There is no reason why, if you set yourselves to it--I have not come
here to make a speech of words, but to point out to you necessary and
obvious things which you can do--there is no doubt that, if you set
yourselves to it, the army which is now fighting so valiantly on your
behalf and our allies can be raised from its present position to 250,000
of the finest professional soldiers in the world, and that in the new
year something like 500,000 men, and from that again when the early
Summer begins in 1915 to the full figure of twenty-five army corps
fighting in line together. The vast population of these islands and all
the empire is pressing forward to serve, its wealth is placed at your
disposal, the navy opens the way for the passage of men and everything
necessary for the equipment of our forces. Why should we hesitate when
here is the sure and certain path to ending this war in the way we mean
it to end? [Cheers.]
A Decisive Weight.
There is little doubt that an army so formed will in quality and
character, in native energy, in the comprehension which each individual
has of the cause for which he is fighting, exceed in merit any army in
the world. We have only to have a chance of even numbers or anything
approaching even numbers to demonstrate the superiority of
free-thinking, active citizens over the docile sheep who serve the
ferocious ambitions of drastic Kings.
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