THE GREAT WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1919, Page 3

THE GREAT WAR.

SERVICES OF OUR MEN. GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGED BY PARLIAMENT. RESOLUTIONS OP THANKS AND APPRECIATION. The closing hours of the session were marked in the House of Representatives on Wednesday by a series of resolutions of grateful thanks for and hearty appreciation of the devoted services rendered by the men of the Army and Navy, both New Zealanders and British, | by the men of the mercantile marine, and by the nurses and others. THANKS TO ALL RANKS. The Prime Minister said that before Parliament rose it was only right and fitting that this step 9hould be taken. He, therefore, moved the following resolution:— That this House, in the name and on behalf of the people of New Zealand, gratefully acknowledges, and accords its thanks for, the devoted services of all ranks and ratings of the New Zealand Naval Forces and the members of the New Zealand ' Army Nursing Service, whoße ' conspicuous and noble achievements in the face of constant dangers and difficulties on land and sea through four years of war have created such imperishable traditions for this young Dominion, and have contributed so much towards winning for New Zealand an honoured place in the fraternity of nations. The magnificent work done by our soldiers was, said Mr. Massey, well known, hot only throughout the Empire but throughout the world. They had on every occasion done all that was expected of them; and a great deal more than was expected of them when we sent them away to the war. (Hear, hear.) Sir Joseph Ward, in seconding the motion, said that no words of his and no resolution passed by the House could adequately convey the recognition and appreciation that was due to the men who had fought to maintain the freedom of this portion (of the Empire and of the Empire as a w/hole. (Hear, hear.) That acknowledgment on behalf of all shades of opinion wills the due which they paid most sincerel,y to the men who had gone out and had/done a work unexampled in the history (if this country, and there was nothing the./bominion could do that would be too mu<fh for the men who had risked their lives!, and for the dependents o£ those who had lost their lives for their country. !(llear, hear). Mr. H, ~(li. Holland (Grey): I do not want to up the time of the House. I merely hvish to associate the Labor Party with this resolution. (Hear, hear.) I The resolution was carried unanimously. J

/OUR HONORED DEAD. The P\rime Minister further moved:— That \ this House, in a spirit of reverence and pride, honours t'.'o memory of those New Zealanders who gavel their lives in obedience to the call if Justice and Freedom in the services of their country and humanity, jfo their relatives in the hour of thicir sorrow this House tenders its respectful sympathy. We must never forget, said Mr. Massey, the 17.000 men who left New Zealand in the prjide of their young manhood to take part in the world war and would never come and whose bones were scattered far and wide in every theatre of the war in w;hich New Zealanders took part. The deeds, they had done and their names would never be forgotten by the New Zealanders of this generation; nor, he honestly believed, by future generations for thousands of years to come. Sir Joseiv\ Ward said that it was a I sad duty to have to put on record resolutions of this kind. There was no one who could calculate what the loss of 17,000 men who had fallen in defence of the country meant to their families, how great were the vacancies caused by the war in their homes. In whatever part of the world the British Armies had fought in connection with the horrible war, now, happily, over, New Zealanders had taken part in practically every sector'; and it was one of the glorious tributes to the memory of these men that whenever the opportunity presented itself during the visits of the Prime Minister and myself to France and to Belgium, there I was only one opinion expressed by men qualified to judge as to the nature of the I sacrifices that the heroic men from this country had made. It was a tribute to their gallantry, to their endurance, to their heroism, that the people of any country would be proud of. He tendered to the fathers, mothers, sisters, sons and daughters of these men—for men of various ages were involved—hia deep and sincere sympathy with them in the losses they had sustained. Those losses had been sustained in the most glorious cause in which man could be engaged. Mr. Holland supported the resolution, saying that the men who left New Zealand had done so believing that they were going to fight for human freedom, and in that belief had met death with a laugh on their lips. He wished to associate the Labour Party with the resolution, and to say that, the supreme duty that now rested upon the shoulders of every man and woman in New Zealand was that of so shaping the destinies of t this country that the great principles of freedom for which these men and boys believed they were fighting should be given effect to, and that the fullness of human freedom would be developed in New Zealand. That was the best memorial we could raise to the men whose bravery and self-sacrifice would remain on record for all time. The resolution, put by the Speaker with manifest feeling, was carried in silence, all members rising to their feet in honour of the dead. OUR SAILORMEN.

THE NAVY AND MERCANTILE MARINE. Mr. Massey then moved:— That this House, in the name and on behalf of the people of New Zealand, places on record its profound ( sense of gratitude to all branches of the Imperial and Allied Navies and to ihe officers and men of the mercantile marine, who, by their ceaseless vigil and undaunted spirit in the face of unparalleled and unknown dangers, fniled not in keeping open the long lines of sea communication without which would have been impossible the transportation not only of our forces, but also of those supplUs wbteh wtre to vitally neeinsary . .

