THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1902.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11879, 3 February 1902, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1902.

| It must have occurred to all who I watched the departure of the Eighth Contingent from Auckland, and took part in the enthusiastic send-off, that the Boers were bitten with madness when they issued their ultimatum and challenged to war the great British Empire. This impression was not caused merely by the sight of 600 stalwart young men marching in uniform and crowding the sides of the transport, nor by the spontaneous and universal enthusiasm of the multitude which thronged every point of vantage, nor by the charm of the hundreds of boats that dotted the Harbour. These were stirring and inspiring elements, but there %as something more. .None could forget that Auckland was but one of a score of great sea ports from which the endless stream of fighting men issues still to South Africa, that our city is but one of a hundred cities through whose decorated streets and cheering multitudes contingents have marched and are marching to British war. Fierce as is the struggle on the veldt, the heroic defences of Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking saved the greater part of the Cape and Natal from invasion, so that even in South Africa our colonies have still an unexhausted vitality. While in all other colonies, and in Britain itself, it is only the " sniping" of war which has affected us. There is a vacant- chair in many a New Zealand home, but the home itself stands uninjured and unimpaired. To see the smiling faces and care-free mien of our people was to realise that after years of war, and the pouring out of thousands of

picked men, we had not grown weary in well-doing, nor crusheddown by our burdens, nor distressed by our sacrifices. As we are so are the rest of the colonies, and even the Mother Country, which is footing the war-bill. We have only been braced by the struggle, braced in every land, not in New Zealand alone, made more fit for fighting and more able altogether. And the Boer is a scattered remnant, fighting only to harass and destroy, without hope of victory, this Boer who sallied out so jauntily to drive the* English into the sea, The ancients taught that those whom the gods would destroy they first make mad ; and . surely the'madness of the gods fell in 1699 upon the Boers. With the sending away of the South Island Battalion of the Eighth over 4000 men will have left this comparatively small colony for South Africa, When the Ninth has been mustered and despatched over 5000 picked and tested men will have been voluntarily contributed to the Imperial service. This is proportionately equal to an army of 250,000 men—2so,ooo horsemen— from the United Kingdom, of over 300,000 from Germany, and over half-a-million from 'the United States. Yet it is very clear, and being more surprisingly demonstrated every day, that we have hardly begun to touch the sources of our supply. There is hardly a man, woman, or child in New Zealand who has not some relative or friend in one or other of the contingents, but for all who have gone to wax, as many more are still clamouring to go, and for every one there would be a dozen were it thought that need existed. No matter how many, contingents are raised, the cry of every recruiting board is of the difficulties of rejection, ; the universal complaint in each centre is of the hardship of choosing so very few where there are so very many suitable and eager. We are cheeridly aware that , there is no need whatever to urge Mr. Seddon to Imperial action, and we are therefore reluctant to make any suggestions which may seem to criticise the suf'-> ficiency of his contingents-policy. This colony has every reason to be proud of its contribution, and of the valour of its sons, and Mr. Seddon has equal reason to be proud that he has been reputably and prominently associated with this historic , episode. But we venture to say that if it would assist in forcing the war to a close, and would thus not only release our own men more speedily, but relieve the strain which uncertain foreign relations lays upon the Imperial authorities, the people of New Zealand would cordially support a proposal to make up the number of our South African corps to Five Thousand effectives, and to maintain that number in the field until the close of hostilities and the pacification of the annexed colonies. This would be a heavy drain upon our manhood, but if it would help the Empire, and confound its enemies, the people of New Zealand would not hesitate.

For the people of New Zealand know thoroughly well that not only is the Imperial gain their individual gain, but that it is not wholly a loss that we should send our young men to the veldt. The training they are getting there is invaluable for our defence forces, will permeate the entire colony, and shape our whole national existence. It will enable us the more easily and the more readily to supply practical and workmanlike contingents should the Empire be again assailed. It will enable us to make a more easily successful resistance were New Zealand attacked and our coasts invaded. Besides, we are peaceful and secure, only because the British nation has taught the world that the motto of the Thistle is a very real and meaningful one: Nemo me impune lacessit. It is to our interest, as it is congenial to every pulse-beat of our blood, to every aspiration of our brain, that New Zealand should stand side by side with Old England in making that motto good. If we were called upon to strip ourselves for Imperial defence in some great national emergency the people of New Zealand would not hesitate, as Europe may find in the Armageddon to which ignorance and hatred are dragging her as they dragged the Boers. And if we are only called upon for a few thousand horsemen, to do special work that others cannot do as well, then much as we need every pair of arms for the building up of this new country we should and would unhesitatingly and gladly comply.