ENTERTAINED AT LUNCHEON

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10283, 19 May 1919, Page 6

ENTERTAINED AT LUNCHEON

AT PARLIAMENT HOUSE. SOLDIER PSYCHOLOGY DISCUSSED.

On Saturday afternoon, on the invitation of Sir James Allen, K.C.B. (Act-ing-Prime Minister and Minister for Defence), Sir Andrew' Russell, Lady Russell and family were entertained at luncheon at Parliament House. Among those present were Sir Robert and Lady Stout, tho Hon. Sir Fnancis and Lady 8011, the Hon. G. W. and Mrs Russell, tho Hon. Arthur and Mrs Myers, the Hon. J. A. and Mrs Banan, the Hon. 1). *H. Guthrie, the Hou. Dr. and Mrs Pomare, the Hon. Sir James Carroll, the Mayor and Mayoress (Mr and Mrs J. P. Luke), Capt. and Mrs A. W. HallThompson, Major-General Sir A, W. Robin (Commandant!) and Miss Robin, Brigadier-General Richardson, Colonel Gibbon (chief of staff). Major Powles, Miss McLean (chief of nursing staff) and Mr C. W. Batten (president of the Returned Soldiers’ Association). . Sir James Allen gave the usual loyal toast, “The King,” which was drunk with musical honours. Throughout the war, said Sir James, His Majesty had faithfully and well carried out the duties of a constitutional monarch, and had kept tho spirit of tho nation and of tho Empire sweet and their purpose strong for the great fight for right and freedom in which they were engaged. ,Applause.)

In giving the toast of the day—“ Our Guest”—the Acting-Premier said that, on behalf of Hie Government, he was very glad tp welcome Sir Andrew Russell; Lady Russell, and family to'their festive hoard that .afternoon. A few things had been left unsaid at the Town Hall function, and those he would like to say now. He was not going to add any further words of welcome, because Sir Andrew Russsell knew from what he had seen and hoard that day what the people of New Zealand and the troops ho had had the honour to command thought of him—(applause)—and, in that respect ho had nothing to add to what he had said at tho Town Hall. (Applause.) TUNNBLLERS’ MARVELLOUS WORK. He did wish, however, to allude to one or two matters, which ho thought deserved consideration. Ho remembered tho Tunnelling Corps when they were undergoing training,, and ho was bound to say that ,at the time he had had his doubts as to whether they would do what tjiey had, done. But he was sure that General Russell would agree with him that those men had added greatly to the proud position attained by tile New Zealand forces. (Applause.) “They did most marvellous work so far as I have hoard” added Sir Janies. “They outpaced all other tunnellers just as I uohove our troops outpaced everybody else; and wo are proud and grateful to know that these men who oaino away from their mines to serve their country and the Empire did such marvellous work.” (Applause.) HIGH TRIBUTE TO MAORIS. Then, I want to allude —I think you will all approve of it —to what was done by the Native race. I said nothing about them this morning, because time did not permit; nor is it necessary to say much about them now, because General Russell himself has written jo me to say what he thinks of the Pioneer Battalion, and; that loiter is in process of being translated into Maori and will bo pupblished in the next issue >of the Native paper. I want to say to those who represent the Native race hero and outside that I hope they will read what the General who commanded them has to say about them. (Applause.) Wo arc proud of what the pakeha. has done in this war; but may 1 be permitted to say that we aro oven more proud of what the Native race has done. (Applause.) To their credit, may it be said that not a ■■single man left from amongst tho Maoris except volunteers. I will not say that we did not bring into camp some of the Maori race under the Military Service Act, but no man of them left New Zealand except those' who volunteered to go. (Applause.) Not another such accord, so lar ns I know, was made during tho war. (Applause.; The line war record of tho Native race would go far to increase the sympathy between tho Maoris and tho pakchas. IVie spirit w'hioh actuated tho men who came forward to go to tile front and servo under most difficult conditions would do a great deal to weld the two races together—(applause)— and I am glad to know that their leaders and their fellows recognise that the men who went to the front must bo looked after now that they had como back and must bo repatriated iu a satisfactory way. (Applause.) There are tremendoua coinpcnsdtions in regard to this war in realising what tho pakeha. and tho Native soldiers have done and what Now Zealand, as a whole, has done. (Applause.) OUR OWN GENERAL.

