MOTHER COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 May 1918, Page 5

MOTHER COUNTRY.

BRITISH INFLUENCE IN THE PACIFIC. HIGH COMMISSIONER'S VIEWS. DOMINIONS' VOICE IN EMPIRE AFFAIRS. Received May 23, 7.45 p.m. London, May 22. Sir Thomas Mackenzie, addressing the Edinburgh and I.oith Chamber of Commerce and the Edinburgh Merchant, Company on the Pacific as an important sphere of British influence, deplored past statesmanship which lost us Samoa and New Guinea, indicating the necessity of obtaining and acting on overseas' opinion on such matters. New Zealand had ar' ranged an after-war embargo on German goods. The suggestions from overseas at the Imperial Conference before the war, for effective unity, had met with little response at the hands of the Imperial Government. Tiie war had shown the urgency of giving the overseas Dominions some voice and share in responsibility. The Dominions were shareholders in the Empire and should he represented on the board of directors. — Press Association. EMPIRE INFORMATION SCHEME NEWSPAPER EDITORS INVITED TO ENGLAND. Received May 23, 11-5 p.m. London, May 23. The Ministry of Information has invited a delegation of Australian and New Zealand editors to visit England and the West front.

V.C. AWARDS. DETAILS OF BRILLIANT EXPLOITS. London, May 22. Details are gazetted of eleven brilliant feats for which the Victoria Cross was awarded. All are British soldiers, mostly loaders of forlorn hopes in the Somme and Flanders fighting. They include the following: Captain James Forbes Robertson displayed quick judgment, resource, and untiring energy. He four times saved the line from breaking, and fearlessly exposed himself while his battalion held, covering the retreat of troops on Mb Qanks. Lieut. Pryce commanded a party covering the flank of the Grenadier Guards. When the company was reduced to forty he found himself outflanked and enfiladed. He beat off four attacks. The enemy then brought three field guns within 300 yards of the trench, and when the German infantry were within 60 yards, Pryce led a bayonet charge and drove them back. Finally only seventeen remained and all the ammunition had gone. Pryce again led a bayonet charge, and was last seen in a hand-to-hand struggle against overwhelming odds. Pryce.'s forty held at least one battalion for several hours and stopped the advance through tho British lines. Lieut. Buchanan, who was wounded early in the battle, found his platoon surrounded. To the enemy's demand for his surrender he replied, "To hell with surrender." He shot the foremost of the enemy and fought his way back to tire main body, which continued the gallant sacrifice for two days until again cut off. It was impossible for headquarters to send orders for a withdrawal. Lieut. Buchanan was last seen holding out against overwhelming odds. Private Counter volunteered to deliver an' important message, though he had just seen five runners killed in succession by terrific machine-gun fire. He not only delivered the message in the face of almost certain death, but returned with another message, enabling the counter-attack to be carried out and regaining the whole position.

NEW ZEALAND RED CROSS. DIFFICULTY REGARDING CONTROL. London, May 22. A difficulty still exists in regard to the control of the New Zealand Ked. Cross. The Red Cross Committee is willing foi Colonel Rhodes, the Now Zealand Red Cross Commissioner, becoming the first chairman, but it adopted a resolution demanding the right to appoint a successor.—Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. HUGE SHIPPING PROFITS. London, May 22. The White Star lino profits for the year, after paying the excess profits duty, total £1,534,000. The company has declared a dividend of 20 per cent.— Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. TUBERCULOSIS AMONG INVALIDED SOLDIERS. Received May 23, 10.5 p.m. London, May 22. It was stated at the inter-Allied conference on the after-care of the disabled soldiers, that 20,000 invalided out of the British Army during the war period are suffering from tuberculosis, and 80,000 out of the French Army.—Press Association.

TREATMENT OF BRITISH PRISONERS. London, May 22. Tho newspapers continue to print many articles on the bad treatment of British prisoners in Germany and to urge the immediate necessity for the Government following the example of France and Italy in arranging a far-reaching exchange.—Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. EARLY ABUSES STILL UNMITIGATED. Received May 22, 10.5 p.m. ! London, May 22. The official reports of Germany's recent ill-treatment of prisoners, which are shortly to be issued, show that the abuses prevalent in the earlier stages of the war are still unmitigated.—Press Association.

ITALY'S ENTRY INTO WAR. wkk/jii jjv j.uiii) Kuiuarr cecil. Received May 24, 12.30 a-ui-Loudon, May 'S3. At (lie Mansion House luncheon, celebrating Italy's entry into the war, Lord Robert Cecil said a complete change had como, over the German peoples since their superficial victories. Xolhling was now heard of the Reichstag's renunciatory resolution. German professors were again preaching the blood-and-iron gospels. The promised democratic reforms in Prussia had been forgottlen. It was the Entente's duty to increase their efforts and discard all political preoccupations. Alluding to the Austrian Empire, Lord Robert Cecil s aid the people subjected to Austrian rule must enjoy that freedom and independence which was their right. We must not took to Courts and Cabinets for a future settlement, biit to mtiqns and peoples.—Press Assoc.