PLAYING OUR PART

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2532, 5 August 1915, Page 3

PLAYING OUR PART

—- — ' INTERESTING REVIEW NEW ZEALAND AND THE WAR . . - ■ ' !■ . An interesting 'review, of important .events of the past 12 months was given 4 by'the Attorney-General (the Hon. A. L. Herdman") yesterday, in addressing the conference of .New Zealand Chambers of Commerce. The delegates present knew, , he said, that Ministers of the Crown did not always rest on beds of loses, but he could say that those of them who had occupied posts during the past year would never regret the fact that they had beon called upon to take 6ome small part .in the'administration of the British Empire during one of' the most interesting parts of its history. This was tho anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities, and his special object was to make some reference to tho part played by public men and business men during the past 12 months. ■ To his mind it was remarkable that the business:of our nation had been carried on as it had been. When the position was reviewed, and it was. remembered that the enemy's ships had been swept from the seas, that there had been no commercial , panic, that'thousands of troops Lad been transported across the seas in safety, it seemed to him that 'the work done'by public men and commercial men •had been miraculous. The . community was under a deep debt of gratitude to men like Sir. Asquith, Mr. Lloyd George, and the others,' who had done so much to keep business going and in a normal state during that time.; He quite understood that mistakes must be mnde. There could not be such an unusual condition of thing's without mistakes.. No one who judged the position fairly could honestly declare that they were not satisfied with the' work done by those responsible for the guidance of our , affairs. If mistakes ; were made, it was the duty of business men to point them out, .and then they couild be remedied.

Position in New Zealand. Speaking of the position in New-Zea-land, the Attorney-General s?id that the best possible ' index was, the condition of odr industries'and the' 1 volume of ou.r exports. It was within 'tho knowledge of those present that tho position was in every way satisfactory.: -Exports had reached ra higher figure, than ever before, the bank's were' in .a flourishing , conditioti, business' generally was in a bighly ;prospcrous state, 1 and thare was anxiety.'New Zealand had played its little ■part in the war.'. Troops had been sent, the ships foi- their' transport had:.been, secured, iand work of; equipping" and supplying.'the troops had been carried out •by the country. No one could say a word against the' conduct of our • troops who had'gone abroad; We had ample proof that the're'existed in them the same fine spirit,: the same heroic courage, the same resolution-to. undergo trials and difficulties'as.existed in our ancestors who fought in the days of Waterloo and Balaclava.

Sacrifices Must bo Made. All sorts of-'difficulties of quite a phenomenal character had to ba faced in this country. For. instance, it had been our duty to take, the responsibility: of - purchasing meat for lie Imperial authorities, and excellent'work had been done by those responsible for the administration of the now-Department , rendered necessary. From March up to July 17-the Department had paid away to the producers tho sum of ,£3,022,000. During the same period there had been dispatched 151,000 quarters beef, 1,096,000 carcasses mutton, and carcasses lamb, while the Government had .in store awaiting dispatch 2,033,000 carcasses. Then tliere had arisen difficulties of shipping,'but it had to be'remembered, that the, first consideration of the Imperial authorities, and in- . .deed/Of- any part of the British Empire, was the transport of troops to the firing line, and the finding of food and clothing for,those . troops. A shortage of . ships for ordinary purposes was inevitable,' and.: the people had'to be prepared to' make sacrifices and to put up with inconveniences; Th,o inconveniences, however,, had been slight in'comparison with the magnittulo of tho task, which the people of the Empire had to i take upon their fchoulders.. ' This country had been splendidly met by the Imperial authorities, who had in one instance paid a substantial sum to release a ship for New Zealand. There would b© ample facilities during the, next few 1 week? for the people who wanted to export, produce, from these shores. '

Our Plain Duty. Twelve months had gone by since the outbreak of'war, and.lie believed that our position as a nation, and the position, of the Allied nations, was better than a year ago, while the position of our enemies was not as good as twelve months ago. How loni; the struggle would last .it was impossible to say, but the only way victory, for the Allied arms could be accomplished was by the united efforts of the people of all classes,' who should' band together and fight as'a common army. It was our plain and clear duty to work together in absolute harmony and absolute unanimity, and the man who talked about party politics deserved, in the speaker's mind, to be hung, drawn, and quartered. It, was the duty of everyone to see that notching was left undone. Union meant strength, force, power, and victory. Dis-

union meant weakness, disintegration, and defeat. • The Old Spirit. He was confident of tko ultimate result of' the war, becauso lie felt the spirit of the British people was right. It had not always been a great army and a great navy, but rather the spirit of . the British people which had actuated them for'centuyes. It was a belief in a justice, in fair plaj", and a high notion of honour among private people and business men that had accomplished 60 much for the nation. It was that spirit which enabled our men to face the difficulties met with in France, that spirit which enabled them to keep their lonely watch in the North Sea, and that spirit which animated, the young men of this country Who had landed 011 the shores of Gallipoli. So long as that lasted tho British Empire would last, aiid would stand fourcornered to the winds of Heaven. (Loud applause.)

TEENTHAM TEAMS WITHDRAWN. The Management Committee of the Wellington Rugby Union has decided that the withdrawal of the Treiitham teams from • the senior , championship could, best bo effected, by not allowing any. of the matches in which they took part to_ count for championship honours. : This was, necessary because all the teams had not played the same unmber of • matches. flie decision left the Athletic Club in the lead for the championship,' two points ahead of Petone.