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The Gathering of the Clans
How the British Dominions and Dependencies and have helped in the war by J. Saxon Mills


CANADA.

Perhaps the most important and enduring results of the present war will be those which were least intended and are least material in character. This conflict will always be remembered by Britons as that in which the British Empire finally "found itself." That Empire, which its enemies expected to fall to pieces in the hour of England's test and trial, will emerge from the struggle with a greater strength and unity than could have been won by centuries of political effort and aspiration. Mr. Bonar Law, the present Secretary of State for the Colonies, has expressed the truth in a few simple words:—"Our enemies said, and probably they believed, that the outbreak of war would be the signal for the breaking up of the British Empire. They have been mistaken. After this war the relations between the great Dominions and the Mother Country can never be the same again. The pressure of our enemies is welding us together, and the British Empire is becoming in reality, as well as in name, a united nation."

It is impossible to estimate the effect of this common experience, unparallelled in the history of the world on the countless races sheltered under the British flag. Englishmen, Scotsmen, Irishmen, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Newfoundlanders, South Africans, Indians and every other race in the Empire have fought shoulder to shoulder for the same objects and ideas. Hitherto the wars of the British Empire have been carried on by comparatively small armies, not representing, as our armies in this war, all classes in every community. Today the entire British nation is fighting on the various fronts. Men of varied races are beginning to know each other by personal contact and friendship, and those vast contingents, when they return to their several states, will exercise a powerful influence in promoting the spiritual and political unity of the Empire.

When the war bugles of the Empire sounded in August, 1914, every province sprang to arms. It was no mere love of adventure that prompted this impulse, but a feeling not only that the power and prestige and even the existence of the Empire were at stake, but that the ideas of freedom and justice and fair dealing upon which the British Empire is founded were involved in the struggle. It may be interesting to describe in a few articles the many forms which this loyal and ungrudging assistance of the whole empire took. We may begin with Canada as the Dominion nearest the homeland. The promptitude with which she prepared for the conflict was astonishing. In less than two months from the outbreak of war the Dominion, which only numbers between seven and eight millions of people, concentrated, armed and sent to Europe an Expeditionary Eorce of 33,000 men. This was a voluntary army, the first complete Division ever assembled in Canada, and by far the largest force that ever crossed the Atlantic at one time. This first Division was destined to do wonders. It was scarcely flung into the furnace of war before it was called to a stern and decisive duty. On the battlefield of Langemarck it barred the way to the advancing Germans and saved the day for the Empire, the Allies and the world.

But this force was only an earnest of the fighting power Canada was to put in the field. Now, after nineteen months of war, power has been taken by Order in Council in Canada to increase the number of men to 500,000, and the recruiting shows that this figure will easily be attained. Returns from several military districts show that up to December 15th, 1915, the number of recruits enlisted for all purposes since the outbreak of the War amounted to 198,000 men and 7,000 officers. Exclusive of officers, Ontario had raised 77,000 men, Quebec 24,000, the Maritime Provinces 20,000, Manitoba and Saskatchewan 37,500, Alberta 21,200, and British Columbia and the Yukon 19,700. Canada has indeed followed the drums. "From the workshops and offices of new cities, from the lumber camps of her forests, from the vast wheatfields of the west, from the farms and orchards of the east, from the slopes of the Rockies, from the shores of Hudson Bay, from the mining valleys of British Columbia, from the banks of the Yukon, from the reaches of the St. Lawrence, the manhood of Canada hurried to arms."

And a glorious account of themselves they have given and are giving on this western front. At Neuve Chapelle, Ypres, Festubert, Givenchy and elsewhere they have built up a record of individual and collective valour which has never been transcended in the long annals of war. They have earned innumerable honours and rewards from the V.C. to the " mention," and the extent to which they have borne the heaviest brunt of the fighting is shown by the figures of 13,000 casualties sustained down to November 30th, 1915.

But Canada's contribution is not exhausted in these fully and splendidly equipped contingents of all arms. It has taken many other forms. Here is a brief table of the money raised in the Dominion for specific objects down to the end of November :—

Canadian Patriotic Fund ... $9,000,000
Canadian Red Cross ...        3,500,000
British Red Cross......          2,000,000

But there have been also most generous and welcome gifts in kind. The Dominion sent 1,000,000 bags of flour; Alberta, 500,000 bushels of oats: Quebec, 4,000,000 lbs. of cheese; Nova Scotia offered 100,000 tons of coal, but the gift was changed to 100,000 dollars for the relief of distress: Prince Edward Island sent 100,000 bushels of oats, with cheese and hay; Ontario, 250,000 bags of flour; Saskatchewan, 1,500 horses; New Brunswick, 100,000 bushels of potatoes; Manitoba, 50,000 bags of flour; British Columbia, 25,000 cases of tinned salmon. This is by no means a complete enumeration, and further gifts are still coming in.

And Canada has done a great work for the war hospitals. The Dominion Government furnished £20,000 for the organisation and equipment of a hospital in France known as the "Hospice Canadien."

The women of Canada sent £57,192 as a gift, £20,000 to be handed to the War Office for hospital purposes and the balance to the Admiralty for the Canadian Women's Hospital at Haslow.

The Canadian War Contingent Association in England are maintaining a large military hospital at Shorncliffe.

The Canadian Government have sent a handsome contribution to the Anglo-Russian Hospital.

Hospitals are being maintained by the Canadian Red Cross.

