Evening star., 1923-06-13
n, THE MARauIsE DE Fo>TENoY.


Great Britain of all the powers
that took part in the great war mas
been most generous in the mater ol
rewards accorded to her victorious
military and naval commanders
Whereas France contented herseit
with. the bestowal Of the batons OF
field marshal upon Joffre, Foch'
Petain and Lyautey, along with the
somewhat meager full pay attached
TO that office for the remainder u
their days, and King Victor Enman-
uel accorded a dukedom to MS zen
araIissimo Dfaz, while the Congress
of tho United States took the peculiar
course of depriving its principal COM
manders of the promotions Wnlch
they had won on the .i,eir ut.
France, reducing them to thelr anu
hellum rank and pay. save IN tht
roIitarv case of Gen. Pershlng. Gredt
Britain conferred upon her princlpai
commanders orders or knlShthoou
hereditary titles and peeraseS. Win
seats in the house OF iorus. 80, PC
lament voted large grants OF ihpileS
u,hich in the case of the LORDS Hais
and Realty, took the form or aWarus
Of $500 600 each. while Field MarshalS
Lord French and Allenby receIrtu
half OF that amount, tne nnS
Awards being those of $125,VUo. IL
must be thoroughly understood that
these monetary rewards were not
Grants by the crown. but were Noteu
almost unanimously ny paVilaHieh' "S
the representatives of the people
few words, therefore. shouiu ne
s,iyen bv wav of explanation with re-
gard to England's alleged nlESaroiy
treatment of the widow of the late
Gen. Sir John Cowans. and the pup
licity given on both sldes Oh tne
Atlantic TO the exhibition for pubic
sale of all the costly insignia OF mis-
msnv orders of knighthood. in Pic
cadiiIy shop window in London
LADY Cowans called upon. for an
exnlanation. complained bitterly that
she had been compelled TO sell ner
husbands orders because OF the III
adeouacy of her widows pension and
81 the governments failure to deal
with her husband as il had dealt with
Field Marshals Lord Haig, Lord
French and Lord Allenby. in securing
for him a monetary grant by parma
ment 1t is only fair to Lady Cowahs
TO saw that she herself did not put
her husbands orders on sale. The
parties responsible for this We're the
executors of Sir Johns Will. W hen
they came to deal with ms estate
which did not exceed S4O,Ooo. tneS
found that it was more than sWais
lowed I'D bv his debts. which were or
a heavy character, and as the deco
rations formed part of his estate SO
they had no alternative but TO nave
them sold.
X
Now. the reason why parliament
failed TO vote any monetary reward
to Sir John Cowans was that instead
of figuring in any of the victories of
the war as a commander in the field,
or even as a combatant. his role, al
though of the utmost Importance as
uuartermaster general. was purely
administrative and restricted TO desk
duty i'm London. 1t was Lord hitch-
ener, it may be remembered. VINO
was responsible for the creation of
that wonderful army of close upon
: ono 600 men, whom he literally
raised from the very ground after
the beginning of the war. to supple
ment the contemplate little army
(to use Emperor Williams phrase
ology) of barely a quarter OF mill
lion men at the outset of the strug-
gle Yet Kitchener, because he had
not been a combatant in the field. but
had remained at home as secretary
of state for war, was not remem, :,
bered by parliament when 1T voted
monetary rewards to the victorious
commanders, although without him
the conflict. might have had far
sorrier ending as far as the British
empire, France and the allies In gen.
eral were concerned. Had any money
been voted (not to him, for he was
dead at the time-drowned at sea
while in the service OF the nation)
his brother and nephew, who in
herited his property and his titles.
would not have been obliged to leas
to strangers the Broom Hall estate,
in Kent, his favorite home and where
he had assembled all his treasures.
If there was no vote of money for
Kitchener's soldier brother. and sailor
nephew there was no particular rea-
son why there should be any none
tary vote for Sir John Cowans.
x **
True.4he. did wonderfully well as
quartermaster general. AS such he
had 30 provide for the requirements
of armies of near Ave million men,
operating in all parts of the, world.
In France, in Flanders. In northern
ItaIy,e Id sshe Balkans. on the penin-
sular of: :Gallipofi, In south, west
and east Africa, on the eastern and
on the western frontiers, of Egypt,
in Palestine. in Arabia, in Asia Minor,
Mesopotanifa, Persia. in European
and Asfatic Russia and last but not
least in China An English fore,
under the command of Gen. Nathaniet
Barnardiston, participated in the op-