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II. New Zealand and the War. 



(Delivered at Trinity Hall, January 13th, 1917.) 



By the Right Hon. Sir Joseph George Ward, Bart., P.C., 



K.C.M.G., 



Minister of Finance, late Prime Minister of New Zealand. 

 Chairman: Sir Daniel Morris, K.C.M.G., D.Sc., D.C.L. 



Sir Joseph Ward began with an emphatic assertion of the 

 essential unity of the Motherland and the Dominions. He and 

 his hearers alike were citizens of the one British Empire. New 

 Zealand, he continued, is one of the most beautiful of countries. 

 Its area is nearly equal to that of the United Kingdom and its 

 fertility is unmatched. The population, at present 1,156,000, will 

 greatly increase, and the time has already come when New Zealand 

 and the other Dominions should have a voice in matters con- 

 cerning the Empire as a whole. When the war broke out New 

 Zealand offered her help without waiting to be asked. Samoa 

 was taken, 61,000 men sent to the war and others were in training, 

 so that from her smalt population a contingent of 80,000 would be 

 provided. Many had already been killed or wounded, but fresh 

 men were sent to take their places. The people had contributed 

 ^2,000,000 for comforts for their own troops and ^"762,000 to 

 help the Belgians and Serbians. They were financing themselves 

 without assistance from the mother-country and had raised 

 ^"11,000,000 for local purposes and war requirements. There 

 was no murmuring at the taxation necessary, for the people were 

 resolved that the war should be won. The soldiers, their wives 

 and dependants and the widows and children of the fallen were 

 looked after with a liberality of which the speaker was proud. 

 The pension for widows, for example, had been fixed at £3 per 

 week, but was afterwards increased to £4- or £5. To the Imperial 

 Navy, New Zealand had contributed a Dreadnought costing 

 ^"2,000,000, and this ship had already played an honourable part 

 in the naval battles of the war. Political strife had Ceased in 

 New Zealand. The present Prime Minister and the speaker had 

 been leaders of two opposing parties, but now they were colleagues 

 in the same Ministry. Sir Joseph, in conclusion, said that the 

 people of New Zealand, like those of England, were determined 

 never to yield to foes who have committed cold-blooded murders on 

 land and sea and violated every established usage of civilised 

 warfare. There must be no premature peace. The British Empire 

 represents freedom and justice and it is for freedom and justice 

 that we and our Allies are fighting and will continue to fight until 

 victorv has been won. 



