A STIRRING APPEAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2505, 5 July 1915, Page 7

A STIRRING APPEAL

NO PATRIOT CAN IGNORE " THE GREAT TASK A CALL TO DUTY Singularly timely in somo respects to events in Now Zealand is the following stirring appeal to the party leaders and the people of Australia, made by Sir Joseph Carrutliers, ami published in tho "Sydney Daily Telegraph" of June 122 last Wo are not doing our duty. Do not let us deceive ourselves. The burden of this great war on behalf of the human raco and its destiny .(which, is in tho crucible) is being borno by the Motherland to its fullest extent, whilst Australia is lagging behind. The United Kingdom lias provided a fighting force of 3,000,000 .men, and if we furnished our fair quota on the same basis we should have 280,000 moil in the field. Instead of that we have barely 50,000 men at the front. The casualty lists are bringing tho fact homo to us that many heroic sacrifices aro being made on our behalf whilst we stay-at-homes are leading lives so secure that wo can indulge in our petty politics, our amusements, and our pleasures without fear of an enemy or the loss of one moment's sense ' of safety, . _ . On every side one hearts it said: "Aren't our boys doing well?" and Australians aro making a national,' asset of their bravo sons who have given up their lives at the front.

..But are we doing right in letting the few who are there, endure greater hardship and cncouiiter graver difficulties bv not strengthening their "thin red lines"? .

The longer Tve delay in doing our duty the more protracted this war will be, and tho heavier the task of those who are bearin gthe heat and burden of the fray. • . If ever there was a time in the history of a nation, let alone of Australia, when every man should stand shoulder to shoulder in a common cause, sinking every difference ,it is now. Let the example be set by those at the head of affairs. End all talk of tho shibboleths of politics. Cease all party wrangles and debates and cement tho peoplo through their leaders in a common national cause in defence of those vital principles that the Empire and its Allies are fighting for. Without absolute unity in tho higher counsels of the country there can nover be that effort by all classes which will result in Australia doing what is her simplo duty in bearing her fair share against a cruel <ind relcntje.ss and terrible enemy. I regret to believe that' Australians absolutely under-rate the task before the Allies. I have often been humiliated in discussing the war with otherwise-intelligent men who avo angrily rebuffed 1110 because I havo steadfastly told, them that up to the present we had not even begun to, defeat the enemy, but must regain lost ground before we could count one step oil the road to Berlin. . Blind Fatuism, Tho blind'fatuism of Australians so. far has clouded their intelligence to the extent that they havo behoved, and, unfortunately, still believe, that tho enemy has "shot his bolt,".and cannot endure to fight anothor year. It is this stupid ignorance that is causing our inanhpod to shrink from its' manifest-duty. I blame the rigid censorship of news for tho Fools' Paradise in which Australia ■ has been wasting valuable months, when every effort Should have been put forward. If Australians really knew and understood the. real story of this 'war, with the terrible defeats-of tlie Russians in the early stages, and with the fearful losses of tho French when tho German, army crumpled them up last- August and September, thero would bo a different spirit to-day in our peoplo. The worst thing that can be done to men of the framo of mind of Britishers is to hide bad tidings from them. Our race has always risen to', its highest efforts when it feels the real stress of disaster and of failure. Tho British temperament lends itself to taking things easy so long as wo are muddling along all right; it needs .the stimulant of reverses to cause determination and activity to take the place of inaction and indiffercnco.

Lord Kitchener said at the onset that the war would last throe years or more, arid .that he must have 3,000,000.. men. The war has not gone one year of its duration, aud despite all the 6anguino forecasts of optimists, we have to face tho stern fact that Germany lias nearly all Belgium and a large slico of France, as well as nearly ono-half of Russian Poland,, inlior'grip. The Allies liave to dislodge the enemy from strongly-en-trenched positions in this conquered territory. Not only have our forces to fight the most highly-trained soldiers of tho world, but they have to fight against tho cruellest and most inhuman methods of warfare that any belligereut lias ever used against a foe. ' In submarine and aerial warfare the Germans have shown themselves daring, reckless, and inhuman; and we have to meet their methods and equipment with men and material involving a great tax on the already heavily-weighted military, resources of the Motherland. .

