NEW ZEALAND AND SAMOA.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1765, 15 December 1917, Page 1

NEW ZEALAND AND SAMOA.

Speaking at Palmerston North on Saturday last, the Prime Minister said: — We have to keep up our reinforcements and our production, or we will not be able to do our duty in this war, I want to impress you with the fact that if we do not defeat Germany, then Germany is victorious. We must defeat her by a crushing victory. Take your minds back to the beginning of the war. When we sent those 2,000 men to take possession of Samoa a lot of people thought it was a picnic, and the men themselves went as if it was one. We knew that they were going into tremendous danger. They took possession of Samoa after a risk I, personally, never want to see repeated. This is only an instance. Once we allow Germany’s representatives to meet the representatives of the Empire around the council board at any peace conference, the probability is (bat we shall lose Samoa, and that will also apply to other dominions of the Empire. I hope nothing will over be considered, that when peace comes it will be a peace worthy of the tremendous sacrifices that have been made—of the blood that has been spilt. If it’s not worthy of these things, then we do not want it. We will carry on until a decisive victory comes (Loud applause). We hate and abhor war, and long for peace, but there is no alternative. We are not going to allow Germany to dominate the world, and we must go on until we bring her to her knees. In. this country we have had cases of murder and robbery. Where a criminal has been discovered and proved guilty, are we going to say if he returns the property he will go scot free? (Voices: ‘Never’). We arc not going to do anything of the sort. The crimes Germany has committed during the war are ten million times greater, and what is true in regard to crime is true in regard to Germany. She cannot be' allowed to go unpunished.”