THE NEW FIRST LORD.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 2 November 1917, Page 1

THE NEW FIRST LORD.

Sic Eric Geddes, who succeeded Sir lidward Carson as political head of- the Admiralty, was born in India, of English parentage; left school iu England when he was 15, and emigrated to the United States, where he worked iu the logginy camps of West Virginia, was thereafter employed for a year iu the Homestead Steel Works at Pittsburg, and for three years was in the employ of ttio Baltimore-Ohio Railway Company. In 1897 ho returned to India, and at 21 cut through the jungle to lay a railway track. For the manner iu which-he executed that work he was summoued to England to join the staff of the North-eastern Railway Company. It was while serving there as assistant manager that he attracted the notice of the late Lord Kitchener on account of his outstanding ' ability in mobilising the railway system for war purposes. Kitchener recognised in the young man a natural soldier with no war experience. Kitchener nee'ded men to supervise the ( transportation of troops. He enlisted the . services of young Geddes, and so distin- | guislied did those services immediately become both in the War and Navy Departments as to lead last year to a knighthood. After the battle of the Somrne he was • sent to France to help the French Government reorganise the frightfully cougested railroads in a time when hustling meant much, and iu the words of the ' Manchester Guardian,' such was the " suddenness and . tightness of his work/' that Sir Douglas Haig insisted on keeping him on the Staff in France as director-general of Iransporta- . tiou. When a special department for the ' control of munitions was organised in 191b, Geddes was appointed by Lloyd' George as deputy director-general of munitions. Subsequently, when it was necessary to quicken 1 shipbuilding, he was called to fill a new office 1 at the Admiralty under the revived title of Controller of the Navy. It is little wonder i the questiou was put with sonle asperity in b Parliament, " Is tliere so great a dearth of ; able men that Sir Eric Geddes has to be . clicseu for every new post that is created?"' I MAGNITUDE OF HIS TASK., j Tho job that Sir Eric has before him has been thus outlined : To reduce or suppress the. menace of the. German undersea boats. To tighten the mesh which the British Grand Fleet can draw about German e ports. n • To roll up the red tape, cast out pree cedent" and barnacled "policies," and i- releose the impulse for initiative in naval action. To utilise in a reorganised board the staff brains of "the fleet and not compose it of favorites, or on the bas.-. of seniority, length of service iu revolving office-chains, or executive command afloat, but from officers who have become proficient in the ■ greater problems of naval warfare. To -adopt and- apply non-pull' methods of promotion, new devices, and encourage new strategies; and | ( To squelch with practicabilities tho " lawyer-politician delusion ' that puper i( agreements are as good as a squadron" in , t stopping neutral controband trade with the enemy. ts SIR ERIC'S SLOGAN: "NO INTERFERENCE WITH NAVAL STRATEGY." l <* On the occasion of his return as M.P. foils the borough of Cambridge Sir Eric made a

characteristic speech as representative of the "University town. "It was what I saw in Prance that gave me my determination that nothing matters but to go on with this war to the end." Then he went on to give some interesting details of his own caieer, saying:

" You have been told that I have been a railway man, and that I was once a porter. That is true, and I am very proud of it. The raihvaymen of England I hold in the highest regard, and that regard has been intensified" by what I have seen of their- work hi France. ... . Though I have been asked to talk about myself, there is not a great deal to tell. I have worked for my living since I was 17. I have never played much or long, and not at all during the" last three years, during which I have worked harder than-' ever before. What little politics I had I have forgotten in the munition factories of France, in the dockyards, and with the ueets. Before the war I had done soldiering in India. At the beginning of the war i raised and commanded one of the finest pioneer battalions that ever went to France. At Lord Kitchener's request I went to the War Office, and had a hand at most tilings there, except shell production. Then I went to France, first to report, and later to join Sir Douglas Haig's Staff. " To one who has spent months in France, who has witnessed the workings of the most malicious retreat in the history of the- world, with its wanton ravishing of the country and the villages, one feels that the sole 'thing that matters is to go one with the war. The destruction of the German army is what matters, and it is going on daily. I do notthink we are within sight of the end of the war, but you have to go on; you can't stop now. Any peace wg could get to-day is no good at all. The German military power has to be broken before we can get a peace worth having. THE DEEDS OF THE NAVY.

"When I went to the Admiralty I thought I knew 7 all about the deeds of the Navy, but I didn't. I have now seen the records and reports, something that you can't put into the (papers. The officers of the Navy are the bravest of men, hut they say * Please don't tell' all .our exploits at sea, 1 and the reason is not far to seek. Remember Captain Fryatt. The Arnijy' the First Lord went on, " was completely confident, aud the confidence of the Army was only matched by the confidence of the Grand Fleet. But the difference between the Army and the Navy was that while there was' someone to fight on land there was only someone under the sea for the Navy. It was as difficult as trying to catch a mole in a garden. The German fleet had not the least intention of coming out, so they must not be impatient with the Navy. Its enterprise and courage passed all words. When its story is told some day it will surpass in heroism and daring and ingenuity and wouder the tales of Captain Marryat. You may ask: How do I view the duties of First Lord of the Admiralty? Tlie last thing I should do is to interfere in naval strategy. (Loud cheers.) My time 'in France has taught me that it is better to leave tactics and strategy to the professional soldier and sailor, and I intend to do so. But it is my duty to know what the Sea Lords are proposing to do, to get through the material and resources at their disposal, to form an independent opinion as to whether they have enough or should have more, and, in every possible way as far as a civilian can, help them in their war work." PUTS ON NO "SIDE." A good story is going the round about Sir Eric's distaste for ceremonial and show. When he was created a general the soldiers on duty invariably saluted him, but he asked _tihem to discontinue the practice unless he wore uniform. When the circumstance reached the earn of a lieutenant of the old regime ho was very angry, and, striking the table fiercely with his fists, remarked: "That's what comes of making a railway porter an officer 1"