The Dominion. FRIDAY, JULY 12, 1918. OUR OFFERING TO FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 252, 12 July 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, JULY 12, 1918. OUR OFFERING TO FRANCE

Of all the calls that havo been made upon tho public in recent, times, or for that matter since the war began, none has better deserved a generous response than the appeal now being made on behalf of France. It is hardly necessary at this time of day to enlarge at length upon what France has endured and accomplished, 'not for herself alone, but for all humanity, since Germany opened her criminal attack upon the rights and liberties of Europe. The Allies in whose company France is fighting so indomitably in order that peace and happiness may reign again in the world are proud to acknowledge that in this war France has magnified her glory and established unexampled claims upon the gratitudo and sympathy of all free nations. During four years of war, with a barbarous enemy on her soil, she has endured a martyrdom under which a less heroic nation would long ago have collapsed. But though her sufferings and her, necessities are great she has nobly! maintained the high and undaunted resolution with which she entered the Avar and faced' and overcame desperate odds in its earlier battles. Her attitude is not that of a . country desperately striving to make the most of failing resources. On the'contrary sho was never more proudly defiant, more confident of her ability to win, with her Allies, the victory which is the goal of all our hopes. She is an example to her Allies not merely in the resolute fortitude which enables her to bear with stoicism the hardest blows of war but in more brilliant qualities which adversity is powerless to destroy. The genius and the high heroism of France are best typified in the Army which directly and indirectly absorbs so great a proportion of her human and material resources, and in the state of that Army we may f-;eo very clearly how far Franco 'is from boirig demoralised or dismayed by the long ordeal of the war. Had France been the kind of nation that withers and' shrinks in the fierce blasts her Army would by this time be a miserable and attenuated remnant—a pale ghost of the magnificent Army that stemmed and broke the initial German onset and then and long afterwards wa-s the main bulwark of European civilisation in the land war. But after all its battles", and though its burdens are now shared by our own Sno armies, by those of Italy, and by a rapidly-growing host of Americans, tho French Army retains and is likely to retain a foremost place in the Allied array. One of many who have borne testimony 011 this point is the Australian official correspondent (Captain Bean). In a recent article he observed that Australian officers, who, earlier this year, paid an extensive visit to tho French armies, returned impressed to the highest dcgrco not only with the soldierly qualities of the French infantry, but with the' skill of the French highest military command, which, in theso four years of war when France was supposed to have been bled white, has conserved and nursed France's man-power against just such a supreme crisis.

Unquestionably (ho adds) tho French' aro not bled white, as tho German propaganda, his proclaimed. 1 Latum- classes have boon called up, and lliey aro still ahead of tho Germans, an increasing proportion of whoso lighting trcops aro now mere boys. I'lio Australians behind tho lines for tho last two months havo seen frequently movements in quarters of magnificent French divisions, filled with fighting men of such finality that it is hard to bclicro that this country has been battling for its very existence for nearly Itiui' years. These f.oldiers, in prime of life, of splendid physique, at tho lop of their form, <iro tho living expression of tho foresight and economy of (heir Army, the indomitable spirit of their nation, and 'tho unqucnchablo enthusiasm of tho Allied cause. Australians and villagers alike turned out to cheer some of them quartered near, as they went singing down tho roads towards tho south, decorated with the first summer (lowers. It is very plain tlint, both in numbers and quality, they aro no lnst-conibed-out remnants of a destitute, blcd-whi'te country. Franco, now at the crisis of hor fate, has never lifted her head more nobly, has never Hung back a challenge in a clearer - voice. Ilcr Army is still whole, strong, and utterly unbeaten.

The appeal that is made on behalf of France owes its force first and foremost to her unexampled sufferings and sacrifices. There arc tens of thousands of French orphans to be fed and cared for and vast numbers of homeless pooplc in need of help,. As her material resources

chvindio France finds it ever more difficult to raako due provision for her sick and wounded soldiers. The rolicf of immediate necessities of this kind will be at best only a beginning in the almost incalculable work of restoration that must be carried out ere France can in any real sense begin to recover from the havoc of war. Bub the sufficient motive which thiis appears for rendering France all the help in our power is immensely deepened and strengthened when vre consider how well 6ho has husbanded her resources and concentrated them with all possible effect _ upon the one great object of winning the war. From other countries France has received and is receiving free and generous help. It should be a matter of pride with New Zcalanders not to lag behind in the same fjood caUEO. The people of "Wellington should bo only too glad to seize tho opportunity which will be afforded them to-day' of contributing to the relief of French necessities. These necessities are great and of a kind to touch the coldest heart, but it may be said also and with all truth that to give he'lp to France is to r;trikc an effective blow for victory.