COMRADES IN ARMS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14285, 30 April 1917, Page 8

COMRADES IN ARMS.

BRITAIN AND AiIERICA. LLOYD GEORGE'S GREAT SPEECH. THE DAWST OFT PERFECT DAY. ! (Reuter's Telegram.) LONDON, April 12. | The American- Luncheon Club entertained the Prime Minister, Mr Lloyd George, at luncheon to-day. The American Ambassador {Mk* Page) presidied. The toasts of "The King" and "The President" Avere received with prolonged cheering and the singirig of the national anthems of the two countries. ' Tli© gupsts included General Smuts, Sir Robert Borden, and several .-.Cabinet Ministers. ' j The American Ambassador said • "We 'have set our help to the enterprise ofl saving the earth" as a place Avortli living m. (Loud cheers.) We have come m m answer cply to the high call of duty, , not for any material reward,, or terri- , tory, or indemnity, or conquest, or anything. We., have only the high duty to succor Democracy Avhen it is desperately, assailed." (Cheers.) STRALGHTEST STRUGGLE EVER. Th© Prime Minister,- Avho Avas received with loud cheers and- the waving'- of handkerchiefs, said : "I am m the happy position of being the first British 'Minister Avho, speaking- on behalf of tlie people of this country^--can salute the American nation as comrades m arms. (Cheers.) lam glad not merely because of the stupendous resources America will bring to thesuboour of the Alliance, but I rejoice as a democrat. (Cheers.) Tlie advent of -thei United States into the Avar gives the final stamp arid seal to the character of the conflict as a struggle against. military autocracy throughout the world.' '(Cheers.) * ■"•'■ ",' FOR. HUM&N LIBERTY; ''This is the straightest' strugg'e for liberty America ever ..embarked upon. (Cheers. ) Mio9t of '-"tlie gredt .Wars ofthe pa£t were Avaged for domestic aggrandisement and .conquest. The fact that the United Stated has ; made^hp its niind finally makes- it abundantly clear to the world that this is no such struggle, but a great %ht for humaii y^berty. (Oheers.) The States, naturally, <Jid not know at first what we. had endured m. Ehirope for years from this* military caste m Prussia. Prussia .is not a democracy. (Laughter;) The Kaiser promises that it will be a d-emo-' cracy after the war. I think he 'is right- * ' (Laughter -and cheers.) But Prussia is not- merely not a. democracy. Prussia is not a 'State. Prussia is'aiv army. (Hear, hear. V* It has great industries highly developed, a great educa-. tional system, great uniA^ersities. AH these are subordinate to th© one great* predominant purpose of 'the all-conquer-lrig army, Avhich Avould intimidate the world. The army is the speaiypoint ofy Prussia ; the rest is merely the haft. That is what Aye had to deal, -with. It got on the nerves, "'ef Europe ;It Avas ' an a-rmy that m recent times had waged three wars, all for conquest- T^ie incessant tramp of its legions through the streets of . Prussia and on the parade grounds had l got into the Prussian head? The Kaiser, Avhen he witnessed it on a grand scale m reviews, got drunk with the sound of it. He- delivered the law? to the world, as if Potsdam were' a new Sinai, and he was uttering the law f-rom a' thundercloud. Make no mistake, Europe knew the whole tim© Avhat it meant. What it did not know was the moment it Avould come. This is the menace, this is the oppression 'from, which Europe suffered foa* 50 years. It paralysed the beneficient activities -af all States, which! ought to have been devoted to, and. concentrated "upon, 'the wellbeing of their people. -Frances*! • None can tell, except Frenchmen, what they, endured^ from this tyranny-— patiently, gallantly, with dignity— until ' thei hour of deliverance came. The best energies of democratic. .France have been devoted to defending itself against the impending terror, y This- is the state of things • we, had- to encounter, ' .