to preserve the Allied peoples from want and their cause from disaster. We were proud to know, stated the Prime Minister, that, though the naval forces of the Dominion were very small, the New Zealanders had taken part in every naval engagement that took place during the war. (Hear, hear.) At every engagement'in the North Sea in those raids which would go down in history as the most famous in which a navy ever took part—the great raids of Ostend and Zeebrugge—New Zealanders were present. (Hear, hear). We'owed also a deep debt of gratitude to ,the men of the mercantile marine without whom the war would never have been won. They had shown a constancy and a heroism equal to those of the men of the Royal Navy. (Hear, hear.) Sir Joseph Ward, seconding the resolution, declared that no tribute we could pay could adequately compensate the officers and men of the mercantile marine for the magnificent work they had done in all waters during the war. The mercantile marine had done wonders in this war. On the first trip to the Old Country the Prime Minister and himself had an experience which illustrated the fearlessness, the undaunted courage, of the shipmaster and of tl» men. The ship they travelled by put into Halifax to have put on board one gun. It was a vessel of 5000 tons, and had on board 150 women and children going to join their soldier-husbands. They went across the Atlantic known to be haunted by German submarines, and the night before reaching the coast of England the master of the steamer received a wireless message from the Admiralty—the cease-; less watchers over the steamers that were pursuing their course towa'rds tha Old Land from all quarters of the globe —to change his course 70 miles. The course was changed accordingly towards Usliant, and the next day three vessels were torpedoed and sunk within a comparatively short distance of the place that the vessel had been diverted from. Our shipmasters had carried out similar work right through the war period. On the last occasion the Premier and he had crossed the Atlantic they reached the shores of Iceland and Scotland 42 ships all told, and the leader of the 42 was one of the merchant ships. It was quite true that they were accompanied by an American cruiser and a converted British cruiser a certain distance, and were met in mid-ocean by British destroyers; but the fact remained that the leading ships of the convoy, with, in all, 30,000 American soldiers on board, was a British ship. We could never forget so long as history lasts the heroism of Captain Fryalt and the sacrifice that he made. Nor could we ever forget the fight made by the master and men of the Clan McTavish, and the magnificent fight put up by .the New Zealand Shipping Company's ship, the Otaki, the master of which, in refusing to surrender, displayed a heroism probably without parallel. (Hear, hear.) The men of the mercantile marine were the more entitled to have that resolution put on record, because of the fact that it was admitted by Admiral Je'llicoe, Admiral Beatty, and others who could Wast judge the matter, that without the assistance, co-operation and valuable work done by the masters and men of the mercantile marine, the great war would never have been won, on the sea. at all events. He thought that the tribute from the groat admirals he had mentioned was worthy of beinn put on record at such a time; and he added his own modest tribute to the

magnificent work of the mercantile marine which would never bo forgotten. Messrs. J. P. Luke (Wellington North), J. MeCombs (Lytteltoii), C. H. Poole (Auckland West'), If. (J. Ell (Christchureh South), and P. Fraser (Wellington Central), supported the resolution, urging that the best way to show our appreciation of the work our seamen Imd dono was by securing 'he best possible conditions for them, both when afloat and when ashore. Never during the whole period of the war, said Mr Luke, had a ship been tied up to a wharf for lack of British seamen to man her. (Hear, hear.) The resolution was carried unanimously. THE COUNTRY'S GRATITUDE TO THOSE WHO HELPED THE SOLDIERS. In the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister moved;— That this House, in the name and on behalf of the people of the Dominion, places on record its deep sense of appreciation of the many kindnesses, courtesies, and privileges, extended to members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force on active, service in various parts of the world. To each and all, in whatever part of the world, who offered the hand of fellowship to New Zealand soldiers and nurses and who helped to cheer and comfort them, whether in hospital, in camp, on furlough, or en route to and from the seat of war, the Dominion tenders its grateful thanks. Mr. Massey said that there were many to whom we owed a debt of gratitude, and it was fitting that we should acknowledge that debt. Sir Joseph Ward said that one of the bright sides in a dull page in the history of the world was the spirit of comradeship among the soldiers of the Empire. He wanted to acknowledge a good service by Mr C. H. Poole, M.P., who had done much to institute the kindnesses rendered by the people along the Panama Canal. To the people of the Paname he desired to express the thanks of one who appreciated the great kindnesses tendered the New Zealand soldiers. The Hon. R. Heaton Rhodes said that much of the good work done could not be mentioned because the hosts were unknown. Speaking as one who enjoyed some of the kindnesses met.ed out to the New Zealanders at Home, Mr. T. E. Y. Seddon said he would be ungrateful of he did not express his thanks. In England they were treated with great hospitality, and he wished especially to mention the great kindness of the Irish. In various American cities they found the homes of American citizens thrown open to them. He suggested that the appreciative references here made should be published abroad so that those who extended hospitality to our men would know of our gratitude. Mr. J. Payne (Grey Lynn) thought the speeches should be published in pamphlet form for distribution in the proper quarters. The Prime Minister: The resolutions will be forwarded to the High Commissioner for publication in the press. Mr. Payne then said that the work of one who had not bwi mentioned should be praised—Miss Ettie Rout. The Prime Minister and then Mr Speaker silenced Mr. Payne. The resolution was agreed to. Sir Francis Bell moved a similar motion in the Legislative Council. He spoke briefly of the kindnesses shown to our soldiers while they were abroad fighting (or u«. Away la for«lga Unds

our men had been made to feel at home, as much as was possible. Sir William Hall-Jones agreed heartily with, the "motion. Such kindness an had been extended to the troops from New Zealand could not go unreeongised. The Hon. G. Jones, speaking as on« who felt a special appreciation of the kindness shown to our soldiers, said that the hospitality by the people of the countries in which the New Zealanders stayed awhile, and at which they touched, was appreciated by New Zealand to the fullest degree Th« notion win otiritd,