A WAR TALK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 251, 1 April 1915, Page 5

A WAR TALK.

FRANK MORTON AT NEW PLYMOUTH.

The New Plymouth people are evi« dently well satisfied wit-i tile supply of *"■'- war news and war views published by - the local newspapers, for they evinced - ■" a disappointing lack of interest in the ■'War Talk" by New Z.-alanua tfetlknown journalist, Mr. Frank Morton, * on the subject of the "Lord HigU Hypocrite," a very apt appellation bestowed upon Germany's monarch. The one'' ' outstanding weakness of what should ."■; bo a most entertaining lecture was that there was too muc.i of it, crowded \ into a couple of hours, and the rapidity ' ; of utterance made it -difficult for tho * audience, except by a close eoncentra- ':' tion, to follow the narrator through, -V the stirring scenes of the war, rccounteil* - in his own characteristic style.. First '; cam e a sweeping condemnation of tho ' ■ social fabric of Germany, and an expos- ,- ure of "Kultur'' which had eternally damned all semblance of "culture" aj' - we know it. The Kaiser was described as .'■ a monomaniac, a man of low moral character, of inordinate ambition and self- *'' conceit, an arch-hypocrite lost in an all-absorbing worship-of himself and in •,' the blasphemous boast of his alliance .',: with tho Deity. Berlin was described ---- as a city of vice, and the Imperial on«tourage as rotten to the core, the Kai- " ser condoning vices which decent people /' loathe and detest, until, as the lecturer - put it, ".Sodom and Gomonali must, * take a bad second place to Berlin." ,: Then came the story of the German .""'• war preparations under the cloak of a ", ; - friendliness to Britain, which, according >,' to Mr. Morton, completely hoodwinked % the Knglish Liberals, Tile naval -.J strengths of the great Powers were . . compared, showing the Allies' over- ,' f powering advantage, and some sidelights .-•-,> were thrown on tho character of the, vS great leaders of the day, one interest- . ing commentary heing that white the great Nelson was minus an arm, Admiral" '*'■ jellicoe has lost tire lower part of a 5 leg, indicating clearly "that th.> absence: '? of a limb doesn't matter in the navy ii ' "r a man has genius." Th e fact that the ■."' Admiralty in London i» in hourly ■ '/- touch with the fleets in the North Sea i •ttdl £» the Mediterranean by means of v wireless was an eye-opener, but the audi- $ encc quite appreciated and applauded " '" tha statement that "experience is prov- j. ing the soundness of von Tirpitz's belief /; that the most unsafe thing the German '"j fleet can do is to put to sea." Lantern '■" slides wore assisting the lecturer, and 'j? the screening of the picture of the gallant King of the gallant Belgians was loudly cheered. Then followed harrowing extracts from soldiers' and commissions' reports upon the unspeakable i,., atrocities committed by the Germans in '■ Franc u and Belgium, emphasis being laid. ' - on the massacring and outraging of wo- „'■ men. and ehQdren under the direction of v " callous brutes of German officers.' Then „, the scene changed to tho Russian front, ■ and the lecturer spoke of the maTvcl- ,'; lous feat of the ißussian mobilisation, and the loyalty, devotion, and valor of the individual ißussian soldier. The operations in this enormous theatre J were traced, and the point mad e clear that the real march on (Berlin would come through Galicia when the Austrian forces had at length been put to flight. After the interval the lecturer i, took a fresh line, and incidentally criticised the censorship of war news, stating Ms opinion that the only way to effectuallyi prevent news from reaching the enemv was to intern even' German , 1 sow residing in the British Empire. . (Loud applause.) America's attitude was touched upon, Mr. Morton's opinionbeing summed up in his concluding words that "the American hates war, but only because he can't se c any money in it. A series of cartoons was screened to - - show the partiality of the great American papers towards the Allies, and then came several magnificent cartoons by / Will Dysoo in the Daily "Mail, mainly : ' depicting the artist's horror of war and - *■ militarism. Incidentally a tribute was paid to ''the most heroic women in the , * world, and th e poorest paid"-—the Red ! Cross nurses, who in peace time "were given pay and treatment to which no ordinary'barmaid would for a instant 'submit.'' Reverting to the atrocities s„ f committed on the war-scaTred territories of France and Belgium, Mr. Morton declared amidst cheers that no allegation '- had been made of similar act* by the soldiers of France and Britain. A tribute to Lord Kitchener led up to*an appeal to the young men of Now Zealand to do their duty.. "The man who is fit to go and can go, but who does not go to the front, is a traitor to h\t race and to the destiny of the Umpire," said the lecturer, and that this hanging back from an absolute duty) is "due tJ niggardliness and laziness —when it isnt due to cowardice." Particularly did ho ask for the military, services of men who, though doiii" no good for themselves in tin's country, m'ght do soma good for the Empire at the front. An effective climax to this apneal came in the recitation of Oliver Wendell Holmes' delightful satire, "Sweet Little Man." Right through the lecture, as befitted a loyal Britisher, Mr. Morton expressed his absolute confidence in the ultimate success of the Allies and the failure of the Kaiser's mad ambition for worldpower.