"SCRAPS OF PAPER"

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2302, 9 November 1914, Page 8

"SCRAPS OF PAPER"

THE WHOLE CREDIT OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE MR. LLOYD GEORGE'S SPEECH The "scrap of paper" was tho-text of tho vigorous speech, pungent with the seasoning of sarcasm, which Mr. Lloyd George delivered to a great gath-t ering of London Welshmen at the end' of. September. That ill-omened phrase employed by the German Imperial Chancellor has provided a glimpse of German psychology as applied to international relationships Which has swept, away the last remnants of any misgiving in English minds as to the justice of our participation: in the war. Mr. Lloyd George's style of oratory is. specially adapted to the. treatment of a theme of this kind, and the meeting with its stirring accompaniment of patriotic Welsh music inspired him' with a fervour and a frankness free from every trace of reservation. In popular phraseology the speaker "lot himself gO;" and when he does that there is no;risk.of his meaning being misunderstood. There_ were moments, too, of fire and passion in his speech; there was the note of pathos as when casting "his eyes towards the chairman, Lord Plymouth, he spoke of people who havo given the .lives'of those near and dear to them in the cause of their country: there was the ring of defiance and determination in the words: "It will be 11 a terrible war; but in the end we shall, march through terror to triumph." Loud and . long were the cheers which greeted this declaration. The Nonconformists of Wales are men of peace.- They have been criticised in the past for having perhaps loved peace too much. Their attitude: to-day admits of no misunderstanding. They stand in line, with • all the sons of the Empire in their stern resolve to put an ond to the Prussian Junker—tho road-hog of 'Europe, as Mr. Lloyd George called him—the bully who must be torn from his seat.

The Martial Spirit of Wales,

While the governing idea of the moeting was to stimulate recruiting, . the manhood of Wales already has responded nobly to the call. Lord Plymouth was able to, tell the audience that since mobilisation was decreed the County of Glamorganshire alone has contributed 20,000 approved recruits, all of whom in time will be fit to take their places in the fighting line. Welshmen in London are raising a, battalion ' to serve in Lord Kitchener's Army for the duration of the war, and a London Welsh Territorial, Battalion is to be formed as soon as authority can be obtained. Under the stimulus of tho Chancellor's appeal many young : men came forward and enrolled oh'the spot. We need 'a million of men■ to liberate Europe from the thraldom of the military despot, and Mr. ! Lloyd George shares' the view of- his colleagues that »we shall get them. The old martial spirit of Wale 3 is aroused, and those even who possess no claim •to Celtic ancestry had their blood stirred by the patriotic music of the London Welsh Choir, conducted by-Mr. Merlin Morgan, which rang out the call to, arms in the' inspiring notes of the ancient Cymrio tongue. The national hymns and anthems of our Allies were sung in turn to English words, and while airs like the "March of the Men of Harlech" and "Land of My Fathers" were rendered in Welsh aB only trained ,Welsh vocalists can sing them, there was resonant vigour in the Marseillaise, a fine sonority about the -Russian' National Anthem, and its invocation "God Save our Glorious Tsar," and a suggestion of Oriental mysticis n, in the hymn of Japan, the Empress of the Eastern sea.

Sanctity of Paper. Some of the most telling passages in the Chancellor's address were couched in familiar colloquial English. While developing his scrap of papor theme he suddenly. paused, leant forward, and, imitating the style of, the drawing-room conjuror, inquired.; "Have any of you .any £5 notes about you?" He stopped for answer. ■ The reply was a ripple fo laughter and a v doleful shaking of heads. "I am not calling for them. . I am I not calling for them.' Have you any of those neat little Treasury £1 notes?" More laughter and more shaking of heads. "If you have," the Chancellor burst forth, raising his voice and clenching his fist, "burn them—burn them! They are only scraps of paper. What are they made of? Eags. What are they worth? The whole credit of the British Empire." Tho simile struck home. There was a mighty c"heer, and before it had died away the' Chancellor went on to develop *ho theme, Bhowing how wretched little, scraps of paper move thousands of ships laden with precious cargo from one end of the world to the other. What was the motive power behind them? The honour of commercial men. Treaties were the currency of international statesmanship. "Let us be fair," the right hon. gentleman proceeded. "German and Gorman traders, have the reputation of I being as upright .and straightforward ' as any traders in the world. But I say that if the currency of German commerce is to be debased to the level of her statesmanship no trader from Shanghai to Valparaiso will ever look at a Gorman signature again." , The German doctrine of the scrap of paper tlio Chancellor proclaimed to bo a doctrine of barbarism cutting iindor the root of public law. "It is just as if you' removed the magnetic pole whenever it was in the way of a German cruiser." The whole.navigation of the seas would become dangerous, difficult, impossible, and so thewholo machinery of civilisation. will break down if this doctrino wins in this war. The Crime of Belgium. Dealing with the debt we owe Co little nations—and incidentally ho mentioned little men—-Mr. Lloyd George inquired what crime Belgium has committed that her land should bo laid waste, her towns destroyed and pillaged, and her people barbarously slaughtered. Her crime is L tjtiat ehe trusted/to. the word of a, Pi-US'

sian King. All tho tales about conspiracy had been vamped up since the war began by a country which had behaved like a fraudulent bankrupt. There is another little nation which the bigger nations have a duty to defend—Scrvia. Germany insisted that the Russian Slav should stand by with folded arms and soe Austria strangle his little brother to death. The Russian Slav gave Austria the only answer that becomes a man. "You lay hands on that I littlo fellow and I'll tear your ramshackle Empire limb by limb. And the Russian Slav is doing it!" In mordant phrases Mr. Lloyd George demolished Germany's pretended justification of the butchery of innocent ■ non-combatants, including women and children, in Belgium. German soldiers, it was asserted, had been fired on by men not in uniform. To begin with, what business had German soldiers in Belgium at all? And if a burglar were to break into the Emperor's Palace at Potsdam, destroying his house and ruining his art treasures—especially those he had made himself—would he wait until he had gotinto uniform before shooting the marauder? Tho perfidy of Germany has failed already. The Germans entered Belgium to save time. "The time has gone," cried the Chancellor in ringing tones, and the audience responded with a great outburst of applause. "They have not gained time, but they have lost their good name.' . The Road-Hog and His Master, One.of the most resounding cheers of the' afternoon was aroused when, after likening the Prussian Junker to the motorist road-hog,' Mr. Lloyd George exclaimed: "Britain ordered out of Mb way! All I can say is this: If the old British spirit is alive in British hearts, that .bully will be torn from his seat." Of the German Emperor's speeches, and especially his prayers and invocations to the Divine Power, the right hon. gentleman declared that there had l been nothing like them, since' the' days of Mohammed. He advised everybody to hurry up and read them, as they would soon be out of print. The same swagger and boastfulness ran through them all. Yet the knuckles of the mailed fist were getting bruised and the shine was being rubbed off the armour. "Lunacy, said the Chancellor—and hia hearers cheered the word—"lunacy always distresses, but sometimes it is dangerous, and when you get it manifested in the head of a State "and it has become the policy of a great Empire it is about time that it should be ruthlessly put;away." The Chancellor closed with a parable drawn from the mountains and valleys of Wales—an imagery of the purifying influence of a just war'and the raising up of a new patriotism with a wider and broader outlook. He wishes to see a Welsh army in the field: It? has made good progress already.— "Morning-Post."