The Daily News. FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1914. BRITAIN AND THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 67, 7 August 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1914. BRITAIN AND THE WAR.

Britain is now actively engaged in waging war upon Germany. She ha 3 been loth, very loth, to join issue with France and Russia, but the (high-handed, desperate actions of Germany have loft her no alternative to fighting. Not content with bouncing Russia and provoking war with that nation, with attacking France without a declaration of war, with violating the neutrality of Luxemberg, she endeavored to force 'her way into Belgium, a countr;, whose neutrality she had solemnly sworn to protect. The latter perfidious act was the last straw. A British Cabinet, who had been striving for peace, who desired peace more than anything else in this world, -were driven into upholding the integrity of Belgium and actively associating themselves with the cause of Russia and France. The sacrifices will be incalculable. As Sir Edward Grey said in the House of Commons yester day, British foreign trade is going to stop, not because the routes are closed, but because there will be no trade. Not only that, Britain stakeß her future as the leading world's power, the greatest Empire the world has ever seen, upon the issue of the struggle. Of that there | can be absolutely no doubt. She must j win on sea, be the sacrifice in life and material ever so great. On land, Gcr|nianie prospects cannot be under-rated. Well-trained, well-armed, resourceful and scientific, in instant readiness, they present a formidable front. On the one side they will encounter Russia, with her still untried—forces; on the western they will meet the French, now confident in their ability to recover the reputation and property they lost in 1870; and on the north they will have to contend with a British expeditionary force and the Belgians, and probably with the Dutch. It is a position fraught with the most momentous possibilities. It is hardly conceivable that Germany could have counted the consequences before leaping into war. She may have, of course. If so, then she has abundant confidence in her prowess, for to her the issue means everything. It means cither the gaining of the world's ascendancy or her reduction to a second or third-class Power. No country, since Napoleon 1., has staked so much on a single issue. For years Germany has been preparing for the struggle. t She has perhaps the most perfect army in the world. And she lias seen, too, that the Austrian has been made almost as formidable and efficient as her own. Germany has at tiie same time built a fleet which has become only second to that of Britain and one which even the latter must hold in respect. Last year a German missionary delivered a lecture to the New Plymouth Brotherhood on the peaceful methods of his countrymen and their desire to be at amity with Britain and the world generally. We had occasion at the time to show the real nature of Germany's work and intentions, and expressed the opinion that all her preparations were aimed at the one thin o ' the dominance of the world. That aim is now revealed in all its ghastly nakedness and terrifying possibilitcs. Possibly she hardly counted upon peace-loving, domestically-disturbed Britain going to the assistance of her friends, but wTfcel quite certain, as anyone acquainted with Germany's past knows, that had Britain remained neutral, her time with Germany would have come as surely as •ught follows day. Then, we would have had no help irom France or any other Power. And the chances arc that we would have shared the same fate as Rll the countries which 'have stood between Germany and the attaining of her ambition. As the British Minister for Foreign Affairs said in the House of Commons, we could not stand by in the present crisis, with folded arms, and see the Germans hatter the undefended coast of France. If we did so we I would be a lot of craven curs, and deserve the caseation we might subsequently receive at the hands of the 'feutons. Britain, witli her daughter States, will meet the situation with that unflinching courage which has characterised her past and been responsible for her ?>eat power, and if she goes down, it

will only be after she has done everything, sacrificed, everything, possible lor a nataon and a people. But that is a possibility about which we have no apprehension. We believe Britain will again demonstrate her invincibility at sea, and that the comparatively small army she will be able to put on the continental field will act as a powerful leaven to the forces of her allies and produce a feeling of quiet confidence among them which spurs armies on to victory. We can only deplore one thing-

It is that Britain never years ago took the advice of me, like Lord Roberts and other patriot* (fad far-seeing leaders and trained her male population in the use of arms, as we in the colonies have done for the past two years. Had she done so, we firmly believe Germany would have thought twiee and thrice before attempting her present bi» tor the supremacy of the world.