Page:Great Speeches of the War.djvu/46

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30
Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith

and a determined and united effort, for as the war goes on we shall have not merely to replace the wastage caused by casualties, not merely to maintain our military power at its original level, we must, if we are to play a worthy part, enlarge its scale, increase its numbers, and multiply many times its effectiveness as a fighting instrument. The object of the appeal which I have made to you, my Lord Mayor, and the other chief magistrates of our capital cities, is to impress upon the people of the United Kingdom the imperious urgency of this supreme duty. Our self-governing Dominions throughout the Empire, without any solicitation on our part, demonstrated with a spontaneousness and unanimity unparalleled in history their determination to affirm their brotherhood with us and to make our cause their own. Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Newfoundland, children of the Empire, assert, not as an obligation but as a privilege, their right and their willingness to contribute money and material, and, what is better than all, the strength and sinews, the fortunes and the lives of their best men.

India [cheers], with no less alacrity, has claimed her share in the common task. Every class and creed, British and native, princes and people, Hindus and Mohammedans, vie with one another in a noble and emulous rivalry. Two divisions of our magnificent Army are already on their way. [Cheers.] We welcome with appreciation and affection their proffered aid, and in an Empire which knows no distinction of race or caste, where all alike, as subjects of the King-Emperor, are joint and equal custodians of our common interests and fortunes, we here hail with profound and heartfelt gratitude their association, side by side and shoulder to shoulder with our home and Dominion troops, under the flag which is the symbol to all of a unity that the world in arms cannot dissever or dissolve. [Cheers.] With these inspiring appeals and examples from our fellow-subjects all over the world, what are we doing and what ought we to do here at home? Mobilization was ordered on August 4. Immediately afterwards Lord Kitchener [cheers] issued his call for 100,000 recruits for the Regular Army. It has been followed by a second call for another 100,000. The response up till to-day gives us between 250,000 and 300,000 [cries of "Bravo" and cheers], and I am glad to say that London has done its share. The total number of Londoners accepted is not less than 42,000, [Cheers.]

I need hardly say that that appeal involves no disparage-