POLITICIANS IN WAR.

Shannon News, 31 March 1925, Page 3

POLITICIANS IN WAR.

The part played by politicians in the war was discussed by Mr. Lloyd George on the occasion of his receiving the freedom of the city and county of Kingston-upon-llull. He affirmed that the countries which had the best politicians won the war. Russia, Turkey, Austria and Germany had no politicians. Germany was run through the war by third-rate politicians. In the old days of mercenary armies generals counted for more and, perhaps, politicians less—although they counted—but, in the last war, when the nation was the army, when everybody was in the army, and doing something, that was where the politician came in. Politicians had the training to handle men—he would not say women —in ( the mass.- Germany had not one. The J most formidable weapon in Avar was not their heavy guns, but their sur- , sum corda. Had they ever thought of | this one fact in the war, that Ger- j ma’ny surrendered on foreign territory? i Not merely did we not cross the J Rhine, avg Avere never within scores j of miles of it. Not a single Allied gun J could have iired into Germany,or did, | and Germany surrendered unconditionally, abjectly, mercilessly; she was a broken-backed thing. Did they think that would have happened if Germany had had perhaps a Clemenceau, a Gambetta, a Chatham? 'They had nothing but second and third-rate men who did not know how to talk to the heart of the nation. If anybody were inclined to think evil of politicians, let him think that it was the country with politicians that lasted through to the end.