ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR
GREAT DEMONSTRATIONS
TOWN HALL CROWDED TO THE DOORS
TREMENDOUS ENTHUSIASM
TWO MORE BATTALIONS FOR SERVICE
Throughout New Zealand and in many other parts'of the ; world last night meetings were held to mark the amii-. versary of the great war. In Wellington, tlie ; Town Hall was crowded. There were over 3000 people in the building, and many were turned away. The scene was one of extraordinary enthusiasm, and the meeting .firmly resolved to inflexibly; pursue the struggle for liberty, freedom, and justice to a successful conclusion.
: Tiie ;Mayor,. who presided, saicl. that the gathering 'had asse.nbled. to reaffirrii-,- the-resolution tlic citizens of WelJffiStott Passed;a year ago to the effect: that they , would not spar9 v aii3 v effort to assist tlie Empire in every possible way to complete suesess. As the months toiled on New Zealand has done its share, notably, at the Dardanelles.. '(Applause.) New r Zealand should feel proud that it- had men who would do and dare and. risk all,for. the cause that was gcod and true.j Everyone sympathised •With. tile, parents' who ; liad given . their sons.as a sacrifice in the cause. The Mayor paid a tribute to'the Navj;, which, he said;. was. the 1 greatest factor, in maintaining the,position of the Allies up to the present time; and the audience rose and-cheered for the Navy. His Worship moved: i. -'"That on this anniversary.'of the . ■ .declaration of a righteous war, .' I.tliis meeting of.the citizens of Wellington records its inflexible dcter- . mination to continuo to a victorious ■end. the struggle in maintenance of those ideals of ' liberty and justice , which are tho common and sacred cause of;the Allies.' -
• Prime Minister's Stirring Speech. ■ Tho Prime' Minister (Right Hon. W. F. Massey), who was received with cheering awTiapplause of long duration, seconded the resolution, which ho said was being carried throughout the' Empire by a people who meant all they said, and perhaps ;'more than t'liey said. Many,.he said, had'.thought the war would be over in six months, but there was no end yet, and the end was not .in sight. But- if the war Went on for fivo years, or ten years, Britain arid her Allies would not grant l "peace Until Germany w'as 'disarmed, and' Krupps was' converted to a far more useful purpose, perhaps (to use a Scriptural phrase) to. turn swords into ploughshares, spears into pruning hooks, . and where men will -not make munitions of. .war any more. .Germany had long-been a menace to the world, and New Zealand' could gauge what would happen to her if-Germany won by reflecting on what had happened to Belgium. ' The. New- Zealand soldiers who had fought on Gallipoli would go down to history for doing deeds that had woii undying fame. W° had not heard directly or indircotly of one of our men who had funked; all had'done their duty. - : Great Britain. would not let up till Germany was put in its place, and tho Kaiser sat in saclc-cloth aiul ashes repenting the .crimes' he had committed, ino mind of the British people was fixjd on the attainment o'f a,lasting peace, and in the,' New Zealand Parliament that day, on tho 'ariniverasry of the declai'ation ■ of War between Britain and Germany, peace hail been declared. (Cheers.) . Ho could safely-.say that to' the end'of. the war no more_' would 1)0 heard of party wrangles in.the Dominion Parliament. Enthusiastic applauso followed the Prime Minister's recital of what New-Zealand had done in the way of sending men . and nurses, to the war. -Mr. Masse'y added that if the "chance offered New Zealand was prepared to do a great deal more. (Applause.) He went on to say that it was just ono hundred years since the Battlo of AVaterloo. was fought, : and at that- date New Zealand was not inhabited by Europeans. l'et io-day. New Zealand had under arms-more men than tho Duke of Wellington had British troops under him on the occasion of the then greatest battlo in the world's history. (Applause.). That .was an instanco of tho extension of tho British Empire. And tho more tho British Empire spread tho better for all :the world. (Loud applause.) "We Have Inherited a Creat Nobility."
she should forego that great ideal of peace and truth. (Loud applause.) AVe had inherited great glory from Britain, and let us see that it was transmitted to our children's children. It could only bo transmitted if we stood like a wall of fire round those who were lighting. If we did that our children's children would say : "We have inherited- a great nobility."
