The Daily News. TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1915. SUSPENSE AND SOLACE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 279, 4 May 1915, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1915. SUSPENSE AND SOLACE.

The whole Empire is in a state of suspense. The suspense is of course far more keenly felt by some than by others. But the most earnest and patriotic ones feel it most. AVc arc in suspense as to the actual facts of the war. We know so little above details. We are in suspense about the unknown factors which go so far towards determining the result of tlu struggle. We are in suspense about the side to be taken by the rail-sitters like Italy, Koumania and Bulgaria, who keep saying they are coming to the aid of the Allies, but who do not actually come. We are in suspense about tho length of time the war will yet last.. Above all, the chief misery of the suspense is that so far as appears we can do nothing to control the circumstances on which the destiny of the Empire hangs. Wo can only watch and wait with the confidence in the ultimate result bom of the conviction of the righteousness of our cause. Is there ai-.y consolation for this suspense? Is there any way in which the bitter cup may be made to hold a sweet and healing draught? Woll,l the suspense may m many cases be ended at once by simple loyal obedience to the call of duty. Those who have volunteered and gone out to the battle after long perplexities seem to enjoy a singular deep rest of heart. This is the unanimous testimony of those who have met the men returned to England on furlough or chatted with them in the hospitals. They have been in tho trenches, they have been under lire, they have given all they had to give, and they are tranquil. But there are thousands to whom the cause of the Empire is just as dear as it is to the soldiers lighting wider its flag who simply cannot go to the front. Women cannot go except as nurses. The old who are unable to fight cannot go; others are occupying positions of trus.l and responsibility which they could not lay down without dishonor or grave inconvenience to others. How are they to bear the long, trying suspense? Many tilings. There is, first of all the knowledge that our soldiers at the front are standing the strain with a firmness which commands at once our wonder and our pride. Nine months they have wrestled in the terrible tug-of-war,

and there is no sign of wavering or j

. eaken'mg anywhere. The same wi'.h our New Zoalandcrs in tlieir epochmaking operations on the (iallipoli Peninsula. There is not a tliread of the rope that is giving way anywhere. Another solace to our suspense is the absolutely unbroken unanimity of the Allies. ,So far there has not been a breath of friction or a spark of jealousy. And every week that discord is kept out makes it less likely that it will appear. There is an overwhelming probability that the cordiality of the confidence which the Allies have shown in each other so far will be kept up to the far end. This is one great advantage we have over our enemies. There is no approach in the union between Germany and Austria to the spontaneous happy unanimity prevailing between Great Britain, France and Russia. There is a still grander solace in the sight of the bracing moral discipline which the «var is exorcising over the whole Empire. It is bringing the Empire round the full height of its model majesty. The resolve of the King, Lord Kitchener and the mass of the British nobility to banish alcohol from their homes during the war is firing the heart of the whole Empire. An empire which is "Hulking the sacrifices—England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand—can stand any amount of suspense: Dr. J. D. Jones, of Bournemouth, who has a congregation of between 2000 and 3000, stated recently that there was not a young man of military age in his congregation who was not either on his way to the frort or in training. Multiply that instance by thousands and it will give some idea of the forces that are flocking to tho Empire's call. It is not for us to speak of the sacrifices we are making in our own town, though we may be pardoned for mentioning one. Mr. I>. S. Wylio, the eminent New Plymouth surgeon, is going to the front this week. His departure will be an irreparable loss to the town. But we will bear the loss cheerfully and proudly sustained by the knowledge that in giving the forces such a surgeon we are doing more for them than if wo were giving them £IOOO. The supreme cure for suspense about the fate of the Empire is sacrifice in her cause. Let i.fl go on giving our men, our money, all we have got to give, and the moan of suspense will turn into the song of hope. One other solace for our suspense may be mentioned in conclusio'i. The public opinion of the whole wor'l is slowly but surely coming round to our side. The world wishes us success, and the knowledge that we have the sympathy of the world at our back will carry us through the ordeal of suspense however long it takes. The cry of the Empire to-day to all her sons everywhere is an echo of the noble appeal closing one of the patriotic speeches of Burke: "Cheer us when we run, console us when wo fall, congratulate us when wo recover, but whatever you do, let us go on; for God's sake let us go on!"