THE EMPIRE AND THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2504, 3 July 1915, Page 9

THE EMPIRE AND THE WAR

GREAT PATRIOTIC MEETING " MR. ASQUITH'S TRIBUTE . Stirring speeches in LONDON - London, May 20. The Imperial patriotic meeting which tho Prime Minister and Mr. Bonar Law addressed in " the Guildhall this afternoon was called, in tho words of the resolution, "to record, on behalf of the British people, its abiding gratitude for tho unparalleled service rendered by the self-governing Dominions, the Colonies. the Protectorates, and the Indian Empire in the struggle to' maintain the ideal of liberty and justice which is the common and sacred cause of the Allies." Tlie Lord Mayor presided. ■ Lord Crewe and Mr. Harcourt were the other members of the Government present, and there were many distinguished people on the platform. The representatives of the Dominion and Colonial Governments were present. Among the Indians present was the Jam of Nawanagar, wearing the. uniform of a Staff Officer. Mr.. Henry James was in the audience.. The. meeting was representative of the public life of tho Empire. MR. ASQUITH. Mr. Asquith .said:, The object of our 'meeting is to acknowledge in the centre of the mother city of the Empire the splendid service been and is being rendered to the common cause by the Dominions and dependencies of the Crown. There could. bo no moro fitting place, for such a- recognition on the part of their fellow-subjects in these islands than this Guildhall,- which may be not inaptlg- called the-Prytan-aeum of our free and united Empire. We are now well on in tho tenth month of tho greatest war in which we, or any people have ever been engaged. Wo have raised here at home and \-,ent into the field, wliero they have been steadily and continuously reinforced, armies upon a scale which dwarfs everything in our past annals. It is no exaggeration to say that there are few homes in the country which are not represented directly or indirectly in one manner or another in the units of our' fighting force, and thero are not many which are not darkened by the shadow either of actual loss or of haunting anxiety. The call here is still as it was when I addressed in this hall the citizens of London in the first month of -the war, for more men to take the place of tho fallen, to increase our effective forco both for aggression and for. defence, to place outside the region of uncertainty or speculation tho complete and decisive, victory of our cause. We at home have every reason to bestir ourselves. Our shores are, 'geographically at any rate, within striking distance of tlie enemy.. The main theatre of war, in which for months so much heroic blood as been spilt, is nearer to us tore in London than our own'northern counties. Tho wounded pour in a daily stream, into our hospitals. AVe seem sometimes as if we could almost- hear the echo of the guns. • . Sons and Daughters of the Empire. It is not so with our fellow subjects, for whoso magnificent comradeship ana co-opor-ation we are paying our tribute of gratitude to-day. (Clieers.) They are far removed in space from ■ tho sphere of conflict. They havo littlo reason to fear anj- attempt to violate tho integrity of their, shores, and now that the high' seas have been cleared of hostilo cruisers—(choers)—their seaborne commerce pursues its normal course. But-they, are the sons and daughters, of tho -Empire—what touches us touches them.i Let us see, first of all, what they have done, and then ask why they have done 'it. 'I, shall not apologiso for stating a few figures, for I believe the people of tho L'nited; Kingdom and of the'world at largo have stili a very inadequate idea of tho extent and variety:of the contribution which has been made, by the outlying Empire to tho conduct of tho _' war and the relief of its victims. I will.remind you of the gifts in money or in kind which have beeii poured in spontaneously from every, one of our great daughter States. Tho Dominions' Gifts. > Canada.—Almost immediately after the declaration of war - the' people of Canada offered us a million bags of flour as'a gift to' tho people of the United Kingdom. (Cheers.). The women of Canada subscribed nearly £60,000, which was spent in the provision of motor ambulance cars and m the organisation of hospital buildings, new blocks for nurses at Haslar and Chatham, and the Canadian Government allotted £20,000 to establish hospices in France to be managed by the French Government. (Cheers.) "

