Hokitika Guardian and Evening Star MONDAY. JAN. 15 1917 FOR FREEDOM’S CAUSE.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 January 1917, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian and Evening Star MONDAY. JAN. 15 1917 FOR FREEDOM’S CAUSE.

A stirring appeal for unity of effort aud endeavour in the great fight for freedom was made -by Sir Robert Stont (Chief Justice) in an address delivered recently at Wellington, states the “ Dominion.” Concluding an interesting survey of the causß9 and the general aspects of the issues of contention, the speaker said:—“Oar young men have done nobly—they have been true heroes. To show you the beroio spirit displayed by some of oar New Zealand boys, may I be permitted to give you a short extract from a letter from one who lost his life in France. The letter was written just before he left for his last attaok on the German trenches: —“ ‘ To-mor-row night we go forward to the brink, and the next morning at dawn we hop over the parapet on one of the most difficult tasks ever given to a division. There oan be only one result—every man will do his clean British bit, and there will be very, very many who will never come baok. We all know what we are up against; we have heard again and again of the pitiful haudful of meu who have returned broken out of the whole battalions who have gone forward to push back tte Hun. We have seen the ground over which saoh battalions have fought, and the heaps of dead they have been unable to bury ; but, thank God, there is not one single man of us Now Zealanders who does not welcome this long awaited chance to do our bit. A wee bit frightened some of us may be; I am a bit afraid myself, and will be more so ou the day ; but it is our chance, our chance to give one big blow to Germany for all you dear ones back in New Zealand ; for you who have given up yonr sons, who have given up yonr money, who have suffered deep anxiety and paiu for our sakes —our chance to show that once the old Mother Lion is threatened the young cubs are ready to jump to her help and show the strength of their newly won manhood—our first chance, aud we are going to take it. If ws win through, it’s going to be a big day in the history of New Zealand; if we fail it will not be through aDy lack of dash, of go, of willingness of heart in the individual men. Bat we are one and all determined to win through, cost what it may—the thought of failure has no place in our minds. Now. dad, I may be one of the unfortunates. Hence this letter, But I’d like you to know that I am not frightened of whatever may come my way. In one way I am frightened—for 1 defy any man to say that fear does not grip hie heart when something big is doing. But I’m not frightened of a wound, aud 1 am not frightened to die. Death must coma sooner or later, and dea'h on the battlefield is without a shadow of doubt the most glorious of all ends. For myself, it means nothing more than a snuff of the candle, but for you and for moth.!, and for the kiddies, it means more. More than ever do I wish that I had not u soul to mourn death, A peculiar, wish, perhaps

but you will underatand how I feel. For myself, the worr.es o£ what might happen to me aro insignificant ; but for yon, at homo, going into hot action means one of the most heartfelt worries I’ve over had to face.

V But whatever happen?, I’m going to do my duty. 1 have my boys to think of—men who have seen me tested in other hot corners, and who have come to place upon my leadership a confidence that I oannot betray. I have my country to think of, and I am determined to prove that I have the blood of a Briton in me.’ We

shall have, however, to do much more than we have done,” said Sir Robert Stout. “We do not yet fully realise that we are at war. Our pleasures have not been lessened. Useless and wasteful expenditure still goes on. We ought to be saving our means to help tbe oppressed, and to help our Motherland. As far as I can ascer-

tain, we have given up few, if any, of onr pleasures. Oar newspapers are full of the details of race meetings, of

theatres, sports, and useless expenditure on various things has not been lessened. Gan it then bs suggested that we have yet risen to the conception of what thiß world war is, and that we have done what it is our duty to do for the brotheihood of humanity ? We ought to sink all our political and other differences, and fight for this one aim, the salvation of our Empire, and of our people, and for the oppressed amongst the nations. If we do so we shall be doing something for peace, something for justice, something for freedom, and hasten tbe coming of the day,”