victory had been won. ' There had been some criticism aoout the Ministerstaking a tn'p round the world, but he assured th;:m that trip was undertaken purely in the interests of the Emprpe'i and if tihey had not undertaken'. Hive, journey New Zealand would'have entirely unrepresented at the most important conferences in the crisis'in. th 1 -'', Empire's history. At the conclusion of their addressee both speakers were "heartily applaud-..

ed. •'. . -\ In tfe evening the Ministers dined with the General in Command of the 'Division. A CHURCH PARADE. '<.■•,

The Ministerial Party was early, on Sunday to attend the church parade of one of tlie infantry battalions. The. setne was an impressive one, ,<as the troops paraded in the open with the-/ great expanse, of, sunlit rolling downs' and woods- around. , Addressing tflc troops, Mr Massev. ' said Sir* • Joseph . Ward arid himself had' ed.true oh . a very important 1 mission'. Tliey wti«» ~ representing New Zealand .in\?:cohfeyy-'i' ences in which -previously the Doniin ■";; ions had had no say .".It' brought hdmV to one* what New" Zealand was really • doing when he was able to see such a large number, of men on parade at fiie front. He" was especially , : pi- ased. to \ see present .members of the Auckland regiment, many of whom had come from his own district and with whom he was personally acquaint d, and he could assure them that New Zealand wanted her men back again, but she' was determined to keep the division properly maintained and reinforced until a satisfactory victory wSts attained. New Zealand's effoi* in the war was second proportionately onh to that of England herself: He was glad to be able to tell them that the feeling in , England was even move i/p----timistic than it was a few weeiS ago, and that if we'held our own during / the next few months we forward to a satisfactory endfng to the war. He wished to tell them,that Nifw Zealand wonH stand by 'her "returned soldiers. Meantime her "massage was "Uarry on." 'As to' the'fu-. ture, he said emphatically that • Ger- ' many should • never again be allow d to get the footing she had before-m the British JMnpire. ' The .German must go out and keep out. * "•■> - Sir Joseph Ward said thsy were fury determined they would never yield 1 to the enemy, and so far as our troops were concerned tit y might rest assured that nothing would be left undone by America and our other Allies to enable them to win out. On 'their r.turn to New Zealand, the Ministers would do able to convey to the people* some idea of the tine appearance of her men in the fv Id, and what splendid work they had done in stopping Lho gap in the line during the recent Ger- *' man advance. All in New 'Zealand wou!d_lik« to s-e them' o'ack in "their own country, but not until an end had been made of rr us si an militarism Visits were paid to the Machine-trim Battalion, the Maori Battalion, nndthi' Engineers.' Brief spei ches were madi* in case\ and the Maoris returnpd tlie compliment v-ith their war dnnc«»

A BUSY DAY Mondav was a very busy dav, the Ministers travelling in motors over miles of dusty roads and through small French villages. ~in order to see* as many units of the division as possible. At the end of a long arid tiring, day had personal interviews with many officers and .'men who came to headquarters for this purpose. . The day began with an inspection of [: part of the Rifle Brigade, which was on paradr at the edge if a piottii*esqu;V wood flanked .•by" fields of wheat and rye. The Premier recalled the historic parallel of troops bivouaekiner in __ rye fields on the eve of Waterloo, "nnd ■' •expressed the hope that on this occasion also victory would rest with oiir : troops and their Allies;. He said the appearance of the' troops -spoke 'well;