“OUTSPOKEN” BOOK

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 84, 19 January 1928, Page 3

“OUTSPOKEN” BOOK

AS A GERMAN SEES THEM. BRITISH POLITICIANS. Dr. Rudolph Kircher, the German journalist, publication of whose volume of pen pictures -of British politicians has been postponed .because some of the authors comments are considered too outspoken, told a Press representative in London that he hoped a way would be found to get over the difficulties that had arisen, and that they, would not seriously ,delay publication. Dr. Kircher is London correspondent, of the ‘Frankfurt Gazette,’ and the book is entitled ‘Powers and Pillars.’ “After all, there is no scandal in the book,” he said. “There are no spicy revelations. It is a straightforward attempt to interpret the British character through the personalities of some of your- best-known public men to the people of Germany, and I cannot believe that any of the personalities who figure in my hook would be so thin--skinned as to resent anything I have said about them. “In any' case, the book has been m circulation for over a year in Germany. It has been widely reviewed in this country, and l no one has suggested that there is anything in it to object to.” Mr Baldwin. Following are a few of Dr. Kircher’s comments on British public men, translated from ‘Der Englander,’ the German edition of his book:— Mr Baldwin' —“It is evident that, like St, Joan, Baldwin has a mission in which lie firmly believes. Filled with religious fervor, he bears the banner of England aloft a St. Joan alive to the prevailing tendency of the Stock Exchange, and conscious of what is practicable in England.” Mr Lloyd George—“Mr Lloyd George can bring forth in a minute more statesmanlike ideas than most of his critics could do during their whale lives. His instinct is unrivalled in England. He is certainly the greatest and most captivating speaker in the House of Commons.”

Mr Ramsay MacDonald.—“He has a secret liking for many things which are an, abomination to millions of his present allies. He is a Conservative in practice. His statesmanship is not altogether consistent with his speeches.” Lord Birkennead.—“To men of tact and nobility he often appears as nothing more than a clever analphabete. Still, he is a political power. He terrorises.” “An Eternal Boy.” Mr Winston Churchill. —“He is an eternal boy. He plays with enthusiasm, preferably polo, about which he understands least. That, as people say, is his fault; he will da things about which he knows nothing, and chiefly as a statesman.” , > Viscount Grey.—“ His personality is’ a living proof that an encircling policy, such as the people in Germany "believed they saw, never existed.” Mr J. H. Thomas.—“ Thomas personifies the highest wisdom of this land. l —‘Cheer up, old man.’ ” Lady Astor—“A fine type of the fearless Anglo-Saxon. Quite womanly, but unfailing keen in thought and act. No man-woman; no imitation. Wonderfully uncomplicated. No diplomat, but no blue-stocking. Not tremendously intellectual, not even specially cultured. Feminine common sense. Wisdom from the standpoint of the woman. Without rhetoric, almost without the gift of public speaking. But with a ready wit. And she always has the lastword.”