"Before us Lies the Future." The Minister of Defence said.. that there wero twelve months of sacrifices behind tho Empire and . us ' and before us lay the future. We liad won something in that twelve months. We had won unity aniong the: peo-' plo' of New Zealand, and in the Parliament of' the Dominion. (Great applause.) . if lie know the pebplo of New Zealand and of th» Empire aright, the sacrifices ahead would bo readily made, and, woro readily made, we would reap cur due reward. (Applause.) The time had come for us in JS T ew Zealand to realise the part wo had to play' in the f>re»t war. same. We had to look to the laying of the foundations of the great nation of the future, which, he thought, New Zealand would be. If the way to a, 'great Empire in these Southern ; Seaswas won, the sacrifices would .'not have been in vain. If we'did all we could, we would have tho satisfaction of 'knowing that we had done our duty to our King and, Empire,' and had earned the rcspect of the nations of the world. (Applause.) "What are we lighting for? Why did we not remaui..afc peace and escape war?" asked Sir John Findlay. "To escape German' domination,"; he. answered. How would we be treated under domination ? For a while we might be treated leniently, but eventually wo would be made to feel our position. We would soon find, that wo had lost our civio liberty and national freedom. The war was a. strugglo between tho freedom in which wo hved and tho tyranny of blood and iron. (Applause.) This was not a capitalistic war. If Germany won, the man who would loso most was the man who had little, but his liberty to loose. Lloyd George— (cheering)—had said: "God help Labour if Germany wins I"- (Hear, hear!) This tiuly was a people's war. (Applause.) :
Sir. Joseph Ward; (Minister of Finance), 1 who rose amidst. great applause, observed that this was the anniversary of tho day ou which the 1 rime Minister of England had declared that Great Britain would not sheath tho sword till tho country that thought it was a dominant •conntry > was beaten. Tho ono idea and determination of tho British Empire was that they would never allow any .country to dominate the British people , in any part of the globe. (Applause.) What of Gallipoli, South Africa, West Africa, New Guinea, and oilier places! (Applaitso.) Ho hoped that 110 peace settlement would bo lhado unless the British was the dominant power tho grand old Union Jack was still kept Hying. Declaration Day was to reaffirm the decision to bring to a succ"s'sful conclusion at the earliest possible date this terrible war, which was being fought by-our nation m the cause of freedom. (Applause.) The Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) remarked that the federation of the Empire had been brought about without a statute because the souls of the people of tho Empire were one. (Applause ) Why had- wo achieved this feat Imperial unity ? Not to get territory from our neighbours, but to defend ourselves' against our potent tyrant. Some had thought that Britain was on tho wane, but the answer had beon seen in this war. 1 hey' knew liow tho tyrant had violated treaties and rules of warfare, committed atrocities and barbarities formerly unknown, and murdered women and babies, and these tilings had lie pod to make us vise to strike for libeity. What liberty had they under Prussia, compared with our liberty? How had Prussia treated Alsace and the Alsatians? Germany's object clearly had been to rulo the world. (Cries or "Never 1") God help the world! when peoplo considered- the great record or British heroes, philosophers, and literary men they might well lie proud of the race whence they sprang. Were they going to allow all that to pass awav? (Voices: "Never!") What was our "ideal? It had ever been for freedom, truth, and peace. ' (Applause.) If Britain had had war as her ideal, this war would have been concluded in twelve months. And perhaps it was Jjst&SJi. should guffgr than that
, The Sacrifice of Belgium. , His Grace Archbishop Redwood observed that this war had been made I primarily for tho destruction of the British Empire. Sometimes, he said, we were inclined to lay the war. at the door of the vainglorious Kaiser, or on the Prussian military class, but the truth was that tho war was the making of the whole German nation, who had prepared for it for forty years. No nation had ever 'ruled tho world, and none ever would, for history showed that tho other nations rose against such a thing. Since the victories of 'IS7O, tho German people had run mad. This Empire and.tlio'whole-human race owed an _ unpayable debt to Belgium and Servia, who, by arresting awhile the march of Germany, had gained time for the greater nations", among', the Allies. Be wondered if in Now Zoalaiul the people .