THE WHEELS OF EMPIRE

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 2307, 27 November 1925, Page 5

THE WHEELS OF EMPIRE

KEEPING THEM GOING, NOT THE MEN AT THE TOP. ‘Who are the men who keep the wheels of our Empire running?” asked Major J. H. Beith, C.8.E., M. C. (“lan Hay”', in an address de.. Uvered to the students of Guy’s Hos. pital.

"You may safely say that they are not the people at the top. As a nation, we have seldom been well led or wisely directed in all , our history. The main strength of our country lies and always has lain, in our men-at-arms—our Other Ranks,, as they call them in the Army —whether those ranks be military or industrial, or administrative, or professional. Most of our successes, whether in war or peace, have been what we are proud to call soldiers' battles —the victories of the average man-—the average Englishman.

“Ha Is not brilliant ,ho Is not spectacular,. but you can xely on him. In south America they have a phrase, ‘Palabra Inglesa’—‘on the word of an Englishman,' and it means, with them, ‘Honour Bright!’ That Is the most splendid compliment ever paid by one nation to another, and It is addressed in the main to the man whom we axe considering now. We ourselves depend on him to such, an extent that we pay him the compllqnent of taking him as a matter' of course—and we are seldom disappointed. "The Civil servant, the platoon commander, the head clerk, the jun. ior form master, the slum curate, the country doctor —these are they that propel the, ship of State. Up above upon the quarterdeck, looking por. tentously wise and occasionally quarrelling for the possession of the helm you may behpld their superiors; but these friends of our s remain below the water-line—unheeded,, uncredited and to a large extent unsupervfsed and that is the main point—and see to it that the wheels go round. “They grumble and grouse, of course, and tell one another they are fed up— and usually they are—but they carry on, because initiative anct responsibility are in their blood. They expect no thanks ,and they are not disappointed. But the ship goes forward, and that is all they care about. Win or lose, sink or swim, in good times or in bad, that Is what counts—the ship, the cause ,the job, and not themselves. “To-day all over the world, wherever our flag flies, men you never heard of, and never will hear of, are shouldering responsibilities, making rapid decisions, improvising working expedients, getting the wheels round somehow-—not for any special honour or glory that is going to Accrue to them, but because it is their job, and it is up to them and them alone to do it.

“So they do it, by sheer force of character, personality, and the human touch. These are the things which bring them through. And fore, most among those men I salute the members of your profession, because that profession bear* as heavy and as proud a share of those burdens and responsibilities as any.”'