KEEPING OUR SPIRITS UP

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2351, 6 January 1915, Page 3

KEEPING OUR SPIRITS UP

[The decline in recruiting is- largely attributed to the scanty, irregular, lifeless, and stereotyped statements issued from Whitehall as a substitute for the inspiriting narratives which war correspondents are forbidden, to send.] When the British. win honour and glory— . j .■ , When they ride at the guns of the And die' that the national story r With : their gallant' devotion might V glow, . . • , The Whitehall authorities send us, !,'■ In reticent mords and restrained, 'This message, new ardour .to lend us:— j "Our progress to-day. was niaintain- ' ed '" '' ' /' '"'■■'. No matter how valiant and Paries ß , Our soldiors may be in the field; No matter how patriots, fearless ' . • Their lives for old England may yield; No matter how nobly and dearly A regiment's laurels are gained, To Whitehall it indicates merely:— "Our progress to-day.wa6 maintain- ■ <**" ;. ."■'■" Tommy. Atkins may rescue another In- the .teeth of the. \.death-spitting gun, ■ Or an officer die for a brother In the heat of a battle well-won; But Whitehall, remaining at zero, With a wisdom official and-trained, ,■ Tells the nation that worships a hero:— "Our progress to-day was maintained." :. •.■■.,; • ' men no longer the war-tempest rages; When Peace is about to be signed, And England has glorious pages To add' to the scroll of mankind; When the nations who plotted.to kill us At the Bar of the World are arraignThis message from Whitehall will thrill "Our progress to-day was maintained " —Trevor (in the "Daily Mail").