A FIGHT TO A FINISH

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2943, 1 December 1916, Page 5

A FIGHT TO A FINISH

BRITAIN'S REPLY TO PEACE AGITATORS

FULL TEXT OF MR. LLOYD GEORGE'S CHALLENGE

•Tin view of the. recrudescence of tie peace talk in America, and of vlio comments thereon in tho British Parliament and- Press, the public )siay like to refresh their raomory on the athtudo of tho British Government on tho subject. English files by tho last mail give full reports of tho stirring reply to tho peaco agitation that was recently givon by Mr., Lloyd George, tho . British War Minister, to the United , lh-ess ...Association' of America for circulation."], , Mr. Lloyd Gebrgo was asked to give the United Press, in the simplost pos;wblo language, the British attitude to-: 'ward the recent peace talk. "Simple language?" ho queried, with a half-smile,' then thought for a moment. ■ "Sporting tofnfs are'proty. well understood wherever English is spoken," .ho said, "lam quite suro they aro understood in •America. Well, then. Tho British soldier is a good sportsman. . Ho enlisted in this war in a>sporting spirit—in'the best sense of that torin. Ho went in .to .600' fair play, to' a small: nation trampled upon by a bully. He is fighting for fair play. -.Ho has fought as a good sportsman. By the thousands he has died a good sportsman. Ho has never asked. anything moro than a sporting chance: He has not always had that. When lie;couldn't get it he didn't quit. Ho played the game. Ho , didn't squeal, . and he has certainly never asked anyo'no to squeal for him. ,In the circumstances," he continued, "the British, now that tho fortunes of the gamo have turned a hit, are not disposed to stop because of the squealing done by Germans or'done for Germans by probably well-meaning but misguided sympathisers and humanitarians. We Took Our Punishment. "For two years tho British soldier had a bad time —no one knows so well as he what a bad time: He Was sadly inferior in equipment. The vast majority of the British soldiers were inferior in training. He saw the Allied causes beaten Call about tho ring. But he did not appeal either to spectators or referee to stop the fight on tho ground that it was brutal. Nor did ho ask that the rules bo changed. He took his punishment, even when beaten ■ like a dog. He was a game dog. When forced to take refuge in a trench, when too badly used up to carry tho fight to his enemy, he hung on without whining. He fought off every attack. He bided his time. He endured without wincing. He worked without flagging." Mr. Lloyd George's eyes snapped ha/ sitting at his desk in the big room in .Whitehall, he tilted back in his chair and studied the ceiling as if seeing there a picture of Tommy's game fight in the early stages of tho contest. "And at this time and under these conditions what was the -winning German doing?" he asked. "Was he "'. worrying over the terrible slaughter? No; he was talking of annexing Bel-, ghim and Poland as a result of his 'victory.' And while he was remaking tho map of Europe, without the slightest regard to the wishes of its people,, tho British people were preparing to pay the price we know must be paidfor time' to get an Army ready. It is ono thing to look back on the pounding tho British soldier took in' the first two years of the war; but it was a different thing to look forward as'he did and know that beating could not be avoided. During these months when it seemed, that the finish of the : British Army might come quickly, Germany elected to mako this a fight to a finish with England. The British soldier was ridiculed and held in contempt. Now wo intend to see that Germany has her way. To a Knock-out. "The fight must bo to a finish—to a knock-out." Dropping colloquialisms, tho half smile fading' from his face, Mr. Lloyd Georgo continued in a more serious vein: "The 'whole world —ineluding neutrals of the highest purposes and humanitarians with the best of motives—must know that there can bo no outside interference ■ at this stage. Britain- asked no intervention when she'was unprepared to fight. She will tolerate none now that-she is prepared until Prussian military despotism is broken 1 beyond repair.-. -There was no regret voiced in. Germany over the useless slaughter, and no tears -were shed by. German sympathisers a few months ago when a few thousand Brit- - ! ish citizens who had never expected to be soldiers and whose .military education had been started only a few months previously wont out to bo battered and bombed and gassed; {o receive ten shells for. every ono • they could fire;- went out and fought and . *lied like sportsmen 'without even a grumble. I'repeat, there was no ', whimpering then, and the people who are now moved to tears at the thought of what is to come watched tho early rounds of the unequal contest dryeyed. ( "None of the carnage and suffering , which is to come can be worse than the sufferings of those of tho Allied (lead who stood the full shock of tho ■ Prussian war machine before it began to,falter. Only the Result Counts. : "But in the British determination < ■to carry the fight to a decisive finish there is something more than the natural demand for vengeance. The inhumanity and tho pitilessness of tho fighting that must come before a lasting peace is possible are not comparable with tho cruelty that would be involved in stopping tho war while there remains tho possibility of civilisation again being menaced from the same quarter. Peace now or at any time before tho final and complete elimination of this menaco is unthinkable. No man or no nation with tho' slight- - est understanding of the- temper of this Citizen Army of Britons, which took its terrible hammering without a whine or a grumble, will attempt to call a halt now." "But how long do you reckon this can and must go on?" "Thore is neither clock nor calendar in the British Anny to-day," ivas tho quick reply. "Time is tho least vital factor. Only tho result counts—not tho tinio consumed in achieving it. It took England twonty years to defeat Napoleon, and tho first fifteen of thoso years wore black with British defeat. Tt will not take twenty years to win this war, but whatever timo is required it. will be done. And I say this recognising that wo-havo only begun to win. Thero is no disposition on our side to fix the hour of ultimate victory after tho first success. We have no_delusk>n that tho war is uoaring an end. We havo not.tho slightest doubt as to how it is to end." Franco Will See It Out. "But what of Franco?". I asked. 1 "Is thero tho samo determination there to stick to tho end —tho samo idea of fighting until peace terms_ can bo dictated by Gormany's enomies?" At this question tho War Secretary carefully matched each finger of ono hand with each finger of tho other, and as he turned his-chair slowly to gazo out over tho khaki-dotted throng in Whitehall it seemed that the interruption had dammed tho flow of bis conversation There was a full moment's pause, and as the chair swung round again tho reply camo in a voice and in a manner impressively grave. •"Tho world at largo has not yot

