The Dominion SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1921. “THE TRAGEDY OF LORD KITCHENER”

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 274, 13 August 1921, Page 6

The Dominion SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1921. “THE TRAGEDY OF LORD KITCHENER”

Almost invariably the life and work of a great man are seen m clearer perspective and are more accurately judged by a. later generation than by his own contemporaries. Bearing that truth in mind, Lord Esher would perhaps have refrained from writing the book, mentioned .in one of yesterdays cablegrams, in which he pictures Lord Kitchener in the final phase of his career as “a great man calk'd to a great task with the full consciousness that the powers winch served [him] steadfastly in the past had deserted him.” As a permanent member of the Committee of Imperial Defence, Lord Esher no doubt deals from a standpoint of some authority with the detail facts with which his book is concerned, but it does not by any means follow that his sweeping judgment of the war administrator to whom the whole nation iturned with .remarkable unanimity 'in an hour of supreme urgency must be accepted as conclusive. What evidence Lord Esher offers in support of his conclusions we have no present means of knowing, but, as they are briefly stated these conclusions ai*e decidedly Unconvincing; ’ It seems quite impossible to reconcile the picture of Kitchener as a spent and broken man with admitted and uncontested facts regarding the part ho played in organising the war resources of the nation. Some of the observations attributed to the noble author are manifestly trivial. For instance, "Kitchener sat alone in mufti in the Sudan chair, with a quiet, gentle look, like a wounded animal.” Was it to be expected that he would posture in full-dress uniform, strike heroic attitudes, and thunder commands? It need not be doubted for a moment that Lord Kitchener was a less imposing figure to near-at-hand observers than he was to the mass of the nation, but as much might be said of maDy men to whom no one would dream of denying great and distinguished qualities. To some extent contradicting his own statement that Lord Kitchener had lost his former powers, Lord Fsher says that: "His vision was clear, but he was unable to communicate it to others.” Against this assertion there is to be set the commanding and established fact that Lord Kitchener had no sooner assumed office as Secretary of State for War than he plainly warned the nation that the struggle- would be long, and would demand a gigantic effort. His reported prediction that the war would last for at least three years dates back to December, 1911, but in the appeal which he issued within two days of his appointment for 100,000 men, the terms of service were given as “for a -period of three years, or until the war is concluded.” His earliest speeches, of course, made it clear that he was laying his plans for a long war, and it can never be forgotten that his conception of the war and what it entailed was formed at a time when the world in general, ..including the Germans, believed that hostilities would end within a few months. It is a fact which Lord Esher has perhaps overlooked, but which certainly will not be overlooked when a final attempt is made to estimate Lord Kitchener’s services to tho British Empire, that a nation, particularly in times of supreme emergency, demandsand nced.iother qual- | itics in its trusted leaders than the ability to master and solvo all prob- : lems as they arise. There is little

doubt that- the tremendous responsibilities Loud Kitchener was asked to assume at the, outbreak of war were far too heavy for any one man to bear, but he performed a ,’>upreiiicly important service in awakening the nation to the magnitude of the task by which it was faced in the war, mid rousing it to such an effort as I fie case demanded. In his remarkable career, Lord Kitchener had gained name and fame not merely as a great military organiser, but as one who was animated by single-hen r fed dcvotPon and fidelity to the State. By n life of service and sacrifice and an absolute avoidance of the entanglements of party or faction, he had worthily gained the implicit trust of his Fellow-countrymen. Undoubtedly this bust and the qualities of leadership in Lord Kitchener by

which it was inspired stood the nation in supreme stead in the critical opening phase of the war. When it is recognised, as it must be, how well Lord Kitchener was qualified to rouse and rally the nation to a supreme effort, and how well he performed that essential duty, all questions regarding the extent to which he found himself baffled and confused in the detail duties of war administration and organisation assume secondary, though anything but minor, importance. .That ho was overloaded with responsibility is presumably beyond question, but the difficulties that resulted must be attributed rather to lack of national preparation for war than to Lord Kitchener’s inability to satisfy impossible demands. It is at least certain that he gave the nation a splendidly effective lead, and that in the very days when he is described by Lord Esher ns weak, despondent, and confused, he was engaged ih raising and organising the magnificent new armies which laid the foundations of ultimate victory.