The Provincial Government of Ontario has provided and equipped a large military hospital at Orpington in Kent.

And finally must be mentioned the invaluable Canadian contribution in the manufacture of munitions, clothing, foodstuffs, etc., for the Allied Armies. Sir Robert Borden stated in the House of Commons on February 22nd of this year (1916) that British purchases in Canada were much greater than most people imagined and that large orders had been given for boots, clothing, blankets, copper, rifles, and foodstuffs. Even submarines have been produced in the Dominion and delivered for use, and Canada has placed her credit to the extent of twenty millions sterling at the disposal of the home country.

Truly all this constitutes a wonderful record in patriotic service, and its ultimate political effects will prove as important as its immediate and practical utility.

NEWFOUNDLAND.

It is interesting to recall what Newfoundland, the smallest autonomous Dominion, has done to aid in the defence of the Empire. In the same week in which War was declared a Patriotic Association was formed in the Colony, and the Government undertook to increase the already enlisted Naval Reserve of 600 men to 1,000 and to enlist a further force of 500 men for land service. Since then the naval force has been increased to over 2,000, while the land forces compose a regiment of 1,500 strong, with others under training at St. John's. From a colony of 250,000 people, with a substantial emigration and no immigration whatever, this is something of an achievement. After a period of training with Kitchener's Army, the Newfoundland Regiment left England for Alexandria, whence they proceeded direct to the Gallipoli Peninsula. There they bore their part in the struggle side by side with their brothers-in-arms from Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, being present at Suvla Bay and at the evacuation of Helles. They claim to have reached the nearest point to Constantinople, namely, a hill which they captured and called Caribou Hill. The Newfoundlanders were also the last unit to leave the peninsula. They greatly distinguished themselves again in the early events of the forward movement on the Western Front.

It is a source of pride to Newfoundlanders that the men of their regiment are almost without exception native-born. This is the first time through all the years of its eventful history that the Colony has ever enlisted a force for foreign service. But the call of the Empire was strong, and the loyal response it received will have earned for Newfoundland an honourable place in any scheme of closer imperial union which may be formed when the War is over. It should be added that the naval force has been largely engaged in patrolling the Dardanelles and the North Sea, and that the Colony has also raised a Patriotic Fund of £20,000 with which to assist the families of the soldiers and sailors now on active service. The women of the Colony have sent £4,000 worth of comforts for the sick and wounded and for the men in the trenches, while a valuable gift of' aeroplanes has also been presented by this loyal and enterprising member of the British family.

AUSTRALIA.

To those who knew the Australian spirit and remembered the share Australia has already taken in the wars of the Empire it was not surprising that this young cub of the British lion should be ready and eager for the fray when War was declared in August, 1914. Australia seems to be an ideal breeding and training ground for soldiers. The type of fighting man produced in the island continent—high-spirited, athletic and with a strong dash of fearless dare-devilry—is perhaps the finest in the world. Before the War, Australia had already provided herself with a system of compulsory military training and also with a very efficient fleet unit consisting of a great battle-cruiser, the "Australia," three smaller cruisers, the " Melbourne," "Sydney," and "Brisbane," and flotillas of submarines, torpedo-boats and destroyers. Immediately upon the declaration of War the Commonwealth undertook to raise, equip and maintain an expeditionary force of 20,000 men for service in Europe with the Armies of the Empire. At the same time, with a loyal fidelity to promise, the entire Australian

Navy was placed at the disposal of the British Admiralty. Among the earliest gifts, £100,000 was voted as a present to Belgium '' in grateful acknowledgment of the heroic services the citizens of that country have rendered mankind in the defence of their national right to live at peace in their own country."

Needless to say these gifts of men and money were only first fruits of the splendid generosity which was to be shown by this young nation of five million people planted on a continent of three million square miles. The original 20,000 now appears a small matter, for by this time nearly 300,000 have been recruited for foreign service, and Australia has not yet called a halt in this respect. In other words the Commonwealth has already raised an army nearly as great as that which was put into the field by the whole Empire during the South African War and twice as large as the original expeditionary force sent to France in 1914. All these men came forward as volunteers for foreign service, though many of them had been compulsorily trained under the system adopted some years ago.

The Australian soldiers are magnificently equipped, mainly with clothing, boots, hats, belts and rifles turned out in Australian factories. All the costs of equipment, arming, transport within the Commonwealth and across the wide seas, commissariat and medical supplies have been met by Australia from the beginning, and another large item of expenditure has been the purchase, shipment and maintenance of thousands of splendid horses, most of which, under the conditions of modern warfare, have remained inactive in Egypt.

The Australian Army is the best paid the world has ever seen, the minimum scale being 6s. per day for the privates, with substantial increases to the non-commissioned officers and very generous remuneration for those who hold commissions. A few months ago the Federal Treasurer announced that in pay alone the Commonwealth was expending money at the rate of £33,000,000 per annum. The pensions are also on a liberal scale, as may be judged from the case of the widow of a sergeant-major with eight children who draws £78 10s. herself and £13 per annum in respect of each of her children —a total yearly income of £178 10s.

The Commonwealth is now represented in practically every branch of the fighting forces— infantry, cavalry, artillery, the navy, the flying-services, mechanical transport, the camel corps, the miners' corps, and for home service the coaling battalions. Munition factories have been established in various states and a considerable body of Australian engineers is now scattered throughout the munition works in England. I need not here re-tell the story how these troops from under the Southern Cross won imperishable glory on the blood-splashed beaches and ridges of Gallipoli. They and their New Zealand comrades have given a new name, " Anzac " (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) to the scene of their exploits and to the pages of military annals. They are now winning fresh laurels in the battlefields of France and Flanders, where they are holding an important section of the British fighting lines.