-had realised to the l'ull the magnitude of the lioroism of Belgium, as had those who wero in Europe at the time. (Cheers for Belgium.) Germany offered Belgium concessions, but Belgium sacrificed all to save her national independence; and that the frcedbnf'of the world might bo maintained. His Graco called for three cheers for the Belgian Army, the Belgian King, the Belgian Queen, ana the Belgian nation, and the cheers were given enthusiastically. ■ He paid a glowing tribute to tho of the New l Zealand troops oil Gallipoli, whose' deeds, he said, wero the-talk of the United States when ho was there recently. With Franco in invincible mood, Russia with her great reservoir of' men, and the Grand' British Fleet sweeping the German flag from many seas, we might truly look forward to ultimate victory. (Loud applause.) His Lordship Bishop Sprott defined freedom as a condition in which the races should bo free to control their own destinies in order that they might make their own contribution to tho progress of tho raccs. That, the meeting affirmed, was one of the things that ought to be. ?f wo knew that little Belgium was secure "and untrammelled by Germany we would but see justice. But things wero not so, and justice 'it was that we were striving for. How was it to bo done? Thoy know that at that very hour men who .were not. engaged in discussion but were fighting. If the meeting was to pass the resolution honestly those present must make a. commensurate sacrifice. (Applause.) There were young men present at the meeting who could not honestly vote for the resolution unless they volunteered. the next day. (Applause.) • There were men prosent who could not honestly vote for it unless they gave freely of their wealth. (Applause.) There were parents who' could not vote for it unless they resolved not to. withhold that son who wanted to go to tho front. (Renewed applause.) Otlior speakers wero: Rev. Dr. Gibb, Mr. A. R. Atkinson, Hon. T. W. Hislop, . and Mr. A. do B. Brandon. The resolution was carried amidst great enthusiasm. Tho audience rose and cheered and cheered again, and then broko into tho 6inging of the National Anthem.'
NEW ZEALAND'S PART WHAT WE HAVE DONE TWO MORE BATTALIONS OFFERED Fitting roferonocs to tlio' occasion were mado in the Houso of Representatives yesterday afternoon by tfie Prime Ministor (tlio llight Hon. AY. I'. Jlasse.v) and Sir Joseph Ward. Mr. Massey submitted to the Houso tho following resolution : — | "That 011 this anniversary of tlio declaration of a rij;hteous_ war, this House records its indexible determination to continuo to ;v victorious end tlio struggle in the maintenance of those ideals of liberty and justice which.are tlio common and sacred cause of I ho Allies." lie felt certain; lie said, that every member of the House ami 99!) pcojile out of every thousand in the Dominion would heartily support tlio proposal he had submitted.. We hud beeu at war.
for just a year: During that time tho Empire had had many experiences, and wo had learnod a great deal. We realised t'liat we were contending with a cruel and unscrupulous foe, a foe who had. been preparing for tho last thirty years, perhaps for wen a longer period, to crush the Empire to which wo belonged. We had realised that wo were not prepared as well as we should havo been, when we entered upon the war, but he hoped we would be better prepared very soon. Germany, it liad been made clear, hated Britain with an intense hatred. She envied Britain her colonial possessions. These lands slio wanted for her overflowing population, and she saw that nearly every part of the world suit-able for colonisation was in the hands of the British. Sho envied Britain her world-wide trade; she wanted more access from her own country to blue water, but sho knew that so long as Britain ruled' the -seas she daro not take Holland or any part of Fx-ance. A year ago she had thought the timo fitting to striko tho blow, and the blow was struck, precipitating the greatest war-in the history of the world.
Our Duty Done. . He was glad to say that New Zealand along with every othor country of tho Empire had risen to the occasion, and had done "everything possible up till the present, • though -lie believed that because of what had happened (the formation of tho National Government) sho would now bo able to do more. He thought it not inappropriate to put' on record some of the things New Zealand had done since the outbreak of war. On August 14 of last year we sent away the Samoan Expedition of 1419 officers and men. On October 15 tho Main Expeditionary Force left, a body of 7761 officers and men, and also the First Reinforcements of 738 men. In Decepiber we sent the Second Reinforcements of 1974 men, in February the Third Reinforcements of 1712 men, in April the Fourth of 2261 men, and in 'June the Fifth of 2389 men, and another contingent. . was almost ready to sail. A number of. Now Zea-la-nders who were in Britain at the outbreak of war —240 of them—enlisted, and were sent to join the New Zealand force. A Maori ;force of 518 'men had been sent, and another was in training. We had sent two stationary hospitals with a total personnel of 187 men. Altogether wo • had sent away 19,560 officers and men, trained and fully equipped. In addition to the land fprce we had handed over the Philomel, and the ship had'dono particularly good work ever since she had been in active service. The ship's complement was_ 12 officers aud 219 men, and the whole cost of maintenance of the ship was being borne by New Zealand. '. In camp now there were 7200 men, many of . them almost fully trained. Wo hac}' bought for ; war purposes 8000 horses. We had sent away what was admitted to be the best Hospital Ship in the world, staffed with six medical officers, 8 nurses,' and 74 rank and file. In addition to all these, five medical officers and 130 rank and file had been dispatched for special purposes, and 5 medical officers and 50 rank and file' wouldgo with, tho Sixth Reinforcements. Ho might, also remind honourable members that we had sent away ISO nurses to look after our boys at the ofher sido of the world.
