Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1917. AMERICA TO SEND MEN.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14287, 2 May 1917, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1917. AMERICA TO SEND MEN.

General Joffre ha^ -a. .real and effective appeal to America to throw her all into the battle* fpr humanity and to send, forces over to Europe without; delay. The President, who a feY months ago Was all for keeping out of war,-, has been so convinced) as' to. tlie'.jUatice bf the Allies' cause and the necessities of! the situation that -.he-ls. understood to be favorable to the proposal, And Cohgrefes, . alter' bearing Joffre, -is -ready- to sanction it. There is how; a- 'proposal before the Legislature to authorise Colonel Roosevelt to proceed with .Such troops as he may be able to raise, and the. opposition which was raised to this measure is now-

being withdrawn. A month ago Roosevelt had between 65,000 and 70,000 men enrolled, all pledged to follow the leader-, ship of the former President. The regimental colonels had been selected and the expedition almost completely officered, whilst it wilts stated that the entire force could) be mobilised m four daysIt is likely, therefore, that so soon as legislative sanction ! has been granted j "Teddy* will get right off the mark, and I a very prompt and 'substantial measure assistance to France and her Allies will be afforded, -j Jbffre . makes no secret of the fact that help , is needed. Franco has made, enormous sacrifices and the burden imposed' Upon lier is almost more than she can bear. Quite- recently slie called up .hei- 1918 class, and the Minister for War, M. Padnleve, m explaining iri the Chaniber of Deputies the necessity for this step, said : "Successful as is the beginning of the spring- campaign, great, as is the joy at seeing piart of .■our- territory liberated, it would be puerile to consider:, tlie- German, retreat as renunciation. The retreat is evidently rather by reason of the force of AngloFrench armies and the prudence of their co-ordination than because of weakening on>the part of the German army. It is proof of their necessity- of bringing together their military energies. Germany is assembling an army, greater numerically and more solidly equipped than ever before. That is the instrument of war over which we must triumph. Certainly the most cruel sacrifice is that of-:those thousand's of young men, who sacrifice-, themselyes before even having liv&i m, order that the country may be saved." For the Allies it may be said that we have not reached the 'stage yet where we can afford to look upon our task as done. The only sane estimate w6' can make is that we. are m the hliddle of it, and 1 that what remains to be; done, is at least the measure of all oUr" strength, We welcome every friend who comes to Our^ assistance. There is precedent for the help that America proposes to afford. One hundi'od ■.. and thiHy ye^rs ago, when transport facilities Ayer 4 © very primitive compared! with the present, France was able - to send an army across the Atlantic to fight for American independence. All . the more reason that America to-day Should be able to send her troops to France. ''Return Bochambeau's Visit" is the slogan of the War party m the United States which, has been . advo- . eating '.'going the whole hog." Fighting side by side with the French ahd British • troops on the Western front, the American troops— even if they numbered no ; more than .-a brigads^-would have, it; is felt, a tremendous moral effect not only on the French but even upon the Germans. • Americans have a proverb that "blood .is thicker, than water.": This will bo borne. out when American soldiers have fought side by side with French and Allied troops and have shed their blood) m the same noble cause. ."The moral factor ' involved is even more important than the material' aid American troops," said a French milf"* tary official the other day. "The present war, m its last phase, appears, more than-eVer, a struggle of -.all the. liberal progressive nations to . a reactionary; effete coVernni'erital systtem, as, represented : by the Central-Power's of Europe. Since the Russian revolution; Gethiahy and. Austria, alone stand for ■ old-orders. It is Of, the highest moral imj-kritance that the United States, the ' most progressive Power m the world, I should be represented:^ iii the he\v" arniy of crusaders." "Unfurl that flag on the ! battlefields of -France/ said an Entente diplomat m the State Department at Washington. "I don't care if it waves Only 'oyer a brigade, the stimulating effect on the Entente troops and the demoralising effect upon tne German? Vill be wonderful." ..The. signififcahce of ithis call upon .America for help cannot •be lost 611 bur own people. 'It means that though our leaders f ervjently be- > lieve that victory is m sight they cannoi afford to take, any chance and are pre- ] paring for a long 'aiidi arduous campaign. The courage md strength and fidelity ol the nation iare> being put, to a very severe test, aiid the power of endurance as the . awful months, go by. is becoming .more crUcial every day. It^ is a matter ol ' whether wd ai'e able' to" stand the test. 1 It still needs every effort and every sacrifice on our part — and this applies to the Dominions as much as to the Motherland— to make our position sure to accomplish victory, and to bring tc the world the blessings of permaneni 1 peace. -- . . ■