PEACE WITH AIRSTOCRATS.

Taihape Daily Times, 12 March 1918, Page 6

PEACE WITH AIRSTOCRATS.

The Democracies of the world allied in arms —the British Empire, France, Russia, Italy, America —can make no peace with autocrats;. We have got to wage this war until they, with the Kaiser at their head, are swept away for ever. That cannot be done by speeches or words or formulas of any sort, but by gaining such a complete victory over them that they and the systems for which they stand shall come crashing down. Only for a long series of blunders that hour would have struck ere now. Lack of foresight unpreparedness, weak-kneed vacillation on the part of our rulers over a long period have placed us in the position that while we can see victory rising over the horizon; it is yet afar off. The pace at which we move towards that complete victory is the only thing that will have great influence on the German people They have to be convinced that their hopes of winning the war are gone for good, that their rulers with all their preparations, their cleverness and their chicanery, have failed them. Already there are signs that this is beginning to be realised. Herr Erzbcrger’s speech would not have created such commotion in Germany unless there was a widespread feeling that he was speaking the truth, and that the German Government had deceived the people about [ the submarine campaign, the Russian revolution, and the military position generally. That growing consciousness in the German people has got to bo increased by the force of the Allies’ arms, and then —but not till then —we may hear the death-knell of autocracy. The Democracies of the world can make no peace with autocrats, for it could not be lasting. Such a peace can only be ensured in a world of free States, and it can only be made certain by much hard and bitter fighting. The autocrats arc watching and waiting for the day when the hands of the Democracies will weaken. It is the duty of every man and woman among the Allies to see that their courage and resolution do not fail, or else they will have fought their fight in vain. CLEANING WARSHIPS' HULLS. The old method of cleaning ship’s hulls, which was a laborious and lengthy process, is being replaced by electrical methods. Formerly it was customary to allow 170 to 200 mandays for the work, but recently several electrically-driven machines have been found to be both speedy and effective according to the Electrician. Brushes and are used, and by their means, at a moderate expenditure of electricity, in driving the operating motors, one 18,000 ton battleship, can be completely cleaned in twelve hours; and vessels dry-docked after having been cleaned by this mtethodj have been found to have remained qhite free from any subsequent marine growth.