OUR LIFE OR THEIRS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 251, 27 November 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR LIFE OR THEIRS.

MR. CHURCHILL ON THE ISSUES

OF THE WAR

A DEADLY GRAPPLE.'

An interview given by the First Lord ol the Admiralty to Mir. William Q. Shepherd, the representative of tl» United Press Associations of America is published. Mr. Shepherd says:— On my asking Mr. Churchill about tbe cause of th« war, ho handed mo tho celebrated White Paper of Sir F/lwafd Greys negotiations, saving:—" There is our wi.se, and all wo ask of the American people js lliat they should study it with seveio and impartial attention." I then a<ked what was tho under! vir' cause apart from the actual t,t«ps wh> had led to tho rupture. H„ replied ol effect that th 0 war was Waited and it was being maintained by cho Prussian military aristocracy, which set no limits to its ambition of world-wide predoin. inance.

''ln .1 word." lie said, "it is the old ft.ugglc of 10> years ap;o against Nwx>« Iron. The grouping of forces in differ* out; the circumstances are different; the occasion is different; the man, above nil, is different—happily. Bub ilb> issue is the same. Wo are at grip* with Prussian militarism. Engalnd stands light in the path of this overgrowing power. Our military force is perhaps email, hut it is good, and it will glow; our naval and financial resource* are considerable; and with these *• .stand between this mighty army and a dominion which would certainly not le content with European limits. 1 ' AFTER THE WAR. 1 asked whether the cud of thy war would ;,rc soiue abatement of the tftrug* glo ci armuraents. Mr. Churchill replied : "That depends on the result. If we bucecod, and if, as tho result of our victory, Europe is rearranged, as far as pos&ihle, with regard to tho prini ijde ol nationality and in accordance wuh tho wishes of the peoples who dwelJ in the various disputed areas, wo may look forward with hope to a crcat n* laxation and easement. But if Gornmn.v w ins. it w ill not be tho victory of be quiet, .sober commcrciel elements 10 Germany, nor of tho common neoplo of Germany with all their virtues, but the victory of the blood and inm military school, whose doctrines and principle* will then have received a supieme and terrible \ indication."

GERMAN GREED FOR POWER. "I cannot understand,''he continued, " why G< rniany has no; l>cen contented »nh her wonderful progress since the Uattle of Waterloo. For tho last half century she lias Invn the centre of Europe ; courted by many, 1 eared by many, treated with deference by all. No eountr.v has had such a reign of prosperity and splendour, yet all tho time she has been discontented ; soliriUjus of admiration; careless of international law; worshipping force, and givinjj n< all to understand that her triumphs in the |.nst and her power in tho present were li.de mm pared to what she sought in the future. And now the great collisii.n has come, and it is well that the democratic nations of the world —the nations, I mean, where the peoples own the Government and no; the Government the people—should renliso wdiat is at stake.

A WAR OF SELF-PRESERYAnOJf

"Thia war is for us a war of honour, of respect for obligations into which \r»» have entered, and of loyalty toward* friends in desperate need. But now tha; it has begun it has become- a war oi self-preservation. The British demo, cracy, with its limited monarchy, its ancient Parliament, its ardent aociiil ami philanthropic dreams, is engaged for good or for ill in deadly grapplo with thp formidable might of Prussian autocratic rule. It is our system of civilisation and government against theirs. It is our liJo or theirs. \v© nro oonscioua of tho greatness of tho times. We recognise the conscquonoo and proportion <if events. We feel that bowever inadequate no may be, however unexpected tho ordeal mar bo, wo are the eye of history, and the issue being joined. England must go forward to tho very end."'

LOUVAIX. While I was speaking io Mr. Chin thill, a telegram came in from Be!, giuin announcing the total destruction of tho, town of Lnuvain as an act ot military execution. Handing it to me, ho said—"What further proof is needed of the cause nt isMie? Tell that to vonr American fellow-countryman. You know." lie added, "1 am half American invsell."