Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, JULY 31, 1917. WHY WE ARE FIGHTING.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14363, 31 July 1917, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, JULY 31, 1917. WHY WE ARE FIGHTING.

As the time iappr.oac.hes, < when at the conclusion of three years of war the people will be called upon to renew their solemn declaration that they will not sheathe the sword until the sacred aims and purposes to -'whioh' the Allies have pledged themselves ■' have been accomplished, it is well that we should look back on the history of 1 tho war, weigh ence again the causes thereof, and see whether anything has occurred during ; the long campaign to cause us to vary the judgment with whicii three years ago we staked all we possessed m the cause of humanity and right. \Why, are wo fighting? One of the best answers to that question we have recently read is contained! m an article, m the "Bulletin' des Armeee^'V;. -by .'.General .'Petain, 1 ,ithe French Army commander, publication whereof is said .to have created a sensation m France. "We are , fighting,'.' G enerul . Petai n wr i tes, " * 'to drive • the enemy from our territory" and to prevent, by a solid ahd •completo peace, any •recurrence of such aggression m the future. \Vo are fighting because it would be a crime to betray by a shameless weakness tlie faith of -pur dead and our children. We are fighfenig that peace may bring relief* to our country, and exorcise a trouble that with a bad endlingto the war would .bet. -much, worsp than that which we have suffered." Then Gen. Retain retraces .the causes of the war, rehearsing the history of the events of the summer of 1914- and recalling the efforts . made by ■-. France, f. Russia and Great Britain to prevent the conflict. On July 2 Nicholas. 11. offered iv a personal despatch . to the Raiser to subtmit the questiqn to The -Hague C'on•ference. The Kaiser declined the offer,; but without doubt being conscious 01. the ; crime he had committed, suppressed m the German White Book that highly important .dispatch. ,. v Brusquely> „ while Vienna ., wished perhaps , '"to •negotiate)' William'' the Second precipitated the conflict by declaring war on Russia, even before Austria, to the despair of the entire world. "The truth is that Germany for years wished Avar' against Ru'sfiia and against France. For a long

time she had foreseen au invasion of the two countries m its minutest details by maintaining a spy organisation without precedent and by the most complete military preparation."' Thereupon General Petaiu shows how the French Government gave the order to keep its soldiers at ten kilometres from the frontier, then how the Germans broke through at many points without a declaration of war, then how the declaration was made under the ridiculous pretext that the French aviators had thrown "bombs near Nuremburg. It was because war was thus < treacherously forced upon her by the Potsdam conspirators that France fought, and Britain, her ally, M*as bound to stand by her, for Britain's downfall was as clearly plotted against" as that of. Frarce. General Petain then passes to the violation of Belgian neutrality. "Tlie Germans hoped to crush us m a few • ■ months ?by traitorously attacking through Belgium with formidable forces. They believed it to be certain that before England could send anything more than her 'contemptible little army' they would* be m Paris. What Germany wished, the pan-Germanists of -the north' and east,were Franders, Artois, Lorraine and our . most precious mineral and industrial and agricultural resources,, to extort from us ten times as much gold as m 1871. Beaten on the Marne and the Yser, stopped at Verdun, obliged to give up her aolonies and besieged little by little m Europe, has Germany renouncer he*.* hateful dream? Not at all. The more we inflict cruel losses on her the /more she desires compensation. Beyond' a doubt, humiliated by reverses, starved by tlie blockade, bleeding from her combats, she desires peace, but she wishes a peace full of honors, that is -to say, full of profits. That is the peace which she has pretended to . offer us, a , •peace at a price. The proof of the bad 1 faith of Germany is to be found m her response to President' Wilson and her j refusal to specify what she is fighting ' for — proof m itself that this is not ; avowable. Not daring to-day to tell the world, Germany reserves all her preten- ' sions. She willed the war to realise them. Alone m Europe she prepared it, alone m Europe she desired it, led up to it, precipitated it; declared it, rendered it inexcusable , by ; her atrocities. In maintaining