The New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1917. THE NATIONAL NOTE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9648, 1 May 1917, Page 4

The New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1917. THE NATIONAL NOTE

On Saturday night we had the climax of tho Anzac celebration—the national part of it. It is tho highest and the noblest side of the celebration, and it was honoured, as was fitting, by entrusting to tho Chief Justice tho duty of giving it voice. Sir Robert Stout, in grave words, proved the righteousness of the national cause, and in stirring words explained tho abiding influence of great deeds on national character, illuminating his point by great examples from tho history of human freedom. Tho sacrifice of Thermopylae has shone through the wondering ages, and tho armies that achieved the Gallipoli landing on Anzac Day have added to that noble example a deed that will stand beside it for all time. Tho occasion had a worthy presentment in the. wide-reach-ing reference of the Chief Justice, and the reference was completed by the reminder of tho Minister for Internal Affairs that on that day our men had played a great part. The main theme of the Chief Justice was the ennobling effect of great battles fought in a righteous cause. His words were wide enough and deep enough to comprehend other episodes of this war than Gallipoli. The Mons retreat, the great victory of the Marne, the wonderful battle of ipres, the great Italian victory of Trentino, the incomparable heroism of Verdun, the marvellous Russian retreat of 1915, tho greatest in history, the splendid valour and endurance of the great Somme advance—all these have enriched history and fired the noblest side of the human soul. On the list our men have inscribed “Anzac” beside these great names of great deeds. It is tho very marvel of Anzac. With this, one of tho most remarkable facts of the war, the speech of the Minister for Munitions harmonised to tho full, reminding us of the solid unanimity of all the Allies. .Those groat feats of arms, so prodigal of valour against tremendous odds, for tho upholding of righteousness, are tho cement which must hold them together to the end, and, please God, far beyond. They have each and every one of that great company of banded Democracy pledged their word, as the Minister pointed out. But great as their pledged word is, these, ■ their deeds of war, are greater. There was a sudden, ghastly tear the other day that one of the greatest of these Allies might fail, through the treacherous co-operation of tho autocratic bureaucratic governing powers with the common enemy of autocratic bureaucracy. But Russia, with one mighty effort simultaneous from the Raltic shores to the remote sea of japan., shook off tho shackles, witu their clogging rust of the centuries of oppression, {surely the most remarkautc national deed in human history. Tins, as it were, in a single night. Tuero followed a day of uncertainty, most natural, and that day ushered m a period of solid firmness, of enduring recovery and salutary reforms, which have brought safety to the national promise to abide by the Allies of the Entente in tho higa light of theii great feats of arms. There is now, even early as it is' after the great revolution, certainty that the danger of Russian failure is over. The strength of the nation’s adherence to the great cause of the war has stood tho test of the tremendous sudden wrench from the cruellest autocracy to tho freest democracy. Even the memories of awlul oppression—for example study that report that 100.000 exiles in Siberia are pinned in their place of banishment by want of transport; 100,000 of all ages, men, women and children, deported without trial under the most hideous conditions—even these memories have failed to wreck the stability of the new order. As the Munster showed, tho bond of war holds good, and there is a bond of peace of strong commercial fibre, preparing and nearly ready, to take the place of the bond of war, as soon as tho victory of _the great cause of the democratic nations has been achieved. Under the circumstances the Xavy could not have been forgotten. The gro it British Xavy has added to the

list of inspiring battles ns tho Army has. Jutland carries on tho great naval tradition of dauntless valour and resourceful skill: Coronal, in its simplicity of hopeless sacrifice stands beside every great deed in history ; tho countless marvels of sacrifice, and daring of all ranks, running from the sinking of the Northumberland on that dismal winter night, through tho tcrmendons series of patrollings, nincswoepings, submarine suppressions, to that last feat that sprang out of the darkness of .midnight to dazzle tho world with a daring surely superhuman. the feat of two destroyers which won their great battle against six of their class—all these are inscribed on the great list of inspiring combats for righteousness the Allied forces have in this war contributed to history. It was pleasant in presence of such a story to bo reminded by tho President of the Navy League that Now Zealand has contributed 77 per cent, of tho sum subscribed by the Empire for tho stricken of that glorious service. What better 'company could that statement have than the demonstration by the chairman of the Patriotic Society of the strength, skill, and absolute _ superiority of our armies Ju all things to the hordes of Kultur, and their cheerful determination to win tho war at all cost? On the whole no one who was present at the Anzrc dinner of Saturday heard the speeches of the national side, noted the appreciation of tho big gathering and joined in the enthusiastic tremendous applause, will ever forget the celebration, so worthy in every way of one of tho greatest occasions in our history.