Hei would' take the House into, his confidence about what they proposed to do in the future. For some little timo past tho Defenco Minister and himself had had in mind'a proposal to send away an additional force, an addition to the "strength of the main body, apart from the reinforcements, already arranged for. . In view of what had taken place they did not think it advisable to 'put men. into camp during the winter months. New Zealand offered two battalions of infantry. This would entail the sending of additional reinforcements at the rate of about 300. per month, He had not tho slightest doubt that as in the past so in tr.e future, New Zealand would do its duty. He had taken the House into the confidence of the Government ' partly because of the day, and also Decause he tlwught the timo had arrived for so doing.
A United Empire, Sir Joseph AVard said he supported most heartily the resolution which the Primo Minister had moved, because he realised that it expressed the sentiments not only of members of Parliament, but tlie sentiments of people of all shades of opinion throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand. Thoy were all proud of what .'tho New Zcalanders had done, and prouder still of tho fact that the men and women of the country had, during.the very anxious time of tho past twelve memorable months, shown a desire to assist the Old Country in lier fight for supiemacy against a nation which had been preparing for this war for upwards of forty years, and even prouder still of tho magnificent heroism shown not only by" the forces of Britain and her Allies, but by tho meu who had taken up arms, from New Zealand,; from Australia, ' from Canada, and other parts of tho Empire, men who had left their"names indelibly imprinted on the scroll of the Empire's history. He was proud of the. co-operation of all classes in the Mother Country in the manufacture of munitions. Sir Joseph' "Ward read an extract from a ■ speech by tho Duke of Westminster referring to Bismarck's theory that empires were welded to-' getlier by blood and iron. The war had, shown what a strong welding force a great adversity' or a great war was. Ho was very proud to belong to. tho Parliament of New Zealand, which had mado AVar Declaration Day a memorable day in more respects than one, which liad upon tho anniversary of the day on which war was declared _ decreed that there shall be no war' within tho Parliament Though seas divided us' from the Old Land, we were one with hor iu sentiment, one in heaa't, one in action, one in our determination to see that the glory of the Old Country was not in any way diminished. . The resolution was carried with a loud chorus of "Ayes" from every member in the Bouse, and members and people in the galleries sang tho National Anthem.
IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. In the Legislative Council the Hon. Sir Francis Bell moved a similar resolution, and said that it was to bo passed probably through all parts of the Empire that day. It was a resolution couched in no boastful terms. They had vividly before them what happened on that day last year, when His Excellency informed them of the declaration of war against Germany. They all had felt since in tho year the anxiety of the war —some not only for tho public, but for private reasons, and some members of tho Legislature had had to bear responsibilities • and anxieties that none need envy them. Tliero was no doubt about the result—it was not tho first timo that England had had to fight "against those who sought to dominate the world. However long wo might still havo to wait for tho end, we had tho knowledge that our cause was right, and tiio knowledge that nover yet had tyranny prevailed. By tho resolution declared that day they recorded what their fellow citizens were asked to record—to see to the end the war and see. that righteousness prevailed. (Applause.) Tho Hon. Sir William Hall-Jones seconded tho resolution. Private members, he said, had shared with tlie Government tile anxieties they had experienced. Ho again expressed his sense of appreciation, at the good work done liy the Government since the war commenced. There might have been mistakes, but mistakes had been made in other parts of the Empire. At least it would be found that New Zealand had dono as well as any other part. Ho was assured that the Empire was still combined to see tho fight to an end. Tho motion wn« then carried. tho uwmbei's of th« CJouiioil singing Iho
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Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2532, 5 August 1915, Page 6
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3,462ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2532, 5 August 1915, Page 6
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