Hokitika Guardian & Evening star WEDNESDAY, JULY 4th. 1917. A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 July 1917, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening star WEDNESDAY, JULY 4th. 1917. A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE.

A remarkable forecast of aftor-tlie-war conditions was made by Sir Joseph Ward at the luncheon given in honour of the returned Ministers by the Mayors and City Councillors of Wellington last week. The war, he said, was the greatest educator they had ever had. After the war was over the education they were receiving now would have tho effect of revolutionising the whole world. In the Old Country one could hardly come across a family that had not lost a husband, a' brother, or a son, and in some cases all of them. And there were thousands of the sons of the old families in the ranks lighting for their King and for their country. In the trenches were mom hers of the nobility and aristocracy of the Old Country fighting shoulder to shoulder with men of the humblest families and walks of life; and it wa's having the effect of changing all the conditions of life which had existed before the war, and was removing class privileges and feelings. After tho war was over they would never return to the conditions that existed prior to the war, and that had caused most of the trouble in the past.; and they would have the reflection of this radiating out to all parts of the overseas Dominions. There would be new conditions here in Now Zealand after the war, and in Canada and; the other ovorseash Dominions, and in the United States of America as well. Referring to tho United States, Sir Joseph Ward said that President Wilson • had berm returned- at tlio last election by what was known as the Peace' party, and in a period of something like nine months after his election the. same man had become the head of the War Party, and the people throughout -America were acclaiming him als the leader of that party. That showed how great a change of feeling had taken place. America had a fixed determination that every man if needs required it would be sacrificed to win the war. It only wanted that to show what a revolution there would bo after the war in regard to the conditions of life. The post-war problems would be the biggest tilings that any country had ever had to handle, and the workingman would have to be given his chance the same as the other classes to build up the improved commercial fabric and help tho Old Country and tho overseas Dominions to get into the position of using all their energies and all- their powers in the commercial fight and keep up their supremacy in the future. The post-bellum problems had to lx> settled. The visit to the Motherland of hims'blf and the Prime Minister on behalf of the people of New Zea- , land had had the effect of giving them some knowledge of the intentions of the responsible men hi the Old Country to help to regenerate tho Old Land and lift up the social and industrial scale of the people which had been impossible before the war. There would be more mutual good feeling and understanding between capital and labour; and the men who were helping to innlce the capital must be put into a position tlmt would reasonably satisfy them. They must see to it that the Empire attained such a position industrially and in every way us would enable, it to stand foursquaro in the future against any nation, or combination of nations,' that wished to strike at any portion of the British Empire. To achieve that it was necessary to instil into the minds of the people a spirit of reasonableness to enable them to bring about the changes after the war—changes which in tho long run would ho for tho good of the Empire as a whole. Referring to his visit to France, Sir Joseph said that the greatest authority at the present time and the man upon whom they were all relying for guidance and determination— General Haig and whom Mr. Massoy and he had vjsitcd at headquarters, had no doubt ns to what the outcome of the war was going to be. . They had had it from him, and he had expressed himself so sinco and they only required to know the man to real iso that behind a beautiful, expressive face was a man full of brains, and of a' resolution and dotermSnintion that could not he misunderstood—that he is getting all he wants. And he only wanted reinforcements to keep up the Army—an Army so great that many of the men they at the front had had to ask what was doing on different part* of the front, and what was doing in the war generally. Only reinforcements, that is all Haig wanted, and munitions to make sure of final victory.' They had got the reinforcements and the munitions as they knew. The head •? tho Army had no doubt about the outcome, and he was getting everything that was necessary in the respects he

had mentioned. That was. t. by, and he was sure they all recognised it from the beginning, it was so important that they should maintain their proportion of reinforcements so necessary for the front. Wherever they had gone they had never met ary individual who had run down the New Zealanders. They were held to be the finest soldiers of the King everywhere.