GENERAL RUSSELL ARRIVES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 200, 19 May 1919, Page 5

GENERAL RUSSELL ARRIVES

GREAT WELCOME TO LEADER OF NEW •ZEALAND DIVISION POPULAR RECEPTION IN THE CITY SPEECHES-AT THE TOWN HALL. Major-deneral' Sir Andrew Russell, Iv.C.M.G., commander of the New Zealand Division, reached Wellington on Saturday morning, and was given a, rousing reception in the city. Shortly after his arrival ho proceeded through the streets at the head of a column of re- . turned soldiers. Tho carriage in which ho and Lady Russell sat was drawn by returned men, and a guard of honour ..was provided by returned , members of the N.Z. Mounted Brigade. The sth ' Eegiment Band and the Tramway Band accompanied the procession, and a number of nurses and disabled men rode in motor-cars. The-streets were thronged with people all along the route of the procession, ami General Kussell was cheered frequently. At the Town Hall he inspected (i guard of honour composed of returned members of,the Division. The reception arranged by the Acting-Primo Minister (Sir James Allen) on behalf of the New Zealand Government, took place in the /Town Hall. The main part of the body .' ,i{'the. hall had been reserved for returned soldiers. The other portions of the hell were filled- by the public, and tho ■ General was heartily, cheered -when he appeared on the platform. Sir James Allen took the ; chair, There were also on the platform members of the Ministry, representatives of the Headquarters . Staff,- and . i - ; the officiaTwelcome SIR; JAMBS ALLEN'S SPEECH. Sir James Allen road apologies for abience from the Hon; W. D. S. Mac Donald (Minister of Agriculture), Sir William '! J'raser .(Minister of Public. Works),. and the Hon. T. M. Wilford (Minister of Justice). .■.'■■. ■„■■■. , . A ■'■ Addressing. General Russell, Sir James Allen said that-the people-of. New Zea- ■ land were at one in welcoming him as the distinguished leador of the New Zealand Division, and as a successful gene- ' ,TaT. (Applause - .) A supreme moment came to every man.' Perhap9 the supreme moment' for General Rus- ■; sell was that , day. The General had come .back to hie own country a victorious soldier, a man specially honoured by his King, and representing all that ' there was or could be in the Expeditionary Force and the men connected with it. (Applause.) The welcome, that was being extended to him carried with it naturally some sad memories. General .Russell had been the sympathetic friend of very many of those 16,000 New Zealanders who had laid down' their lives. Thesa men would not. come back. They lay buried in soil that was not of New Zealand.' They had made the great sacrifice, and the' sacrifice had not been in vain. : General Russell had come back a Victor, and he had brought a message ot peace that was compensation, in part at least,' for the Dominion's great losses. This full extent of the loss that New-Zen. ' land had suffered could not be'measured. Young lives that might have taken i> great part in the development and advancement of the country had been taken, ■ nnd their places could not bo filled by the present generation. All the sacrifices had not been made by tlio.men at the front. The people who had stayed behind "in New Zealand had done their part also. It would have been impossible without '.the right spirit at home for the Government to have carried out the promise made''when the Main. Body went away, that the Dominion would always stand firmly behind the soldiers and that for every-man who fell or ceased to be able to fight another man would be sent forward. General Russell would-admit that promise' had been fulfilled. (Applause.) ~ The' General's connection- with the Expeditionary Force had extended from '■: 'Gallippli;to'Lo.Quesnoyv.fr'om;the!begin, ning of the war'.to.the end as far as .New Zealand was concerned. It was'impossible to bridge that' interval in a few ■words, and the history had still to be written. In the early days of the war he commanded the mounted men, who. left their horses iii Egypt and went to Gallipoli as infantry because they were ■wanted. (Applause.) 