MANNERS IN POLITICS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13905, 2 December 1910, Page 9

MANNERS IN POLITICS.

to the Enrrou 0 * " TI _ B , BESS .» S.r,-Perm.t mo to say that I fnllv agree with your correspondent, Mr Art.-iur Masters, th.. .... _• . , .„.,, ' lnat >our article ot .November 29th, reply ing to L J)rum . mend, is to Ix. cominemkKj, and most highly commended British polkics, wn.iM.ch men as Lloyd George. Win' <:t , <".7 "? _. S S ' h . a vo degenerated into ..il.-nu and abuse, ami are a d.szn.c to any s..f-re Sn cctin S nation, .■■reb. i oi 7.t to.awaken CVcr y truehearteu British subject who has pride ,n his country when he sees oven the foreign iVe's takin_ the matter up and commenting on the disgraceful conduct of these mm. .Surely, anybody can .... that the-. Little En-danders" would h*ll their country for tho sake of currying lav.m. with the uneducated people, who make a hero of anyone that j howls about their rights, and the moni . trons wickedness of the man who h:.ii- ! pens to lie in a better position. It alI mon makes one wish it were tbe days jof Or.r-'ii Elizabeth, when it was an ! honour to be an Eir.dishnutn, and such i trait-u-s as those mentioned would have i had a short shrift. I sometime., wonj d.-*r what attitude thoy would tako up if a war were forced upon Britain whilo they were in .otter. I fancy thoy .■on.! sell us in some way. Alf honour t. you. sir, for the attitude you take up. Would to Heaven that every British su'* : ect were the same.—Yours, etc.. A BRITISH XF.W ZEALANDER. TO THE r.IHTOn. 01* "the press." Sir.-In perusing your sub-leader on "The Chancellor at Milo End," in Tuesday's issue of "Tlie Press," I must oxpi'e.s my surprise and astonishment at the one-sided and shrewd manner in which you presented the character of Mr Lloyd George to your readers. You seem to be entirely guided by tho brief and highly-coloured cables, which are mostly'drawn from the Conservative Press. But, on tho other hand, you iwillully omit any comment upon the speech of Mr F." E. Smith, when ho called the supporters of the Government depredators and Socialist traitors. Also, you may have forgotten tho utterance of Mr Balfour, when ho accused Mr Ure of sneaking a frigid and calculated lie, and the speech of Lord Salisbury, when, he called the British public "the _;reat unwashed." I suppose you fail to notice those utterances when thoy como from the great Tory leaders, but the moment a man who is fighting the causo of the masses utters anything which you think unparliamentary, you use your high office to call him a political larrikin. I wonder docs the position of the Press today justify the use of such language from its contributors; if so, I have grave fears for the advance of puro speech in the colony. But does the speeches of Mr Lloyd George prove so derogatory to the welfare of politics when wo "find that 20,000 applicants applied for admission to his meetings in Glasgow—a number unparalleled since the days of Gladstone. You accuse him of misquotation of facts ; never has Mr Lloyd George been compelled to withdraw any facts which ho has stated, furthermore, he has the courtesy to reply to them. He has secured apologies from Lord Rothschild, from the "Bystander," and tho "People," names which are worthier of a better cause, besides £1000 damages for slander from the latter; therefore, I should advise you to be a little moro careful when you deal with the character of such a man. You also referred to the Celtic temperament as beinr. the cause of many indiscretions of late. I should like to know what they are? Also, has tho Celtic temperament a bad influence upon the English and foreigners as you so nicely put it. Only last year, Mr Balfour said "it was a honour for him to know that he was a Celt, and who are. tho greatest men in politics in England to-day?" are they not Celts? It seems to mo if we had a little moro of ( the Celtic temperament in our Houses of Parliament it would be much better for this country. Who in the history of British politics has done more in so short a period for tho democracy of Britain? * Havo you forgotten the 1908 Budget, old age pensions, the Development Bill, and a host of other Bills which Mr Lloyd George has introduced to the Houses? Let mc conclude this note by saying that generations still unborn will bless the memory of the greatest Chancellor that Britain has ever seen, when the principles underlying the 1908-1910 Budget will be developed.—Yours, etc., h G. MANNING.