"SECURITY!"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3150, 31 July 1917, Page 6

"SECURITY!"

; THE GREAT' AIM OF THE WAR FOR THE ; DOMINIONS .' :;■.'■. ""HAT DEMOCRACY DEMANDS ■ V *AN ARTICLE BY THE PRIME MINISTER . ; _ Tho following articlo written by the ' Eight Hon. W. F. Massoy,' Prime ; Minister of New Zealand, appeared in, the 'Tall Hall. Gaiette" shortly after tho departure of the Dominion . Ministers from London. The ooir- :. ments of British newspapers indicate \: |V"that' it, .attracted a considerable :■ amount of attention at the heart of :■■. the Empire. "This striking article ; may be regarded as Mr. Massey's :'h farewell message," said tho "Pall ': : ;. .. Mall Gaaotte." 'It is a, convincing ''■■ . ; statement of onr objects in tho war. :, "Amid the stonn and strain of a prolonged conflict, when the supreme object , ; . Vβ are contending for is apt to be blurred i ' and obscured and onr, zenl to give way I, to lassitude, it is desirable at times to '; panee and ask ourselves: For what are !'•' "we fighting? To have always in mind ,-'-.• & clear view of bur ultimate purpose is ; essential, especially in an intense, yet. \:. protracted struggle like tho present/in i order that our actions may be concen- • trated on definite ends, our resolve - ''strengthened, our hearts fired with !•-. 'greater determination and enthusiasm. • , ~ ! "History furnishes . a striking illus- ,- tration of -my meaning. After England ;';'. had, been engaged for several years in j'--- the costly struggle against Napoieon, and '■■ : . : "while Europe was being, deluged with ! v Wood, Pitt was challenged by an oppon- '■: i \ ,ent—one of fhe pacifists of the day—to de- ■-'• fine in a sentence tho object of the war. '■' ■ . The great statesman, it will be" remembered, made a memorable reply. 'I know

• not,' said he, 'whether I can do it in one sentence, but in one word I can tell him that it is—Security.' ' ' "Although that one word, 'security,' fcnmmed up the whole matter, J'itt amplified his reply in words so appropriate +o the present crisis that they deserve •;, to Tie quoted in full. Here is the pas- ; sage:— "'I know not whether I fan do it in one sentence, but in one word I can tell him that, it is security— ; security against; a danger, the great- :. . est: that ever .threatened the world. It is-seciirity asainst a,danger which i ■ ■, never existed .in .anv past period of '. society. It is security arainst a dan- ■ • ger which, in degree and extent, was , never ennalledj asainst a danger i which threatened all the nations of the earth; against a danger which has l>pon resisted by nil the notions if Europe, and resisted by none with so much • success as by this nation, ..■"-' ', because by none has it been resisted so uniformly and with 60 much en- :.' ergy. This country ' alone, of all tho ' : nations of Europe, presented Iwrriers ..> the l>pst fitted to resist its pro- ■■ gress" _..'■'■■ The Pacifists Answered. ' "Pitt'e crusting and convincing reply -lo the pacifists of his day is-also a reply • .to those of our day. 'Ho being <lead, yet •. epeaketh.' His words come to us across "rtlie past century with all the f;:rce -.f an impassioned personal appeal, with all the thrilling power of inflexible purpose, unfaltering courage, and splendid patriot- ; ism. It is well to be reminded by his ':■■■ burning phrases that. .what England \ fought for so tenaciously and triumph-' .'antly a century and more ago. the Km.-, . -pire and the Allies are fighting for to-day . —Security. .' '••' "For a score of years our forefathers . We the accumulating burdens of war without faltering, expending naval and ■'military energy and national treasuro-to an extent then "without a parallel, unflinching in their resolve to overthrow and vanquish tie enemy of their free,tfom. Our task and our peril are infinitely greater than theirs, and- it should oc- "•'■ casion neither surprise nor dishearten- : rment that three years have proved insufficient to accomplish the one and overcome the other. "Let us remember, and brace ourselves '.fes-we realise the stupendous fact, (hat 'this peril is not confined to England, or even of the Empire; it is shared by the civilised world. ;Tho Bismarckiim ■•'■■ axiom, .'Might takes precedence of ■■ Jtight,' Trhich permeates and inspireethe foreign policy of Germany and fashions j Jier military methods, is a perpetual menace not merely •to the peace and progress of Europe, .but to tho security of. every free country and. every .free institution. Democracy stands in peril ci -■ its existence in the presence-of a.powerfnl nation, unscrupulous in diplomacy and commerce, cradled in arms, and taught to believe in the supremacy of the sword and mailed fist.:. , Keep the Sword Unsheathed. "The Oversea Dominions recognised this from the first sounding <i the- tocsin cf war. Tn Now Zealand, and, I beneve, in- Australia, the proximity and growing strength of Germany's possessions in the Pacific had long been viewed with (disquietude.- Kaiser Wilhelm land. Samoa, the Caroline and Marshall Islands . were-all outposts from which an attack might, in the event of war. be launched:. The British Navy and tho Expeditionary Forces of the Commonwealth and, the Tjominions have temporarily averted that '' danger, "biit it will" never be removed •permanently until the -. military and ." Jiaval power of Germany liai 1...-en shattered. The security of Now Zealand tind Australia, eriuallv with that of other , ; important parts of the Empire, depends V on this war being brought to a decisive and victorious conclusion. ". ' "The entry of fnotTnited States into this war of'wars is a further proof of the extreme danger democracy stands in by reason of tho world domination aspired to by the military r.utocra::y at Potsdam. 'Much. as we may loner to see 'Peace, wifli a clad look and a- grateful. : meet her nigged brother War," we shall ■fie false to our trust and unworthy of our ' ztorion* heritage if we dream.of sheathing the sword until it has won for us the safetv of our liberty and the security of tho Empire."