While the Commonwealth troops were bivouacking under the pyramids of Egypt in the days before the great Dardanelles adventure, the Australian Fleet was quietly but efficiently mopping up the German colonies and possessions about the Pacific Ocean and dealing with the stray German commerce-raider. It was in the very early days of the War that the little Sydney' at last rounded up and battered to pieces the redoubtable " Emden" near the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. The first of the German colonies to be dealt with was Samoa. The choicest jewels in this island coronet belonged to Germany, and the British flag was hoisted over these amid a concourse of surprised natives within a few weeks after the declaration of War.

On September 12th, 1914, Rear-Admiral Patey on board the "Australia" telegraphed the news of the occupation of Herbertshohe and Simpsonshaven in the Bismarck Archipelago, and very soon all these islands, together with the German slice of New Guinea, 72,000 square miles in extent, were secured. But there was a good deal more of Germany left in these tepid, coral-hued waters. The Solomons, hitherto held jointly by England and Germany, are now held solely by England. These form the largest group of islands in the Pacific, covering a sea-space of over 600 miles. They are extremely fertile and their loss will be severely felt by Germany. The German possessions in the Mar-schall, Carolines, Pelew and Ladrones groups have shared a similar destiny, being occupied either by Japan or Britain, and Germany has now entirely disappeared from the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Australia never asked for war with her neighbour, but she had not witnessed with any great pleasure the establishment of a bullying and aggressive Power like Germany almost within cannon-shot of her own shores. The revelations of Prussian character during the present War have abundantly justified her fears.

And there were other reasons for Australia's distrust of Germany. Nowhere in the world had Germany carried further and with more determination that policy of commercial penetration which has everywhere had its ulterior political objects. From the beginning of the War Australia began resolutely to tear away the tentacles of this German octopus. Germany had secured almost a monopoly of Australian metals. Whatever metals Britain wanted had to be purchased through such German firms as the Hirsches, Beer-Sondheimers, the Metallgesell-schaft, and the rest. Even munitions, the life's blood of modern war, flowed into British hands through these polluted channels. Mr. Hughes, the Premier of the Commonwealth, has told us how he proceeded to deal with the strangling meshes of this Teutonic net. '' After fourteen months of war we are able to say a change has been made. Direct outlets have been established for Australian products in Great Britain and Allied countries. The policy of the Government is to encourage the development of the metal industry so that all ores produced in the Commonwealth may be treated therein, and above all the policy of the Government is that the industry must not fall into German hands after the War. We are going to cut every trace of the German cancer out." Metal exchanges have been established under the control of the Australian Goverment, and the sale or purchase of practically every ton of metals and ores must be registered. All sorts of precautions are taken so that the enemy shall not secure either representation on the metal exchanges or any of the products of the industry. The authorities have even insisted that all enemy shareholders in companies incorporated in Australia shall surrender their shares to a Public Trustee, who will see that such shares and dividends are saved up until the end of the War.

As Mr. Hughes has said, "the mining companies of Australia, around which the octopus tentacles of the great German metal combine were so tightly drawn at the beginning of the War, now all breathe freely. Every tentacle has been cut and the severed ends completely destroyed. If Germany ever gets a foothold in the metal industry of Australia again, it will be because Australians voluntarily surrender themselves to the embraces of the beast. Not only is every German contract annulled, but fresh channels have been opened up and markets found with Britain, the Allies and friendly neutrals. And when war ceases Germany will have lost that control over the metal industry which has done so much to enable her to wage war effectively and to build up her industrial and commercial position." Verily this may prove a shrewder loss than even the alienation of her Pacific possessions.

Much might be said about the efficient way in which the Commonwealth took in hand the distribution and carriage of the wheat crop in the interest of producer and consumer as against the speculator and forestalled In all these and other tasks Australia has had an able and energetic leader in Mr. Hughes, the Premier of the Commonwealth. It must be added that, like the other Dominions and Dependencies, Australia has set no limit to her generosity in money and supplies of all kinds. The Acting Government Statistician has had a report prepared showing, so far as can be ascertained, the amount contributed by the people of each State of Australia to the various relief funds from the beginning of the War to October 31st, 1915. The States appear in the following order:—New South Wales, £1,995,119; Victoria, £1,152,592; Queensland, £707,264; South Australia, £376,189; Western Australia, £142,024; Tasmania, £119,549. These sums amount in all to a total of close upon 4J millions sterling. Nowhere has the sentiment of Empire loyalty attained a more splendid and practical expression than in the great island continent of the South.

NEW ZEALAND.

The true crusading spirit, the conception of the European conflict as a Holy War on behalf of Christian civilisation, has been manifested in New Zealand. Those beautiful and fertile islands, a little smaller than the United Kingdom, hold just about a million people, including the aboriginal Maori folk. The contribution of men and money and material by a population not much larger than that of the city of Birmingham is indeed memorable. The motives of this passionate zeal and loyalty have been set forth by the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie, formerly Prime Minister and now High Commissioner in London for New Zealand. " I doubt," he writes, '' if any event chronicled in history has so fired the imagination and kindled the anger of a people, and indeed, of the world, as Germany's infamous treatment of Belgium. But this I do know—it fired the heart of New Zealand, and when it was decided to send an Expeditionary Force to the Front to aid Great Britain and her Allies, there was an almost turbulent desire on the part of our youth and manhood to enlist. Long accustomed though they were to the arts of production and quite unaccustomed to those of destruction, they seemed to realise instinctively that something more than the safety, security and restoration of Belgium was at stake."

