STIRRING TIMES.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 January 1919, Page 6

STIRRING TIMES.

PBEfS' BEUINi) THE SCENES, i HIGH COMMISSIONER'S. OBSERVATIONS. Writing to a friend in New Plymouth, Sir Thomas Mackenzie,. High Commissioner, under date 31st October, saysj— To-day has brought great news: the surrender of the Turks, the heavy defeat o£ the Austrians, with a request on their part for an armistice, the capture of the remaining Turkish army in Mesopotamia, and successes in other directions.

This afternoon I visited ail aerodrome in Kent where I witnessed a marvellous exhibition of flying—formations, evolutions and attacks. I have never seen anything finer or more graceful in my life, in New Zealand I have seen the sparrow hawk pursue its prey, and the methods of the fighting aeroplane are almost on the same lines.

This evening I was present at a dinner given by the Japanese Ambassador in honor of the birthday of the Emperor of Japan. Prince Yorihito was present. As I sat in tho room listening to eloquent speeches charged with a note of victory, my mind, went back over the last four and a quarter years, from the Sunday before the declaration of war—\vhich I spent at the home of a fellow clanswoman of the House of Seafield, the doom of whose family, by the way, was told by a Brahan seer—-until that evening. Included in the party were men closely associated with the Government.

What events have we gone through! What days full of hope, anxiety and disappointment- There was the retreat from Mons, the news of which, when it arrived in London, caused a feeling difficult of description; the situation was saved by the valor of our small army- These were fateful hours in our Empire's history- Thene there were the failures of Gallipoli and Mesopotamia —a succession of duties neglected and opportunities missed, demonstrating nothing hut the courage and endurance of our soldiers and the blunders and incapacity of some of our leaders. The final report of the Dardanelles Commission, together with my 'supplementary report, ought soon to be published.

And in the summer of WIS, there was the naval engagement. off Jutland, which first read as a defeat and suoscquentlf ts'a success. Many now say that it was a great opportunity lost. Then coming to our New Zealand lads, I thought of ou:.' organisations for the reception and care of our wounded, of the establishment of our hospitals, in which men were tended by loving halld6 and restored to health, only again, in many instances, to face the vile enemy; and I thought of our efforts to keep m touch vrith"ihe friends and relations of our soldiers, and with out unfortunate prisoners of var, I recollected oar bombing experiences at home and thehorrors of those slain (150 within "200 yards of our home), and the threat of starvation from the submarines. Thanks to our steadiness of purpose and to our faith which never faltered all these have been overcome.

Yet in March this year the situation was indeed grave. The Germans thought they had Paris for the taking and the Channel ports in their grasp. But, thanks to united control, combined with determination, the current was not only stemmed, but the brutal and bestial Hun was driven back.

These thoughts ran through my mind as I sat listening to the toast of the health of our beloved King,' proposed in such eloquent and fitting terms by the Japanese Ambassador. We may well be proud of such a King; the good that he has accomplished during these trying times will never be known, nor fully and adequately realised. He and his Queen have lived lives of devotion to their people. On my right sat a prominent Japanese diplomat. I said to him, "What a great speech your Ambassador is making! His voice indicates generosity of heart, whilst his words convey a masterly description of the situation, and his face is stamped with calmness, courage and dig. nitv." The reply I received was, "The representative of Japan at the Court of St- James's must possess .all these qualities-"

On my left hand sat Sir Louis Mallet, who was British Ambassador at Constantinople during the months immediately" proceding the. declaration of war on Turkey. He told me the story of those thrilling days and "said the Turks on the whole were with us. When things were reaching their the Grand Vizier, clinging to his arm, remarked. "Ne me laehez pas!" (Do not leave me! Do not leave me!) Sir Louis said, "What will you do if I remain?" and he replied, "I will torpedo the Goeben." That raised the question of the Goeben and Breslau, and he'was able to throw some light on the -history of the escape of these vessels, which, he said would never be made public if someone high in authority could keep it suppressed. An exchange of ptories followed. I told him that Colonel Ryan, of the Australian forces, wore the Plevna Ribbon, and how, during a brief crmisticc on the Gallipoli Peninsula, aitranged for tho

burial of the dead, a Turkish officer, noticing this ribbon, .paraded his men, and

saluted Colonel -Ryan. I also told him the story of the soldier who left a message for his mother written on the back of a New Zealand banknote, and how, after he had fallen, the Turkish authorities forwarded the banknote, and I was able to send it to the soldier's mother in

the Dominion. And v/o are no-.v nearing the end of events. It is good to. have been alive during the:M stirring times. And yet what responsibilities have been placed on one's shoulder.-1 iComplete victory is how in sight, but the pipce has been dreadful, and we shall never forget those noble men. whose lives Slave been sacrificed. Their actions will survive them for ail time. Nor do we forget those who are maimed, for they have suffered. But those who have fallen and those who remain have brought freedom in tho world; nor stfould we forget our duty to there.. The Graves Commission with which I

am connected, anticipating the armistice with Turkey, have officers and mc-n ready to proceed to the Dardanelles for the purpose of registering and earing for the graves of our soldiers there. lam chairman of a small committee which has charge of the graves in this country, and Mr Rudyard Kipling is a member- Anil I am also memlier of the TmpH-ial War Graves Commission- It is fiiy hope, as soon as circumstances will allow, to secure photographs of all graves' accessible and to forward them to the ncst-oMiin, to whom they will be dsar.

On 9 ol our prisoners who recently w

rived from Germany called the other iday and stated that ho Tiad sent to me a paper containing a full page devoted to the overseas possessions. In large type there was an account of how Mr Mas3ey, Sir Joseph Ward and Thomas Mackenzie ■were receiving heavy bribes in order to keep the war going for the benefit of New Zaland trade.