The Press. Thursday, June 8, 1916. Lord Kitchener.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15611, 8 June 1916, Page 6

The Press. Thursday, June 8, 1916. Lord Kitchener.

The wholo British nation is mourning to-day the loss of a great soldier and a great man. It was to Lord Kitchener that England instinctively turned -when there suddenly opened up before the Empire like a yawning abyss the greatest peril with which it had ever been confronted. It was an emergency calling for clear vision and prompt and cnergotie action. Never before has any nation been so near destruction. A single false step—the slightest hesitation to do the right thing—might- have led to our downfall ns a great nation. It was soon apparent that the people's instinct was sound," and that in Lord Kitchener England possessed a great general fully equal to tho occasion. His "wholo life liad been devoted to hard work, crowned by great achievements in the eervico of the Empire. Never- seeking popular applause, scorning everything in the shape of social or i>olitical influence, he had won the confidence of the nation who trusted him as ."t trusted no other man. His maiden speech as Secretary of State for "War

in tho House of Lords en August '2oth. 1011, showed how thoroughly ho "lad grasped the problem to be solved. He had previously slated it would be a war of attrition, and he now spoke of a possible duration oT three years or even longer. lie saw in his mind's eye the awful hecatombs of men that must. be sacrificed in such a struggle, and that the first thing to be done was to organise a British Army comparable in point of numbers with the huge armies of Continental nations raised undc;- a system oi national compulsion. The task was one whieh would have daunted my but the mo*t indoniiiable s*>irit. The English were not a military nation; they had listened, unaffected. apparently listless and irre.-pou»iv«\ to the warnings of i.ord .'Roberts, and anything apjiroacjiiiw the eailing up of a nation i:t arms 1.-'iieved to be utterly repugnant to British iru.tinctt-. and British traditions. But I.ord Kitchener knew there was no other way, and with the inflexible determination which lie .showed :it evc:y important crisis in his life, I;? set himself to achieve -what appeared to be the impossible. This raiding of an army of between L-.ur and five millions of ISnglislimen, equipping them, and making them tit to fight against the trained armies of a great Continental nation which had devoted all its energies for years to preparation for war, will ever remain the crowning achievement of Lord Kitchener's hie. It is a feat unparalleled in the history of any other man or any other nation. In conjunction with the incomparable British Xavy. it has saved the cauof civilisation and of humanity, and when this great war is brought to a derision and Prussian militari.-oi is finally scotched, it will be found that Kitchener's Army was an indispensable factor ill the achievement of this result. When tho various phase-; of this great war come to bo weighed and examined by tho military critics and historians of the future, there may bp some differences of opinion with regard t-o its strategy, and it may be found that in this respect Lord Kitchener made mistakes. No man, however great his genius and however strong his faculties and his physical energy, could cany tho whole burden of responsibility placed

on Lord Kitchener's shoulders since the beginning of the war and prove infallible on every point. But as an organiser, and as a great personality, inspiring and arousing the ration to a mighty effort, Lord Kitchener will occupy in history a position of supremo and unchallengeable distinction. His influence was felt in tho remotest portions of the Empire as strongly as at its very contre. TVe iu Australia and New Zealand owe to him tho organisation of that system of national defence which has enabled us to play a pftrt in this great crisis of which we need not feel ashamed. We had seon him face to face —with his strong, iitlie figure, his firm countenance. his look of indomitable resolve, and we felt that with such a soldier at the head" of tho Army, there was no need to fear as to the ultimate result. We mourn iiis loss to-day, and our hearts are filled with gratitude that it pleased God in our great day of trial to givo us such a leader. Ho has died the death of a warrior chief in tho service of the Empire, if not actually in the smoke of battle. In the few moments left to liim for reflection, he must have been comfortcd by tho thought that liis greatest work had been done, and that sll was going well for the accomplishment of the object ho lind in view. In the speech to which we have referred he seemed to have a presentiment that ho might not live to see tho end of the war. He spoke of His term of office as Secretary of State as being for the period of tho war, or for three years if tho war lasted longer. "No one," he said, " can foretell with certainty its dura- " tion —then,, after three years' war "there will be others fresh and fully "prepared to take our places and see "this thing through." Ho has been released from his work perhaps sooner than ho expected, but his spirit lives on. and the nation, inspired by his example, will be more than ever dc- I termined to "see this matter through."