Nelson Evening Mail THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1942 SMUTS: STATESMAN OF EMPIRE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 22 October 1942, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1942 SMUTS: STATESMAN OF EMPIRE

ANY public occasion which brought together a trinity of statesmen-such as Mr Lloyd George, General Smuts and Mr Churchill would be notable. When that occasion is a gathering of peers and commoners in one of the great halls of England on Trafalgar Day during one of the crises of mankind it becomes invested with a significance that will not be lost either on the free world or in the strongholds of tyrants. It is surely a great tribute to the Commonwealth conception—‘‘this great human experiment”—when one of its principal architects and outstanding figures can come to the Mother of ParliaI ments housed in another place and i give of the fruits of his knowledge, wisdom and experience. Mr Churchill. thanking him for his speech and for all he had done during the

long years of his life, described his presence as a comfort and inspiration to the British people at this j time. What he had said arose from quiet, calm, and profound reflection! and from inflexible resolution and courage. For them it was in many ways an unprecedented occasion. In these few words the Prime Minister gives us an insight into the personal qualities of General Smuts, who wore a Field Marshal’s uniform yesterday yet prefers to be known 1 by the title which he earned when lighting against the British in the 3oer War- It is a great manifesta- . tion of the inner strength of the British Commonwealth ideal that | Churchill and Smuts, ranged on opposing sides in South Africa, should become such close collaborators and firm friends, that friendship having , ripened over more than a quarter of < a century. As Churchill summons his • wisdom to the councils of United Nations now, so Lloyd George, Britain’s 1 dynamic leader in the last great < crisis, was the first to discern its j s worth. In 1916, when the vigour I : and military leadership of General ‘ Smuts had ousted the Germans from;; their African colonies, he went to ; England as the Union's represen-1 - tative in the Imperial War Cabinet- i J So useful did he prove that he stay- : ed. to become the only permanent Dominion member of that body. He addressed himself to his audience , yesterday as a political figure from • a past age. In spite of his modesty the Empire knows that Smuts is anything but a back number. The Gen- j eral has been invited to London j when great moves are being‘planned, because it is freely acknowledged everywhere that no Dominion states- . man between the two wars has

; emerged to surpass or even approach him in stature. A natural genius was nurtured and ; matured at South African and British universities. After that there j ; came into prominence in Cape Town , ! a young lawyer whose remarkable ability shone out before he was 30. I But consider the amazing versatility I I of a man endowed with an intellect \ \ of the highest calibre—keen, quick, 1 1 penetrating. These gifts are all the I more precious at a time when so | much mediocrity climbs to office- As I a soldier and, for as long as the pre- | sent generation can remember, in | statesmanship. these abilities have | served the Empire. His triumph in | the tricky field of South African f politics since this war began is in | itself a testimonial to sagacity. Now f the General comes to London once | | more because it is recognised that II this first-class mind has lost none of | i its agility, his insight none of its 11 breadth or depth, while his judgment | remains unimpaired. : That was proved again yesterday | by the way he filled in the broad \ canvas of this “continuing drama of ! our age" with bold but sure strokes. Looking upon the war as but a con-! \ tinuation of the last, with an uneasy I intermission, General Smuts paid [ fitting tribute to Mi* Lloyd George and

Mr Churchill as the two great actors , in the drama, adding a significant third, the British people, now backed by the powerful partners of United Nations. In adversity the spirit of the people had been a beacon light which lit up the evil nakedness of the Nazi attempt to found a new barbarism. This was a war of the spirit, he saidI The spirit of liberty was the accepted creed of the last war, but this time we must not fail to write it into the new order. Glimpsing the postwar world and posing the question of what kind of a social order we were aiming at. the General named the United Nations’ conception and the Atlantic Charter as two encouraging signposts to guide our steps towards a future life suitable for mankind. To those he would add much of the good which lay at the heart of the League of Nations—of which he was one of the founders—and those advances in thought and I policy which meant so much to the J daily lives of the common people. J Finally, in laying securely this time * the foundations of lasting world ! peace, we must strike at the root j causes of war.