The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY LEVIN. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1915. DDUNEDIN'S OSNTRICH PATRIOTS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 4 November 1915, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY LEVIN. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1915. DDUNEDIN'S OSNTRICH PATRIOTS.

. Dunedin Chamber ol : Commerce seems i) be a body possessed of more courage tlian balance. Its members are of that numerous class that fears to face the truth when it proves unpalatable, and that favours a policy of suppression ot fact. The resolution passed by Dunedin Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, and telegraphed throughout ?Soav Zealand as a supposedly weighty utterance, ■was ill-advised to begin with, lor jt seeks to place obloquy upon a man who as a civilian did his duty to the nation as effectively ami as helpfully a.s did any soldier or statesman who was affected by his criticism. The Ihinedin Chamber of Commerce, in short, protests against Mr Ash mead Bartlett's temerity in having tokl the truth' about the failure of the Dardanelles campaign (a foolish venture made at the request of .Russia); in a hurried manner, and in a; initial form that was doomed to failure through very insufficiency. Not content -with making it-soil' ridiculous by its resolution, the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce requests the Now Zealand Prime Minister to forward this resolution to the Prime Minister / of Great Britain (to forward it at the New Zealand Treasury's expense, that is); or in the alternative the dour southrons ot Dunedin will adopt the last desperate resource of sending it at their own expense! Their resolution is of a quality that justifies further publication of its full tost: Dunedin, November 2. At a meeting of the committee of the Chamber of Commerce the following resolution was unanimously adopted .-—"That this Chamber desires to onterits emphatic protest against the unpatriotic and illadvised utterances of the irrespon- ' sible war correspondents of the Asbmead Bartlett type and others who apparently for selfish ends are doing their best to damage their country's interest and the interests of our Allies, that other Chambers be asked to make similar protest, and that the Prime Minister be asked to cable this resolution to Mr Asqnith, requesting that it be given the widest publicity in Great Britain, and that failing prompt acquiescence by Mr Massey. the Chamber cable direct." "The last sad scene in th's eventful History" of the Dunedin ostriches (who advocate the old policy oT burying heads in the sands 01 oblivion, to escape realisation of unpleasant tacts) is the cablegram that appeared in our issue of yesterday:— London, .November 2. The lit. Hon. H. H. Asqnith stated that the non-success of the Dardanelles operations was a keen disappointment, as success would have prevented the entry ot' Bulgaria on the enemy's side. We arc holding up 200,000 Turks, and the situation at Gallipoli is receiving anxious consideration. In the light of the ioregoing statement, the committee ol the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce snould hold another mooting, with a bundle of leeks in a prominent place on uie table. Since we penned the loi'egoing, we have come across a paragraph in a contemporary which sheds illumination on the whole matter. The paragraph states that "quite a number of local bodies in Now Zealand have forwarded to the Prime Minister resolutions protesting against what they describe as the 'unpatriotic and ill-advised utterances by irresponsible persons of the Ashmead Bartlett type, •who are doing their b'est to damage their_ country's interests.' That was how one local body expressed it, and the other bodies have framed their resolutions on similinea." With tihits information, an V ... Evening Post representative interviewed the Hon. Mr Massey on the subject The reporter was informed that the Premier "wtas very glad to see that the peoplo of New Zealand took an interest in a -matter which was of very

great importance., Imfc it lias already Ibeen dealt with by the New Zealand Government.' However, the purport oj various resolutions -would he forwarded to the Imperial authorities."

All of which seems reminiscent, Reminiscent, for one thing, ol the circularising methods of a year or .so since, •when certain people were approached by a political organiser to work up meetings to pass resolutions against Sir Joseph Ward and his party. To-day Sir Joseph and tlfe IH. Hon. "William are bosom friends politically; but evidently the methods of the old party have ban taken over with the other appurtenances, and the Coalition Government's agents stir up its public bodies, and procure its "resolutions ot spontaneous protest" as blatantly (and as ineffectively to true observers) -is it" predecessor in office did by its political organisers.