Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, FEB. 9, 1915. ARE WE DOING ENOUGH?

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13604, 9 February 1915, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, FEB. 9, 1915. ARE WE DOING ENOUGH?

New Zealand, in the Sappy position of being remote from the centre of hostilities and enjoying abounding prosperity, is inclined to settle on its lees. We si<t back in comfort and read what other members of the British race and our brave Allies are doing to settle a struggle which in reality is just as vital to us as to the people of theHomeland. At the outset of the war we made a splendid response to the call for help. Men and money came forward without stint, but having accomplished so much we seem inclined to think that we have done our part, disregarding the fact that the war is still going on just- as grimly and -desperately to-day and that the need for assistance to the Motherland and to onr Allies has grown greater rather than diminished. During the last few months contrihnf inns to the, Belgian funds and other patriotic funds have eased off ; <this, we think, is due not so much to a lack of sympathy and readiness >to help on the part of the people as to an uncertainty regarding the matter of future contributions to the cost of •the war, many holding that theGo'vernment should give some advice ill , the matter and should state definitely what form of war taxation will be imposed, so 'that the burden may be distributed equally over the whole community. Meantime private beneficence is being stifled by the absence of a lead from those in authority who are in the best position to judge and advise as to what should be done. Then there is the matter of recruiting. We nave on several occasions expressed our belief that New Zealand is not doing all it might do in sending forward men to the Empire's assistance ,and we are glad 'to note that other papers are taking this up, and that there is a disposition 10. follow Austarlia's lead — why should New Zealand riot have led the way, as it has done before in a matter of great Imperial moment? — and increase the number of contingents sent to the front. The Wellington Post, quoting Senator Pearce's statement that "it is not a question whether Australia should send fitty or a hundred thousand men to the front. The only limitation -will be the number offering who can be equipped and trained and sent," says that in the declaration by the Commonwealth Minister for Defence we have an admirable expression of the patriotic ' spirit. "The only limitation should be the number who can be equipped and trained and sent." We must give what we have and do> what we can, for the Guildhall message is to us Britons half the world away as to the Britons in the Motherland. We have heard a good deal in the cables about the recruiting in the Old Country, and football matches and so forth, but the fact remains that v Englishmen and Scotchmen and .Welshmen and Irishmen have rallied to the flag'in the very finest spirit of patriotism and '.self -sacrifice Visitors returning . from Home .declare there are far more men under arms than .ever the newspapers admit, and when cities like Glasgow, Manchester, and'Birmingham give to , the y new ( army, quite* apart from -those already, at 'the; front, •* more, than ' v fifty thousand - men apiece," when the . city of • Newcastle-on-Tyne sends .more men than all- New Zea* land has sent up, to the present, it is an incentive to this Dominion ' and ail example .to our people. ■ Canada has already over thirty thousand men encamped in -I England and at the front, and fifty thousand more in training and soon to leave for the Old Country, and ' so many more , volunteers ready to take up arnfs after them. "We are inclined to think," 5 adds the Post, "there' has been too little encouragement 'on the part of the authorities here for . men to serve. No effort appears to have been 1 made by responsible Ministers of the Crown, until quite recently, to place the facts before the public, and it is exceedingly creditable to the patriotism and spirit of the manhood of New ; Zealand that we hav.e been able, without making any special call, to send away so many men already. We are aware of the difficulties of. training and equipping, but we believe that, with energy on the part of the authorities a great deal more could be done. than is being donef now. -We have' always to remember , in the words of Mr Asquith, • that 'nothing can be worse for a nation than either to win or lose battles in a struggle such as this vicariously or, as it were, by deputy.' " The , Australasian, in a, recent issue, took up this theme. Australians, it remarked,. how in a general way that their country is art war,! but a great. many • of ' them do > not seem to understand what" being at war. means. Tttey appear to imagine, that any contribution this country makes to' the fighting forces of the' Allies it makes out of ■* pure; generosity % and goodwill. We are, to their way of thinking, "helping the Motherland" in a quarrel which is not of our making, but which, out of pride of blood and Empire, we are pleased to make our own. When at the outbreak of hostilities the Federal Government hastened to offer : the Imperial authorities a force of 20,000 men, and placed the Australian naval squadron at the disposal of the Admiralty, people thought the Commonwealth was doing very well indeed. What this section of the community failed to realise was that Australia's very existence' as « free country was involved in the v issue. If Germany 'and her allies came victorious out of the war the United Kingdom itself would sink to the rank of a sec-ond-class power, but it would not become a part of the German Empire. Its greatness would have / gone for ever, but its national existence would not be ended. A population of forty millions in a comparatively small country could not be obliterated in -that' way. But of the territory that would change hands as a result of a victory for the other side Australia would constitute by far the largest and richest portion. "It

would become part of the German Empire. It would present an open, almost a virgin, field for German exploitation. Its five million people would have either' to become German subjects, and accept all the tyranny and degradation wliich that status imposed, ur to leave its shores. They would become submerged by the surging tide of German immigration. New Zealand must share the same fate, 'and South Africa too. These three dominions would, in a word, constitute between them the great spoil of the war. That being so, the Australasian wants to know if the people of the Commonwealth are doing all they can to strengthen the Empire's forces, and we, for our part, must carry the question on and enquire whether New Zealand has yet quite realised tlfe vital issue at stake and is playing her part faithfully and well in the task of magnitude that is before the nation. "We shall never sheath the sword," said Mr Asquith in his Guildhall speech, "until Belgium recovers in full measure all, and more than all that she has sacrificed; until France }s adequately secured against the menace of aggression; until the rights of the smaller nations of Europe are placed upon an -unassailable foundation ; and until the military domination of Prussia is wholly and finally destroyed. It is a grealX task, worthy of a great nation. It needs for its accomplishment that every man among us, old or young, rich pr poor, busy or leisurely, learned or simple, should give what he has and do what he .can."