begun to appreciate the magnificence, the nobility, tho wonder of.France," ho said. "I had the answer to your inquiry given ino a few day 6 ago by a noble French woman. This wonianliad given, four sons—she had ono left to give to Franco. In tho course of my talk with her I asked' if she did not think tho struggle had gone'far enough. Her reply, without a moment's hesitationj was: " 'Tho fight will never havo gone far enough until it shall havo made a re-' petition of this horror impossible.' That motlior was voicing tho spirit of France. Yes, Franco will stick to tho end. "I supposo that America's conception of Franco and of the French, soldier boforo tho .war was as erroneous as tho British idea. I supposo that you, too, regarded tho French soldier as oxcitablo, brilliant in attack, but lacking in doggedness and staying qualities. Nothing was more unwarranted than tho popular idea of the Frenchman as a poor defensivo fighter. History never justified this idea. But thero will bo a new appraisement and a. new appreciation when tho real heroism, nobility, and genius of tho defence of Verdun aro fully understood. . "Franco has fought the longest wars of any nation of Europe, and her history is of itself assurance enough that sho will hold to tho end. With the British it will bo the sporting spirit that will animate the Army to - tho last. ' Fair play, tho motive—a fair fight tho . With the French it.will bo that fiercely burning patriotism that : will sustain the Army to tho end, regardless of when that end may come." No Quitters Among the Allies.' "And Eussia ?" "Will go through to tho death," interrupted Mr. Lloyd George to answer the inquiry. "Russia has been slow to arouse, but shd\will be equally slow to quiet. Tho resentment of tho Russian against having been forced into the war is deep, and ho has neither forgotten nor forgiven the fact that this happened at a time when ho was ill-prepared and unsuspecting. "No I Thero are and there will bo no quitters among the Allies. 'Never again' has become our battle-cry. At home the suffering and the sorrow is great and is growing. As to the war zone its terrors are indescribable. ' I have just visited tho battlefields of France. I stood as it were at tho door, of Hell, and saw myriads marching into the furnace. I saw coming out of. it scorched and mutilated. This ghastliness must never bo re-enacted on this earth, and ono method at least of ensuring, that end is tho iufliction of such punishment upon tho perpetrators of this outrage against humanity that the temptation to emulate their exploits will be eliminated from tho hearts' of the evil-minded among the rulers of:mon. That is the meaning of Britain's resolve.''