TRUE LIBERTY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16143, 22 February 1918, Page 7

TRUE LIBERTY.

THE LESSON OF Kl'S^IA. ADDRESS 13V THE GOVERNORGENERAL. Refeirnre to tli" war and tr> discipline v.-as mad" by ).i: ? Excellency tho Ivirl ol l.iverp'o! in his addrob.% to tho CJuistN ('olii'.'ie l.oy, at their annual prize distribution ceremony la.it evening. •'\ou have go; a spl ndid Roll of Honour of go_d v. ,»: k done, and being done." said l:i- Ex.-.olielley, •'and / train to point out that more wi.i be expected of you in the future than perhaps was the rase of tho.- ■ who have nnir.i diately gone hefore yen. ir.-tly. Ijccaii.-o tho affairs ot the ".or!.I generally tvil] call ioj- greater effort aft» r the war. < specially owing to 11' (j shottage oi food <oinjnodities and the a'.s.ocaaon oi tiiau-i-mi industries, and, secondly, that a v>ry appreciable inroad t*. ill i.ave b.cn matle into the numbers ol the young ninnhoud of the nation, which umi.v ordinal v circum.stance.i v.oiiid have I e.-n available to carry on the gu d. n<v and affair:- of the Empire. 'Ilriv arc moments m the present .struggle wlie.i we are apt to be surprised wuen. irrespective of tcniIjomry militaiy disappointments which aro bound to orcur, there seem to arisa some whose criticism appear* rather to impede than to.assist those tviio are in atlthorily. Hut sueli occurrences are impossible to avoid, and are merely incident.- in the routine of our human liie, and slu-r.hl not in any way hinder every/ from doing his utmost to at>-s-ist /. everv tvav possible the leaders who have been chosen to curry tho struggle to :> successful conclusion. FREEDOM OF SPEECH. "It is very difficult, to define when criticism is helpful and tvhen' harmful. One of the reasons v.hy the Englishspeaking racr? has been so free from the upheavals which have from time to time taken place in othor lands is due to the fact thai: no curb has been placed on freedom of thought and speech, and it. has been left to the good sonso of tho nation to decide what it will or will not accept. It is truo that this great liberty can be abuse ! like everything else, and, indeed, in time of war it is necessary to enforce restrictions, which even are apt to cause hardship, but again, as has been exemplified during the past JU years, tho good sense of the people has acknowledged the situation, and cheerfully accepted the position which altered circumstances have imposed on, them." A STRIKING ILLUSTRATION. "You have a striking illustration of the abuse of all what wo call liberty in the present condition of llussia. This huge country, made up of numerous distinct nationalities, nas suddonly risen up against its old-time form of government, without having rightly conceived what kind of stable authority it can set_ up in its place. Liberty without discipline is just _ as dangerous to a nation as the unjust curtailment of the legitimate rights of tho community, and leads frequently to the most; terrible excesses being perpetrated tinder the mask of liber lyj but which is really tho face of tyranny. What will be the end of the revolution in Russia none can foresee, but it seems that the solution will only be found if a man with supernatural power for leadership arises, who wiil direct the thoughts of the nation bacK to more normal channels of thought and reasonableness. History has taught us that in all great upheavals that this is the second phase, when nations who have long been bound by autocratic forms of government, suddenly determine to take the reins into their own hands, and think that liberty can oo achieved by discarding what has to tlieni been a cast-iron tyranny. I have instanced the Russian revolution for the purpose of bringing before you the fact that the world's problems in the future, even after the overthrow of Prussiamsm l-aa been accomplished, should not lead us into a false channel, that with the end of tho war a millennium will suddenly arrive. FACING THE FUTURE. "For this reason the rising generation should redouble its efforts to make itself capable of bearing everything, it may be called on to face, when ns leaders of the State they in their turn have to take the places of their predecessors. When I use the term leaders, 1 do not necessarily mean the men who primarily are the directors cf government, but rather the men whose brains go to build up the fabric of the State, and without which the position which the British people has for so long held in the world, would crumble into insignificance. For this reason strive to do all you can to seize every opportunity to make yourselves efficient ; never lose a chance to try and add to your store of knowledge; work hard so that it may be of use not only for yourself but to the community; play hard so that you can keep yourselves fit and well, and encourage that friendly rivalry which has been such an asset of our national world 1 and which has been one of the finest examples of public school life—and last, above all, he courteous to every man, recollecting that on every occasion there are two sides to every problem, and that if you are in the right jou are far more likely to win your aim* by adopting this view than by taking up the position that your opponent has got no point to justifylfeis cause. It is not the super-clever individual who is necessarily the successful man, or the most useful to his fellow-creatures, but rather the one who wins men to him by sympathetic, just, and a steadfast path of organisation. If you determine your life on these lines yon will never have cause to regret your choice, and you will prove worthy successors of the men who. at the Empire's call, have left home and country and gone over the sea—they know not where—to uphold all which our fathers and ourselves held and will hold dear until timo shall be no more."