After alluding in detail to what had been done by the separate provinces of. Canada, Mr. Asquith turned to Australia. At the end of October, the Commonwealth Parliament granted £100,000 in aid of BelghrV (Cheers!) To this there has since bi ch • added' by private contributions for Red Cross and rolief work, in addition to great quantities of, clothing, provisions, and medical appliances, no fewer than £222,000. The total contributed by Australia /as a whole at the end of 1 larch in money or in kind was estimated at' nearly£l,4oo,ooo. (Cheers.) To this is to be added a contribution of £75,000 a month which Australia is now engaged in supplying towards tho provision of food for the-Belgian people. The New Zealand Government made a special grant of £20,000 for relief in Belgium in the middle of December, and.-in private contributions sincofrom Now Zealand, £60,000 to Belgium, something like • £20,000 "for other purposes, and, here again what seems a small thing in itself, but a very significant one in its meaning a gift of £350 collected in half-crowns to provide extra oilskins and comforts for the crew of the battle-cruiser New Zeaalnd. .(Cheers.) South Africa—(cheers) —which has snecial calls and claims of her own, has not been behindhand in contributing .monoy, and, -in addition to that, a field ambulance; wine, fruit, eggs, mealies, and'clothing. (Cheers.) ' The Military Contingents. I have spoken of gifts. Let md v go on to say a word about the military forces which theso great Dominions have contributed to our aid. It is not desirable to stato[publicly the exact figures, x but I will give you a goneral idea. Canada sent to us a complete division. with line of communication units, two regiments of regular cavalry, two battorics of horse artillory. in addition to Princess Patricia's Light Infantry. A second division has been organised and parts of it have already, arrived. (Cheers.) ' Australia has furnished a division of several light horse brigades, and reinforcements and new formations aro being organised which will shortly be dispatched. New Zealand sent a. largo contingent, and_ further reinforce, ments are duo to arrive from her. A contingent of Maoris has been dispatched. and on completion of thoir training will bo sent to' tho front. Newfoundland has furnished a division of her own, and further .drafts have lately, arrived, and sho hnn in addition provided a -most yuluoileJodxjof, Raval, K&eryiiLtftL,

of whom the Admiralty think . very, highly. Many offers have been received from South Africa, but it was felt that the Union Government had tho first claim on South Africans, and tho acceptanco of theso offers had better lw> delayed -until the campaign thero was conciudcd. South Africa. I should like to say a- word about that, and I am quoting now from a telegrajn which I have received from Gover-nor-General, Lord Buxton. The Union of Soutli Africa and Rhodesia (he says) has not sent a contingent to Europe. They have not done so for the simple reason that they had a special part of tho work to .perform iu their own sphero. (Cheers.) Their undertaking has been no light ono. The force of about 30,000 men, rather over half of whom are mounted men with guns, horses, medical stores, ambulances, and transport, has been conveyed overseas 500 and 700 miles in addition to ■ the land force which has been operating in the German TJnion frontier. All supplies, every pound of provisions for the men, much of thewater' for their consumption, and every ton of forage for hGrsos and mules has had to be brought from Cape Town. All these men, horses, guns, supplies, and-materials have had to be landed 'at two ports—Luderitz and Walfisch —for the appliances for disembarkation were not constructed for such operations. Then there was the sandy veldt, SO to 100 miles, which has had to be traversed. All this has been carried out without tho aid of Imperial trcops by the Defence Force' and the Defenctj Department, which was only created some two years ago. The campaign has been efficiently and tenaciously waged, and-has been brilliantly successful. The capital town of Windhoek is now in possession of our forces. General Botha—(cheers)—has' hoisted tho Union., Jack, and throughout- the whole of it —and this is a welcome and most instructive fact—British and Dut-ch have been fighting side by side. 1 . Now I will refer to the gallant,feats of arms which have heen performed by these Dominion troops in the theatre' of war in Europe. . The Canadians -have won for themselves in Prance an everlasting name —(applause)—and in'the far off peninsula of; Gallipoli' the Australians and New Zealanders have shown themselves worthy of their comrades. India's Part in tlie War. Let mo say ono, word now of tho Indians. (Applause.) A White Paper was presented to -Parliament last September enumerating tho gifts and offers of services from the princes and the peoples,of India. As was apparent to anyone who studied that return, they have come.from all quarters and, .upon the most prodigious scale, and even-so they havo sinco been largely supplemented and increased. .What shall I say of the Indian forces? India has put in tho field in tho several theatres of war, including