5 DECEMBER 1914, Page 14

Here again the country has cause to be grateful to

Lord Kitchener for his brave and sensible words, and for his avoid. ance of that easy optimism which offers so many temptations to popular soldiers. Whether Lord Kitchener's exact time. table will prove correct or not does not matter. The essential thing is that he is not afraid to "depress the public mind" and to tell us the truth as he sees it. If the war is to last three years, we shall want not a million more men, but at least two million more. That is the practical lesson of Lord Kitchener's statement, and we trust the Government and the nation will heed it in good time.