MINISTERIAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 168, 9 April 1908, Page 7

MINISTERIAL.

MS. CHURCHILL MAY JOIN THE CABINET. HIS MANCHESTER SEAT. OPPOSITION ARE STRENUOUSLY PREPARING. BY TELEGRAPH —rftESS ASSOCIATION —COPYItIGM. London, April 7.-' In-anticipation of tho probable promotion to tho Cabinet of Mr. Churchill, UnderSecretary for, tho Colonies and member for North-West Manchester, tho Conservatives aro strenuously preparing for an election. .WHY THE OPPOSITION DISLIKE, MR. CHURCHILL. The elevation of the -Right Hon. Winston Churchill, P.C., to Cabinet rank—as UnderSecretary for the Colonies' he is already a Minister, but not within the magic circle— would be a new and important advance not only in the career of Mr. Winston Churchill, but also in an interesting little bit of interparty history. For, after all, Mr...Churchill as a Liberal was but recently a mere recruit.' That Mr. .Winston Churchill .strikes' the averago person as "bumptious" '(remarked a writer in 1906) can hardly be denied, but a •Rood deal of the resentment which he arouses probably comes from the fact that lie is guilty of " the atrocious crime of being a young man." Those who are inclined, to think little of him should look at his record. At the aye of twenty-five he had "gope through four'arduous-campaigns—in Cuba, with the Malakand Field Force; in the Soudan, anil in South Africa, lie has been, mentioned in dispatches from Malakand, ho held the. Spanish Order of military merit, he had ridden in the, charge of the-21st Lancers at Omdurman, had been captured by the Boers after an expoit of great bravery, and had escaped from Pretoria, had been under fire at Spion lvop, hail ridden with the relieving force into Ladysnrith, and had marched With lan. Hamilton to Pretoria. In the midst of 1 this strenuous life he had found tirno to write fivo successful books. His. one failure seems to have been politics, but he returned -to the charge on returning Home, and' Oldham,' which had rejected him the year before, elected him. It is said that no sooner: was ho,elected, than half the candidate? in England were' clamouring for-his assistance,''as-though .ho wero a party leader. "Have you any spare evenings?" wired the chief agent of the Conservative party, But lie! was not to remain long in the Conservative ranks. Mr. ' Brodrick's Amy proposals he strongly opposed, and Mr. Chaih--.berlain's fiscal propaganda drove him to tlie Liberal .side, and now,, at thirty 'years, ho is. Under-Secretary for tho (Colonies. . How bitterly his crstwhilo friends regarded .his leaving-of the Unionists; on what (as they considered)'was an expedition'of personal aggrandisement in the Liberal camp, is shown by tho following words penned in 1905 by a writer in "Public Opinion""You may be a Liberal i Minister! You may, achieve * Front Bench honours, but. we.doubt it. There are jealousies—whisper' it low,! even in the Liberal; ranks, and a party which has been in Opposition for a great.many years' must'of'necessity. have many scheihers for -'Parliamentary distinction. None of them are, equal, to you, and certainly not one of them;"has won.iii'l such a short period so much-* courteous-.Press : advertisement; but,, Nevertheless,V they ".desire. tho. spoils of . office, and "will remembeiv yqu* have not gone through' the drudgery''of 'Opposition. It is nptin 'the'service of. the, Liberal pa rty ; .that, you have seen the morning' dawn on, Westminster. It is not for a Government rout you have become 'pale and .wan ;nnd sickly. . It .is not out of party loyalty that you liavo badgered: a worn. Prime "Minister." .A contributor to, tho "Dailv: Mail"!, about tho same time, takes a' loss., bitter.'view. .• He writes:—"He ' started his-: political.- 'course, naturally enough, as a Conservative. Now he is the most vehement of : tho Liberals. Is this inconsistent?. , Does, it imply, that- absence- of-' moral'scruple that has often been associated! with brilliant parts? Does, it point to a mind stung and : maddened by -ambition.?. No; X think not. A member of ono- of; the .'great aristocratic, families of-'England, nursed in . the ■traditions, of that party, entoring politics by .virtue of the prestige of his father's, name,-it .'would have been strange indeed "had' ho\.not| made his debut,as,a .Tory. But-the real man was always Liberal;:, and ■ this was'so, not ■merely' by conviction,; but rather, by temperament." ':■ ■ . .' i ! ■ Since, fact,.only lastjcsrrrMr. ijyinpton Churchill has been admitted' Privy: Counoil. And now the! Unionist, election; agents are busy, in/view of .the greater: contingency, the sceptics notwithstanding.' 1 ' 1