26 JUNE 1915, Page 3

Mr. Rndyard Kipling delivered a striking speech at an open-sir

meeting held at Southport on Monday night in connexion with Lord Derby's West Lancashire campaign. Mr. Kipling observed that he was there to speak on behalf of a eystem—voluntary service—in which he did not believe, bat, clumsy and unfair as it was, it was the only one they had. They had chosen it deliberately, and they must not shelter themselves behind its defects, but work it as well as they could. Those who believed in it must realize that now was the time for them to show what an excellent system it was by voluntarily shouldering their responsibilities. Mr. Kipling described the German method of preparation for the war, which included a mind "carefully trained out of the idea of every moral sense or obligation." The horrors the Germane had committed were all arranged beforehand, and were part of the system in which Germany had been scientifically trained. We should not be saved by argument; our own strength and our own will alone could save us. "Nor need we expect any miracle to save us. So long as an unbroken Germany exists so long will life on this planet be intolerable, not only for us and for our allies, but for all humanity."