Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1917 A FREEMAN OF LONDON

Hokitika Guardian, 1 May 1917, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1917 A FREEMAN OF LONDON

The honor aocorded tho Rfc Hon Lloyd George last week of making him a Freeman of London was the highest civil mark of favor which he might attain. The occasion suggests at once a contrast between his famous Limehome speech of hid Liberal dnya and the Guildhall speech of hie now National days. Prob&h y eighty per cent of the distinguished assemblage he addressed at the Guildhall were men who bad execrated him over and over again for his Limehouse spoech. Those who cursed have remained to pray. The compelling magnetism and power of the man has changed the wholly political atmosphere. He has won out, as no one else could possibly have done. Bnt it is not because of bis political powers that he has accomplished so much and gained such power. It has been for the reality of his service to Britain, or rather we should say to the Empire. He was tbs man who rose to the occasion in 1915, and realising the need for monitions, set about the organisation of a great service of §apply which to-day passes all comprehension. The arithmetic we are supplied with by which the relations of the gunnery at the Somme are compared with the position prior to that tutniog point in the war, and then the greater augmentation from the midsummer of

1916 to the spring of 1917, are difficult to oomprehend at this distance. Bat the figures will have a potent reality to the enemy who are being literally blown oat of their strongholds. The possibility of all this was initiated by Mr Lloyd George’s personal action, enthusiasm and organisation, and realising this great achievement, the master aot of the war, it is not diffienlt to understand the appreoiatioa given to the Prime Minister in the heart of the Empire. As if farther to justify the honor done him, Mr Lloyd George delivered one of his heart to heart talks which always carry each conviction to his auditors. He dealt with the mostsenons aspects of the war, as affeoting the pressnt eitnation--the submarine menace and all that it implies. The language used was plain and simple. There was an undercurrent of cheery optimism through it all which inspired confidence in the man and his work. Were the subjeot not so grave, it would be amusing to note bow the funk press rush to criticise the authorities for their failure to cope with the menace. We can take it from Mr Lloyd George that every thing that can be done is being done. Most of all we can be assured that our splendid Navy is “ all out ” to cope with the danger. The funk press is only happy when it damps and discourages tfiorfc. No doubt many of those papers who were afraid of congoripticn are now crying out their loudest against the authorities .or lack of initiative in the new arena,

Bnt the confidence the Empire as a whole rests on those in anthori.y will b 8 unshaken, there being an assured feeling that the whole matter is being handled with the fullest determination to succeed. Allied with the submarine menace, is the food question, and hers again, now that the nation is awake to the real danger, the country will tike the proper course. But the oountry was warned of this, as it was warned of other necessities in the way of preparation for winning the war. Britain always seems more sure of success when she is blundering through. She has to go down to the depths of despond before she is ready to climb to the heigh: b of action neosss&ry to triumph. That stage she has now reached, and is busy preparing for the high climb. This resolution is of infinite value, because once the penielnm begins fio swing the other way it will scon gain a velocity, and then the pessimists will take on a more cheerful vision of things. All this time we must remember tbs real decision of the war is being enaoted on the western front where those splendid AngloFrench troops are achieving such success against the formidable enemy. It is this feet whioh has given color to the optimism of Mr Lloyd George, and enables him to gnage even the duration of the war. The Premier is an asset of the Empire, and in this far-flung outpost the people will appreciate as highly as do the folks at Home the high honor paid to eras who has done so much to ensure the safety not only of the nation but of civilisation itself. •