The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." THURSDAY, AUG. 30, 1917. MR. MASSEY'S STATEMENT.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 17074, 30 August 1917, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." THURSDAY, AUG. 30, 1917. MR. MASSEY'S STATEMENT.

-d»w. I■ w *■ The statement reported to have been made by the Hon. Mr. Massey to ?m Auckland deputation, to the effect that ho was in possession of information such as warranted the assumption that the ivar might come to an end sooner than was generally expected, has occasioned widespread conjecture. People all over the Dominion are talking about Mr Masseys' statement, wondering what there is at the back of it, and hoping that it will soon bo justified by the crowning glory of a victorious peace. But—and that is what the peop!e find themselves up against when they seek consolation in the Premier's statement—there is nothing discernible in the visible prospects to justify the hope of an early termination of. the world-shaking conflict. A few weeks ugo the British Prime Minister delivered at Glasgow oiie of the greatest of his great speeches—a speech that onoo xnoro stamped him as the completes!; mirror and embodiment the Empire possesses of the fighting spirit of the British people. It has been said of Mr. Lloyd Geoi'ge that it is just because ha is a democrat through and through, r.nd just because ho so passionately believes iv «ocial justice and international fair-dealing, that he is now the unchallenged leader and interpreter of the national resolve to fight on until Pfussianism yields up its broken sword. After a full three years of war that

resolve still stands four-square. On the third anniversary oi' the declaration of war -we in tkis distant Dominion affirmed that resolve with undiminished emphasis, believing with our kinsmen everywhere that we and our Allies have only to hold on and to hold together to win. "Keep steady!" was. the exhortation given by (Mr Lloyd Georgo to the nation, and that surely is the least tribute w e civilians who are living at home in peace and security can pay to the valour and the: sacrifice of our armies in the field. .It is our business as^ Britishers to hold fast to the heroic mood in which we entered on this war. Time and again we have affirmed the fact that we entered the war "because honour and duty, acting I upon the national temper with a more compelling power th&a any 'motive of self-inteiest, leffc us no alternative." We went into the conflict with that spirit of fraternity which swamps ail differences of class and brings home to employer and to employed, to rich and to poor, the consciousness that all alike are Britons, and as such are bound to pull together until the storm has passed. Eenriemb©ring this, we are forced to realise that to-day it is truer than it; ever was that an inconclusive peace would be; in Mr Lloyd Georges words, " the greatest disaster that lias ever beto-llen mankind." As a London contemporary has put' it, the peace that Germany has in mind and is busily intriguing for is a victorious peace that | would leave her the conqueror of Europe. No responsible German statesman has even so much, as hinted at anything else. The peace that the Allies are striving for is tlie peace of justice and of freedom. Justice requires that) Mesopotamia and Armenia, for instance, should never again be condemned to the blasting tyranny of the Turks. Freedom requires that tb c destinies of Alsace-Lorraine, for instance, of Belgium, of Serbia, of Poland, of the Treutino, and of Eoumania should be settled by "the wishes, desires and interests of the people themselves." Tne world has before it the choice of a German peace based on the terror of the sword and an Allied and universal peace based on the principle of equity. But there is no hope for the latter peace, -nhich is also the only peace that cm endupe, until the military powev of Prussia is sma^aed. That is at once its.condition and its guarantee. Th© military power of Prussia can be smashed by just one thing—the superior military power of the Allies, la there anj thing in the information possessed ly Mr Massey warranting tho assumption that this desirable result is about to be achieved in the near future? If so, it wou}<j indeed be cheering to know it. if not, then It Is to be regretted that Mr. Massey said even as much as he did.