GENERAL SMUTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 May 1943, Page 4

GENERAL SMUTS

A DYNAMIC PERSONALITY. VITAL PART IN THREE WARS. The great qualities of mind and vigour of body mark General Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa, as a dynamic personality. His quickness of grasp and drive show no sign of diminishing, despite his 72 years. Former lawyer-politician, AttorneyGeneral, this great statesman has played a vital part in three wars —the South African War, in which he fought brilliantly against Britain, and the first and present world wars, in which his vision and counsel have been devoted to the cause of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Born in 1872, Jan Christian Smuts was educated in South Africa and England at Victoria College, Stellenbosch, and at Christ’s College, Cambridge. He is a bencher of the Middle Temple, London, but practised at the Cape Town Bar. He removed to Johannesburg in 1896, and two years later became State Attorney of the South African Republic. In 1901 he served in the Boer War, and was given supreme command of the Republican Forces in Cape Colony. From 1916-17 he commanded British troops in East Africa. In 1917 he became a member of the Imperial War Cabinet. In November, 1939, General Smuts accepted membership of the International Commission set up under the conciliation treaty between the United States and Belgium for the advancement of peace. He was appointed a Field Marshal in the British Army with effect from Empire Day and his own 71st birthuay. He is the first Dominion soldier to reach that rank. He expressed the hope that his friends would continue to use the rank of general by which he was so widely known. On the occasion of his address to the British Parliament, Mr Churchill, expressing the thanks of the , assembly, said: “I feel that his arrival in this country at a time when the Avar hangs heavily upon us . . . will be a great reinforcement’to our councils and our spirits. The wisdom which he brings, the knowledge which he has . . . are available to’those who are charged with heavy responsibility, but his presence among us is a comfort and an inspiration . . . All that he has said arises from profound reflection—calm, quiet, profound reflection —full knowledge and resolute, unflinching, inflexible conviction, and courage ...”