T don’t want to speak in a boastful spirit, but wo produced our own general. (Applause.) Ho is a Now Zea'audor. and he lias led the New Zealand army to victory, and has brought us back his share of peace ; at any rate. (Applause.) -Most of our men were Now Zealand-born, said Sir James Allen. It had been stated by certain papers abroad in the early stages of tb,» war that most of our soldiers were men who had been imported from Great Britain: but he had gone into the matter, and be found that the per-

centago of imported men was very small indeed. (Applause.) Ho was proud to say that most of them were New Zealanders. . And w'hen they remembered the pioneer fathers and mothers they were bred from, it would have been astounding if they had not done as they dicL lApplause.) He hoped that the traditions of the early pioneers would be handed on by them to future generations of New Zealanders. (Applause.) He wanted to avoid any suggestion of a reference to politics that day. They were there to welcome back the New Zealander who led the New Zealand army, and who stood in the proud position ot commanding when the war came to an end the only complete division that so far as ho knew, existed on the front anywhere—(applause) —the man who commanded our own sons; and we are proud to have him hack. (Applause.) We rejoice in his success, and look upon it not as his success alous bur ours. (Applause.) I want to say, continued the .Act-ing-Prime Minister. that the one astounding thing to me is the spirit that actuated the people of New Zealand throughout the whole of the war time. (Applause.) Can you conceive it possible that the Military Service Act could have been introduced in any other country but New Zealand, and accepted in the way* it was accepted kn-e? (Applause.) Can you conceive of any other country where that could have happened? I put it oil down to the loyalty and patriotism and reality of soul of New Zealanders. That is one of the compensations that come to us from the war. SOLDIER PSYCHOLOGY.

General Russell and I have been talking about the psychology of the soldier. I hope we shall have a man who can write about the psychology of the Now Zealand soldier. Probably the most interesting problem I have ever been face to face with is the psychology of the soldier, as ho was mobilised, as bo wont into camp, as he passed through his training, as he left New Zealand and was transported to the front, as he fought under th 6 leadership that was given him, as he was'when ho came back, and as he is now that he has to bo repatriated. What those influences are, what they mean, and what they are going to lend to timo has disclosed for some of the men, but not for all. But i can say that these men have learnt lessons* in New Zealand and outside, that must influence them all their lives long; and, if wo can only get hold of them and keep them all right—influ'nco them, I mean, by reason and by sound judgment and organisation—thou I look forwaro to a very prosperous, or, if not a very prosperous, at

anv rate a very happy time for New Zealand. (Applause.) We do want for the next few years something that will weld us together. 1 would point out that thero is only one way in which we can stand together, and that is by the way that General Russell knows so well and values' so highly, by discipline. Not Iby any harsh discipline, but hy the discipline of sense 1 and leason. If we can import that into our national life, that to winch all the sacrifices of our men should prompt us, then I think we can look forward to New Zealand setting a splendid example to the rest of tha world. As a Government, we are proud to meet General Russell, glad to have him back, but sorry that he is not in good health. We welcome him, not only as a New Zealander who was put into such a proud position, but also as a representative of the brave men who were sent to the front and won such glorious laurels. (Applause.) W« wish him a safe return to his home, a speedy restoration to health anc strength, and a happy future. (Lou/ applause.) A WONDERFUL PRESAGE.

Tho Hon. G. W.- Russell said that he was glad to. have the opportunity „• of expressing to Sir Andrew Russell tiheir happiness and; pleasure at hi* safe return. (Applause.) He desired to unite in what had been said by his colleague, Sir James Allen, in welcoming him to that hospitable board. Ho felt sure that history in time to come would do justice to New Zealand’s general, and to what Now Zealand had done in the war. (Applause.) It was not till the year IS-VO that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, yet within chghty years of the signing of that treaty this little piece of God’s earth had been able„to send away eves 100,000 men. trained, clothed, transported, and generalled by Now Zealanders; and those men had made a place in the history of the world for their country, by the manner in which they had fought and conquered the enemy, and by tho manner in which many of them had died. (Applause.) Surely that was a wonderful presago of the future that would lie before Now Zealand, when our waste places had been settled, and when, instead of a million of population, this country would probably have its twenty millions of people. (Applause.) Ho thought that it was not too much to say that that number would ho attained within the next fifty to one hundred years. (Applause.) He thought that the destiny of New Zealand, on account of the fertility of its soil, was to bo the dairy farm of the Briti-h ; Empire. Already we were sending

