HOW SHALL WE WIN?

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2540, 14 August 1915, Page 3

HOW SHALL WE WIN?

Sir, —It is of the utmost importance at the present time that not only tho question of winning tho present contest he considered, liut llow shall wo win? for it is quite possiblo for us to win in such a way that tho fruits of victory may be practically nil. Wo must securo such a win that we, i.e., the Allies, can dictate terms of peaco and not bo dictated to, and in order to y sewro this m ffOteXall

the force possible, not an ounoe can he left idle. And clergymen oan sometimes throw' such weight into the scale as to. determine an important point. ,For an illustration: About fifty years ago the late Archdeacon Samuol .Williams, of Te Aute,, was tho one who 'settled a question of the utmost importance and saved Napier from being laid in ashes, the incident is somewhat as Mows:— ,

, "The rebel Maoris at that time had formed a plan,of destroying Napier, a large party had found their way down to Omahu' (about nine miles out of Napier), and were secreted there; another party was coming down from Te Haroto under Te Rangihiroa. ■ The Rov. Samuel "Williams had beon informed' of this by trustworthy Natives. He was just then at Waipawa, fortv miles away; ho at once took steps to inform Karaitiana and Renata Kawepo, and requested them "to muster as many men as they could and go down as quickly as possible to Napier, which they at once did, he himself rode down to Napier and found ! the town full of. merry troops, and' the officers wore having a very pleasant ovening at the club, all being in sublime ignorance of the enemy near at-hand. Mr. Williams looked up Sir Donald M'Lean and Sir George Whitmoro andtold them of what ho knew; they simply laughed at him, 1 stating that, they had had scouts out, everywhere and that there wero no signs of an enemy within many miles of Napier. Mr. Williams replied: "Sir Donald M'Loan, a mat has already been prepared for your head, and unless you take immediate action it will contain your head to-morrow morning, and Napier will bo in ashes." Still he was laughed at, and he then went on to say: 'Sir Donald, has the devil bewitched you and lulled you into a fatal sleep? Lob mo tell you this, that some 300 chosen Tebels are now at Omahu, about 70 are coming down in Potane River at this very time, there are canoes, planted in the rushes on the other iside of the harbour,' and To Rangihiroa and' party will attack Napier from the north end, and while tho fighting is going on there the larger party will come m from .the south, and then where will you he?" Sir Donald replied, "And what would you have me do P' _ Mr. Williams said, 'Go out at midnight and intercept tho two parties , before they come into Napier.' Sir G. Whitmore then said, 'The troops liavo been out for two days consecutively, and _mu6t have a night's rest.' Mr. Williams said, 'Are. you also lulled into a fatal sleep? If you don't wake up your head will keep Sir Donald's company.' Sir G. Whitmore then said, 'But we must have Karaitiana and Renata's men with us.' Mr. Williams replied, 'They are already out in the street ready to march.' 'Who told them to comeP' said Sir Donald. |I did,', said Mr. Williams, 'and they are awake to the importance of the moment.' Sir George Whitmore then_ said, 'It is a strange. thing for a minister of religion to urge on • fighting.' 'Yes,' said Mr. Williams, 'when those who ought to do it are asleep, he must do it in order to save the situation.' Sir Donald then said, 'Wo will call in Rcnata and Karaitiana and hear what they have to say on the matter.' When called in and asked if it was not better for the soldiers to have a good night's sleep first, Karaitiana replied, 'Mo moo nga morehu,' that is 'Let the survivors sleep,' and he urged instant action. By this time Sir Donald and Sir GeoTge began to feel the importance of the matter, and took action, and by immediately sending the men out successful fights took piaco both at Omahu and on the Potane River; the Tebels were defeated and Napier saved."

The archbishops and other religious leaders in England aro urging resolute, immediate action, so that the peace may not be made in Germany, by Germany. Now what are we going to do in Now Zealand ? Is the fall of Warsaw not going:to teach us a lesson? Has not Trance organised tho whole of its Empire? and are we going to take things as quietly; as we are? I am not satisfied with what wo have done and are doing; wo must have every man, woman; and child engaged in our effort. All who are not able to go to the war should bo directly supporting it. First of all, economy must be studied and practised; all trades and work that do not bear definitely on the success of tho campaign should be stopped, and the workers put to some useful occupation—stieh things as picture shows, horse-racing, and such like amusements should be done away with, and both patrons and employees of three concerns put to some useful occupation, such as the production of crops, etc., and as muoh ground as possible made productiv-e. AVe must also follow the oxample set us by tho King and many other loading men both in Church and State, and get rid of the consumption of ■ alcoholic liquors, at any rate until tho war is over, also follow the example of Alberta. Sir, tho voting at Bellamy's was one of tho most painful things ever recorded. Surely our legislators should have set an example for tho Dominion to follow, and not allow a force which Lloyd George has declared to bo more to be feared than Germany to exist in our midst. The front illustration in the last vanguard is all too truo. Who is master? Liquordom or common sense. Then Jiasa. gUttiHWfi MW-t

must bo stopped, for tlioy are quite out of place when our own ilesli and blood aro perishing oil the battlefield. —I am, etc., FRED. H. SPENCER. Wanganui, 'August 9, 11(15.