KITCHENER AND PLATITUDES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 752, 26 February 1910, Page 4

KITCHENER AND PLATITUDES.

'. ..The'stateibaiiqiiet' tendered"to' pur 7 ■■ 'Eielp-Mae-; shal.Lokd. Kitchener,' last 'evening: was , a ; very'pleasing: and' iii: one;'re-. spcct:;a-.sqmewha| ; nol»wbrthy. function; 1 -Nbthirig: could have': been bet-: tor:'- arranged.', jT.he'/.wEolo;; affair passed/offwith; smpothriess : ;.and .with a':very; proper'.V'onthus'iasmi:'|owajrds/| the;"guesCjii: ; the evwiing^ \ prise ( 'of; the ;■ occasion / prbbibiy (j^s , : thevspeech'lqfiqED -KiTCHENER'Jh'inv self.: : We;';Kave grown. sp'J.aceustbmed; ;fc:theviiiea':; ; ;Mafshal;is a; tactiturn .person, chary of ..speech';; one.iwhb never /'opens his. lips unless ;hehas- : something'tb ; say. ■'that 1 ' is '■-.'well: wbrth.'sayirig vand y, of practical value; .that it miist. have come assomei/hing of. a surprise 'to those present .to; find;, him, essaying with pronounced success- the fble";-'of-. an aftef-dinnfer' speate'r j, talking, inyague -generalities and-proclaiming with charming: 1 candour delightfully proper-platitudes;:' The.speeches^on the.'whole; were appropriate to 'the occasion: "'■ '■■ Sill ■', Joseph-. -Waed,. made some- good l points and Lord Plunket,', .whose', ability; as--;av. : public, ;speaker:.has never.been,-fully appreciated: by; New: .Zealand audiences, ■ . made ..some-, betteri' - '.'.His! Excellency, indeed;' seldom '.speaks . in '■; public without;striking a , sound-note of Im-.. perialism in a most convincing way. \ Last .evening ;he. was-.very,, effective, and we that -the :main -point , underlying his speech will not escapethe attention;of ; SiR: Joseph Ward .and."the-country generally.;.' ; ; New Zealand, he.pbinfed'out,'/has' ; ''an'.'bp-. portunity—the : opportunity :,. of ■' . a lifetime it might be said-Hsf making itself an '.' objectlesspn. ,to: ; the .whole Empire;- By; v the.' ailvice: of Loed Eitchbner' it'may'set'-a'n example'' the .effect of .which .'it;-is impossible 'to.'.estimate, '-rbut wnich must; be of -far-reaching* importance '.ip; the whole Empire; .Let :tiiis.l)o-' minion':grasp;the;!chance. held out.tb it and; place,.its; ;de'fen'ces';on ..that, sound:footing to which, its great; re- : . sources qualify,it to' aspire,, and to which the iiailitary genius; of Lord Kitchener ' should point the rbad; and. -the:.:whole of -,the .dependencies of:the :Empire : may.follow*its 'lead.' It; is a fine, an.;inspiriting, ideal, held:,up by: his -Excellency, ■people of New Zealand,'and we trust! that.its significance has been lost to the ;Minißtry of the day. , .,Loed speech; delivered ; at a .later; ; -stage!;of;:th'e evening, \_'-wa,s ■plainly bne'prepared for the occasion. . It was .'really,,a! very . admirable from .the, great Field-Marshal; It .covered just the ground that.one would expect;to be covered—by" anyone but; the; great .Field-Marshal. . It';was. composed of. just -those "pplitb. generalities—-those pleasingly-arranged'. phrases—rthqse, shall ;we say,, popular. 'platitudes whichformsb conspicuousia part of after-dinner speeches. It .was not, however,:-/.Kitchener" ;as :we have conjured up-.this :-curt, straight-to-the-pqint. soldier. There ;were. times, when,' after;a forcibly-expressed sen-'' timcrit .on ,thc:: subject of:,, military 'Warning, .'.'the-.-! gathering..: eagerly awaited the'sucoeeding sentences confident that .'the; way ; "to: military iefficioncy. would be outlined, but they, were doomed to disappointment. Lord Kitobeneb confined himseli! to

generalities—good, ■wholesome -advice, ,no doubt,- but nothing to point the road which the Dominion should take on emerging from the "transition stage" which it has now reached. We have not the 'slightest doubt that in adopting the role of an after-dinner speaker Lokd Kitchener had carefully considered his position. No doubt ;he has. judged that it .is best to reserve his recommendations until he has completed his inspection of the Dominion's defences. But the great Eield-Marshal has broken an ideal. "He can talk at length - in generalities—to serve his purpose he' can even tickle the car with pleasing platitudes. :'■ ■