fully half of the cheese imported into the motherland; and, by the aid of the hydro-electric power which New Zealand possessed to such a superlative degree, he believed that her destiny was to bo the Britain of the South and the workshop of the Pacific. (Applause.) Neither in Australia nor elsewhere in the Pacific were there the stores of hydro-electric power that could ho developed ,in this country. /(Applause.) In joining with Sir James Allen in welcoming Sir Andrew Russell, Lady Russell, and family, and wishing them every happiness that the future could give, they wefo expressing the admiration of the people of New Zealand for the magnificent services he had rendered—services which not only called for the highest courage and greatest ability as a general, but had been given in such a way as to endear him to the men who had fought under him. (Applause.) That last he believed to be the supreme test of a man, whether a general or any other. (Applause.) He most cordially endorsed tire sentiments given expression to by Sir Janies Allen. TRIBUTE TO SIB JAMES ALLEN. He. did not wish to introduce politics; hut, as a member of the section of the Government opposite to that to which Sir James Allen belonged, he wished to pay his meed of recognition of Sir James Allen for the work that he had done in this country as Minister for Defence. (Applause.) He thought that such a tribute would come heftter from someone on his side of the Government than from the Act-ing-Premier's own side. (Hear, hear.) In pre-war days he had had scraps with Sir James Allen, hut he did not think that either of them thought the worse of the other for those bouts. /(Hajughter and applause.) He had said again and again that he could not think how Sir James Allen could put in the long hours of work that he had done day after day and month after month. (Applause.) Night and day the Minister for Defence had put in his work, and he was satisfied that the success of the representatives of' New Zealand at the front and the continuous stream of reinforcements that had kept up our division to its. full strength had been very, very largely due to the initiative, determination, and the will-power of the Minister for Defence, coupled with the energy and ability of the Headquarters Staff, and those under them. (Applause.) Ho ’paid that tribute to Sir James Allen with the utmost sincerity; and he felt that the people of New Zealand, though they went through a very stirring and strenuous time, and though they might have had ’ some differences of opinion as to some of the methods employed—(no man could secure the entire approbation .of everyone)—still all felt that the Minister for Defence had had only one purpose in yiew, to help this country to win the war. (Applause.) In welcoming the General, it would have been churlish, on his part not to give some of the credit to the Minister who had provided the men for the General to command. (Applause.) \ GREETINGS OF MAORI RACE.

Dr Rom axe and Sir-James Carroll eloquently voiced the heartfelt greetings of tho Maori race to General Russell. We of the Maori race greet you, said Dr Romare, because you have led our boys from-the fields, of death to victory. We greet you because you have come back safe and sound, sound so far as the eye can see. We greet you-because the feet of our- boys have trod under your command and the sacred sands of Egypt and of Palestine, and have won back to Christendom the land of the Caliphs; because at Gallipoli with the war-cry of our Maori heroes we shook the Ottoman Empire into shivers of fright—(laughter_ and applause)—and because on the historic fields of France our boys have shown the shades of tho ancients what a > handful of men from the Southern Cross could do, and how with their . feats of arms they outdid even those of Homeric ’ times. (Applause.) So we greet you back to your own country, and wish you for the future health and every happiness. (Applause.) Sir James Carroll, referring to the problem of soldier psychology, said that, as the result of his services to Ring and country, a psychology had grown up in the Maori soldier, which bad lifted up his range of perception to comprehend tho true causes of the< war. The Treaty of Waitangi was the Magna Charta of the Maori race, and they had been devoted and loyal to it to tho present day. (Applause.) There iad been little insurrections, through misunderstandings, between them and heir European brethren which should lover have occurred, hut those were low things of the past. (Applause.) When tho war which has endangered Utilisation came, and the honour and jxistence of the British Empire was at itake, the Maoris understood and comprehended tho issues, and they joined in leartily and shoulder to shoulder with heir pakeha brethren fought the common foe on the fields of Errope. (Applause.) In the aftermath of any great war wo found ourselves In choppy seas :aee to face with grave and difficult problems, but we must he bold and murageous in peace as in. war, because ho callfe of mankind werd prominent before us. We heard them, wo felt hem. and there was their psychology. ETe thought that by our united efforts ve would win through. Ho had great lope and trust for the future in. the lamentation of the two races. (Apilauso.) We had had evidence that of ill the coloured races in the Empire he Maoris were equal to any in standng shell-fire; and while other coloured roops_ had to be withdrawn owing to ho climatic conditions, the Maoris had tood by side with their pakeha hreth■en right through the trying conditions it Gallipoli and on the Western front. Applause.) That was not surprising, leoause any r-ico bred under the inular climatic conditions of New Zeaand must be a stalwart race. (Apilanso.) The toast was drunk with mu;ical honours, followed by throe hearty beers.