the British troops sent from India, a forco equivalent to nine completo infantry divisions with artillery—(applause)— and eight cavalry brigades—(applause) —as well as several smaller bodies of troops aggregating; more than an infantry division- in minor and outlying spheres'. Putting the same thing in anothor way v .,lndia- has placed at tho disposal of tlie Empire for service out of India 28 regiments- of cavalry, British, Indian, and . Imperial, and. no fewer than'l24 .regiments'of infantry, British. Indian, 1' and - Imperial. (Applause.) When wo look at the actual' achievements of a force "so spontaneously dispatched,, so liberally provided for, so magnificently' equipped, the battlefields of Franco and Flanders bear an undying 'tributo to their bravery. (Applause.) , -These details teach in a concrete form, which is letter than rhetoric, tho ruth that tlie Empire is of ono purpose and ono at heart. (Cheers.) The Dominion's and the Mother Country. I come then for a moment to my second question: Why have..they, why" aro they doing all, this—giving, such-a display of generosity and devotion, of willingness to endure hardship, and to faco even death itself? ' It cannot bo explained by any calculations of selfinterest. (Cheers.) Tho true reasons lie much deeper, but they are not in the least recondite or obscure. The first is that wo are now . gathering in tho hour of trial tho fruits of a- wise and far-sighted -Imperial. policy. (Cheers.) Wo long ago/abandoned the old-fashioned, aiid outworn fallacy that colonial 'autonomy was inconsistent with or hostile to Imperial unity-. (Cheers.) Irritating and pedagogic, interference in the. local concerns of tho Dominions from hero is a thing-of-the past. But tho best statesmanship both hero and ill the great self-governing" communities overseas has for years past in regard to inter-Imperial relations been not merely it lias been of a positive and a- growingly constructive kind. The Imperial Conference which meets periodically for the discussion and settlement, of. mattots. of common interest, and the presenco of the Dominion Ministers • when . they visit this country at the meetings of .the Committee of Imperial; Defence, are but tlje outward manifestations of an ever-increasing sense of intimacy,, of solidarity, of.corporate'unity.i It is not , merely _ that there, is not, as I believe, a Dominion of tho Crown, which would Hot rather suffer annihilation than ex-, change- for any other sovereignty its allegiance to the British Crown. It is that they and we alike have become tho conscious membsrs of. a living partnership which all over tho world, under the same flag, in every variety -of climato and material condition, upholds the same principles of freedom and justice. i, .

• And that brings me to the' other reason- for- this unexampled exhibition of common patriotism. Mr. Watson, tli© distinguished ex-Minister- of tho Commonwealth of Australia, whom I had the pleasure of meeting here a few weeks ago, made a striking remark. "Tho Dominions," he said, "are not simply assisting the Mother .Country-in a European war. They feel, each one of them, that they are also fighting their own battles for their own ideals—ideals of right, of personal and political liberty —against tlio forces which, if victorious, would inflict'a fatal and world-wide bW at those ideals." That view of the matter I believe to be profoundly true,. What the Enemy Did Not Understand. Little did oiir .enemy understand , or realise when h© wantonly opened tiie gates of war what forces ho was unchaining in every quarter of the.globe where the English language is spoken and whero the free traditions of our raco have entered into tho life-blood of the people. He has from the first, and increasingly so as he has proceeded, violating every law of God and of man, step by step down the incline to a depth of unmeasured infamy, mobilised against himself all .the powers and influences which arc at tho back of the free spirit of mankind. : - - War we ,kiiow well is not fought with spiritual weapons. ■ It needs, and never more than with us to-day, physical strength, an unceasing flow of numbers, of equipment, and all tho apparatus which science can devise and industry supply. _ It is more thaii ever- before a question, not of personal prowess or of brilliant surprises, but of steady and unsleeping organisation of the whole of tho material resources of a community. Let us never for a moment forget what we aro fighting' to achievo and still more what we aro fighting to avert. • We have noble comradc-s in arms, and, in Words-, worth's phrase, we have also "groat allies," none tho less potent because to the eye of sense they are invisible, and among th'erii is '.'man's unconquerable mind." (Cheers.) ' MR. BONAR LAW. Mr. Bonnr Lmv said this wan no time ;aßS<mo would desire to mako.