hei* exorbitant pretensions to domination, without having the faith or the wish to avow them, she is the only obstacle to peace." Another answer to the question is given m the able speech made, a few weeks ago. by General Smuts, the brilliant South African leader whose native ability has won him a high place m the councils of our nation. Germany, he pointed out, sits to-day over Belgium, Serbia, most of Rumania, and 25 millions of Russian people who formerly belonged to the Russian Empire. .She has swallowed an enormous portion, of Europe.' Certainly no word that Germany has spoken leads us to infer that she . will disgprge all these without being forced t0,. d0 so. The official words spoken by the German Chancellpr are- all to this effect. — they are prepared to make peace, longing for peace, and praying for peace on the basis of the* German victories, that is on the basis of what. they, have bitten off and are now trying to digest m Central Europe and m othei* parts of* Europe. Such a peace will never happen. You may talk about peace without annexation or indemnity, but you must remember you are talking to a people who will swallow every formula, and everything besides, and! swallow you m the end if you were not "careful. There is I no doubt that this is a case for hard fighting. Germany, as Bismarck once said, is founded on blood and iron, and not, on ideals and formulas; and what was brought about by. blood. and', iron will have to be .undone and smashed m the same M*ay. General Smuts urged his hearers not to forget those who. are suffering. Belgium is crushed under ithe German heel to-day', but'it is.iiot of her choosing and her doing. > The German .Chancellor has himself admitted. it was a- sin that had been- done,- and thej* will never Tehdunce the : evil fruits of " their yictory -unless forced to do so. Take the case of Serbia. Serbia was the reason why we went to war. She was going to be crushed under the Austrian heel, and Russia* said this, shall not. be allowed. Serbia has m that way become the occasion • probably of the i greatest movement fpr freedom the world has ever seen. Are we going to forget Serbia? No ! We must stand by those f *martyr peoples tvlio have stood by the great forces of the world. If the great democracies of the world become tired, if they_ become:* -faint, -ff they, halt by the. way, if i they. 7-le?*yve these little ones m the lurch, then they shall 'pay for it m- wars more horrible than human mind can .foresee. I am sure we shall stand by those, little ones. They have gone under, but we have not gone under. England and America, France and Russia, have .hot gone imder and we shall 1 see them through, and shame on us if ever the least thought enters our minds of not seeing them through." In the above terse sentences the French, and South African generals admirably answer the • pretensions of men like Erzeburger who profess to come from the German .Government with an olive branch m their hand and declare that peace could .be fixed np after' a few hours' friendly discussion between the belligerent leaders. Peacecan never be arrived at until Germany acknowledges defeat- and the Allies have obtained/ the objects foi* whioh they have made such tremendous sacrifices. There have been intervals throughout the., wai*,. .no doubt r . when - a greatmany people have felt tliat the cost of yictory must, be too great , and . vthaj. settlement, with . the Huns miglit-.be.posi-sible, which would relieve the world of so terrible a burden. But clearsighted men* like the ' Premier, who, on Declaration Day is to reiterate m unmistakable language the Allies' war aims, have consistently and eloquently insisted on the wai* being fought to the only possible conclusion .unless: the world is to be at war again Avithin a short space of time. That conclusion entails the destruction of » Prussian , militarism and the education s of Germany to a new spirit. The German! people have to be taught that iVhatev'er- their rulers may" do, they, .themselves* are- really -responsible to civilisation and that the world will hold them, equally .■ guilty of the abominable crimes committed, and still being committed, by their war lords. If they want peace let them show that they are responsible and deliver to the Allies the criminals who .have plunged them and the rest of the world into this terrible-Whirlpool: ' Bet them revolt and/ fight for their own freedom. No peace before victory is possible. The Germans must first win a- victory over' theii* rulers and' then withdraw their armies' from the- territories .they have occupied and' ravaged. ■ Not until, that is done, will we sheathe' the sjword.