GENERAL RUSSELL’S RESPONSE. General Russell, in responding, heartily thanked those present for their I cordial welcome, and the speakers for their very kind references to himself and their "good wishes also for Lady Russell and his family. Ho was glad, he added, to have tho opportunity of referring to one or two points. One was our habit of thinking that th e ones in the show were tho only ones that really counted; and ; yet there were other units who at the same time were building up with equal step and equally good reputation. (Applause.) Referring to the work of the Tunnelling Corps, he said: Wo never had the luck to have our tunnellers with us, but I would like to add my word of praise for what they did in France. I saw the work they did and heard what tho generals under whom they served bad to say of them. (Applause.) At Arras they did a great deal of work in extending and enlarging many of the old subterranean excavations and con-

neoting them up with the sewers and to the psychology of the Maoris. That was forth, thus enabling 15,000 men to be the great point which was exercising brought, right through under Arras and the authorities at Home and elsewhere, under cover all the way up to the point as to what had been the effect of the from which they actually made their war upon the men who had gone attack. (Applause.) They did re through it. The only thing they could markahly well, and Major Dowden, who absolutely predicate with certainty of was commanding them, won the very the man who had gone through it all high regard of his corps commander, was that he had got a very much more who afterwards made him his own staff direct and simple way of looking at officer. Wo came across their work also things. He thought that tho returned at Amiens, where they did a lot of tun- soldier would bo able to see through nelling, and also good work in discover- yhat he would term “camouflage” vei-v ing tho German booby-traps and so on. much easier than before; that words Sir Douglas Haig was most complimen- would not mean, quite the same to him lary about, the work done by the Tun- that they had before; and that ho nelling Corps in throwing a bridge would understand hotter tho terms of across the canal at Hablincourt. (Ap- mutual sympathy and personal touch plause.) Ho Ranted to invest their with his follows. (Applause.)'That was commander with the D.S.O. on the spot, why, as regards returned men, he had but found that ho co’uld not do so un- always tried to impress -upon people dor the regulations. (Applause.) fhat it was not the power nor the will LOVE, NOT CHARITY. to write a cheque for £SO or £IOO that He was very glad to hear what had would weigh with the returned solboon said by t Sir Jamos Carroll about but personal service, personal ,

sympathy. (Applause.) Personal touch and human kindness would do far more than a cheque fbr £SO or £IOO. (Applause.) Only .the day before fn Christchurch a man, discussing tho matter with him, had said that most people did not realise the meaning of the word “charity.” It appeared that a returnotd soldier had gone into the repatriation office and had said, “I don’t want any of your charity.” And quite right, too, if charity meant that class of philanthropy which gave without ixpeoting something in return. (Applause.) The true translation of “charity” in the revised New Testament was, he understood, “love”; and the men did not want charity, hut love, which ho interpreted ns moaning personal help, the helping hand. (Applause.) It was not a question of writing a cheque or not, but a question of saying, “I am going to .'get hold of this man and help him through' no matter what it means.” (Applause.) Ho admitted

that the problem was a very difficult one,. but in that spirit he believed it could be solved all right. (Loud applause.)