Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star SATURDAY, FEB. 3 1917 THE WEEK.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 February 1917, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star SATURDAY, FEB. 3 1917 THE WEEK.

The Hon. Walter Long, Secretary of State for tho Colonies, lias given a very definite statement on the future of the German colonial possessions. The silence of the Allies’ reply to the Peace Note on this question, perturbed Sir Joseph Ward, but Mr Long’s pronouncement leaves no room for doubt as to the disposal of the territory. It is to be annexed just as completely and certainly as the Turks are to go out of Europe. The loss of the colonies taken during the war will be part of the penalty Germany will have to pay. This will bit the vanity of the nation very severely. It took a pride in its foreign possessions, and it aimed at extending them. The world dominance it hoped to achieve in this war, was to be the steppingstone of acquiring other possessions further afield. The Allies are going to see that this design is not achieved. It will be quite impossible to impose upon Germany any penalty adequate enough to satisfy the human mind for the great tragedy of this war. It will not be possible to make the punishment which the Allies may impose fit the crimes which have been committed. But it will be possible to strike at the vanity of the nation, and by stripping Germany of her foreign possessions, make the nation feel in a very personal way something of the humiliation which should be its portion in constant atonement for the wrongs done humanity first by causing the war, and secondly imparting such ruthless cruelty into the conduct of the war.

An indemnity of a vast amount will be imposed also on the enemy, and if shorn of u< assets it will be ■more difficult for the enemy to repay that indemnity. Mr Long, while speaking definitely about the colonial

possessions passing from German control, does not reveal who shall obtain them. They may be appropriated as part payment of the indemnity, or secured to recoup the Allies for home territory already destroyed by the Germans. But whatever the course taken, it is sufficient that the enemy shall lose them. After the experience the world has had of the enemy nations, they will not be considered desirable neighbors, and it will be well for the colonies to be as remote as possible from such folk. As far as New Zealand is concerned there is not going to be a very great prize in Samoa, but it will be more preferable to hold that territory, than that an enemy should have so useful a base set out in the Pacific. Stripping the enemy of possessions such as these will enable the futui’e peace of the world to be better secured than if so unreliable and untrustworthy a nation had a footing in various seas. There will be less likelihood of serious or far-reaching eruptions, and, kept within bounds in the homelands, that lasting peace the Allies are now fighting for should be assured. The declaration by Mr Long is therefore of very great importance. It will be welcomed in many quarters because it clears the air so. But the enemy and their friends will not appreciate it, and will attempt possibly to raise a controversy. But that is not likely to be a disturbing factor. The enemy continues to use the submarine with much success, from an effective point of view, but this success is likely to have a boomerang effect. Encouraged by the success, Germany has notified the United States of the extension of this form of frightfulness. The notification carries with it a good deal of the usual German bombast, and for once in'a way it has perturbed President Wilson, who dropping word and notes has resorted to deeds. Nothing he could do could be more dramatically effective than that of handing Count Bernstorff his- passport, It is the answer adequate, and the sensation created in the United States, and all over the world, can well be understood. The severing of diplomatic relations is the first step towards war, and the act itself will make the peoples of both countries think. In Germany and other enemy countries the addition of another belligerent, and a belligerent such as the United States, will mean the last straw to ensure defeat. If the United States is prepared to throw in her lot with the Allies, and that was the natural course for her to have taken months ago, it will mean that the financing of the war to the bitter end, will be beyond all question. The money markets will be controlled entirely by the Allies then, and the end of the war under such conditions will see not only the enemy countries bankrupt, but. actually beggared. The

United States can help tremendously with its wealth. Its manufacture of munitions will also he a great aid, while its navy can be usefully employed too. The United States army as it stands to-day will he required entirely for home defence, but it has resources enough to raise a great ■expeditionary force if there were time to get this ready. Colonel Roosevelt might become the Kitchener of the United States, and his appeal would call up thousands to the colors. His magnetic personality called up his force of Rough Riders in the Cuban war, but something greater and grander has to be done now. As an English-speaking people the United States might well stand beside Great Britain in the present world crisis, and so share in the renown which history will apportion to those world Powers which, casting all considerations aside, stood up gloriously for the freedom of small

nations, and to ensure a lasting peace for the world. This possible picture will have an impressive effect on the enemy mind. It has been well said that we are at the decisive period of the war. The Allies, as we know them, after long and patient preparation through months of suffering and reverse, are now ready for any emergency. The Navy, with Jellicoe at the head, is taking steps to deal with the submarine menace, and to tighten the blockade. The enemy must be feeling very despondent that the success upon success they gained was of no material account in breaking down the defence of their foes. The severity of the blockade and its •Btill tightening effect was serious enough. But now, on top of all this, comes a mighty opponent capable of great service to the Allied cause. The outlook for the enemy is black indeed. It would seem as though Germany were riding for a fall. Germany must have been-well enough informed to know exactly the trend of events in the United States. Even if not knowing exactly, the probabilities must have been weighed. The high command in Germany seems bent on taking any aud all extremes in the face of everything. Pacts they put from themselves, and nothing serves but their fancies. They make outrageous statements, and employ most frightful means ta enforce whatever stand they take up. Weighing the possibilities as they must, they ha ve a knowledge of what would happen were the United States provoked to war. An army from the States is not a serious counter at this stage, but the wealth of America and its facilities for providing the muni*

tions of war are counters of the greatest value. Its navy can be of great service. By making an enemy of the United States, Germany at once places in’ jeopardy its great mercantile marine which took refuge there at the outbreak of war. Pursuing a ruthless submarine policy it is quite on the cards that the whole of those interned ships might be seized as a reprisal for tlie ruthless destruction at sea. Surely Germany is charging to a great destruction, destroying her present self and future hopes of reconstruction. It is a wonderful spectacle. A country with great possibilities and the world at its feet as it were, suddenly gone mad, and seeking its own destruction. The present stage of the war, and the drift in sight, emphasises this peculiar attitude of the principal enemy country. It will be good, therefore, to see this country so rabidly led under sound control in the near future.