•Wo must not forget that the naval and aerial side of the war is being; borne almost entirely by tha United Kingdom in addition to the raising and equipment of Kitchener's 3,000,000 men for the army. Our Australian navy is our contribution, it is true, but a proportion of tho officers and men of that navy are from England. Looking over the list of Australian casualties one must he struck at the (number of killed and wounded in the Australian battalions with the address given as England, Scotland, Ireland, or Wales. In the last list published on Saturday 65 names (or about one in every four) are given as of England or some part of the Empire - outside of Australasia. I am sure that tho proportion right through is as high. A lot has been made out of the Australian. system of compulsory service. That, system so far has hardly affected the recruiting. Begun only a few years ago, it started its work on boys between the ages of 14 and 18, with tho consequence that it left untouched the youths over the age of 18, who now would form the best of our material if they had been trained. Numbers Totally Inadequate, There can bo no doubt that the type of men now going to the front-is of the finest—one only needs to look at them in the streets in their uniform to know that Australia is sending of its very best. , But the lumbers aro totally inadequate, and these lino men who aro volunteering need the solid backing up of three times the number so that their task may bo lightened and tho work to be done got through L\ quicker time. The Greatest Gift. Australia has contributed nobly to the various funds in aid of tho sufferers by the war, but even Jn-this there has crept in a petty spirit that has shocked the public conscience. I hold' that no giver to these futrds, no organiser, not even a Premier., is tho equal of the man who takes his riflo in his hand, steps into the ranks, and offers his life and all his efforts to win the salvation of tho Empire. No man gives as much as tho father or tho mother who parts with a son to fight.

soldier wears Ms uniform', every father and mother whb hai a child at the front, and every wife who has a husband at the front, should bo furnished with some medallion or decoration issued by the military authorities, so that there would be some slight recognition of that noble spirit which underlies not only tlm sokfior's action,'but the patriotic sacrifice niado by those near and dear. Tliere aro shirkers in abundance in the community. No words of man e a|l express the contempt in which those men should bo held- who enlist, tako their pay for months, got housed, fed, and uniformed, and then, before embarkation to the front, desert! Why need the authorities shield these men There are hundreds who havo deserted —that fact is abundantly known. Why not have a "dishonour roll" of these men, if the authorities will not courtmartial them, and deal with a few of them as they would be dealt with in France or England or Russia? lhoy aro the meanest men one could find, and I have more respect for ono of. " 10 enemy openly fighting against us than for those who dishonour their names, their country, and their race by their cowardly and despicablo conduct. Men like these aro a greater danger to the country than the Germans in ( our midst, who at least are not bound by obligations to us. A National Ministry. When the Federal elections wero being contested, 1 published my views in t'ho Press, and also spoke on f lio plat-, form, and urged Mr. Cook to .form a National Ministry with Mr. Fisher and Mr. Hughes. My voice was unheeded. To-day wo have a National Ministry in lino-land, as well as m Franco and Italy. •Australia still keeps up its petty party cleavages, aiid both in State and Commonwealth' tho temper ot the people is being sorely tried, • because the Ministries" of tho day think more of placating ■ their supporters , than of , uniting t'ho country to meet its gravest situation. . , Poor fools who prate about tho spallation being safer now than in September last. Tho situation is about as safe as if a man had a lighted match to set (ire to a. barrel of gunpowder, and thoso near by gravely argued on their pet theories'instead of hastening with one impulse to remove tho.common danger. Wo may all be satisfied in our own minds that Germany is going to bo beaten, although we do not exactly know how or when; but at ihe same time we can be sure of this, that before we beat Germany there will bo weeks and months, and perhaps years, of great trial and heartrending with grave economic and social and industrial disturbance in every community in the world. Granted that tho Kaiser is the madman -of the centuries and that Germany and Austria have "run amok,'/ surely wo ought to sot our own house in order, and not suffer from a March madness that makes u.s keep our houso divided when, of all times in history, every mail should' know only one -party, one creed,and 1 one call. The Appeal of the Dead. May I quote, in conclusion, thosebrave words of Sergeant Larkin, penned shortly before his death, and published a few days ago. "At this time one would imagine that public men -.would be of one mind—that all questions would be dealt with m the most happy spirit, and that, as a result, the best thing possible in the oircumstances would ensue. But selfishness seoms to be the main feature of some politicians, and it is only to be expected that they should try to glorify themselves, even at a trying time like this, irrespective of the public welfare. It would suit a few of them better to be here doing something. Surely they don't expect that wo who have given up our comfortable homes and all that we hold dear and stepped into the firing line, are the only ones to make sacrifices. Pnblic men should point the way. Colonel Braund, Sergeant Larkin, and many others who, prior to the war, were divided in politics, now have paid to the fullest meed t'ho prico of Empire, and their names will ever ho held in veneration by tiioir fellow-countrymen. Life's fitful fever o'er, Tliey sleep well. The greatest monument that could be erected to their memory will bo as nothing compared to the work which ought to be consummated if the lesson of their lii'o sacrifice is token to heart, yul those who aro living agree, over their graves, to join hands and imite tho people in a patriotic national Government ami Parliament.