'Subsequently these, men "'. took their horses again end joined the forces which made their ■ way to Palestine, nnd beyond Palestine. The New Zealand, Di- . vision had sometimes been more in the limelight than the mounted men, who were through the Valley of the Shadow of Death and took part in General Allenby's splendidly successful drive, which did as much ,as anything else to hasten the close of the 'war. Of the New Zealand Division there was much to be said, nnd it was matter for regret, that General Russell's health would not permit ' him to say as much that day as New Zealand people would like him to say. Well led, well supported, well officered, well trained, with a continuous supply of reinforcements up to the physical , stand- . flrd of those who. first enlisted, the Division was as strong when the close of the war came as it had been :it the start. That could not, be said of any ■ other division of any army. (Applause.). Supported by the: assurance that their old; people were behind them, the New Zealand troops had never ones failed to do the work required of them. . "I do not say these things by way of boasting," eaid Sir James Allen. "It is one of the characteristics of, the officers and men ■ of the Division ' that they have never boasted of what they have done. One of the most pleasing things I have noticed about the returned men is that they know what they have' done, but they have not cojno back to boast about it. I wish to extend, on behalf of the people of Now Zealand, to General Rv.seell and Lady Russell a hearty welcome back to their own land. (Prolonged applause.) We\6hall be glad when we get the last man of the Division back to us and settled in civilian life nirarn. In the meantime we have received back riianv of the men, and we have with us to-day the man who commanded the Division and earned the esteem an,l love of every man in the. Division. The success of the Division has not been due alono fo the men we have sent.'but also to the sympathetic way in wmch they have been officered, and to the discipline that has been maintained, not the discipline of drive, but the discipline of f lead. Leadership and discipline enabled our men lo do things that'.would h.ive been impossible under other conditions. ' ' . ' , . ■"Wo are heartily glad to nee you back among us," added Sir James Allen. "We houe that the trials and troubles you have gone through will not leave any permanent impression on your health. You have come back to us full of honour. We hope- that in the years io come wo may have, tho benefit of your vast experience, and that with your help and the help of others wo may ppo all tho men who have been your caro ot the front happily settled for the future." (Applause.) Sir Jiimes Allen cnlW for cheers fnr General Russell, for the Now Zealand Division, and the men of the Expeditionary Force, and for Lady Russell and the other New Zealand women who had worked ?» hard nnd unceasingly to help the soldiers. The cheers wero given with much enthusiasm. Liberal Minister's-Welcome. The Hon. G. W. Russell said that they hnd met to welcome home the gallant officer who had led the New Zealand Army in France-the Arikitoa of New Zealand—(anplauso)—the man sent 'to lend our fighting men in battle. . It was not necessary to refer in detail to tho work of General Russell and the brave soldiers he had led. .Suffice it to say that the deeds or, the New Zealand Army bad gone into history, and would stand for all time as a record of what this litUe oulprwt of the British Empire hnd done in tho big war. General Russell had been for a short time in his early life in tin; British- Army, but he had found that the Amy was not his sphere, nnd he came to New Zealand to become a farmer. It was from the sheep-run and the farm thn , : on. . General went to lead the Army of New Zealand. (Applause./ And he had come bfick decorated by the King, to become a farmer again. He. thought.that this was the j spirit in which our soldiers should all 1