*.' /'TBtEJ HINDENBURG LINB.'' ' ; "Th& .most" characteristic of "all Prussian institutions is 'the Hindenburg line.' (Laughter.) What ia tbs Hindenburg line? It is a line- drawn m the territories of other people Arith the warning that the inhabitants otf -'those -.'territories cross it at the peril of their- lives. That line has been drawn', m Europe for 50 years. Ehirope, whioh had endured this for a generation, made up its mittd at last that tlie Hindenburg line "must be dra^n along the' legitimate frontiers of Germany herself:* • pieei*s.);'?There could ' b?. :P°, other, attitude than that for the eriiancipation Of Europe' and' the world. "America^ Avas; forced to endure the* same experiericeras Ekirope. Americans wer&told that they were not allowed to erossVand^re-croßSthe Atlantic: except at their penl. American ships were sunk Avithout warning. American subjgpts were drowned, hardly Avith an apology:, ? tt fa^t as a matter of German right: At first America could "hardly believe it; They could not think it possible that any satte people should behave m that mariner, v .They tolerated it once,, they tolerated : it* tAvicey until at* -last it became- dear ithat .'the-'Genmaris- really meant itv! Then America, acted, arid acted promptly. . (Cheers.)' The - - -denburg' line Avas drawn along the shores of America,'. ahd ;, Americans were told that they must not cross It, and America said : tWhat. is this?' (Laughter.) . GerP»?y r^aid:. 'This is oiir Bhe, * beyond ™-i ,Jn°" not go,' and America said r.VThe- place fdi*' tliat line Is mot the Atlantic, .but ori -the Rhine.' '(CKeers.!): ■'pad £c must help to.rbll it up. , TheY |iave started^ , (Chgersv) •' '■ ;v ■ 'V- './,?• ' THEySTO&Y OF RIJ^SIA. '"■ fifi .'There are two great facts Avhich chncVthe argument that this: is A great struggle fen* freedom. YV The^-ferst is the fact* that America- has , joined. She Would nothav-e; d<foe ab otherwise. TliiW second 'is-the 'Russian revolution. : (Loud cheers.) When Frahoe. m the eighteenth century, ,sent her -soldiers' toi .America tb Hght for* ttieyireedomamT independence' ok that laud, France -also was an-auto- - cvacy.but once tho- Frenchmen .w ere .ik. America their ami? waV. freedom, their . #°^ne re v was ,fcix&om. y ; their 'SnspiW ttfn; ijras : freedom. ?* They racqiured ' ia taste Jot freedom,; 'Thejj todkit home, and* France Ivecariie ' ffcee. fifi ! -Ttet is the story of Russia,/ ''•'■ ■'"" ••* -.- y . . m this gi;eat war for the* f reedbrrfrof- beiiia; Montenegro, and , Jtfuigana. She is fighting for the free- 1 dom of Europe, and she wanted to malce her OAvn couiitry free.' She .has done it. (^heerg-). The Russian VeA-olution was $°£P*,Wy t-A e outcome of a struggle for freedom;. ' If the Russian people realise— sn'd,-5 n 'd,-* herlß is'eveVy evidence, thSt- they- afe opibg-if that /national discipline is not incompatible with national freedoxri. nay, that national .disyApiiiie is essehtial to! security and national 'fi-eedom— (cheers)-^- , tbeyf will-indeed become a free people. fi-KL hayef been^ 'asking- myself the question : 'Why Hid Germany, deliberately ,' m the third year^of the Avar, provoke America to this declara,tion— to* , this actiop?'; .Deliberately? Yes, resolutely ! It * has been su^gest^d tfe the reason was that thfere Avere certain elements m . American life which Germany Avas under • the impression would make it impossible for the United States Hto declare -har. ' ■1 hat-, ii cari hardly but the I answebhas been afforded' by Hirtdenburg himself, m. a "most remarkable iritervieAv , He 'deperidedy clearly upon two things! Hey thought j thaV the submarine cam- ! paign Avould 'have destroyed international | shipping to such. an extent that.E ngland . Avould have been put out of business be- j f piey Amerfcai Avas "ready.? -According to his copiputation, • America would ■ not be !

