STATESMEN AT THE FRONT.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 July 1916, Page 5

STATESMEN AT THE FRONT.

*■ ~« VISIT OF MESSRS ' FISHER, . (By Malcolm Ross). __ ,' i Northern France, June 2A Yesterday was Ascension Way, »#. hroughout: France girls, like fiSto brides all dressed in (lowing robe* and veils of white, were going to their first Communion. Many walked beside, mother* in deep black. The striking contrast reminded „,,. of the wa ,._ Uy * lor tins contrast a. the absence of the fathers one's thoughts might easily hav* been diverted into move peaceful r-han- - nels. Such of the fathers of these eharmnig little children its were not dead or wounded were at the front, and the war was going on with all its old intensity.' let never did Northern France looli more glorious. The white roads and tiie red and brown bricks and tiles of the' houses gave the only relief to the wondrous green with which a kindly *«*** ' has carpeted the land. The. fltecy fleet* ing clouds between which the warm sun-" shine poured gave atmosphere to thai scene—the atmosphere of the artist. M every turn there were the Turners audi Corots we had seen in frames. In thet fields old men and women bent wetf their hoes amongst the beet and utnust From crowded churches came the soundl of voices raises in praise or It was all very peaceful. Ohr ears swung oil' the main road atafl along an avenue of tall trees wlroMl branches met overhead. At the end ofi the drive was a, chateau, and grouped! about the entrance generals and othefl officers dressed in khaki. Tunic breasts with many mcdal-rilibons showed thaij nearly all of these men had seen sefvicel —some of them much service. They werq the generals and other officers ofvffce} Australian •imperial Force. We waited about an hour, cnattfog about past adventures and present pr\> speets, till two enrs that had come .% long way from G.11.Q. pulled up at the? main entrance. Out of the first enj stepped two men in mufti. An English* man in mufti at the front in these davs is indeed a rarity. The first of these) men. of/ poor physique, short, thin, with a clean-shaven face except for the closecropped moustache, was very simplyi dressed in drab grey, a light-colored! felt hat with a black band oa»-it, and! brown leggings. JR. was Mr. William' Hughes, the Prime Minister of Ausi trnlia. With that khaki throng ho seemed iiicongruent. The only thing) military about him was his leggings. Rut no one minded a 1 pin how -Mr, Hughes was drescscd. His fame hail preceded him, and he received a heartjj welcome. The second man was even more plainly, clothed than the lirst. His distinguishing garment was a short-light-eolorcd] Holland, coat that would have made him i a clear target for the sniper had he gone ■ into the tiring line. His hair was whit* or than Mr. Hughes'; <tnd' he, too, scenn ed thin and run down. He was }Atj - Andrew Fisher, familiarly referred to by] the Australians as "Andy." A year's strenuous work as Prime Minister oj the Commonwealth during a critical timet had evidently told upon a constitution that perhaps had not had a fair start. ■From the chateau these two men. with! their entourage of generals, officers, pressmen and private secretaries, .hurried away to an uneven grass, paddocKi about a mile away. There, hidden from the gaze of enemy observers in planes) ' and balloons, a brigade was drawi up, / ■waiting. There was a hurried inspect tinn and a brief speech from Mr. Hughes, who mounted a waggon while the bri-. gade was being drawn closer in about*' him. The men looked magnificent. Their military training had improved . them greatly from the physical point ofj view, and perhaps in other ways too, "By God, they're fine chaps!" said w British officer, who had seen them fort the first time. "They are," simply replied an Australian brigadier. The brief! speech that the Prime Minister delivered, rang out manly and true. "We standi for peace," he said, "We have emblazoned it on our. banner. We beiicva that there is no chance for peace until we have crushed Germany." To another gathering of troops seen later in th« day Mr. Fisher also spoke, and his Scottish accent gave full force and meaning to the wrods with which he concluded':, "Lay the proud oppressor low, Tyrants fall in every foe, Liberty's in every blow, Let us do or die." Standing there in the hollow squaw, watching the scene, one could not help contrasting the robustness of the young Australian giants, with the physical weakness of the two lion-hearted, men. who were their political leaders. And one could not help also contrasting the two men. Mr. Hughes, weak as he is in physical frame is a lighting man. Hut he is afighter perhaps more through environment than by instinct. He fights the battle of intellect against intellect, and he fights it with a hard logic and a biting sarcasm difficult to overcome, His nimble Celtic brain ranke.s of him an intellectual, and as the intellectual one can almost conceive of his having a contempt for sipne of the men whom, as a politician, he lias endeavored to uplift, for the docker and the shearer who form the rungs of the ladder by which Mr. Hughes himself has climbed, are the very antithesis of the. mnn himself. Nevertheless, to his dying day Mr. Hughes will continue to work for the men of that class. Mr. Fisher has none of the Wel>h (Ire of Mr. Hughes. Neither is he gifted with the keen intellectuality of the latter. But he has other qualification*. He is what you might term a canny Scot. He is a proved administrator;" lie lias a move judicial mimi; and he is a shrewd picker of men. /He is' also a man of strong principles —a man in whom one instinctively has' confidence.' Combined with these 'qualities, he. has been endowed with the attribute, of strong determination. With all this he is n generous ami kindly man. ev'en to his i>>v. During the course of Ihe a 1';"!"""-)-! the visitors saw exhibit i.'dis ' ; •»" ' "•: rille. grenade work. <:•.'• . smoke clouds, tnd '•'"> Particularly intcestii" .. display, and cspeciai!. .■ ease with which the i-.i. hing the point' of the •' ■nan, brought him -m! '•■• the ground, minus his v, structor of this squad" wa- •> . built Briton, who had with hj, ■'. killed fourteen Germans. Introduced to Mr. Hughes, and M.\ i. seemed pleased, for he also is in i .... not only of killing Germans, bat Ginn.tu trade as well.