It is a long, long way from New Zealand to Europe, but Mr. Mackenzie tells us how the children of the Southern Cross realised that the freedom of the world was involved in the freedom of Europe. " And they foresaw, too," continues the High Commissioner, '' that all those principles of constitutional liberty and government so inherent in the British character would go by the board if the German Kaiser and his emissaries were allowed to obtain the upper hand." The war recruiting was helped by the system of universal military training which had been adopted about two years before, and in the course of a few weeks from the beginning of hostilities New Zealand was able to mobilise and equip a thoroughly trained contingent-horse, foot and artillery, with all the auxiliary forces—of eight thousand men, the pick of her young manhood. This force joined the Australian army and was transported at once to Egypt where the training was completed.

This first contingent was followed by several others, until the total number that has sailed up to date from the islands reaches 30,000, and even this total is being largely increased. With a poignancy of contrast these soldiers from a new nation in another hemisphere were encamped for months in the oldest country of the world, under the shadow of the pyramids.

They received their baptism of fire in the task of repelling the Turks from the Suez Canal. But a greater and sterner ordeal awaited them. They and their Australian comrades became a part of the Dardanelles Expeditionary Force, and the name of '' Anzac '' commemorates for ever the dash and heroism and endurance displayed by these Australasian fighting men on the shores and heights of Gallipoli. It is noteworthy that the New Zealand ranks contained a number of Maoris, that ancient and chivalrous native race which, once the enemy of Britain, is now numbered among the most loyal and contented of British peoples. The gallant deeds of these representatives of New Zealand's original inhabitants will be duly recorded when the history of those soul-stirring events is told in greater detail.1 On the Western Front, too, the New Zealand troops have played a distinguished part.

As in the case of the other Dominions and Dependencies, the dispatch of fully-equipped armies has been only one aspect of New Zealand's contribution to war and victory. This total has now been carried up to the half million pounds sterling.

But there remains to be recorded a vast contribution in foodstuffs and clothing. A hundred and forty-eight shipments of these have reached the High Commissioner in London. It may be interesting in this case to give an enumeration of the sort of supplies sent by a British Dominion. The foodstuffs comprised 583 carcases lamb, 10,888 carcases mutton, 122 quarters beef, 152 crates rabbits and hares, 9 packings bacon, 86 boxes butter, 92 crates cheese, 18 sacks flour, 20 sacks gerstena, 15 sacks wheat, 54 sacks barley, 73 cases jam, 15 sacks peas. The clothing shipments included 2,540 cases of clothes, 67 bales of blankets, and there were in addition one case of books, and two cases of toys for Belgian boys and girls.

It need hardly be said that both m New Zealand and the home country everything has been done for the comfort of the sick and wounded of the New Zealand contingents. Here, again, one may refer to the prospective political results of this close and sympathetic co-operation between the home country and the daughter States of the Empire. " I believe," writes Mr. Mackenzie, '' this world-war has done more to consolidate the British Empire and strengthen the bond of sympathy and the " crimson thread of kinship " than any power under heaven could have done. We are being purged with fire, but I believe—indeed, I am convinced—that we and our noble Allies will emerge from the ordeal better men and a stronger race. Only we must be of good courage and of steadfast resolution, sustained by the conviction that we and our Allies are fighting in a just and righteous cause and for all that is best for the highest interests, not only of our day and generation, but of our posterity. We must fight to ensure a peace that shall be more enduring than bronze."

SOUTH AFRICA.

No portion of the British Empire has rendered more brilliant service to the common cause than South Africa. The German campaign of bribery and intrigue and corruption, which had been more extensive and determined here than elsewhere, proved a miserable failure. Some weak and restless spirits. became its victims, but the Dutch Government, under that great Imperial statesman and soldier, General Botha, make short work of this attempt at rebellion. The Union Government, having settled that little business, braced itself for an enterprise which was much larger and more difficult than has perhaps been generally realised—the conquest and occupation of the 322,500 square miles constituting German South-West Africa. That job required an army of 58,000 men, who were all enrolled in British South Africa. And that vast territory, having been conquered, had to be garrisoned, the German regular troops being now, of course, all prisoners of war. This duty has absorbed in itself a considerable force. In addition to all this, the Union of South Africa has provided forces for the defence of the north-eastern frontier of Rhodesia, where Britain, Belgium and Germany are in close neigbourhood, and has just recruited another substantial force which, under General Smuts, Minister of Defence, will soon account for Germany's last remaining over-sea colony in East Africa.

Under General Smuts are gathered South Africans, Rhodesians, East African colonists, a sprinkling of Australians and Canadians, regiments raised in the United Kingdom and native troops. These columns have now penetrated far southwards from British East Africa into German territory. At the same time other British troops .under General Northey are pushing their way into German East Africa through the gap between Lakes Tanganyika and Nyassa. Belgian troops are operating from the West and Portuguese from the South. The Allies will soon hold well over a million square miles of German territory over the seas.