... \ ■ . ■ I ready for a 'year.' (Laughter:) He did not know America. (Cheers.) Then, alternatively, when America was ready 'at the end of a year, he believed that jshe would have no ships to transport j her army. In Hindenburg's wbrds, ! America carries nib weight, (Laughter.) j He means that she has no ships to carry (on. (Laughter.) That is undoubtedly j their reckoning. Well, it is unwise to always assume thak even when the Ger- ! man General Staff, has miscalculated, they have had .no* -ground for'thdr miscalculation. Therefore it behoves 'the Allies, especially Great Britain and America, to see that •'. Hindenburg's reckoning is -' as' ; false as is the one he made about his famous line, which we have broken already . (Cheers.) "WE ARE ON OUR COURSE." "The road to victory, the guarantee of, I victory, the absolute assurance of victory, must be found m one word, ! namely^ ships.' With characteristic keenness Americans have fully realised that, and have already arranged to build 1000 } three-thousarid-toniiers for the Atlantic j trade. (Cheers.) I believe the Germans ! and their ?militai*y. -advisers are already ? beginning to realise that this is another [of their miscalculations, whch is going .to lead them to disaster and ruin. The I British ""are ..a slow, blundering people, ■but they ge£ there.v The Americans get there- Sooner. That, is why I am glad to see? Americar iri.- We have been m this ;' business three years,, and having got through, every blunder, we have got a ' good'; start, v Now we are right out on : our< courte* *• (Cheers.) -• "May I respectfully suggest that Americans should study our blunders m j order . to begin where we are now, not where we were three years ago. I am glad America is seridirig' naval and mili-: tary experts to Great Britain to interchange experiences with men who have been all -through the , dreary, anxious course during the last ''three years." (Cheers.) . After acknowledging the debt of the Allies to America, m the matter of guns and ammunition, ,the Prime Minister proceeded,: "It was'jaybad ,>:day, -for the military autocracy* of" Prussia Vtrhen it challenged the. great republic of the west with its wbnderiul fertility and resourcefulness. We know America will wage a strong*. and successful *»var to ensure, a beneficient peace. DEMOCRACY MEANS PEACE. "I rejoice thai America is going tp :win the right to be at the peace conference which will settle .the destiny of nations, m the course of human life, for i God knows .how, many ages. ..It would have been 'a* tragedy for mankind .if [America had not. been there. ' I can see a peace, not'a peace to be the beginning fi of another war, but a real peace. This world is an old- world. It has never had peace; .It has been rocking and swaying like the ocean, and Europe, poor Europtt; has always lived' -urider the sword. W'heii this Avar began two**thu*dß "of "Europe was ivnder autocratic rule... It is the other yvay about now, and -Democracy means peace. (Cheers.) •■■• j "The democracy of France did not ■'want war. The ' democracy of Italy hesitated long before entering the war. The democracy of Britain shrank from it, and shuddered, and would never have j entered the cauldron but ' for the invar sion of Belgium. Democracy sought j peace and strove for peace, and- if "Prussia had , heen* a democracy there wouk!, have been no war. (Cheers.) But strange things are to come, arid they are coming more rapidly. There are times m history when this world spins « o leisurely along its destined course that it seems for centuries to be at a standstill. vi- : -' -- :y yv :, v -fi A PERFECT DAY. v "There are. alsa?times when it rushes along at a giddy pace, covering the. track of- (CeatttrM m a year. Tliese arb such times!, y Six ?,weeks ago Rutisfrt wfts*. an autocracy. She is -now one : of the most advanced democracies of the world. (Cheers.) To-day we are * waging the most devastating war the world has ever seen. To-morrow — not perhaps a distant to-morrow— war may be abolished for ever from the category of human crimes, . (Loud cheers.) This may be something like the fierce outburst of winter, which we are now witnessing before the complete triumph of summer. It was written of those gallant men who

• ?• .'....■■-■ ■■.-■* -.\--i>»»-y won the victory on Monday—^men Worn Canada, from Australia, ariel from this old country, which has ptfdved- 'that despite its age, it is? riot decrepit— -it was jf.'l'itten of those men that they attacked ■lyith the dawn— fit work 'for the da\tn-i~ to drive out from 40 miles of French spil, those miscreants who had defiled it for three years. T})ey attacked with the dawn — it is a significant phrase. Tfye breaking up of thp dark rule of t-b.e Turk, which for centuries clouded tho sunniest land m the* world, the f reeiiig of Rnsqia ,trom oppression which liad covered it like" a^shroud^for'so 1 long, the great declaration .ofr/\Pi"esidetnV*,Wilson coming, with the might of . the great nation, he represents* into the struggle for r'libertyrr- these ai^e "the heralds of dawp. They attitttod with -the dawn, and those rijen are marching forward m ithe full radiance of that dkwh, and soon .Frenchmen, Aihericans, British' Italians, 'Russians.* yea^ -Serbians, BelfeiaQgiMontenegrins, and Romanians, will emerge into the full light, of a 4 perfect day. ■fDoud arid^rolohgfcStf, cheering.) ■,