eoino back, with a desire to get back as soon as possible- to their former vocations, to become New Zealand settlers and colonists again, to take part in tho production on which this country must depend to carry her war burdens and to increase her standing among tho nations of thu world.

A problem facing this country was that of tho control of the patriotic funds. No less a sum than ,£1,780,000 was still held in this country in the various funds. These moneys had been subscribed by the people of tho country for tho supplemention of the liberal allowances made by the Government to eoldiers and their dependants. Ho hoped that General Russell would consent to join the War Fnnds Council, and bo a representative on that body of the brave men whom he hart led, and to assist in. guarding those funds for theipurposes for which they were in the first place subscribed, so that not one penny of them would be used except foi the present and future .benefit of on» soldiers and their 'dependants. Uncertain Times, We were living in times when even the ground on which we trod seemed to be uncertain, when all our old ideas were in the melting pot. Changes were taking place in everything—in our political, our economic, our social, and our industrial ideas. Might he express the hope that their distinguished guest, after the magnificent services rendered by him in tho field, would consider the advisability of bringing those great abilities of organisation, courage, and resource, which he had shown as a soldier, into the national life of this country by agreeing to take part in the public life of the Dominion? (Applause.) The qualities possessed by General Russell were never more needed than they were to-day. General Russell had learned the truo value of the boys of New Zealand. He had in the Army seen class feelings disappear; he had Eeen tho son of tho squatter march side.- by side with the'-ploughman, the university professor march with the waterside worker, the miner and the. merchant's eon go over the top together to fight and pursue the enemy. (Applause.) General Russell knew that the future of the world must be in the hands of tho democracy. It was sincerely to be hoped that General Russell would consent to enter public liri;, for it was certain that there was no one constituency, not oven that of Avon, that would not be proud to be represented by . him. (Applauee.) Mr. J. P. Luke, Mayor of Wellington, welcomed General Russell briefly. He said that the people were grateful to the General for his fine leadership of the Dominion's soldiers overseas. The citizens of Wellington extended him a very hearty welcome. THE GENERAL'S REPLY . WORK OF .THE N.Z. DIVISION. Sir Andrew Russell, on, rising to reply, was received with prolonged applause and cheers. .The. audience rose and sang "For He's a Jolly. Good Fellow," and then cheered again. General Russell said he felt, naturally, that this was a great moment in his lifo. No man could come' before so largo an audience, and receive so warm a welcome without feeling a certain amount of justifiable pride. He was proud that he had been able, by God's grace, while with..the New Zealanders at the front, to carry thingsto a successful conclusion, and to bring the division back with the great name it had won. The New Zealand Division had been called the "silent division" in France; but he might state a few' facfls about the force 'in its own lr.nd. "We have' come back here with a very high reputation indeed," said General Russell. "You may getu nation which produces good horsemen and produces good horses, and it will produce fine cavalrymen. Or. a naticfi like Austria, with great gun factories, may produce fine artillery, But the question always is, 'What about the.infantry?. In these days of universal service, when eveiy man who *is fit is sont to the front, the infantry is the nation. As a nation is, so is its infantry. Judged by,this standard, the mothers of New Zealand have got reason to be proud of their sons and uroud of their country. (Applause.) I will give you n quotation (hat I gave the people down in Christchurch. ' These words were used just after tro close of the fighting by an officer occupying a high nosition, where he was abloto judge the work of a great many divisions, both overseas and British:

'I think you can always claim that Hie' British Army would as soon fight with the New Zealand Division alongof it, or take over from it, or hand over to it, as any other division in France.' Prais9 for General Godley. "That is just about as high praise as wo could gel. It is only the opinion of one man, but it was the genuine opinion of a man qualified to form it. You do not get results liko that without a certain amount of hard work, and a great deal of tlie credit was due in the first instance, to the months of training we received in 19M and 1'915. AVe had a strenuous time in Egypt under General Godley, who was commanding the Australian and New Zealand Division. I consider that 'we owe General Godley an enormoue debt for the way in which he taught us to carry out the duty given to us, no matter how difficult or 'how hard it might be. I know. that I owe him much personally, and thore.are many others who say the same thing.that we learned from him the epirit of determination in action, which is absolutely essential when you go to war. Combined with that spirit, he had a very strong sense of justice in regard to every member of the forces under! his command. It is very easy for a man to give offence when he finds himself in a position such as General Godley then occupied. We have always to remember that fact. I never knew a man actuated by a stronger sense of justice towards everyone than General Godley. Ho maintained the/ same attitude .right through to the end of the niece. In the later stages of the war ve did not see so much of him, and during the last year we had nothing at all to do with him except on the administrative side of the Expeditionary Force. But the same zealous care for our imputation was ever shown by General Godley. We had another very good chief in Egypt in the person of General Birdwood. (Applause.)

