STILL MORE MEN.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume V, Issue 1294, 6 April 1918, Page 5

STILL MORE MEN.

THE EMPIRE'S NEED. NEW ZEALAND'S RESPONSE. [Special to The Sun.] WELLINGTON, April 5. Victory depends upon ourselves. I believe that things will come right, but they will come right only if British people in every part of the Empire do their duty. So said the Prime Minister (Rt. Hon. \V. F. Massey) in a speech which he delivered at Khandallah this evening. Mr Massey continued: "I can tell you without giving away Cabinet secrets, that during a great part of to-day members of the Government were sitting in Cabinet, considering how best to meet the appeal for increased Assistance that has been made by the British Prime Minister, Mr Lloyd George. T am not in a position to state what the Government has decided. We have arrived at certain decisions, which will be made public in due course. 1 might have been able to tell you more but for the fact that some of our decisions have to be submitted to the Imperial authorities for their consideration and approval. A cablegram that will be dispatched within the next few hours—if it has not already been dispatched—will tell Ihe Imperial Cabinet what New Zealand intends to do. AVe have asked for their advice. When we receive »n answer to that cablegram we shall make a statement in Parliament as to what we have promised the Imperial Government on behalf of the people of New Zealand. We shall be able to say to you as citizens of this Dominion:— "The Imperial Government in the hour of common peril, has asked New Zealand and the other States of the Empire to all their assistance. We have done it alreadj". and we are going to do it again. We have pledged you citizens of this country to a certain course of action, and I have not the slightest doubt that you will honour the pledge we have made on your behalf." (Applause.)

Referring to the war situation, Mr Massjey said that he and every other citizen of New Zealand had read the cablegrams of the last fortnight with a great deal of anxiety, but the jnation's anxiety had been mingled (with pride at the heroism displayed I by the soldiers of the Empire—heroism that had not been excelled in any of the Battles of history, and that had seldom been equalled. (Applause.) It was quite evident now—as many people had known earlier—that during the winter months the [Central Powers had been preparing Ito deliver a smashing blow on the British front, with the intention of ending the war in their favour. The blow had been delivered with a stupendous weight of artillerv and infantrv behind it, but the British I line, although it had been bent, had I remained unbroken, and the Empire's" soldiers had made the GerImans. Day a heavv price for every foot of territory they won. "We think now that the end of the first blow has come." said Mr Massey. "The British line has remained intact and the spirit of our soldiers is unbroken, but we have got to fight ■ on. There will be another blow. Let us make no mistake about that. It is absolutely certain that another enemy push will come, and we have to be ready to back up our soldiers in preparing for it. We have to face this fact—that the Germans and their allies have now a sufficient stock of food and munitions to enable them to carry on the war vigorously for a considerable period. "The time has arrived for a great effort, and I think that Mr - Lloyd George did absolutely the right thing when he sent out that stirring appeal to the Dominions of the Empire and to • the United States, to send all the men they were able to transport. I hope and believe that the response of the Dominions will be worthy of the occasion. I hope and believe that, the people of the Empire will show that their determination to win is as strong as it was at the outbreak of the war. (Applause.) "This is no time for hesitation or for half measures, nor is it a time for what Kipling calls, 'the frantic boast and foolish word.' It is a time for steadfast determination. "We are told by some people that America is coming in, and that Americans will win the war. A reply of that sort at the present time does not show the true British spirit. I believe that the Americans will come in and that their millions will play a great part later, but to-day the responsibility is with the British and the French. It is our fight. "Much has been said of the courage and endurance of the Dominion troops which have fought side by side with Britain's armies. " We cannot say too much of what our men have done. To-day more men of the same stamp are wanted—more men and still more men. The more men we-are able to place in the field during the next few months the better it will be for the Emoire and for humanity. "We know that fighting men are scarcer than they were—our difficulties are greater than they were—but it is more important that we have additional troops in thp field during the next three months than it was to urovide more men during the first six months of the war. "We cannot be guided by what any other country is doing. Xeiv Zealand is resoonsible for itself. Our country has done its duty up to the present time, but that is no reason for stopping now. Our duty under existing circumstances is to do all that we are capable of doing—that is what the Government of this country is going to ask the people to back it up in doing." (Applause.) The Prime Minister mentioned that no to the present time about 100.000 New Zealanders had been taken into camp, and 90,000 had left the countrv for service overseas. About 17,000 of these men had been returned to the Dominion, many of them incapacitated wholly or partially. Thousands of others had fallen, and their names were recorded indelibly in the history of the nation.