THE OUTSTANDING FIGURE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 113, 12 May 1917, Page 4

THE OUTSTANDING FIGURE.

We bwk forward to the full text of | the speech, summarised Ln to-day's aews, j in which General Smute accepted the , freedom of Manchester. He always says j someittiing that arrests attention, and in receiving tie freedom of London the other day he made one oi the very finest speeches of the whole war. We published the text of this noble utterance a few days ago, and we should say that no speech for a long time, not excepting those by members of the Imperial Government, has made a deeper impression on the public. It is no reflection on his colleagues to say that among the oversea delegates at the Imperial Conference General Smuts is the outstanding figure. There is no one to compare with him in historical interest, and achievement in the arts of war and peace. Had he not come into prominence in this war, he would still be known as a remarkable man. He was well under thirty—probably few people know that he was educated at Cambridge—when Kruger gave him a high official post in the Transvaal, and it was not long afterwards that he was fighting against the British with the rank of general. When the war was over he determined to do his best to secure the unity of the races, and he has been General Botha's lieutenant in the Union Ministry; indeed, he has been described as its strong man and guiding hand, and most of the important legislation passed by the Union Parliament, such as the Defence Act. is credited to him. It ie said that he was largely the creator of the masterly plan of cam- | paign in South-West Africa, and as soon ! as he could he went to the front, and as commander of the Southern Force?, was in at the death. Then came his bril- . liant campaign in East Africa, in a huge : country bristling with natural difficulties from malaria to floods and almost impenetrable bush, heM by a numerous well-equipped enemy. It is no wonder that a London paper wants the Imperial Government to make further use of his great military ability. But we are more concerned now with General Smuts' spiritual contribution to the war than with his material achievements. It has been said that mankind will forget the battle of Gettysburg before it forgete the words of Lincoln's dedication on that battlefield, and it may be said of General Smute that there is something more vital, more enduring in his speech in London on May Ist than in all his victories. In language all the more telling because it wae restrained by culture and innate dignity, he showed that the spirit of liberty wae the greatest ally among the Allies. '"Greater forces are" fighting for us than our armies—the spirit of freedom is on the wing, and the great creative spirit is once more moving among the nations in their unspeakable agonies." One ie reminded of the lines from Wordsworth quoted so aptly by Mr. Asquith early in the war, lines" written about a man who fought and died for freedom: —

"Thou hast zrcat allies: Thy friends are exaltations, agonies. And love, and man's unconquerable mind

But the finest passage in the speech was his reference to that chapter in British Imperial history that makes South Africa's contribution to onr cause the finest certificate of character that the Empire has ever received. "I emphasised the cause we are fighting for because I am assured, in the grave dangers ahead, that a clear conscience or* that cause alone will strengthen U3 to hold on unflinchingly. The circumstances of my life have made mc realise more than most what that means. In my day and in my country I have seen freedom go under in what appeared to be the death agony of a people. I have seen her rise again indestructible, deathless, immortal. I have seen the same beaten people rise again to fight for the same freedom, no longer for themselves alone, but for the whole world." There has been too much talking in thie war. Mr. Buchan, in expressing this opinion, cays there are some speeches that have almost the quality of deeds. We should say there are some that have a higher quality than many deeds, or a quality that is complementary to that of deeds, without which the latter cannot produce their full effect. This speech of General Smuts is one of them.