"I WANT WAR!"

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 866, 18 November 1916, Page 8

"I WANT WAR!"

GERMAN CROWN PRINCE. "SMACK AT THE FRENCH;" l"The mighty struggle at Verdun ha« completed its first *ix months," savs the ••Saturday Review." "Verdun has eon sisted in a long drawn out series of battles recurring almost as a decimal fraction. The ferocity of it and the resolution of it form an achievement very wonderful to consider. There has been nothing in the historv of the world to compare with it in sustained force and hugeness."J The man who is assumed to be responsible Tor throwing thousands of men away is the Crown Prince of Germany; and at the end of this fatal six months it is not amiss to recall a conversation the Crown Prince had two years and six months ago (January, 191 J) with Mr lan Malcolm, M.P., who records it in his book, "War Pictures Behind the Lines." "Crown Prince: 'After all, you Kng hsh people ought to be better friends with Germany than you are.' "I. M.: 'Sir, we are always ready to be friends, as*you know, but to ail of our overtures your Chancellor replies with an invariable snub.' "Crown Prince: 'How can we trust you whilst you are allied to such people as the French or the Russians? You have nothing really in common with them, and you have nearly everything in common with us. Together we could divide Europe and keep the peace of the world for ever.' "I. M.: 'But how would vou propose to do that? Given our existing treaties, how could we break them in order to be better friends with you?' "Crown Prince: 'You could shut your eyes and let us take the French colonies first of all. We want them.' "I. M.: 'Forgive me, sir; 1 have seen several of your colonies, and may I say it with great respect, it would surely be better to improve the colonies you possess before vou take those belonging to other people.' "Crown Prince: 'That is very candid; but you know very well that none of our colonies are worth anything; if they had been valuable, you would have had them long ago.' "I could not help laughing heartily at this last observation, which was seasoned with great good humour.

I The interview closed by my making j the trite remark that nowadays no- ; body wanted war, which injured vicj tors and vanquished in like degree; ! to which the Crown Prince vigourously replied: 'I beg your pardon; I j want war. I want to have a smack |at those French swine as soon as. ever 1 can.' j "Compare this conversation with I the famous Dispatch 85 in the Eng- ] lish White Paper, which tells of Sir ; Edward Goschen's last interview at | the German Foreign Office eight j months afterwards; then let the Ger:man apologists reiterate their conviction that a peace-loving FatherJ land was compelled to take up arms I against the intrigues of her enemies," | adds Mr Malcolm. Well, the Crown Prince has got his | war and his "smack at those French." I But what of France under the or- | deal? Mr Harold Begbie has told the j heroic tale in memorable lines:— She is a wall of brass: \ou shall not pass! You sht.il not pass I Spring up like summer grass, Surge at her, mass on mass. Still shall you break like glass, Splinter and break like shattered glass, But pass? You shall not pass.' German, you shall not, shall not pass I God's hand has written on the wall ol brass— You shall not pass! You shall not pass! The valleys are quaking. The torn hills are shaking. Tlie earth and the sky seem breaking. But unbroken, uudoubting, a wonder and sign, She stands, France Stands, and still holds to the line. She counts her wounded and her dead: You shall not pass! She sets her teeth, she bows her head: You shall not pass! Till the last soul iji the fierce line has fled You shall not pass! Help France? Help France? I Who would not, thanking God for this great chance, i Stretch out his hands and run to succouf France?