The Wellington Troops. "The Wellington troops weje. only a a;irt of the big show, but they had the good luck to tako away with them a Jirst-class commanding officer in Colonel Malone. (Applause.) . It is an old saying that there are no bad regimentsthere are only bad commanding officers; In the case of the Wellington Regiment there was a first-class commanding officer, nnd I have been able to notice thu effect of his spirit nnd training right through the 1 wholes war. It shows how one man can impress his personality on many men. The Wellington Regiment could always be depended upon to Carry out its task; it did well and showed a high sense of duty and discipline. We lost Colonel M-alone on tho top of Chanuk Hair. He reached the highest point reached by any New Zealander on Gallipoli. But after the fighting 'at Bapaumo in. France I said that Iho spirit of Malone was still with the Wellington men. We hnd been held up for some time. I was feeling some anxiety, and we wero losing moro men than was pleasant. We might bo held up again on the. other side. A big "effort was wanted. I asked for a volunteer battalion, nnd one of tho Wellington battalions was there, ready to step right off the mark. (Applause.) The Cerm;-«i.s evacuated Bapaume that night." General Russell axldod that he was not surprised that the' New Zealnnders had done well at the front. They had breeding and n fine country behind I hem. The people who had staved at homo had displayed the spirit of the New Zealand Division in tho fight fi'iiinst the influenza epidemic. The. soldiers had felt that they had the people of their country behind them, and they had been supported nnd cheered by the generous assistance of the Dominion through the 1.M.C.A., nnd in other ways. Mr. Varney nnd Mr. Hay, of tho Y.M.C.A., had names that would be remembered by tho soldiers. Ho had heard of British troops complaining ■that they wore not able to get the same assistance and comfort as the Y.M.C.A. provided for the Now Zenlandorf. In conclusion General Russell ?aid ho realised, when kind things were said nbnut him, that he had been just one New Zealander among many thousands. He was happy and proud that the people of the country were satisfied with what he had been able to do. He did not want to take personal credit, for ho realised that the credit belong t* Hio

whole Expeditionary Force, nntl also to tho men who lied stayed behind and sent forward the reinforcements continuously and in good condition. Th« keystone of the arch, as far as tho Division was concerned, had been the corporate t;i)irit that animated tho whole force, 'J he Division had not heeu a one-man show. If one man dropped out (hero had always heen another man to fill tho place. If (he same spirit could be engendered in civilian life, no that men would support one. another instead of quarrelling', the nation might make better progress. Tho message, that the armies had lo scud homo was a message of courage as well us of hope—courage- to meet the problems that undoubtedly lay ahead, and hone that they who walked now in the valley of decision might win to tho heights of success. Ho thanked Sir James Allen and tho audience for himself, for Ladv Russell, and for the men who had hud the honour to.command in the field. (Apnlausc.) The proceedings closed with the National Anthem.

THE LUNCHEON TRIBUTES TO OTHER UNITS TUNNELLERS AND PIONEERS PSYCHOLOGY OF THE SOLDIERS. General Russell was entertained at luncheon by the Government in Parliament Buildings. The company was necessarily a comparatively small one; owing to the limited space available. Sir James Allen presided. ■ There were two toasts on the list only, the.loyal toast; of "The King" and the other "Our Guest." The Soldier Miners. Sir James Allen, proposing the health of General Russell and Lady Russell, said that he wished to allude to one or two matters which ho had been unable to refer to in , the Town Hall, and which, he thought, deserved some consideration. He referred to the tunnellers and the Maoris. He remembered when the Tunnellers were undergoing training, and he was' bound to say that at that time ho-had doubts as to whether they would prove tho success they had turned out i>l be. He was 6tire General Bussell would agree (that these men had dona magnificent work, and, that they had worthily upheld the traditions of New Zealand. So far as he (tho Minister) could hear, the tunnelled had done most marvellous work. They had outpaced all other tunnellers as our troops had outpaced all other troops in the field, and he was glad to pay this tribute to thesa men who had come out of the mines to servo their country. 'Ho would epeak'also of what had been done by the Native race. General Russell had written a letter to the Minister; of Defence in which he had set out what he thought of tho Pioneer Battalion. Thisjetter was being translated, and it would be put into the "Kahiti." We were proud of what trie pakeha had done, but might he be permitted to eay that' we were even more proud of what the Maoris had done. To their credit let it be said that not a single man of their race had, left New Zealand except ■ as • a volunteer. (Applause.l) It was true that in the later months of. the war some Maoris werebrought into camp under the operation of the Military Service Act. but not ,r\ Maori soldier had left New Zealand who had not, como into as a volunteer. There had been no such record so far as ho knew achieved by any people in the history of this war. He believed that tjiis spirit ehown by the Maori would assist to weld more strongly together the two nations—the pakeha and the Maori. Ho was proud to know also that their brother Maoris had realised their responsibilities, and were going to see that the Maori soldiers were going to be repatriated satisfactorily.

