THE MEANING OF DEFEAT.

Taihape Daily Times, 25 April 1918, Page 4

THE MEANING OF DEFEAT.

KIPLING ON A GERMAN PEACE. Rudyard Kipling, speaking at awarainis meeting at’Folkestone recently, said:--We are fighting for our lives, the lives of every man, woman, and child here and everywhere else. We are. fighting that We may not be herded. into actual slavery such as the Ger. mans have estabfisherf by force of their arms. We are fighting agaifiét 18 hours a. day forced labour under ‘the lash, or at the point of the bayo. net, With a dog’s death and a dog’s ;burial at the end of it. We are fight-. ing that men, Women and children may not be tortured, burned and liluti—. ilated. Under the Hun dispensation» ‘man will become,cnce more the natu—iral prey of his better-armed neighlbours, women will be the mere instruFment for continuing the breed, the vessel of man's lust and man‘s cruelty, and l_abour will become a thing too be knocked on the head if it dares tolgive trouble and worked to death if it ldoes not. One-tenth of the atrocities Ithat Germany had committed had notbeen made bublic. He thought that: ‘was .a mistake. Till the veil was lift-s ed after the war we should have no conception of the range and system of these atrocities. So long as the Germans were left with any excuse for thinking that such things paid no peace could be made with them. War work was the only thing of the least importance now. 'Everything else was danger and waste. If ‘for any PB3-SOll We fell short of vietory—a.nd", there was no hal'f-way housebetween victory and defeat—-everything whichcivilfsation had been built on vvonld’ go.’ ' ‘ - I _