With all these responsibilities to itself and the Empire the Union has not been able to vie with other Dominions in the size of its contingents raised for European service. We must remember that the white population of South Africa is only about a million, situated in the midst of a black population six times as large. Moreover, this million consists of two races, and it is not to be expected that the Dutch element, whose European homeland is not belligerent, should be so strongly impelled to enlistment for European service as the British South Africans. Yet, despite all this, the Union has done magnificently even in this respect. It has sent to England a force of 7,000 men, who certainly represent some of the finest fighting material which the British Empire affords.

This splendid contingent consists firstly of the First South African Infantry Brigade under Brigadier-General H. T. Lukin, C.M.G., D.S.O., with its four regiments recruited over the whole length and breadth of British South Africa and containing representatives of such well-known corps as the Duke of Edinburgh's Own Volunteer Rifles, the Rand Rifles, the Imperial Light Horse, the South African Constabulary, the Transvaal Scottish and the Cape Town Highlanders. Then there is the regiment of Heavy Artillery, largely recruited from Cape Colony and transferred almost bodily from active service in German South-West Africa. To round off the contingent, a general hospital, a field ambulance, an aviation squadron, a signalling company and a military record office have been provided. Nor must we forget that South' Africa has its own representation in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, the force consisting of 300 naval reservists in Cape Colony and Natal. From these a contingent of three officers and 76 men have come to England and are attached to the Royal Naval Division.

Meanwhile Rhodesia, that proud mother of first-class fighting men, has, as might be expected, thrown herself heart and soul into the fight, primarily, of course, into the fight in South Africa. No fewer than 5,000 Rhodesians are under arms, that is, a good 40 per cent, of the adult white male population. A considerable contingent from Rhodesia have also come home "on their own" for service in Europe, and this applies also to South Africa in general. The Germans, we are told, have already complained of the frightfulness of the Rhodesian sniper. Rhodesian troops will, of course, find their chief task in the East African campaign.

Of the gifts of money and material sent " home " from South Africa it is impossible to give any complete enumeration. The best course is to take a few examples at random. The Matabililand Central War Fund Committee sent £900 to the Prince of Wales's Fund and £100 to the British Red Cross Society. The "Friend" newspaper of Bloemfontein sent £4,164 odd to the Secretary of State for the Colonies to be allocated at his discretion. The European residents of Basutoland sent £1,835 to the Prince of Wales's Fund and those in Bechuanaland a similarly handsome gift. Gifts of money, foodstuffs, tobacco, etc., are past reckoning. Especially gratifying has been the generosity of the great native chieftains. Khama and the Bamangwato people sent £817 to the Prince of Wales's Fund. Lewanika, a great Rhodesian chieftain, sent a contribution of £200, and Griffith, paramount chief of the Basutos, has raised large sums from his tribe. Such gifts are welcome not only for their own sake, but as showing that the natives of South Africa appreciate the freedom and protection they enjoy as subjects of the British Empire.

INDIA AND CEYLON.

Among the many painful disappointments which the Germans have suffered during the War, probably the severest has been the splendid and helpful loyalty to the Empire displayed by the Indian people. In India, at least, the Germans had hoped for sedition and disloyalty. Believers in brute force, they could not imagine how races so diverse as the British and the Indian could be bound together by any other ties than those of mastery and submission. They never imagined that, whatever may have been the faults of British rule, it has at any rate stood for justice, humanity, and a generous tolerance, and that the 320 millions in England's greatest Dependency would show their appreciation of these principles in the hour of her need and danger. Yet so it was. The Viceroy of India, who represents the King-Emperor, had no need to appeal for help. India sprang voluntarily and instinctively to the

defence of throne and Empire. Instead of England having, as Germany hoped and expected, to send more troops out to India to strengthen her hold there, she was able to take away more than three-quarters of the regular British troops and a good half of the native army, replacing the regulars only by Territorial's.

In September, 1914, a stately armada of transports entered Marseilles harbour bearing troops from India to fight in France, for England and France, against Germany. Those were critical days and the 70,000 Indian troops rendered inestimable service. In their first serious action on October 28th they carried the village of Neuve Chapelle. It may truthfully be said that if England had not been able to throw these Indian reinforcements into the fighting line, but had been obliged rather to send out more troops to India, the British forces would scarcely have been able to bear back the German onrush at that time. Britons will not quickly forget the decisive help afforded by their Indian fellow-subjects in those dark and perilous days.

And not only in France have these martial sons of India upheld the honour of the flag. In Mesopotamia, on the Suez Canal, in China and East Africa, Indian troops, those in our own service and those of the Maharajas, have done and are doing splendid service. Mean- . while in India the manifestations of loyalty were universal. That sentiment found expression in the Viceroy's legislative council • where Sir G. Chitnavis, an Indian member, asked the Viceroy to assure His Majesty that in the hour of crisis the whole country was with him and would loyally and devotedly do everything possible to ensure the success of the British arms. He moved a resolution of '' unswerving loyalty and enthusiastic devotion to the King-Emperor '' which was seconded by one of the principal Mahomedan leaders, the Rajah of Mahmudabad. Mr. Banerjee, one of the severest critics of the Indian Government in the past, said that Indians desired to tell the world and all else whom it might concern that their loyalty was not "lip-deep" and that behind the serried ranks of the finest armies in the world were the vast and multitudinous races and peoples of India, bound together as one man. Nay, even the disaffected forgot their grievances in those days. The leader Tilak, who had twice been imprisoned for sedition, addressed a meeting in his native town, urging the people to sink their differences and support the Government in every possible way. '' The presence of English rulers," he said, "was desirable even from the point of view of Indian self-interest."