Things Done. There had been many compensations for the agonies of this war. He did not want to. boast, but it was a fact that we had produced our own general, who had lei the New Zealand soldiers in their share of tho victory that had been won. Most of the men who had gone with him had been Zealanders. The men who had gone from here had been the sons of the early pioneers, and when, one realised the stock from which they sprang it was not surprising that they had done so well. All ho could hope was that tho blood in the veins of the early . pioneers would continue to bd handed down for more generations. He would not. refer to the difficult problems facing the conntry, becauso he was anxious to avoid reference ,to any suggestion of politics on this occasion. The purpose of the day was to welcome the New Zealand general, the general who stood in the proud position of knowing that when tho war came to an end he led the only complete division that existed anywhere. Ho was suro General Russell would allow that the success which had been won was not wholly bis, but that in some part it belonged'to New Zealand.

The Soul of the People. "The one sustaining thing to me," said the Minister, "has been the spirit that has actuated the people of New Zealand during the wartime. Can you conceive it possible that n Military Service Act could have been introduced into auy other country except New Zealand, and accepted in tho way it has been accepted by our people here? I can't conceive , any ' other . place in tho world whero it could havo been done. I put it all down to tho good sense of the people, and the strength in the soul of New Zealand. We New Zealanders have good reason to be more proud of our country to-day than ever\before.

"There is something to bo written, and I. hope we shall find tho man to write it, about tho psychology of/the New Zealand soldier. I think the most interesting problem I have ever faced is this of the psychology of the soldier—as lie was mobilised, as he came into the training camp, as he was transported to the front, at; he fought under the leadership given 'o him) as he came back to us in the transport, and as we have him here repatriating him. 1 venture to say jou will find as many changes in those processes as you will find'anywhere.in. the lifts of any man. What they are and what they will be time has disclosed for some of them, but not for all. These men have learned lessons which must influence them all their lives, nnd if we can only get hold of them and keep them on the right path, influence them by reason and by sound judgment and organisation, then I look forward perhaps lo a prosperous time, but at any rate to a happy time. What we want iu the next few years :3 something to weld us together, to point out to us that thero is only uie way in which we can stand together, and that is the way of-discipline. By this I do not mean any hard kind of discipline, but the discipline of sense and reason. 1' we can import that into our lives here, then 1 think we can look to New Zealand becoming one of the greatest countries in the world"

Sir James Allen concluded by again offering a. welcome to Sir Andrew Kiissell and Lady Russell.

A Presage of the Future. The, Hon. G. W. Russell said that he wished to support what had been said by Sir James Alien in welcoming Sir Andrew and Lady Russell. He, felt that one day vjiistory would do justice to th* present generation of Now Zealandcrs. He might roiiali the fact that it was only in 1810 that the Treaty of Waitaiiji was signed. Now this country had sent away over 100,000 men, trained, clothed, transported, and generalled by New Zealandors. These lighting men. had made a place in tho history of the world for our country by the manner in which they had fought, ijud a great name by tho manner in which many of them had died. Surely this was a wonderful piesago of tho future lying before New Mi.land, when all our wnslp places were settled, and when, perhaps within , the next fifty or a hundred years, we had a population of perhaps twenty millions instead of n million. The Maoris' Part. •Sir James Allen called upon the Hon. Dr. Pomnre and Sir James Carroll, M.P., to speak on behalf of the Native race. Dr. Pomaro spoko theso words of greeting: "We of the Maori race greet you. Wo greet you because you have led our boys through the fields of death to victory. Tho feet of our boys have trod the sacred sands of Egypt, they have help-

