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DIARY OF THE WAR

; INTRIGUES FOR PEACE ! WOODROW WILSON'S WEAPON Tho special representative of the Sydney "Sun" writes as follows, under date London, November 16: — itlr. Asquith's illness, like that of the King, is more serious than official announcements tell. He had a very slight stroke. It left no permanent weakness, and a few days in the country brought him back fresh-faced and well again. His. rhetoric in the Commons in reply to his critics was all the more wonderful because of this physical semicollapse. . But the incident served to warn Parliament of the seriousness of the strain on our public men." The fact is that the Ministers in this country belie their appearance. They refuse to show hurry or anxiety. They move quietly and with dignity, and even great questions in Parliament are handled with a pretty show of casualness and abruptiveness. But this in reality seems to be part of a pose and .restraint quite essential to their sanity. If they did not thus hold themselves in chcck, insisting on slow and normal perspectives, they would lose their reason. Few men in the world's history liavo borne such a burden as Mr. Asquitli bears to-day. In his own words, he is "responsible for winning this war." He is the nation's head, and the nation has directly charged him with the maintenance of its just cause. What-ever-failures there may be in Mr. Asquitli's administration, . there is no questioning liis honesty and his abiding determination to prosecute the war to a triumphant issue. This is why the rumours now being whispered that his visit, with Mr. Lloyd. George, Sir Edwar Grey, and Mr. Balfour, to Franco to-day is connected with peacc, may be dismissed without a thought. The impression spread by those who : behove that Germany is iu a worso position than she is, . and who are a waiting eagerly to help along tho first 1 compromise peace proposals that become possible, is t-hat Germany intends after ' entering Constantinople to lay her cards on the table. _ She knows slio can keep littlo or nothing of what she has con- 1 quered, and that the prosecution of the i war for many more mouths will cost her last reserves of blood. So sho means soon to call to the United States trom Constantinople, from Belgium, and from Poland, "W c are not a warliko , nation. T,\ g have been set upon bv ! blackguards Cannot you now cail them oir and let us bavo peacc?" Cermany's Price. h leS< u of pcace assert ' that whether Germany, makes this an- 1 peal or not. President Wilson will on- ' t thc '"fts .\"th proposals before the next Presidential eloction-beforo , spring, if possible. He will not threa- 1 ten to use Ins navy or his army. That 1 would have no effect. Ho will threaten I to use the biggest power he holds, i wjnch is tho suspension, of the export or munitions to tho Allies. That, in- 1 deed, might have a serious influenfce ' upon us. I have just concluded a tour through The principal munition districts . i'i i i a e ' Bn Ji aln > f ulc ' I am confident , that beforo three months have passed < ho shall), be almost independent of 1 America s supplies, except in raw ma- ! immensity of the munition 3 effort is scarcely comprehensible; the ' great metal industry of. the Midlands, c Oi the worth, and of Scotland is fully t organised, and we'are still building factories for the housing of new machines for the making of still further supplies 1 machines. If President n ijson plays this card, we can out- '. l '! n l > J.' l, t before ho can play it \uth tho slightest hope of success— beforo it becomes worth playing at all —lie must have the "world,-' so far as it exists apart from tho belligerents 1 ready to demand peace. And that will only como when Germany begs for the end. . . There seems to be a very general idea ? that Germany now would be content to o call oil her armies if we let her keep 1 fragments of her occupied territories— Antwerp principally, part of Poland, o secondarily, and most of Serbia. It is taken for granted that an inevitable t condition of ponce will bo a commercial treaty, under which all nations will be n compelled to acpoo -not to allow boy- J cotts of their Gnomics' goods. And as for paying for Belgium, and supplying f indemnities, these would be waived by e the Germans. There is sufficient quiet 1J intriguing proceeding for peace to 1 make it worth while recording; but there is : strong and unalterable determination by all tho Allies to fight oil till wc win. Kitchener's Kingdom. Ono whispor that Kitchener was retiring caused a million hearts to sink. I stood in Westminster when newspaper posters publicly spread the rumour, and I can say that not even a Zeppelin raid caused such a furore. Soldiers ilockcd to the news-stands, whore they mingled with red-coated pensionora, schoolboys, I and excited women. In tho city a ile- I cided depression prevailed on the Kxchangc, and men hegan wondering what was about to happen. This was striking testimony to tho respect in which Kitchener is still held, and it affordß Ins London opponents visible proof of tlm \\ fact that Great Britain is prepared 1! blindly to follow wherever lie leads. Tho explanation, of coursc, lies in the Inc* of men. The public must trust someone in. a great and uncertain o crisis; that it should trust Kitchener now is natural, For he represents and focuses tho martial spirit of Llie Empire. T Most elaborate precautions have been £ takca .to prevent tho spread of the. story a|

that -Kitchener will not- return to the War Ofliee, and official assurances that lie will remain Secretary i'or "War are reiterated time and again. Ono may shrewdly suspect that these are made at Kitchener's request, for he i? jealous to a degree of his reputation and popularity. The Prcsi Bureau went to the length of holding up the official and semi-official statements from foreign circulation —and it should be understood that, in London the Dominions are ranked as foreign—until Kitchener's stallhad bad an opportunity of quiet perusal. This action dislocated the cable services, and meant that matter passed for publication in London and published for 12 hours throughout the Kingdom, was held back from Australia.

So the mystery of his mission to tho East grew until it encouraged hysteria. Even now the Kitchener secret is known to -very few. He is to go to Athens first, and to make new representations to the Germanophile leaders of Greece. But what he is to say, and where lie is to go after that, and whether lie is to return to London as War Lord or as military right-hand' man to Mr. Lloyd George, and whoth'er he has finally lost Hie confidence of the War Office and tile Government, or is to be Commauder-in-Chief of tho Allies in tho Balkans, or is to remain in dcfence of Egypt, onlv a few score moil in the world know. * .One detail I can tell you. His visit to the King, on which bo much speculation was founded, was far from being the critical interview which lias been pictured. Tho War Secretary had asked during -the afternoon for an audi- ! <nce at which he could mako his formal duty call boforo leaving the country. This the King could not grant, because of the severe pain of his rupture. But later in the day the King felt better, an interview was arranged over tho telephone, and the War. Lord bade his Sovereign formal and respectful adieug.

•By t ; ho way, Sir Frederick Treves and other leading consultants attending tho King are furious over the muddling of the attentions paid him on tho ffeld. It appears that when the accident happened, there was no doctor near. A noncommissioned officer was sent off posthaste to the nearest hospital, but for ten minutes r.o help came. During time tho King lay on tho ground in great pain. Whon the medical officer arrived, he did not realise the seriousf noss of - tho injuries, and the King was put into a motor-car and driven several miles over wretched roads lo a cottage, whero li© was put to bed. He was" I . believe, most depressed, and iixleed he . had good reason to be, for he was badly ruptured, and it was only by. the mer- , est fluke that the horse had not broken . pelvis and bones. When, during tho j afternoon, shells fell around the cot- • tjige, -and the doctors urged removal, , the King positively refused. It will ever i bo regarded as a mercy that the King, : whoso life was endangered by the na- , tu-re of liis wound, was not'killed'by the jolting in his motor-car. The medi- { cal corps should of course have laid , him flat on the nearest door. But tho ■ 11.A.11.C. is gaining a reputation for , being goo<konly in hygieno in tills war.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19160104.2.60

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2660, 4 January 1916, Page 10

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,508

DIARY OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2660, 4 January 1916, Page 10

DIARY OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2660, 4 January 1916, Page 10

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