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THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1915. MR ASQUITH'S STATEMENT.

The pf'opje of Now Zealand, who have, 'been contributing freely <xf tll.-ir wualth and manhood tin assisting J.lie .Mother Country to carry tlu'ough crJi** tremendous enterprise in which the Tuition is involved, will luu'o read with absorbing interest the momentous adtlross doliv<\rod l>y lite Right llion. 11. H. Asquith in the lltniso of Commons on 'Ducsday last, it wag momentous (because it was tb.-> first lucid state.lnemjt. of tho position that has }>ecn made since- Kir Edward Grey declari-*], in his merrtoravblJh speech over twelve month sago, that Great Britain had been forced into th,» campaign in defence of her honour arid her obligations t<> thfc weaker Stages. A(r Asquith. whifo freely admitting that mistakes had been made. an<j that ho was disappiointocl in sonv, of our imdortaikn'rigs, oomplf'l.elv silenced those >viho thar- fcheiv had been Trout-

iioss'm our strategy or that great enterprises were initiated without a close consultation with naval and nii.lnt;i'*v •experts. That tlio DardaneKos operations, wlv'eh have boon, attended with an enormous sacrifice of J111j11;iii lives, have proved iinsucce.ssi'u!, is as i'lvoly admitted as it is (l.vp.y deplored. el, no man can say. on the face of the explanation of the lir'tisli Prime .Mmister. that this on<terprise was not fully justified, <y that it was enter? d upon without due deliberation. W'hen the of the. DivdaneOl'es operation comes to be written, it wII probably be found that it was the tactics, aud not tho strategy that was at fault. \Ylk>thcir it will be possible to continue tho campaign at, GalKpoli will depend largely upr.n the outcome of tho operations in the .ftalkan States. Here, again, tho Allies have been at a serious disadvantage. Tky relied upon Greece to maintain her treaty obligations wfo.li Serbia, and, as events have reveai'od, they rpl'ied upon a htwlton reed. Greece, controlled by «■ monarch who has uo scruples, repudiated her honourable obligations in face of the declared policy of the Government, and has lowered herseK' to the sanio degraded level that was occupied iby Germany when slio outrageously violated liei: Treaty wkl* Belgium. XevertliHoss, in spite of evttvything, .Mr Asquith has declar*" 1 ' it to bo the unbending determination of tho Allies to preserve the intogrifcv of Serbia, whatever t>ho cost may beand tho landing of large forces at Salonika and Varna is an emphatic, pi'cof of the A fi'ie.s sincerity. The.Balkan States fhave yielded to Hhe threats and promises of Germany, and they will nc'nv require to fight i'c tlloir very existence. So far as tlio. (inanoea of 'Britain wo concerned, they may cause temporary anxiety to tho Ohancclior, but the resjcuiiw of tho Empi*» are so great, and the foreign securities so enormous, tho strain cannot 'possibly reach the breaking point. On the other hand. It ho Central' I'owrs atf.< already bankrupt, and their ability to mainta'n their (immense armies in the field is open to very senious •doubt. Air Asqu'th piixl a; warm tribute to tho work of tli*> British Xavy, and thow» who have watched tho progress of events, and wh!o recognise the value of tillo maintenance of our trade routes, will endorse every word that was uttered by the Pnimo MinisterSumming up the whole position, as it has 'been revealed by the Prime I Mutter, we can arrive only at onoconchisiion, and that is that the dctermiinat'on is stronger than ever to see th R wry through to the bitter end. The failures and disappointments of the pa<:t will act as a guide and an inspiration for the future. The whole Empire must enter into, the spirit of the campaign with the determination to win at all Wo shall ho called upon to make sawifiees and still greater .sacrifices. But whajo are those compared w : fh tho issue involved—the maintenance of our national honour and the preservation .cif our noftlio race? Mr Acquith is confident that we are goinrr to carry our .righteous cause to a triumphal# Assu*. Let us show that this confidence is well-founded, and tLat individuality and collectively w~ i intend standing shoulder to .shoulder in defence of our manhood and our honour. As the ftnmo ADinisior said in his concluding remarks, "Wo have great traditions, 'but a nation does not oxisjt on traditions alone. Thank God we have living examples of all tho qualities that hav'e buiilt up and sustained our Empire. Let us bo worthy: of them and endure to the ond."

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAG19151105.2.15

Bibliographic details

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXV, Issue 10713, 5 November 1915, Page 4

Word Count
743

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1915. MR ASQUITH'S STATEMENT. Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXV, Issue 10713, 5 November 1915, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1915. MR ASQUITH'S STATEMENT. Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXV, Issue 10713, 5 November 1915, Page 4