GENERAL BIRDWOOD

Grey River Argus, 22 June 1920, Page 6

GENERAL BIRDWOOD

. . A WORKER'S IMPRESSIONS. m^ eral ? irdWOOd #t* -vlSit Greyand all. t h e diggers" i agog, mfch excitement at .Sp r^ p S^ i^f'\' Thjs elatW i 8 realjy -^ te94e«i,bey Ond .;, the ?ranks J f ,^ L ■rWSgex*,"* and ha s caught U with 1 Jf— OSe^ o^ e dathorne^ an^.cursed ;the, Hun S by word yntix )Or put;their.>"last : bob" Into^ tlipse^mids that were supposed : i6 pro-^ vide , comforts, for-- our boys in trenches, -The first question that ; musiface the ; tH n ,king box of the a v e r : i age.-minaed person d s: - '»Why'i s G en J eraißirdwood visiting Greymouth Goo G i T is (arid quite aW ber^of -Prggers^ swear by him), can ' we honestly s a y that "Birdie'Ms ma^ = »-fg this, tripvoff his owii bat, moved' only by a wish, to again come in ijouch with; those he imd- met under moro dangerous circumst^dces ? Can we say. indeed, that he 6omes amongst v«. a little of the. enthusiasm that imbues a wandering Goa'ster returning tp his raative town/ after a sojourn -In fpreiga cUmes,;, i ., Vi^erieriii:;V]iirdVo«;cl epmes, mith a. p^ecpn.certe^ .mission— t!o popularise a graded f orm'of ;milit{\ j-ism * in the yputh and ■ :-manlipo«i of "New Zealand. In phoo^ng'x^en ( enji',Bird-| wood for htis particular pic^'e of mill-' tarist propaganda, the povkr s Ui a^ .^e have-chosen wisely as f^r as'they, arie.; cpneerned. A popular ciiaracter witii bpth New ■^la*d^Bnd_' < Atoiljan- : -Bpi- ? diejs, a man who , possessed a kee^n ; sf»nse of human ' nature, and realised : that it was easier to becomb one of:

them than attempt the Imperialistic bullying methods, he endeared himsetf to .thousands of "Aussieo" and "D.^kgers" by this very process of action. The aiithorities , were quick, to .realise this,, and so, the ..genial . f '#irdic' ! was giv<^a.,this job; takinig, as. jt wer^ the part r qf a bullet, ', which the. Imperial "munition, .f^otory" sp carefu'jy mdnufiijCtured. As a. General — and we use the term "General' 'Jrpm a railitarintic; ppint of view,— he was ,of no, -gi-eater value than ' General ,Godley., t . \ Yep ttie : authorities were shrewi enough to, overlook the latter' *n.j their ' fclan of campaign. And 'why? . A ten-yeai-' old child could give 1 the answer. Knovr-

"n$ what we do of Clodley^ standirijl ■ wr>h the "Diggers" (and the authori-j tie,s ar c wide awake to thia/yiew), it ! would have beoa a : very spiritless kind : of reception Genera] Godley would have ' had meted out to hi h, WlKTcvor he. spoke, there would always be ibe chance that, someone in hi^ tiudifiiicewould. have unpleasaratly recalled his previous asspcia^ioris with this .gallant soldier. Such a. thing would have i spoiled the whole, business., and instead . of fostering a sympathy spirit, General |i Godley s t«od a .more likely xhaince of creating a distiirbance! This' is the last^ thing i n . the world tlifii; : our rnili- : taints hanker after, and. so. they pickad ( on General ''Birdie,'' .'! the soul o.f t Atnaac. " In dealing tv'ifh thi s gen- ! bleman, qne .must remember,, first and . last, ithat he <ia a soldiery a man' whp, if wars were unknown,; wou'd hayjs to go out into the vfor) a and look for^work. Naturally, under 'the ex- ; isting- conditions, militarism is to him 1 what house-building would be to a' 1 ' carpenter — his bread and butter. Admittitag this, it would b« passing . strange if General Birdwood (in spite of his credentials as a..ma,'n).did nbtintei'est himself, in militarism, and place upon it the same value ag a carpenter ■ would upon a boom' in house construction: So we find that "Birdie," in spit^ of all that may be said against it ; is ccjming to Greymouth _^ an ambassador of a system that 'legalises killing and .impregnates the ybuth or the land* with the spirit tlint « 'might is right." Can we welcome him a" such,? Can the citizens of Greymouth (men and women who havo cursed a: war ] that robbed them of. their loye.a ; ones) say in their hearts :: "Here .is a man who represents . all that is humane and good?" We don^t want to preach religion, but .'there "is another General in New Zealand, tp-ctay, a man who, according to his views, carries n message of brotherhood, and peace amongst, all men-— General ; liooth. , Yet if this man) came tp,Gr.exniouth,.aS,tlie head of airY v prganisatipn. that -is ■ tioing:; 6ome good in the world, ttio elite of ' the town would have no heart flutter-, ings,' neither, would the ypung ladies go into rhapsodies over the ; dresses they are to' wear. He /wpuld : come and go, recognised by his own foUowiers,, but hardly commented upon, by ! the' majority of people. But when General Birdwood comes, ak he will j shortly, a great ball, ■'wi'l be tendered I to him, and the jealousies and, heart- : burn-mg- that characterised the Prince lof \y ales' visit will' be renewed, and [there will bo a rush to see , who can claim the honour of dancing with tlje. bravje General. We wonder if , the public who fire' exciting' themselves 'over 'f'BirdieV' vlsfty jeally • -believe that it ia purely ii personal pleasure trip on his part. When the ordinary gentleman goes on holidsiy, he . doe?, not f>ut in. ten minutes or so at towns but "takes His .■■.time,, and follbws his f ancy. General B.'rd wood may he one of th s best of soldiers' (end...w.e have] no reason to doubt, this), .but, he will come to* Greymouth under orders from the ? nthorities, and' all the dance s and 1 receptions in the ; world cannot cani9uflage the real objept of his -visit.