THE VOICE OF EMPIRE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 52, 13 May 1942, Page 4

THE VOICE OF EMPIRE

THE Churchillian growl is likely to become one of the outstanding features of the British conduct of the war. When we in Whakatane reflect that as we received the last radioed broadcast from our great leader, hundreds of millions of listeners in all parts of the world were doing the same thing, feeling the same, thrilling the same and undergoing the same reactions as we ourselves we can appreciate the magnitude of the effect of that inspired speech. To the Empire it bred confidence and loyalty,, to America it brought new perspective and welcomed strength, to the oppressed it spelt hope and freedom while to the peoples of the Axis countries, it must have brought consternation. and ?csr. Churchill has captured as few have ever captured before in our history, the true interpretation of the heart of the British peoples. The. very throatiness of his intonation, smacks of the bull dog courage which lies behind the vast strength of purpose and penetration which he possesses. None could mistake the threat in his words directed to Nazi Germany regarding the, use of gas. None rovild mistake, likewise the reassurance with which he announced the turning of the tid.e. All these things have served to give us great heart and growing courage to endure,, in the face of things to come. His masterly handling of the progress of the war—the four chapters of which he delineated for simple review, was an inspiration in itself for his people an; 1 , his Allies, as much as it must have turned the knife in the wounded conscience of the guilty authors of the war. Few can handle words such as he and the depth and the purpose of each uttered phrase makes us compare with pride the maniacal tirades of the leader of the forces if aggression. No Britisher can stand hysteria—in fact the average democratic citizen of Empire takes a lot of genuine elocution to be moved. But Churchill appears to have struck the correct note from the outset. He is the right man in the right place and as the nations leader has held the races of Empire together in a manner which is remarkable as it is astonishing and unbelievable. The firmness of his hand was felt from the moment the Chamberlain Government fell. He has spoken to the people in terms which never attempted to disguise the seriousness of the position. H< has premised nothing that was calculated to win popularity. But he has taken the people into his confidence and this has been appreciated. To-day on the rising tide of circumstance he speaks with authority and his words ring out to the whole world as a new tocsin of hope and peace. 'A great man has always arisen to save the British peoples in their time of trial' says one well known authority. Of Churchill we can acknowledge this to. the hilt, and as the years pass on and peace is born again we must never forget tho immeasurable services of this rugged descendant of Marlborough and the gigantic war figure he assumed when the Empire was rocking its foundations.