REVIEW BY HON. T. M. WILFORD

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 33, 2 November 1918, Page 8

REVIEW BY HON. T. M. WILFORD

HISTORICAL EVENTS. ; The Hon. T. M. Wilford, speaking at the Bank of Now Zealand cornor at noon, said ho was zoinK to have a great difficulty in competition with the trams in , giving the good news. In the month , of September, .1914, the Germans, who were in charge of the Turkish population, closed tho Dardanelles. Ho would not refer to the landing at Gallipoli by the Anzac men, whoso names would not be forgotten, and in his opinion they should now bo put in charge (of the forts. They would remember that some time ago General Townshend was taken prisoner at Kut-el-Amara, and they would remember that afterwards the British and Indian troops, with the help of fast river steamers, advanced up the Tigris and. took Bagdad. On October 19,1918, General Townshend landed at Mudros Island. General Townshend was sent by the Turks, to Mudros to ask if the officer in command there would grant an armistice to the' Turkish Army. When General Townshend landed, an admiral of the British Navy was in command at Mudros on behalf of the Allies. AVhen the Turkish envoys went to {Berne to make .overtures to the Plenipotentiaries of the Allied Powers tho Turkish envoys were referred to tho military authorities at Mudros Island, and General Townshend was in consequence sent to Mudros. He interviewed ' the Admiral on Monday or Tuesday last. General Townshend asked for an armistice on behalf of Turkey, and he was ■told by the Admiral to go back to Turkey and to tell the Turkish authorities to send tho accredited agents of the Turkish people, and the Allies would, name the terms of the armistice. General Townshend returned to Turkey, and on the following . day the accredited Turkish agents arrived at Mudros, and on October 30 (Wednesday last) the armistice was. signed by the Turkish agents.

Gaining Entrance to the Black Sea. The terms of the armistice have not been forwarded to the New Zoaland Government, but one of tho terms was sent, and that was an important one, for it stipulated that the forte at tho Dardanelles and the Bosphorus were to bo manned by Allied traop3. It meant that as soon as tho channel was cleared of nSines we would seo .tho Allied fleet passing into tho Black Sea, which the German Jilmperor recently described as a German lake, and dealing with thoGoeben and the Bussian fleet seized by Germany. Let them consider tho significance of this, and" see what it meant. None of them probably rend Hansard. (Laughter.) But if they did and would go'back nine years • and look up a volume issued in 1910 they would see that ho predicted that tho Balkans would iliave a big significance for Australia and New Zealand, and last year he prophesied that the first break in the war would be in the Balkans. Serbia' and Belgium had taught tho German people that thoir countries were not roads, but nations, and no nation could possibly bo trampled undorfoot while iu civilisation's opinion a wrong was being done.

Sweoping Out of the Turk. One result of the surrender would bo that Turkey will bo swept for ever out of Europe across to the shores of Anatolia and down to Angora. The breath of Turkey blighted and destroyed, and tho foot (if Turkey desecrated any soil it stood on.

Mr. Wilford, continuing, referred to the Turkish atrocities, more particularly iii connection with the Armenians. Tho Viands of the Turks,'he said, were dripping with blood, and they would have to stand at tho bar of civilisation to answer for their wrongs. National independenco could not exist without national honour. Another result would be tho release of oar dear boys from tho swamps of the Tigris and tho A r alley of tho Jordan. The collapse of Turkey was not only the •beginning of tho end, it was also tho beginning of the disintegration of the German Empire, which was melting away. (Cheers.) As an instance, Bohemia had founded a republic, in the very midst of tho German Empire, did away down in tho (south of Austria and Germany tho Slay States had formed a. new barrier against Gorman oppression,

End of a German Dream. Tho collapso of Turkey would mean the end of tho Citjnunn dream of Hamburg to Herat, in Afghanistan, closo to tho Indian frontier. The war had shown tho world what militari-mi really was, and militarism of this type had been killed for cvor. Tho end of the war was coming, but not on tho West

front, in the course of a day or two. It was coining 'by revolution in Germany, bccnuso thi) eyes of tho German people wero ))cing opened. Let tlie end come soon, but let it bo such a victory an would scotch for all time the militarism tho Kaiser stands for. (Cheers.)

Colonel .1. G. Hughes referred in globing terms to the heroes of Aimic. "Johnny Turk is beaten," ho said, but ho paid a tribute to tlio Turk as a clean lighter. At the- colonel's instance, cheers woro given for all those who had been "through from tlio beginning." Mr. P. W. Manton also epoke, warning hjs hearers against the insidious danger to bo apprehended from tho enemy in our midst. Tlio band of tho Wellington Patnotio Society paraded at tlio bank corner at short notice, and played patriotic music at intervals.

A GENERAL HALF-HOLIDAY. Tho Prime Minister made it known as well as was possible in the circumstances that a general half-holidny should be observed in honour of < tho receipt of the good news. Tlio request generally was given effect to, and as the result the city streets were thronged during tho afternoon by tlio most high-spirited crowds soon siiico war was declared.

Tlio schools were also given a half-holday, and in most instances the headmasters or chairmen of committees took tho opportunity of impressing m tlio minds of tho children the importance of the news received.