THE WILFUL BLIND.

Hokitika Guardian, 28 May 1918, Page 3

THE WILFUL BLIND.

MR. L. M. ISITT,' M.P., ON THE WAR. Some trenchant remarks concerning peace advocates and other faint hearts were made by Air L. M. Isitt, M.P. at the Empire Day demonstration by tlie Oversea Club at Christchurch on Friday night. Mr Isitt said that however war-weary we might be, no matter how our minds might revolt from the carnage, we could never turn from our efforts to •rush the Prussian eagle until there was a conclusive peace. (Hear hear.) The resolution of our souls must be war, war, no peace. Our enemies had never left ur in any doubt as to what their intentions were. We had in the past been foolish, but that was the sin of ignorance. If to-day there was a man ignorant of Prussia’s crime and intent it was a crime on his part. It was only an ignorance because who held it shut their eyes and would not see. It was not the ignorance of the blind and uninfomed, it was the ignorance of the weakling, the coward, and the traitor. It was not the proper attitude to find fault with the Government and the military. The blunders bad not, all been on our side. What a contrast there was between the work of our men; at the front and the rotten things we often saw in New Zealand. The man who sat upon his tail yapping about the mistakes of other men was not a patriot ; he was a cur. (Applause.) There seemed to he many in our midst to-day who thought that only those who prated of conscience and cried for peace were the only ones who had any right perception of things. We had the assumption from these people that all those nerving themselves to part from husband, son, or brother were seeking vain glory. Such an assumption was an outrage. We knew that before us lay the Calvary, but we knew that before it could be reached, the road must be travelled by many dripping feet. We must rid the world of the brutal Hun and the unspeakable Turk. We must by God’s help travel on and pile sacrifice on sacrifice and effort on effort until God gave us our reward. (Applause.)