14 February PAe 84 - St. Louis Lantern, Letter to the Editor, Hon. Lord Wm. Prescott, JSC

A CALL FOR RESPONSIBLE MILITARY ADMINISTRATION IN ST LOUIS

Military leadership must change, and resistance to the primacy of politics in directing military activity must end.

Hon. Lord Wm. Prescott, JSC

As recent events have most abundantly indicated, time most certainly has come for us to address many challenges in civil society, and the administration of law. Nothing highlights that more than the brutal assassination of Lord Peter Wolsey by an outlandish savage. It is further highlighted by how seriously the law, as established by HRM's legally elected and appointed servants, has deliberately and perniciously been undermined by certain officials.

I am first among many to value the importance of the strong arm of our military. However, it is equally certain, that the control of that power should and must reside with civilian authority. It is corrosive to society at large when this is not the case, and in many past times, has lead to dreadful outcomes.

Mindful of that, it is my duty to call upon Sir Houston Kitchener to resign his post with the Aeroplex, to make way for leadership which will insure civilian authority stands supreme.

I do not recommend this lightly; Colonel Kitchener's contributions to our nation are many and manifest, and he has rightly been rewarded greatly for this service. However, he is just one man, and as many who have been elevated rapidly to power, is one who's reach and grasp has been exceeded by new responsibilities which are beyond his ability to manage.

It has been revealed that his office and functionaries have specifically pursued an agenda and activities supporting the Nightmen as full subjects of the King, to the detriment of those already his full subjects. It is clearly evident that this favoritism has eroded the contribution of his commands work to the common good. It is further clear that since the passage of the Registration Act, his office and members of the military for which he is responsible have acted deliberately to slow its implementation, and have come perilously close to outright defiance of civil authority.

I will not imply his participation in this; he has neither acknowledged nor denied these charges, and knowing him to be an individual of the highest honor, I will not call that into question. However, what is clear, that for whatever reason, his functionaries are acting against the will of written law, and he is either unwilling or unable to bring them to heel.

For this reason, Sir Kitchener must resign; I feel he may do so with no fault, and most certainly, has always sought to do his best in service to the crown. However, sometimes that by itself is not enough, and to address this, we need steadier and more experienced hands on the reigns of responsibility.