THE LETTERS OF AN ENGLISHMAN.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 August 1917, Page 4

THE LETTERS OF AN ENGLISHMAN.

“ A CASE FOR HARD FIGHTING.”

At the very moment in which the Russian extremists, not too wisely inspired, are crying “ no indemnities and no annexations,” the PanGertn an-Party, with characteristic futility, has been explaining its ultimate ambitions. It wants Courland; it wants a vast piece of France and Belgium ; it wants Verdun and Epiual and Belfort; it wanted yesterday Liverpool and Glasgow ; it wants tc-Ja\ the whole British Isles.

How it is goii'ig to get all this, and what it is going to do with it all, when it gets it, I do not knowBut human folly never dictated a more strangely grotesque answer to the demand of “no indemnities and no annexations ” than that which the Germans have found for the too eager sympathy of emancipated Russia. It is obvious that if a bargain oi this kind is to be struck, it must be a two-handed bargain. It was once said that the fault of the Dutch was giving too little and asking too much. The Germans., are prepared to give nothing and to ask for all the world. And the enthusiasts, who dream of a peace which hurts nobody, must remember the men with whom they have to deal. Germany insists that, among other territories, Courland should be given to her. She, at any rate, even on the Russian side, has no word to say in favour of a quixotic amiability. General Smuts, in the eloquent speech which he delivered at the Russian Exhibition, found the right word to say “ Germany,” he confessed, “ is prepared to do anything. The Germans will swallow all the nice formulas that the Russian democracy may devise, and she will swallow Russia too if she can.” That is a true and a memorable utterance. Germany has a maw large enough to swallow all the noble sentiments which Russia or any other nation may invent. She swallows them, without attempting to digest them. She cares not what they mean. If she sees profit in cramming them down her throat, down her throat she will cram them And having swallowed the formulas she will swallow Russia also, so that it is well that Russia should look the facts sternly in the face and con • sider what a hasty acquiescence in the plans of Germany would mean to her and to her democracy. Now let us consider what would

happen if Russia acceded to a peace with 110 indemnity and no annexations on her side, with Courland and Poland on the other side thrown as a sop to Germany. Russia would become instantly the granary of the Germans. She would be asked to feed and sustain the army, which is organised for the sole purpose of annexing new provinces and demanding huge indemnities. All her immense resources of corn and oil and gold would be put, perforce, to the service of the Huns. The greed of the barbarians whose modest ambition it is to govern the earth would be fed by r Russian industry and Russian skill. The price which the Germans would pay for the help of the Russians would be little or nothing. And with what force could Russia protest against the raiders, when her soldiers were disbanded and her arms laid down ?

the kaiser’s parochiae manner Nor would this be the end. Throughout the war the Kaiser has framed hi ms Af zealously upon the model of Napoleon. Fie has proved again and again that he beleved himself a reincarnation of the last great conqueror. And that which Napoleon did he would assuredly attempt in his feeble, parochial manner. Now it was Napoleon’s plan, if a nation made peace with him, to enrol the citizens of that , nation in the French Army. He was hindered by no scruple of law or custom. He wanted soldiers, and if a country’ refused to fight against liim he made up his mind that that misguided country should fight for him. Those who cried for peace should not have it. They should be asked only to throw the weight of their skill and courage into the scale of France. It was a simple plan, and it succeeded marvellously. When the feeble old King of Prussia asked that his realm should be spared, it was spared upon one dishonouring condition. Prussia was compelled to send an auxiliary corps to fight on Napoleon’s side against the Russians. The lesson of the Moscow campaign, which in the end

saved Europe from the oppressor, should not be lost upon the descendants of those gallant men, who did not hesitate at' the call of duty to burn their ancient capital to the ground. On the side oi the French were fighting the Prussians whom Napoleon had spared at Tilsit by the urgent intercession of Alexander. They fought not willingly, as for a cherished cause. They fought as slaves and vassals, because, loving peace too well, they had fallen under the merciless sway of the conqueror. And poor Holland fared far worse than Prussia. As she refuses to fight for herself, said Napoleon with a sardonic humour, she shall fight for me. That for. sheer love of tranquillity she had destroyed her fleet and disbanded her army was no protection to her. The tyrant declared aloud that who was not with him was against him, and the Dutchmen, who had hesitated to defend themselves, were sent to the most perilous posts that they might defend the Empire of France. In 1810 Napoleon included Holland within his own dominions, gathered all her youth together as conscripts, and made the conscripts do their best to fight his battle. And the result was that in 1813, when Napoleon went to Elba, and the great army was disbanded, not many broken soldiers returned to Holland which could boast few other male inhabitants than bovsand old men.

MAKING 1.1 BERT V SECURE. The warning, then, is written upon the wall in large letters, plain for all Russia to see. What Napoleon did, the Kaiser would not hesitate to do, were he given the strength and the opportunity. The smallest show of weakness, the lightest desire to treat the Germans as men and brothers, will have its due reward. “ There is no doubt,’’ says General Smuts, “ that this is a case for hard fighting. Germany is founded upon blood and iron, not on formulas. Germany is founded not on ideals ; she was brought about by blood and iron, and will have to be smashed- in the same way. Not until then will it be possible for the Russian democracy, like all the others, to feel safety and security once more.” Here, then, are the alternatives —enslavement or victory. It is for Russia to choose.

And there is one other reason why Russia should not withhold her hand from the task allotted her. She is fighting, and she must fight, for others besides herself. Others are suffering hardships equal toiler own. She cannot forget Belgium. “ I am sure,” says General Smuts, “ nothing is further from the minds of the Russian democracy than to leave Belgium in the agony through which she is passing.” And Serbia, too, demands to be rescued. And all those States which rallied to .Russia’s side at the beginning of the war have done nothing to forfeit her loyalty and her aid. We arc determined to see one another through the difficulties which lie ahead of us; we are determined also to stand by the martyred peoples. Thus the aim of the Allies is one and indivisible. It is to protect civilisation against barbarism to defend freedom from the lash of the slave-driver. And the very fact that Russia has done her best to achieve liberty’ for herself is the surest guarantee that she will do her best, by hard fighting, to ensure in perpetuity’ the liberty of her friends and Allies.