A WELL EARNED COMPLIMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 75, 18 August 1914, Page 4

A WELL EARNED COMPLIMENT.

Tho announcement that Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, the oldest officer on the active list of the British Army, had been appointed Colonel-iri-Chief of the Overseas Forces, is not only a graceful compliment on the part of the Imperial authorities to • the Dominion, fait, it is also an indication of the high appreciation of the Motherland at the grand response of her overseas children to tin; call for assistance in the time of need. The splendid services of the overseas contingents in the Boer war proved that the sons of the Empire were as valiant and ibrave as their forefathers, and wero 'fired with the same zeal for upholding the prestige of the British race. The. same eagerness to rally round the 'Union Jack lias been and is being demonstrated by the Dominions at the present time, when England has been forced into a war against Germany anil Austria, compared with which the Boer trouble was a mere circumstance. Tim response to the call for volunteer? to take part with the Motherland and her allies has exceeded all expectations in every part of the Empire. In Canaan alone,' 100,000 'have come forward, and in 'botli Australia and New Zealand thousands are willing and anxious to bear arms against the Empire's foes. The part which Lord Roberts has taken in advocating universal military training is lso well known that it needs no repetition. At the advanced age of 82 years, lie is still on the active list of the British. army, and, curiously enough, the next name on the list is that of the Lmperor of Germany. The distinguished military career of Lord Roberts, and the vast knowledge and experience gained by 'him, peculiarly fitted that expert soldier to guage the military heeds of the Empire, and there ig no doubt that his strenuous campaign on behalf of universal training was tJfe outcome of a prescience that the day would come when the services of every able-bodied man in the Empire would be needed—and that day has arrived. The appropriateness of bis appointment as head of the overseas forces cannot be disputed, and the honor conferred thereby* on the Dominions is one. of which they may justly feel proud. The children of the Lmpire have nobly risen to the occasion, thereby once again proving that they are one in heart with the Motherland in her joys anil troubles. One cannot in lp calling to mind the words of Horace in praise of the race of Xero's:— Enough that hosts victorious louf and far, ° A aiujuished in turn by a young heart and brain, Kelt what the mind, and what the heart achieve, When reared and fostered amidst blest abodes, And with parental love A Cfl.tißa.rs soul inspires; a Xcro's sons.