ARE WE DOING OUR DUTY?

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 15, 23 February 1915, Page 4

ARE WE DOING OUR DUTY?

The ultimate resj 11 of the Great War is of such paramount lmpor-

lance to the outlying colonies of the

British Empue, and to Australia | and New Zealand in particular, that it is not surprising that every now and again the Lhinkirg man will ask himself, not without some heartsearching qualm?, as to how the question will oe answered—"Ate we bearing our Ehate of the burden of the war?" Ever Bince the days of the late Mr Seddon it has become a habit for New Zealand to look upon herstlf as leading the world, and after each spasmodic tifurt towards bearing her share of the burden of Empire to sit down with folded hands ard contemplate w iLb complacency the greatness of her ta:iitice. Owing to the inevitable want of perspective so inevitable in all small and isolated communities wc are inclined to look at anything we di through the small end of a telescope, Lut to ieverse the instrument wh.n we turn it upon what otters are doing. In taking this distorted view we are freely aided a:d abetted by the daily piees cf the Dominion, and are thus lulled into the belief that we are doing all and more than can be reasonably expected f'rem us. Tj review the situation and compare what we are doiug in compaiison with other parts of the Empire now that six months of the war has come ard gone can do us no harm, and may be productive of a little good. First lec us briefly glance at how we should be affected should ultimate success not be granted to the arn s of the allies, and should Great Britain lose command ot the avaa, In that ca.-e the British Isles would oe forced to pay a heavy indemnity to Germany, but would not lose any of iia territory. Canada would be safe from invasion, not only cn account of her os.i power to guard herself, hut because the passing of the Qjeen Dooiii.ion under German rule WiUld by no means suit the United States. India has reached a stage when she woujd be a most lor'iiidable nut for an enemy to crack even if we were unable to come to her assistance. But Aus> tralia and Mew Zealand, coveted tor a generation by the Kaiser and his people, without an army worthy of the tame, without a navy capable of faciag a single squadron of battle cruisers, would pa?s urder the Imperial eagle almost without a strusgle, and would learn the bitter lesson of what German "Kultur" and Prussianised law really mean. And what have we done? Fjr a little while after the first outbreak of war a wave of burning patriotism swept ovc Ntw Zealand. With admirable rapidity we sent a tmall force to cake and hold Samoa. With all the haste we could we got together another expeditionary force and dispatched it to the front, where within tha last day or two it has received its baptism of fire on tne banks cf the Suez Canal And t'-en we sat down and rested, and it is with difficulty that recruits can be got for the siender reii.forcement drafti we a e sending from time to time. Ten thousand men! Less than one per cent of our population. If our manhood had responded like that of Britain we would have had at least fortj-five thousand for the Empire's defence. And remembar Britain—nay, reallv England—is also finding the quarter of a million sailors who alone have made cur overseas colonies possible. It is all too remote, we suppose. We have lived under the Pax Brittania so long that we cannot conceive what this war really is, nor realise what the possibility cf defeat would mean to us. If we could only have had the lesson brought home to us ttings might have been su ditferent, for it is not courage but simply knowledge ard imagination that the young New Zealander lacks. A few shells dropped into our seaport towns by the German cruiseis that were undoubtedly hovering round our coasts three months ago would have dcubleu the enlistment rate.

Perhaps the knowledge that our boys have been under fire, even if only with half-starved, ill-equipped Turkish troop?, instead of the brutal and arrogant Hun, may spur U3 on a little. Perhaps the news that Canada la raising £20,000,000 more and Australia 10,000 more men may act as an incentive, but our strongest leciuiting agent sh.uld be the knowledge that Tommy Atkins-God bless him—-out-numhered, over-wearied is stili holding the cob J , wet trenches with all, and more than all, of his old scene and cheerful courage. If tliEt can: ot stir us to wish to be Usi.jc him it must bp regretfully admitted that wt have not in u= the makirgs of a nation worthy of our a cestry.