The following was the text of the letter: - ''The Natives of the Takitimu district send greetings. Our thoughts are arrested by the great European war now being so stubbornly fought, whose vibrations have reached our own shores.
''Our hearts respond to the motives which prompted our Imperial leaders to prove the sincerity of our international friendship with France and Russia by great deeds. We also desire to express our admiration for the brave Belgians, and our sympathy with them in their dark days.
''Truly, this war is not only for our national existence and honour, but also to reassert, on behalf of humanity, the great principles of liberty and justice, so kindly won, and now so basely threatened by a tyrant's might.
''The Native people of New Zealand have always treasured the rights and privileges enjoyed by citizens of our great British Empire, and we rejoice that, in this time of national crisis, an opportunity is offered the Maori people of New Zealand to share with our fellow subjects the burdens of Imperial duty.
''Those duties clearly tell us to strike, and to strike hard, for the right, and they tell us to soften the unhappy lot of the Belgians. The response to the invitation for Maori volunteers has been so ready and cheerful that those fortunate enough to be chosen are but a few of the many eager to take the oath of allegiance and uphold the Empire's glory.
''We now ask you to accept the enclosed gift of 1000 from us, the Maoris of the Takitimu district, as a contribution towards the War Fund, and towards the Belgian Relief Fund, to be apportioned in such manner as to you, with the advice of the Ministry, may seem fit.
''There is no doubt that similar offerings of men and money and affection for King and Empire will be made in other Maori districts in New Zealand. We trust that the sunshine of an honourable and lasting peace may soon pierce the dark war cloud.''
The House cheered heartily when the letter was read.
• There are extraordinary scenes at Flushing, in south-west Holland, where refugees are camped in the streets, sheds, and barracks. When a box of bread was carried into the field, the refugees made a wild rush, men and women fighting for a portion. It was some time before they could be persuaded to await further supplies.
The majority of the refugees displaced by the war went to Esschen and Rosendal, where on the roads there was a ceaseless pilgrimage of women, children, and aged men seeking a sanctuary in Holland. Here there was a luxurious motor car in which was a lady heavily wrapped with rich furs; others were wheeling barrows with their few belongings.
A number of children were born on the roadside during the flight. Elsewhere aged women, terrorised and hunger-stricken, died on the pathways. In some cases small babies were separated from their mothers. In hundreds of cases small children arrived in Holland without their parents. Dutch families have already arranged to adopt them if their parents cannot be traced.
In one case a woman, whose husband was killed by a German shell during the flight, lost two children in the turmoil, and only a baby remains.
While thousands were traversing Esschen a rumour that the Germans were coming caused a panic, and a stampede was only quelled when the parish priest ascended the church tower, scanned the countryside, and assured the refugees that it was untrue.
- ODT, 13.10.1914.