Expressions of loyalty, sympathy and friendliness streamed in from the feudatory and independent chiefs with whom the Government of India is in relationship. The premier chief, the Nizam of Hyderabad, offered a contribution of £400,000 towards the cost of the War, and in particular to defray the entire expense while on foreign service overseas of his own regiment of Imperial Service Lancers and of the 20th Deccan Horse. The Maharajah of Mysore offered 50 lakhs of rupees (£330,000), while the Gaekwar of Baroda placed at the Government's disposal the whole of his troops and the resources of his state. The Maharajah Scindia of Gwalior, in addition to sharing the expenses of a hospital ship, the idea of which originated with himself and the Begum of Bhopal, offered to place large sums of money at the disposal of the Government of India and to provide thousands of horses as remounts. He also gave a Motor Ambulance Corps. The Maharajah of Kashmir, not content with subscribing personally to the Indian Fund, presided at a meeting of 20,000 people held at Srinagar and delivered a stirring speech, in response to which large subscriptions were collected. The Maharajah Holkar offered free of charge all the horses belonging to his state forces. The spirited Maharajah of Bikanir offered his Camel Corps and with the well-known and chivalrous Sir Pertab Singh, the Grand Old Man of India, and other chiefs came himself to serve in France. The Aga Khan, in addition to directing the Mahomedan community to place their personal services and resources unreservedly at the disposal of Government, volunteered to serve as a private in any infantry regiment of the Indian Expeditionary Force.

From the most remote regions, from Chiefs, like the Mehtar of Chitral, of border states, offers of help came to the Viceroy. Even extra-Indian rulers showed their practical sympathy. The Prime Minister of Nepal placed the military services of the state at the Government's disposal and presented machine guns. The chief of Bhutan, bordering on Thibet, and the Arab Chiefs in the Aden Hinterland offered gifts; and lastly the Dalai Lama of Thibet offered a thousand troops and stated that Lamas innumerable throughout the length and breadth of Thibet were offering prayers for the success of the British Army and for the happiness of the souls of the victims of war.

It should be added that the Victoria Cross has been won in seven cases by Indians, while over 1,300 other decorations have gone to the Indian Army. Like the peoples of the self-governing Dominions, the Indians have felt that this War was their own, that the very foundations of the " free, tolerant and unaggressive Empire " to which they belong were threatened. Their loyal co-operation cannot fail to have a profound effect on the future relations between India and England, and so long as the British Empire exists and the annals of the great War are read, the part India played in the struggle will be honourably and gratefully recorded.

CEYLON.

Ceylon, the premier Crown Colony, has given generous assistance to England and the Empire during the present crisis. She has sent a contingent for foreign service and contributed £1,000,000 in ten yearly instalments to the cost of the War, besides a handsome contribution to the Prince of Wales's Eund. The Planters' Association of Ceylon provided 100,000,000 lbs. of tea for the use of troops in the field.

The scheme adopted by the Overseas Club to raise a flotilla of aircraft which should be representative of all the outlying parts of the Empire, has received enthusiastic support in this Colony. The first gift was a sum of £1,500 wherewith to purchase the aeroplane which was named '' A Paddy-bird from Ceylon." This was followed by a further £2,250 for the armed biplane named "A Devil-bird from Ceylon," and recently another £2,250 has been received by the British War Office, with a request that the third machine may be named "A Nightjar from Ceylon." The cable which accompanied the last remittance stated that subscriptions were still coming in, and it is hoped that yet another '' bird'' may shortly be dispatched from the island. A well-known Colombo lawyer has personally subscribed £2,250 for a biplane, thus making four aircraft already presented by this Colony.

THE WEST INDIES.

The British West Indies are like a necklace of pearls strung round the Caribbean Sea, fastened at one end to British Guiana on the '' main '' of South America, and at the other to British Honduras in Central America. The Bahamas form a sparkling pendant of jewels to this necklace, extending almost to the shores of Florida. These insular and continental possessions have an area of about 112,000 square miles and a population of over two millions. The names of nearly all the islands are familiar to the readers of British naval and military annals. Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, Turk's Island, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbadoes, St. Vincent, Grenada, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, the Virgins, and the rest will always be associated with the deeds of such British seamen as Drake, Hawkins, Benbow, Vernon, Rodney, Howe and Nelson. How much fighting has been done by British troops in these regions may be gathered from the large number of regiments on whose colours are inscribed the names of St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Dominica, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Havannah and other islands within or outside the British Empire.

But the British Indies have their own native military tradition rich with records of Imperial service. The West Indian regiments, which were raised in the last years of the eighteenth century, primarily for service in the Carolinas, have fought in many other parts of the Empire —Ashanti, Kumassi, West, East and South Africa. At one time there were ten of these regiments, but in 1850 only four were left, and in 1888 the 1st and 2nd West Indian Regiments were amalgamated into a single one, consisting of two battalions, each of four companies. This regiment has taken part during the present War in the difficult operations in German Cameroon and has been stationed in many places in British West African possessions, in the West Indian Islands and in British Guiana. The regiment is easily distinguishable by the Zouave uniform, which is quite unique in the forces of the Empire.