pmi[ ei[} mopn»)suqo 0} 3[S«q him pa of the caliphs; tho war cry of tho Maori heroes of Gallipoli shook the Ottoman Empire into shivers of fright; on tho historic ■ fields of Franco our boys have shown to the shades of tho ancients what ft handful of men from the Southern Cross can do, when by their deeds they outdid the great men oven of Homeric times." Dr. ■Pomnro concluded with a welcome in the Maori bonguo. Sir James Carroll, after welcoming the guest, said a few words suggested by the reference made by Sir James. Allen to the psychology of the eoldior. The psychology of the pnkeha soldier, lie said, had developed also in the Maori soldier, for tho Maori soldier had come to realise the truo mirposes of this 'war, and had subscribed to the pakeha'e cause. It was only in 1810 that the Maoris became subjects of llio Queen, and the compact made then had been faithfully kept by till! Maori people from 1840 to the present day'. When the tocsin of war sounded tho Maoris became involved in the lingo struggle) which was for the saving of civilisation. They joined with their pakeha brothers to meet the common foe in arms. After every great vrar there had always been troublous times, but he hoped and believed that the brotherhood of the Maori' and pakeha, cemented by tho bond of blood on the battlefields of this war, would be permanent, and that it would 'be for the benefit of both races and of the country. Ho referred with some pride to the exploits of the Maoris in France, saying that he understood that the Maoris were the only coloured troops who had been able to stand phcll-nre. They had stood along 'Willi their white brethren through Gallipoli, and in all the fighting on the Western front. • The health of General Russell awl Lady Russell was drunk with musical honours and cheers, GENERAL RUSSELL'S RESPONSE. HOW TO HELP THE SOLDIERS. General Russell said he would take the opportunity of referring to one or two points to which he had omitted to speak at the Town Hall. One was rather accustomed to thinking that one's own show was tho only one which counted. The New Zealand Division represented the largest share of New Zealand's contribution to victory in tho war, but there wore other units not included in the Division which had built up an equally good reputation. One of them' was the Tunnelling Company. This company ■ reached France about the same time as the Division, but the Division never had the luck to bo with the tunnellers. The tunnellers were an army organisation, and , were not shifted from ono sector to another. They remained in the sector, ■ however tho armies and divisions might be changed round. So it happened that the New Zealand Division had never at any time .been within coo-ee of the tunnoilere. Re would like to add his meed of praise of what the tunnellers did in France. Ho had seen their work, and had heard what other generals had said about, them. In Arras they had constructed a wonderful underground system in which whole armies could be accommodated and moved' un under .the town to the German trenches. Major Duignan had earned the high regard of his corps commander.

Psycholony of the Soldier, He had been very much interested to hear what had been said on the subject of the psychology of the soldier, and especially of the Maori soldier. This was a question which had been exercising the minds of everybody—what had been the effect of the war on the average man? "I think," said General Eussell, in meting some attempt to answer his own question, "thai: the only thing we can say of him with certainty is that he has a very much more direct' way of looking at tliiugs, and a very much more simple way of looking at things. I feel that he will be able to see through what wo term 'caraoutlage' more quickly than' he was able to do before. The force of words will not bo finite'the same to l.im as before. He will understand better thnn mero terms a little sympathy and personal touch. That is why 1 always try when 1 am talking about this question of returned soldier's to malic neople understand that it is not i\ question of writing a cheque for My pounds or five pounds. What is wanted is personal service. It is bettor to givo a pound or two and to ensure by personal service and human sympathy that it is being well spent for the benefit of the soldier! than it is to simply write a cheque for fifty pounds and do nothing more. The men do not wnnt charity as it is generally'understood. The true meaning of charity, and the translation of the word usually, translated 'charity' is given in the revised voreion as 'love.' The men don't want charity; what they want is love, real personal help—the helping hand. I don't see why every one of us, whether we are able to write cheques for big sums or not, should not bo able to hob the soldier in (his way. If lieople will only come rnnnd nnd help these returned men, I think the work oan be done all right, although the problem of renatriation may be n difficult one."

General .Russell thanked the company for the compliments paid him. /