THE WAR SPIRIT IN THE COLONIES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12430, 22 January 1915, Page 7

THE WAR SPIRIT IN THE COLONIES.

LOYALTY TO THE .MOTHERLAND.

I (By Philip Snowden, if.P., in the London Chronicle.)

Wellington, N.Z., October 24. 1 have heen in New Zealand a month. and during that time I have seen no. outward and visible signs that the British Empire is engaged in a terrible war. The streets of all the towns T have visited present a-normal appearance ; business is being carried! oil as usual; places of amusement are all open, "and are well patronised ; the people in the streets show no signs of depression or of excitement; there are no idle workmen standing in the public places; there are no demonstrations of excited loyalists,' and no flags floating in the breeze. The New Zealand Parliament is in session, and is engaged lin discussing domestic legislation of a very controversial character. Apart from an occasional question' about the war, the proceedings of Parliament.give no indication that the British Empire, of which, New- Zealand is so proud to be a part, is passing through this awful experience. The general election is due ! about the beginning of December, ft was suggested in the eariy weeks of the war that party controversy should be suspended and that the general, election should be postponed. But that suggestion was not entertained, and when the business of the session has been wound up in two or three week's time,,the election campaign will be in full swing and, judging from the number of candidates already before the constituencies (in a. considerable number of cases there are four candidates for one seat) there will be a very exciting general election. | Campaign meetings are already being held by candidates who are not in Parliament, and the attendances at these meetings in the -early stages of the. fight, and more especialiv the attendance at the. meetings of the Prohibition Party, show that public interest is not by any means wholly absorbed! in the war. The poll on the question of national prohibition of the liquor traffic is taken at the same time as the noils for the election of the House of Representatives.

TRADE UNAFFECTED BY THE WAR. Business men tell me that- up to the pre.sont the -war lias had practically no effect on trade in New Zealand. "Heie and there one finds a retail trader who complains that the people are reducing their expenditure upon non-necessary articles under the fear that things will get had later, and it is wise to 'lay up some reserve. There lias been practically 110 advance of food prices. With tlie exception of sugar the prices of staple commodities remain the same as before the outbreak of war. The only trade which appears to have been affected to any appreciable extent is the building trad'e. Builders are hesitating about the beginning of new work. When I was in Auckland about a fortnight ago I made inquiries at the Labor Bureau, and the slate of employment was said tn lie quite normal —even in the building trade. Since then, however, information has reached me that both in Auckland and in ChristcTiurch carpenters are being discharged. But it may be said that up to the present th;- people of New Zealand hav? not had brought home to theni. the seriousness of the war, in which, they; in common with the whole Enpire, are engaged, by trade, depression, economic pressure, or the imminence of danger to the country.

But all this does not mean that the people of New Zealand are indifferent about the war.. On the contrary, there is a- quiet, unobtrusive, undemonstrative feeding- which is .all the more intense because of its suppression. I was in the West of Canada in the early weeks of the war. The newspapers reported outbursts of patriotic feeling in the eastern pities of the Dominion, which appeared to resemble the demonstrations which took place in Great Britain during the Boer War. But I saw nothing whatever of that in the West of Canada. The feelings of the people found expression in seeking some means by which tliov could materially help the Empire in its great need. A great meeting in Vancouver, called by the Mayor, to form a'Citizens' Committee, was typical of the state of feeling of the people of Western Canada. Vast numbers were unable to gain admission. Tn the meeting there was 110 shouting, no flag-waving, nothing of what we call Jingoism; but there was a unanimity, a quiet determination to make the cause of ,the Motherland their own cause, a loyalty to the British. Empire which were strikingly impressive. T have found precisely the same spirit and the same way of expressing it in New Zealand. Though, as I said at the beginning, the outward and visible signs of any great interest in the war are absent from the streets, in a hundred ways the people of New Zealand are showing that thev .are prepared—and not only prepared, but anxious—to take their share in the great struggle in which the Empire is now engaged. SACRIFICES" FOR THE EMPIRE.

Two days ago SGOO men left here for the seat of war. ' Four thousand more are in readiness to depart. About one in 30 of the male population between the ages of 20 and 40 have volunteered for active service. The colony has accepted full responsibility for the cost of equipping, despatching, .and maintaining at the front tlv?.'whole of tho New Zealand contingent. This is a heavy financial responsibility for a country which has a population of only a million. But this does not fully represent the contribution wlliich New Zealand .is ready to make, and' is in-' deed making. Rather severe conditionswere imposed .as the tost of acceptance of volunteers for srvice in Europe. A very much larger number of young men offered themselves than were accepted. A. special Maori contingent has been formed, and' at the time of writing -s iust about to be sent away. One very much, disappointed Maori is being left behind. He is a magnificent specimen' of a man —6ft. 4in. in height, splendidly proportioned, hut weighing 16 stone. The 16 stone has ben his undoing. There is a weight limit of 15 stone. I have found nowhere, either in Ca-\ nada or in New Zealand, any differences of opinion about the necessity of supporting Great Britain in carrying through this war to a successful end. But neither have 1 heard or read one expression glorifying war. Oil the contrary, there is expressed everywhere a : feel in®. of abhorrence of war, /and a. ir re at hone that this awful outbreak w'll teach all the civilised nations of the world the horror and crime of war, and it will be the means of bringing about an enduring peace among t'ie nations of Europe. Tn Canada and in New Zea>aiul the people are united in their determination to see this thing through; but thev seem equally determined that there shall he such a settlement as will nut an end forever to the dominion of European politics by a military autocracy.