The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, March 27, 1915. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1379, 27 March 1915, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, March 27, 1915. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

In our last issue we reproduced portion of an article from our Palmerston evening contemporary from the pen of “Veritas” concerning the future or this district and its possibilities. Previous to this we inserted a visitor’s impres sions of the district with a glimpse ot i s possibilities. These impressions provide food for thought, and should stimulate our public men to action. We have to start out with a due sense of our responsibilities as citizens, and with this realisation the ball can bs set rolling. But so long as one waits for the other fellow to take a lead, and the other fellow shirks his responsibilities, so long will the district remain stagnant. We criticise our Council for- inactivity, but whose the fault ? It the general public is indifferent, why blame the Council ? The citizens of Foxton do not yet realise the duties of citizenship. The time is now opportune for a shaking up of the dry bones. Next month we will b« called upon to elect a Mayor and Council to administer our affairs for the next two years. The men who seek to represent us must be prepared to sacrifice selfishness and work continuously for the general welfare of the borough, without fear or favour. Is there one man prepared to come forward with a clearly defined municipal policy, pledged to do his utmost to carry it out ? If so, now is the time. Outside municipal affairs there is much to do to advance the district. The time has come for Foxton to go forward, and we are sure there are men in our midst who could help the town and district at this time if they would only make the sacrifice, otherwise we had better petition Palmerston to be allowed to become its suburb and have our affairs administered from that centre.

Optimism is good in moderation, says Dr. E- J. Billion, discussing the war in the Contemporary Review, but grim resolve and sustained effort are better suited to our actual requirements. We are still prone to draw from occasional victories on this or that front wide-reaching and delusive conclusions about the general progress of the gigantic struggle. The war, about the end of which so many people are already speculating, can hardly be said to have begun. The pressing needs of Europe offer the strongest motive for taking the necessary steps to enlist in our cause all the resourses, naval and military, which are legitimately available throughout the world. In Dr. Dillon’s view, everything points to a war lasting two years. One thing is .incontestable—our troops cannot take the offensive with a view to driving the enemy out of France and Belgium without incurring tremendous losses. Before the goal is reached torrents of the best blood of the race must flow, and, possibly, two thousand millions sterling be spent. So appalling would be the consequences, not only of defeat, but even of a draw, that preterhuman efforts are required to make sure of the upshot.