A GRAVE WARNING.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 231, 1 December 1916, Page 5 (Supplement)

A GRAVE WARNING.

"DAGONET" ON THE GRIP OF THE GERMAN OCTOPUS. By GEO. R. SIMS. To what extent, after two years of .1 bloody audi costly war, are the tentacles or the Hun octupus still twined around us? Day after day thinking Britons, impressed by astounding happenings, happenings which are to our disadvantage and often to our direct inquiry, rub their eyes and talk about " the hidden hand." If the phrasa "the hidden tentacles were substituted, I believe it would be a more correct definition of the enemy power which has so frequently paralysed our efforts m our fight for freedom. We are going to win this ivar —we ARE winning because of the grip of the Huri'ootopus upon many of the things that inake for victorv, that victory is being accomplished at a far greater cost in blood and treasure than would have been necessary had we started in the fight, and been abie to carry o» the fight, free from the grip of those dteadly tentacles. . Politically, financially, commercially and socially, the -tentacles encompassed su long ago. The Hun octopus made sure of his grip upon the financiers of a Power which it knew must, sooner <r later, be a hostile Power, and it made sure long' tvefore' it allowed the cause for hostility to arise. To-day we are Hnriting the history oi the war in red hot Wood. In the days to come the story""of Great Britain s almost superhuman effort to save her Empire from the ruin, stealthily but systematically prepared for her by Germany,-\vill be written in cold bloodAnd then, and then only—always presuming that the historians are honest —shall wa know the truth. There are few who know it now, ana who, because the honour of their land is dear to their hearts, would willingly tell it now, and tell it boldly and. frankly. But this is not the moment when, from the patriotic point of view, the whole- truth can be told for the greatest advantage. All our energies must for the time being be devoted to killing the Hun octopus. The press has done splendid service to the National cause. Again and agaii the press has compelled those in power who were pursuing a hesitating and half-hearted policy to face the situation in a more statesmanlike way. But the press has had to be diplomatic in its campaign for efficiency. The British newspapers are read by both foes and friends, and therefore the pres3 has had to temper its valour with discretion. It has had to guard itself against saying that which would hearten the enemy and that which would dishearten our Allies. But the hidden tentacles are not 1 myth. That they have played an Important part in the Huns' preparation for a war of world-conquest is a recognised that, and the recognition shoull be sufficient to rouse every man and woman who has the national honour and the national welfare at heart to a sense of the important part which he and she may stiN ploy in the life-and-death struggle, on the issue of which the whole future of our Empirte and our race depends. Millions of braves are fighting tha Hun abroad. There is a mighty army of tens of millions who are not eligible for military service, but on whose ears the cry, "Your King and Country need you!" should ring as a call to action. The country needs those millions, and the need is great. Our brave soldiers and saijors will win the victory for us; but when they have won it, it is upon the will of a great united people thta the value of the victory will depend. It is for the people to say and ec that the tentacles of the Hun octopus shall exercise no pressure upon the makers of the terms of peace—that the hidden power which shaped the beginning of the war shall have no influence in shaping the end. Knowledge is power; and the knowledge of what has been happening to ■weaken and delay our blows at the enemy will be the power behind the dictators of the terms of peace when the hour of peace shall dawn. Great Britain is the heritage of the British people. It is not a property leased for a term of years to a syndicate of lawyer-politicians. The elecfted representatives of tlie people —whether they are Cabinet Ministers or plain M.P.s —are the salaried servants of the people, and only remain in the people's service at the people's will and pleasure. During the war there has been no General Election, and so Ministers and Members of Parliament have continued to hold their offices and draw their salaries and pursue whatever policy seemed good to them, either from thj Partv or the National point of viev>, uncontrolled by the conditions which in ordinary times make the voice of the people* the. masters' voice. Throughout the war the people have behaved admirably. In the dark days of disaster, due to our utter lack of preparation, they showed a calmness and a restraint worthy of the best traditions of our race. When success crowned our arms on land, and our noble Navy added fresh records to its glory roll, they waved no flags and rang no bells. The voice of the people was silent. That is one of the great outstanding facts of the story of the British peop <* in the Groat War—their silent faith m the triumph of their cause because it was just nnd righteous. But the voice of the people must ;n the near future l>e heard again, and it must speak with no uncertain voice. It: the ears of the politicians, financiers, bureaucrats, commercial magnate-, pressmen, pamphleteers and propagandists who under the pressure of the hidden tentacles have raised the cry "Don't humiliate Germany," the voice of the penp T e must thunder its demand for the most humiliating punishment that can be inflicted by the conquerors upon the conquered. Any terms of peace that do not humiliate Germany will be terms of peace that leave the Huns free to hold their h.nds hi eh among the nations, and such terms will lie a foul betrayal of the oreat army of patriots who have given life and all that was dear in their oonntrvs 'cause. Such terms will be an insult to the of tho gallant men and noble women ond innocent children who have

been wantonly murdered to make .1 Berlin holiday. The blood of the martyrs cries ft>r vengeance. That vengeance the Prime .Minister, speaking from his seat in the House of Legislature, has solemnly declared shall be executed upon the murderers. But be sure that those upon whom the guilt of these murders rests will, when the day of judgment comes, rely confidently upon the hidden influence which lias been exerted on their behalf in war. It is for this reason that every man and woman in the Land must .arm for the fight for peace, for the only peace which for generations to come will mean the deliverance of civilisation from the menace of German militarism and intrigue, and free the forces that control the policy of the British Empire from the tentacles of the Hun octopus