TSAR TAKES CHIEF COMMAND OF RUSSIAN ARMIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16019, 10 September 1915, Page 7

TSAR TAKES CHIEF COMMAND OF RUSSIAN ARMIES.

GRAND DUKE APPOINTED VICEROY OF THE CAUCASUS. SOLEMN RESCRIPT ISSUED BY THE TSAR. Petrogbad, September S. It is officially announced that the Tsar will personally take the chief command oh sea and land. The Grand Duke Nicholas has been appointed viceroy of the CaucasusThe Tsar has issued a rescript containing a most generous acknowledgment of the Grand Duke Nicholas's services. The Tsar, in his rescript, says: "At the beginning of the war I was unavoidably prevented from following the inclination of my soul to put myself at the head of the army and navy. Hence I entrusted you with the chief command. You, under the eyes of the whole of Russia, proved steadfast, your bravery inspiring the profound confidence and good wishes of all. My duty to my country, entrusted to me by God, impels me to-day, when the enemy has penetrated to the interior of the empire, to take supreme command of the care and fatigues of wax to safeguard Russian soil. The ways of Providence are inscrutable, but my duty and desire determine me in my resolution for the good of the State. The invasion by the enemy of the north-western frontwhich necessitates the greatest possible concentration, civil and military, as well as the unification of the command in the fieldhas turned attention from the southern front, where I have recognised the necessity for your assistance and counsels- You are therefore appointed to the high office of viceroy of the Caucasus."