speeches. When'every morning to; read tlio roll of honour in our papers (lie continued), when we.think of what is being dono and endured by the children of tlio Empiro not only on the- fields of Flanders but in so many other quarters of tho world, when we think of the heroism which is being displayed every day and every hour to an extent which has never been-surpassed in the history of tho world—when wo think of tho carnage and death -which is carrying away so many of tho flower of our people— aro not our feelings best expressed in tho woYds of Lincoln on the', fields of Gettysburg: "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it will never forget what they did hero" ? What matters is not what we say but what they do and what we here can do to help them. When the war began wo knew a good deal of the methods of our enemies. Wo know more to-day. I will quote a passage from a German historian which accurately describes the latest German outrage: "That they should without warning have fallen upon the fleet with armed hands was a folly not less than a barbarity—one of those frightful barbarisms of civilisation whero morality suddenly loses the rudder and naked baseness stands out before us as if to warn us against the childish belief that civilisation ran root' out the bestiality of man." r That is what w are fighting against, But there is no use making speeches about it. There is no use appealing to the civilised world against it. When a venomous reptile is loose there is one thing only to be done —to destroy it. (Great cheering.) This is our, task. (Clieen.) . It.is no easy task. To accomplish it we need to put forth tho full strength to the last ounce of the United Kingdom. (Cheers.) There have been rumours—perhaps I may be permitted to say so much as this —there have been rumours of political changes, of combinations of politicians or statesmen. Such combinations would be useless, perhaps worse than useless, except as a means to an endas a means to »• coinbiantion of the nation—(cheers)—a., nation 'from top to bottom organised, for the purpose of ending this war. (Great cheers.) -But to destroy this monster we need, and, thank -Heaven, wo have it, tho full force not only of tho United Kingdom but of the British Empire.' Our enemies liavo singled us out from all tho Allies as the chief object of their hatred. Thoy aro right. -iAs'!the'Prime'Minister has pointed out in other Words, the British Empire, is'tlio antitheses of everything for which German militarism . stands. They rely on force, and force alone. They not: only despise but they dp not understand moral forces, and it is moral forces .on ,wliich the British;,,, Empire rests. ..(Cheers.) A Canadian's Heroism! After referring to tho part played' by India, Australia, and Now Zealand in tlio war, Mr. 'Law said:,,,"But what about Canada? Tho world learned with surprise—the British womVleanied iiot. with surprise with with a. thrill,of..pride which spread from one end; of,:it,to'another —that men who a few.'months ago were civilians had stood ttavseverest test of war'and had gained'a';reputation which, as the Prime Minister ''said,' ivill never, die. (Cheers.) Perhaps;.as. one born in Canada—(cheers)—and knowing personally somo of those wh'o-have fallen in tlio last few . weeks, senta live? of the other l)ominioiis.3vil] hit ho- surprised'that I\thihk"-mostr-of: ; what. has been, done' by \(Gheers;') : I heard only to-day 'a ~ of • many—which I- should: liko'to, tell you." In tho last few days al'Cariadiaii .soldier was fighting "a machino,.guu.:..lt was destroyed by,a. shell. He seized tin-, other. Ho fought it too.,'lt--wa's-de-stroyed by a shell. Ho 6eized':a third'. It was' also destroyed' by :, av'shell;; "No other machine guns was ready. He seized a, .rifle, awl ho is dead to-day upon the field of battle. ■ It is deeds like these which'give'so much force to the simplo words which I read, with a special thrill uttered by a member of cno of tho Canadian uni-; versities a few days 'after* the battle of Ypres—"lt means moro to-be a Canadian to-day .than it did a week ago." (Cheers.) - f The War and the Empire.' This is, as the Prim© Minister said, the greatest war in history. It'is/1 think, tho bloodiest; and on the part of our enemy it is one>f the most savage. Wo liavo nothiug to do hut to Bet .our: teeth and see the end of it. (Cheers.) Ido not wish in anythiug to look beyond this war. (Cheers.): Our enemies' 'said that it was we who organised it. What could.we gain by it? What caii we gain by it'now? - Nothing except peace and security for peace in tlio future. ' But perhaps in-.this. gathering, with the representatives of tho Dominions here, I may be permitted-to,say for myself; for myself - alone, not attempting to speak for aiiy part}', that I have now the hope that we shall gain '-'something more as; the result of this war. The Dominions' of the British Empire have not been created hy the war.' But the conditions have been changed hy the war. It is my hope—and if it is taken up in earnest while the metal' is glowing red hot from the furnaces of war, I believe it. may be done —and I believe that as a result of it we may see a Parliament of tho British Empire in which every part of that Empire in proportion to its resources and'numbers will share in the duty-and in -.the Jionour of ruling the British Empire. (Cheers.)