VARIED CAREER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 267, 10 November 1937, Page 7

VARIED CAREER.

PURSUIT OF IDEALS.

Britain's First Socialist Prime Minister. f UPS AND DOWNS OF POLITICS. James Ramsav Mac Donald, the first Socialist Prime Minister of Great Britain, has gone to his rest. Nearly 14 years ago —January 22, 19-24 —he formed the first Labour Cabinet of Great Britain. During a stirring ]>olitical period of post-war problems his Labour Government remained in power for 10 months, largely through the benevolent neutrality of the Liberals. They lost power through the notorious "Zinovieff Letter'" incident. Ramsay Mac Donald, however, remained a strong political force and his party again took office in June. 1929, at a time when unemployment, disarmament, and Indian political problems were at their highest. A split in Labour circles added to the complexity of the situation, and in 1931, the Government resigned. and Ramsav Mac Donald ■ became Prime Minister of a National > Government containing a few Labour J men. He, with Siiowden, Thomas and other Labour members who had followed him into the National party, were denounced as traitors to the cause of Labour, which went into the Opposition. Amid increasing difficulties Ramsay Mac Donald resigned the Premiership in June, 193.">, being succeeded by Mr. Stanley Baldwin at a general election the same year he and his son, Malcolm, lost their "Parliamentary seats. In February, 1936, Ramsav Mac Donald was returned to Parliament for the Scottish Universities, whom he represented up to the time of his death. Son of Farm Labourer.

The son of a farm labourer, Ramsay Mac Donald became a pupil teacher, and then, when he had gone penniless to London, he entered journalism. In 1900 he became secretary to the Labour Representation Committee, working it up to its present political importance. Iu 1000 lie was elected M.P. for Leicester, the constituency which he represented until 1930. Mr. Mac Donald's pursuit of ideals was mixed with ambition. Unlike the typical Lubour leader, he was very reserved. He wrote a great deal, chiefly on Socialism. Labour .questions and India. He had travelled more than any other British Premier, visiting India, Ceylon, the United States, Algeria and Tunisia, as well as European countries. His health was not good, and in 1927 he j had a critical illness in Philadelphia. A great lover of art, he was made a trusI tee of the National Gallery in 1928. His wife, a daughter of Dr. Gladstone I and a niece of Lord Kelvin, was a j woman of very fine character, who exer- • cised a great influence on him for good. I Her death in 1911 was a terrible blow to him. Their daughter. Ishbel, was hostess at No. 10. Downing Street during liis term of office. Wartime Obloquy. Ramsuv Mac Donald's position during the war is well known. He became the target of all patriots, and. if public obloquy could kill. Ramsay Mac Donald would have died under the terrific concentration of venom which was centred

on him. But after the war he was elected Leader of the Opposition —the one man in the Labour movement who had in full measure the gift of leadership. For 30 years he ha« served his apprenticeship in Opposition, in the conduct of a losing fight against the stolid conservatism of the British people, and in the championship of ideas which w%re derided and rejected by the great majority. That a great and fundamental change then took place is proved by the fact that the man who was despised and rejected not no many years ago became after the war not only the mouthpiece but the very symbol of England. Fame came to him through execra- ; tion. When lie intervened in the debate on August 3, 1914, to tell the House of Commons that in his opinion the Government was wrong, that Britain should remain neutral in the coming struggle, he put himself beyond the pale. On the morrow he lost the chairmanship of the Labour party, which he had held for the , three past years. He became, as it seemed, one of a little group of Ishmaels that the country would sweep out of existence at the first chance. Yet in retrospect it can be discerned that the Ishmaels were the sole Opposition left in Parliament, and that Mr. Mac Donald, when he allied himself with them, liecame in fact Leader of the Op[ usition. A Steadfast Patriot. Later, as Prime Minister, lie came to grips with the Labour party in similar i fashion on a point of principle. Cautious ■ in domestic policy, he sought to redress | the balance by yreat activity at the | Foreign Office. In hi~ Ku»ian policy |he too'- risk* which the country was | unwilling to accept. But. having once promulgated his policy, lie was determined that norhiug -hould turn him from it. Once again he revealed the -nine mixture of determination and Highland , pride which were the twin pillars of his j character. Once a-jain, having taken his decision, he refused to bend the i knee. By his own action he put himself politically beyond the pale. This time, however, the pale was the pale of his own party. | It may well be that now he is enter- , ing upon his last Premiership (comI mentcd a critic in 1931) that never again will he be Labour Prime Minister of Britain. But if his career as a party politician is now ended, he has made | his place secure among British statesmen and among those British patriots who in the hour of need have never I 1 ailed to put the State before their party and before themselVes. Death Came Unexpectedly. In the early days of the war Ram>ay Mac Donald served as a volunteer member of a British ambulance unit in Be'giuni, and showed the greatest coolnc--'under heavy shell-fire. Two years a | his health failed considerably, and t ; " (quality of his speeches declined, and | showed some incoherence. .! More recently he suffered from eye trouble, which was. however, believed • to have been removed by an operation, i • James Ramsay Mac Donald, who was i born at Lossiemouth. Morayshire, in ; ; 18(50. was married in lso<i to Margaret li Ethel, daughter of Dr. •(. H. Gladstou: They had two sons and two daughters.