A COLOSSAL BUSINESS.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 November 1916, Page 2

A COLOSSAL BUSINESS.

NEW ZEALAND PARLIAMENTARIAN'S impressions. - WHEN WILL IT END? NO GROUNDS FOE OP'iIMISM. Mr. E. P. Lee, one of the New Zen!aml Parliamentary delegates who went Home rcci'iitly, passed tliroiiff'i Wellington on Monday on liis way home to Damaru. ''What can I say?" was Mr. Lee's first remark when approached by an interviewer. "It is all so colossal. Wc have practically seen the whole war from our side. We saw the whole British fivnt in France; we saw scoies of munition factories in England; we saw the training of soldiers in the making; we saw the Grand Fleet, and we saw the yards where more ships are being built; we had the financial position explained to us. Our time was fully occupied every day. We 'attended functions of all sorts, many of them luncheons and dinners and that sort of thing ar ranged for us in order to give us a good opportunity of exchanging ideas, giving one another information about our countries and so on. This we did. Every one of us answered strings of questions, and gave expression to our opinions on any number of subjects. We heard addresses from the great men in the Empire. '•The war? It is simply a colossal business. I can't think how on earth it is organised and carried on; how they make the munitions and provide for the supply of food, and all the other supplies for those vast armies. One can't imagine it all, can't describe it. And yet we find fault with and criticise little things! We saw every detail of the organisation behind the lineseven to the arrangements made for giving baths to the men from the trenches. We saw the wounded being dispatched from the front, and we saw them being received in London. And. generally, yoy can see and hear that the organisation is wonderful. Scarcely ever will you hear a complaint. Of course, you will find ca?es which are proper subjects: for complaint, oases in which it would appear there had been manifested the ut> tevmost limit of incompetent..', but these cases are very, very rare, and you can never expect to be quite free from them where such great numbers of men aro employed. England seems to be a vapt arsenal in these days. There are between 2000 and SOOO munition factories, and faetories covering acres of ground. Wo saw some of them, traversed miles of factories. Hosts of workers are engaged, the bulk of them women. All factories seem to be converted into munition works. You go to a well-known motor factory, and yon find that it is all converted for munition-making. Very sel dom do you see any article completely made. You see parts being made in bewildering numbers, and these parts are usually assembled somewhere else. They still go on building factories. T notice that Mr. Massey and Si' Joseph Ward have been saying something about the, end of tit-; war, and they have had exactly the same experience that we had. We saw British Generals and French Generals, and nowhere did we meet a nun who expected a speedy end to the war. You can't get anyone there to talk about the end of the war. They all know now that we are going to win, though some of them admit that there was a time when they did not know but they do not think we are going to win quickly. They all believe that the Germans have the power, if they are steadfast and willing to use that power to the uttermost, to hold us up for years and years. They admit that there may be a. break in German courage before German power is exhausted, and that there may be something dramatic, such as a big break through in the En'-t, by the Russians, but they do not except these things to happen just yet. "You don't need to be a general to lie able to form your own opinions on the subject after having seen the front. One of the places we visited was a brewery, or rather it had once been a brewery. Now it is a place where soldiers are given baths when iliey come back from" the trenches to -;e>t. They are then indescribably dirty, often covered with vermin, and baths are a necessity for their health. The. men take off every stitch of clothing and hand it over to be cleaned. The men then go into vats of hot water, and when they come out they get a. complct.-- clean outfit. Tn the building ther> are hundreds of women working, and their job is to clean the clothes of every batch of men that comes in. These clothes are steam dried and they are ready for the next batch when they come along But if the front should happen to move forward a little it is useless. It will all have to be moved forward. So with all the organisation at the front. Approaching the front you have to walk through about a mile and a half of trenches.

Through these trenches evevy'hing has to be carried right up to the firing line, and. behind these lines of eommunieation trendies there are the depots. So you set. what a formidable business it is to fight the Germans back'and move up all the organisation right along the line. All we can hope for is that the Germans will give it up befo>v they are exhausted. If they do not wc are in for a long struggle. Everywhere T went, and especially ir> France. I lies'rd, most cordial appreciation of the Dominions who have sent their troops to fight in France. It was all very good for us to hear, but what was impressed very strongly upon us was, that the «i;:il burden of the war is being borne, I'M by. the Dominions, but by the people of Great Britain. I went once into a hairdresser* establishment—an old-established business in a town I know at Home. I saw the proprietor, and he told me he was "joining up," as they say there. He was a 'man with a wife and some children, and T asked him what.would become of his business. He said, ''Oh. the business will have to be closed up. My wife can't carry it on." And that man will get his shilling a day and his wife a pound a week. This sort of tiling is going on everywhere, and every month it is getting worse. The big men are giving up half of their incomes, and they have had.to reduce their expenses. Lord (mentioning the name of a,'noble-' man well known in New Zealand) told me that he has shut up his big establishments; could nqt carry them on. !,«.• he lives in a ,small way with a few servants, and comes to the cif;> in a bus.

Yes, we saw the New Zealand; had afternoon tea on board. These Navy men don't talk much, but l gathered that the. New Zealand did remarkably good and effective work in the Battle of Jutland. She was hit, but her guns were never put out of action, and her guns were used on the enemv to good effect, —Dojuinioij, ' "■"