AN AUSTRALIAN PROTEST.
[To THE Enrrox or THE " Ssecneroa.")
Sut„—The Australian Press has given currency to a statement credited to General Sir Archibald Murray that he "would rather lose a division of other troops than a brigade of Australians." If General Murray made such an assertion, it was as unwise as it was unwarranted. If it means anything, it means that the ordi- nary Australian soldier in five times as good a fighting man as the ordinary British "Tommy." Such a claim is simply preposterous, and would be flouted by all intelligent public opinion in Australia. I enclose a copy of a letter which appears in to-day's Melbourne Argus, protesting against General Murray's alleged statement. The writer certainly represents the feeling of all Australians who are worth considering. It need not be pointed out how mischievous is the tendency of such odious comparisons. Nor indeed can General Anderson be acquitted of blame for rashness in repeating University of Melbourne, August It]:.
[We dare say that General Murray said nothing of the kind. If he did use excessively flattering terms in a burst of exultation after watching a particularly fine piece of work, we should not be dis- posed greatly to blame him.
" Your panegyrics here provide:
You cannot err on flattery's side."
It is always possible to make allowance for the context of praise. Australians, moreover, cannot expect our point of view to be exactly their own. If Englishmen want to praise, it is difficult Is stop them. At the same time, we understand and can sympathise thoroughly with Australian sensitiveness. Aus- tralians—and Canadians too, as we saw lately in an article in the Morning Post—are just as much afraid of the sin of Hubris RI Englishmen are. They are afraid that if they get something like a monopoly of praise and accept it tacitly they will seem to sanc- tion it, and thus to join in a conspiracy to set themselves on a pedestal. To ask to be regarded as just gallant soldiers among a great company of gallant soldiers shows a truly admirable spirit to which -we, for our part, shall try respectfully and gratefully to defer.—ED. Spectator.]
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