SIR DOUGLAS HAIG MASTER OF THE TASK.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 203, 25 August 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

SIR DOUGLAS HAIG MASTER OF THE TASK.

BRITISH GENERAL INSPIRE? CONFIDENCE IN SPITE OF YOUTH. "I have seen Sir Douglas Haig described as a 'rough-hewn soldier,' who like Kleber, makes you feel brave to look at him," writes Alfred G. Gardiner in " The Century." " Ifyou meet him with that picture in your mmd you have a shock of surprise. It is true that his bearing is gallant and soldierly and that lie conveys a sense of a man entirely master of himself and of Ins task. He is one of the youngest generals in the British army, but he is young looking even for his years. This suggestion of youth is due not only to the rapid movements of the stalwart frame, but more definitely to the smooth, untroubled face. In profile t slants forward from the retreating brow to the adventurous nose and the big, strong chin. Seen 111 front, the face 'is square and massive, the mouth broad and derisive, the blue-gray eyes are calm and direct. "But in his manner, speech, and habit of mind there is no trace of the 'rough-hewn soldier.' He is as remote as anything that can be imagined from suggesting the hard, merciless features of the typical Prussian, Mackensen. or Falkenhayn, for example. Despite )rs uniform, he suggests Oxford more than the barrack room, and one feels that he would be charming and reassuring by the bedside whether as the rector or the doctor. He irradiates a certain atmosphere of what I may call l>enevolent alertness. He wins one's confidence by the obvious sincerity and candour of his speech, is tolerant of a contrary opinion and listens with respect to anything that deserves respect. "But over-emphasis, cock-sureness, dogmatism have short shrift from him. It is not that he rebukes them by word but that he makes them seem false and crude by contrast with his own serene and governed manner. He is like the skilful horseman who rules his steed not by the whip and the spur, but by the subtle authority of a superior will conveyed through b'nts tliat are at once gentle and indisputable. In the midst of his .staff his mastery is obvious without being demonstrative. It nas tli9 art of evoking tho max'mum ol thought and directing it into the right channels without surrendering any element of respect. It is the art of the judge who encourages the counsel to enlighten him, but preserves his right of judgment."