276 Curzon's Quarrel with Kitchener [i9°9 



iously. St. John, on the other hand, could not resist the temptation 

 of having his little revenge on George, when at last he found himself 

 George's official superior, and was down on him on the first oppor- 

 tunity. As to the quarrel with Kitchener, whom Winston hates, call- 

 ing him by very hard names, Winston explained how badly Curzon 

 had played his cards. The quarrel between them he declared to have 

 been this : when the question of the change in the Commander-in- 

 Chief's powers was introduced, Curzon agreed to it on condition that 

 Burrows was appointed, and Kitchener agreed verbally to the appoint- 

 ment. At the same time, however, Kitchener telegraphed privately 

 to the War Office saying that Burrows was quite unfit. This telegram, 

 according to the espionage system practised in India, was laid before 

 the Viceroy. ' Curzon ought then,' said Winston, ' to have called 

 on Kitchener to explain himself, accused him of being the liar and in- 

 triguer he was, and reported the whole thing to the India office, when it 

 would have been Kitchener who would have had to resign. Instead 

 of this he allowed Kitchener to bring the thing forward as a dispute 

 about the Commander-in-Chief's powers, where Kitchener was able to 

 get the best of it. Curzon being Kitchener's superior, ought never to 

 have allowed this — and it ended in his having himself to resign.' He 

 lost his temper to such an extent that when Minto came out to relieve 

 him he refused, contrary to all precedent of etiquette, to attend the 

 ceremony of handing over his Governor-Generalship to the new-comer, 

 and remained in his own room. 



" Winston sympathizes much with my ideas about the native ques- 

 tion in India, and in general about the enslavement of the coloured 

 by the white race. But he says he is an Imperialist, and his chief 

 interest is in the condition and welfare of the poor in England, who, he 

 says, are far worse off than the poor in any part of the East. ' I 

 would give my life,' he said, ' to see them placed on a right footing 

 in regard to their lives and means of living. That is what I am paid 

 for, and I would really give my life.' I can see all the same that my 

 arguments have effect on him, just as they used to have with his father; 

 and I should not be surprised if some day he made the Indian cause his 

 own. Talking of Kitchener's appointment to Malta he scoffed at 

 Haldane's pretence that this was destined to be a post of the highest 

 military importance, comprising the whole of our military communica- 

 tion with India, ' when,' he said, ' we all perfectly well know that our 

 only road to India in war time is by the Cape.' 



" To-day we shot hedgerows round about Gosbrook and Blinks Wood. 

 Winston shot very well, though, of course, it was easy shooting. Both 

 the ladies walked with us. Farid Bey and Osman Ghaleb had an- 

 nounced their arrival, which would have been most inconvenient ; but, 

 fortunately, did not appear, having, I suppose, received my telegram in 