When the present war broke out, the wave of patriotism which ran like a tidal wave over the Empire swelled high round the West Indian Islands. All the old fighting tradition which has been kept up by the volunteer and militia units of the islands sprang into life. Thousands of natives, many of whom had seen service in the West Indian Eegiment, volunteered for '' the Front." In every village where an instructor could be found drill companies were formed. From the beginning of the war many who could afford the time and money left the islands and joined the Canadian expeditionary force or the battalions of the new armies in England. Many have been killed or wounded in France or Gallipoli, and by these sacrifices the West Indies, which are among the oldest of British possessions, will be linked still more indis-solubly to England and the rest of the Empire.

But this sporadic enlistment did not satisfy the patriotic sentiment of the West Indians, who were determined to be even more directly represented in the battle for the Empire and the Empire's principles of liberty, justice and tolerance. They were determined to furnish units for the new armies, and permission to do this was at last obtained in the summer of 1915, when the countless islands and the mainland colonies began to send their quotas of men to the West Indies War Contingent, or, as it is known, "The British West Indies Regiment." This contingent, consisting of the 1st and 2nd service and 3rd reserve battalions, with another 1,500 men in training in Jamaica, and various reserve units embodied in other colonies, was shortly encamped for final training in Sussex. It is rapidly becoming a full infantry brigade, and, if needful, can be increased to a division. The physique of the men is excellent, and they may be trusted, under their commanding officer, Colonel A. E. Barchard, to acquit themselves worthily of their ancestral military tradition.

In generous contributions of money and material, as well as of men, the West Indies have vied with every other part of the Empire. Jamaica, the beautiful and valuable island which the genius of Oliver Cromwell gave to the Empire, has especially distinguished itself. Jamaica has quite recently offered to raise another 10,000 men and to pay all attendant cost to the extent of a total charge of £60,000 per annum for forty years. But besides this she has subscribed thousands to relief funds, fifty thousand pounds' worth of sugar, and large consignments of oranges, grape-fruit, cocoa, and cigarettes for the troops at the Front. British Guiana organised a branch of the National Relief Fund, raising a very large subscription, gave a thousand tons of sugar and furnished half a million pounds of rice for the use of the British Indian forces. Barbados supplied £20,000 worth of sugar and contributions to the Prince of Wales's Fund. The Bahamas subscribed several thousand pounds to the same fund, and £10,000 as a contribution towards war expenses, and they maintain a unit of 200 men in the field. The Legislative Council of Dominica voted £4,000 to H.M. Government and £1,000 to the Belgian Relief Fund, as well as fortnightly consignments of lime juice for the military hospitals. The Legislative Council of St. Vincent and the planters of that island provided large quantities of arrowroot for H.M. Forces. St. Lucia sent cocoa and £1,000 to the Prince of Wales's Fund: Montserjat, guava jelly for naval and military hospitals and £1,000 for the same fund; Dominica gave £10,000, Turks and Caicos Islands £1,000, Cayman Islands £105 to war expenses; Bermuda, oldest of British possessions, and often grouped with, though not geographically belonging to, the West Indies, voted £3,450 annually for 15 years to the cost of the War, £40,000 to Imperial relief funds and a ton of arrowroot to the British Red Cross Society, while £1,000 went in private subscriptions to the Prince's Fund. Besides all this, private persons sent gifts in money and kind which it would be impossible to enumerate. It must be allowed that the Governments and people of the West Indies have filled the cup of their generosity to the brim. The Panama Canal has opened a new era of prosperity for the British West Indies, and it is a happy coincidence that at the very beginning of this era they should have made such a striking and practical manifestation of their loyal devotion to the British Crown and Empire.

CROWN COLONIES AND PROTECTORATES.

The attempt to describe what the individual provinces of the self-governing Dominions, what the Protectorates and Crown Colonies and naval stations, down to the loneliest mid-ocean islet, have contributed to the strength of the Empire during the present war, would result simply in an endless enumeration. Something must be said, however, to commemorate the services of those forty millions of black-skinned British subjects living mostly in the Continent of Africa. This is a deep and wide reservoir from which a very large supply of fighting material of a very high quality could be drawn. Basutos, Matabili, Hausas and other African tribes which keep the old organisation of clan and chieftain also retain a great deal of the old fighting tradition. The West African Frontier Force is an admirable body of troops upon which has fallen most of the fighting in the newly-conquered German colony of Cameroon. The King's African Rifles are a no less celebrated regiment, and they have done good service in the more southerly parts of the Continent.

England could have raised an additional force of perhaps a quarter of a million men from the African Protectorates. But it must be remembered that it is contrary to the English tradition to employ black aboriginal troops against a white European enemy. Germany would have had no such scruple if she had been able to transport any of her black troops over the seas. France, too, as she was perfectly entitled to do, has employed her " armee noire," consisting largely of Senegalese blacks, on European battlefields. There is no reason, at any rate, why the British coloured troops should not have been used against Turks, and some scores of thousands of the best African native troops would have been very useful at Gallipoli, Salonika and on the Tigris. Nevertheless, the black subjects of King George from Africa and the West Indies have done excellent service, and their loyalty and patriotism have been manifested in many ways.

