Colonies and the Empire

Mr Asquith on the situation

Mr Asquith and Mr Bonar Law attended a great patriotic demonstration held at the London Guildhall to acknowledge the services rendered by the Colonies to the Empire in the war.

The meeting was arranged weeks ago, but in view of the rapid development of the political situation during the last few days the speeches of both statesmen were invested with a unique degree of national interest.

The Guildhall was crowded to suffocation.

The Marquis of Crewe and Mr Lewis Harcourt were on the platform.

Mr Asquith, who proposed a resolution expressing abiding gratitude to the Dominions Colonies, Protectorates, and India for their unparalleled services to the cause of the Allies, said we were now in the tenth month of the greatest war in history.

The call was still for more men to take the place of the fallen, to increase the effective force both for aggression and defence and to make a decisive victory certain.

We at home had every reason to bestir ourselves.

Our shores were, geographically at any rate, within striking distance of the enemy while it seems sometimes as if we could almost hear the echo of the guns in the main theatre of war.

Our kinsmen overseas were more remote but people here still had a very inadequate idea of the extent and variety of the contributions of the outlying Empire to the conduct of the war and the relief of the victims.

The Premier enumerated the gifts from the various colonies and mentioned that in money or kind Australia was estimated to have given £1,400,000 in addition to £75,000 now being supplied to provide food for the Belgians.

The Prime Minister alluded to the Colonies contribution of men and read a cablegram from the Governor General of South Africa mentioning the capture of the capital of the German colony there by General Botha.

Most significant was the fact that the British and Dutch, fought through the campaign side by side.

The Canadians had won for themselves in France an everlasting gratitude while in Gallipoli the Australians had shown themselves worthy of their history.

To Premier said the King had accepted the new offer of machine guns from the Maharajah of Nepal.

India had sent 28 cavalry regiments and 128 infantry regiments, British, Indian and Imperial for service out of India.

The battle fields of France and Flanders bore undying gratitude to the bravery of the Indian troops.

The help given by the colonies taught in concrete form the truth that the empire was one in purpose and one at heart.

Their devotion to the death was not to be explained by any calculus of self interest.

We were now gathering in, in our hour of trial, the fruits of a wise and far-sighted imperial policy.

He believed that there was not one British Colony which would not prefer to suffer annihilation rather than exchange any Sovereignty for its allegiance to the British Crown.