It may be convenient here to give some examples of generous service rendered by various outlying portions of the Empire which do not fall under the great Dominions and Dependencies. Eirstly, as regards men. Contingents have been offered and sent from the smallest communities of the Empire. Erom Malta came 750 volunteers for foreign service. The far outpost of Shanghai sent a British contingent of 100 men. From Fiji, out of a white population of 4,000, chiefly women and children, 300 men will have been sent to the front. All the Sultans and Sheiks of the Aden Protectorate offered their services for the war. Very striking, too, has been the response to the Empire's call made by Britons living in extra-British countries. From Guatemala, a small independent republic of about 2,000,000 people in Central America, came 40 volunteers out of a total British population of 82, and these 40 came at their own expense, the journey costing £65 per head, to place their services at England's disposal. From the Argentine over 2,000 British recruits have come home, the British Patriotic Committee there assisting the passage of some 350. The United States too have shown that blood is thicker than water, and 60,000 citizens of the States applied to join the Canadian volunteers, but, of course, could not be accepted. And all this time there has been a continuous migration homewards of men who wished to be at the "centre of things" in these strenuous days. For example, Rhodesia has contributed from her small British population 1,000 men for Imperial service, many of them travelling home third class in their eagerness to offer themselves.

At the same time the gifts of supplies of all kinds have been uninterrupted. Mauritius gave 2,000,000 lbs. of sugar for the Army and Navy, as well as two money contributions of £10,000 each. The Urewara Maoris of New Zealand set apart 1,600 acres of land in support of' the Empire Defence Fund. The Kavirondo chiefs of the Kisumu District gave 3,000 goats for the troops at the front. The East African Protectorate sent 100 tons of coffee, the Masai Moran of the Matapatus 30 bullocks for th& troops. The enumeration of creature comforts thus supplied might be continued indefinitely. And the money has poured in as continuously and plentifully. Still confining ourselves to the smaller and more detached communities, the-Fiji Islands sent £10,000 to the Prince of Wales's Fund, Ceylon £15,000, Hong Kong £20,000, the Falkland Islands £4,000, Sierra Leone £5,000, the Sultan of Sokoto £1,000,. Lewanika, Chief of the Barotse, £200, Sarikin. Muslimin, of Nigeria, £1,000, Nyasaland £450. A sum of £35,000 was contributed in the early days of the War to the Prince of Wales's -Fund through Singapore, besides a large subscription from all parts of the Malay Peninsula to a Belgian Relief Fund.

The squadron of sixteen aeroplanes, presented by all nationalties in Malaya, has been completed at a cost of £25,881. Mr. Alma Baker, of Perak, is very much to be congratulated on the success of the scheme which he organised, and which he has since so liberally supported. The squadron consists of four fighters and twelve scouts. A glance at the list of subscribers shows the cosmopolitan nature of the population of Malaya, besides bearing testimony to the patriotism of the various races. Four of the scouts were paid for by public subscription as follows—one by all nationalities in Kinta, Perak; two by all nationalities in the Malay Archipelago; one by the Chinese of Malacca. The other contributors are representative of the following nationalities— British, French, Dutch, Jews, Armenians, Chinese, Japanese, Natives of India (all races), and Malays. Although the squadron is now completed, Malaya does not propose to rest on her oars, and further machines are now being subscribed for. One, for which Australians and New Zealanders are now being asked to subscribe, is to be called " Anzac," and the women of Malaya are preparing to provide a " Women's Aeroplane."

Other gifts of aeroplanes recently acknowledged include the '' Saran5 5 presented by the residents of Saren; "Jamaica No. 2" presented by the People of Jamaica, and a machine given by the Omanhene chiefs and people of Kivahu, Gold Coast. The latter makes the eighth aeroplane presented by the private generosity of persons in this Colony.

Mr. E. C. Eliot, His Majesty's Resident Commissioner in the Gilbert and Ellice groups of Islands in the Western Pacific, refers with gratification, in a recent official report, to the magnificent spirit of loyalty to the British cause which has been displayed by the whole native community since the outbreak of hostilities. There have been countless private applications to " fight for King George," and in some of the islands the entire population wished to leave for the seat of War. When it was explained to them that for prudential reasons their services could not at the moment be availed of in the field, their enthusiasm found vent in raising money for the Prince of Wales's National Relief Fund, a total of about £3,000 being collected.

This patriotic ardour has extended to the remotest frontiers of the Empire. The Emirs of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria sent £38,000 as a contribution from the Native administrations towards the military expenditure of the Nigerian Government. That Government also undertook to assume the charges for interest and a sinking fund of 1 per cent, on a share of the war debt amounting to £6,000,000. The Legislative Council of the Gold Coast voted £60,000 for the expenses of the Togoland expedition, and £80,000 eight annual instalments towards the cost of the War. Zanzibar contributed £10,000 to the mother country in aid of war expenses. Mauritius raised over £5,000 in three weeks to provide a gift of aeroplanes to the British War Office, and has contributed £3,400 to Red Cross Funds. The Egyptian Red Crescent Society sent £1,000 to the British Red Cross. Basutos, Bechuanas, Tembus, dusky tribes of the Dark Continent, dwellers Where Afric's sunny fountains Roll down their golden sand, have been lavish in their offers and gifts of money and provisions. The many loyal protestations such as came from the Sultans of Brunei (Sarawak), Perak (Malay), Kelantan (Malay), Sierra Leone chieftains and others were gratifying m those early days of strain and stress and will not be forgotten. From Egypt have come clouds of cigarettes of subtlest aroma, and Khalil Pasha Khazal sent eight fine horses. Verily " the Kings of Tarshish and of the isles brought presents; the Kings of Arabia and Saba offered gifts." The history of the world can show no such outburst of loyalty on so vast a scale and expressing itself in such practical manifestations. From the Great War, which in the German hope and expectation was to break up the British Empire, that Empire will date a new era of power and prosperity and a closer and more organic union such as otherwise it might never have attained.

J. SAXON MILLS.


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