MR. DEAKIN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 201, 19 May 1908, Page 8

MR. DEAKIN.

■ • /.HISOEXPEOTED RESIGNATION. '-' tfY, TEIAGItAFn—mS3 ASSOCIATION— <X>PTOloin i Melbourne, May 18.- ■ . ls stated that the Fedoral' Premier) - Mr, Doalpn, will-..-resign after, the visit" of'the ... . Amoncan fleet - and . the installation of the ..Earl of Dudloj as Govcrnor-Goneral of Australia. AN AMERICAN ESTIMATE. - "THE TRIUMPHANT TALKER OF THE I , ANTIPODES" t : •'./"■• Undent's heading "Current Literature" writes:—.Mr. Deakm is, among tho,first— . lio might, be called the .first-—to urgo a-nti-' -■ ■ Japanese legislation, of the. kind . desired 'by i r i* nc,s<x) ' s labour Unions. :; Thanks'.'.to yellow, nian gains - mission, to. tho Australian- continent . to-day the circumstances'be very' special-'iii- ' 'v. '• -d'3cd.-, Mr. Dbakin's lifo has boon defined-,as triumphs.'His champions r --' Ci'jni ills settlement of- the Japanese problem, - - 0:, C3 'so. pressing .throughout, .Australia,the r ' V masterpiece of ;■ his constructive statesmani- - -.Bhipi -is High praise, seeing that -to him l: l. tnaaf-any.-other living' niari.'ia duo,the ii. existing federation ;of the Australian States r.into ono commonwealth. His coming to our s A<? re s'.would m.ean the: advent of finest , - orator now living among men who use the , ' English language. That is the deliberate & vcrdict.of Wmston Churchill; -himself a'judge of talkers. ..> ■■ ■ ■■■■ •• .

< «' Spiritualist, Bookman, Politician. . "This .Mr.- Deakm, the greatest' colonial Btatesman m ,tho history of tho British Em- ■ , piro with the solitary exception of tho lato Sir. John Mac Donald, is in -many :respccts, , ; nc-tos tho London 'Mail,' the very opposite of v- the typical bluff, hearty,'rough diamond of pio- ■ ncer oommunities. He is above all a bookman , and a scholar, an indefatigable reader of fiction. -■ ~ George Meredith is' to him as |reat :a figure . -111 .contemporary England as..;is-,the Prime '■ l . Minister. Mr. Dcakra-has been good enough to say that tho best wnters of -short stories • to-day, are all Americans. .' We: excel <jlio - w,, French in.the art, he affinna.-. When.he.first 1 eaitored._political, life, .ho; was hampered-by 1 an. open amd; avowed.devotion; to spiritualism.' : lie N wont m for' mediums, Tappings,''- table turning. Ho was.-supposed. to-have seen the ■j :■ ■ ghost of Alfred tho. Great once-upon; a .time;' . - of tlio wayof tWt sort bf: \~ : y ' .thing nowadays.- . his siJeciarclaim-to. distinction',- that'-'of: ■-"j*' t "' . being; the most; finished orator iiow in '.pbli- . - ■ ~ tical lifo among' tho Anglo-Saxon • peoples, . muchihas beonfwnten.i There is 110-doubt, , . wiites ■ that- brilliant' Austraban-.jiurnalistj' , : Alfred Buchanan,'- who'knows the Australian - Prime iMimstcr well,"that nature;-when-she oanceived the ideaiof giving Alfred Dcakin -,-o - to: the world,.■ intended<lum;to be• much'- dis-'- - N 1 . She 'specially, designed,him for that purpose,: Mr.;:Buchanan thinks.. ::■ .-■:■■/.■ Monotonous Success. "f? .bes^n';with;; ho says, - shorgaTe Alfred Deakin ; dll those agreeable and outwardly at- • ' tractivo . qualities- which make - a .. - , pcctea by his fellows;- As in the caso .'of v< . Byron,all • the fairies ■ were" bidden to his . .cradle.' They came 111 • smiltng fashion,- but : theyt-had a mabgnailt purpoßo: ' : . . - •...' " 'So it was that the future ;:Prime 'Minis- ,■■!.-. tor- of. the : Australian •-Commonwealth' was ■ •: loaded with gifts and graces,intended to drag him down. He grew up' tall -and-'straight? and comely to look upon. A qyick-mmdcd re- , ceptive, intelligent-maji of ,r3eas, he was -, vc, t«d a most agreeable person to talk to. No on Q could quote the : romantic poets - more aptly or talk the language of culture with hotter accent and discretion. When he went , . u .pon. a platform woris .flowed from' him- in' a silver stream. When he stood for .'Parliament, au<liences tbat they were, heing Hon- ' o^.^f^^wr.'desserts;-!• He was: a. mem-b:-r ot , twenty-three, : Minister, of tho Crown ' at: ■ ••••'•!• •; t y«%^ e w®> ; senkH i repiFAentaithro: of'the r -Iln-' , Penal. in London before he was ... thirty-one, member; of the Natibnal''Austrai 1 Convaitioa four iyears-.later;'' and'Primo Minister of the .Commonwealth, when he was forty-seven. ffis, flatterers v have combined ' -: ,with nature to do their, worst. . J There is "pthing, upon- winch: he .has not been, compliliented from his' management :of the affairs ! 'f-J nation'to bis-smile or from-'his oratorv ' v.° 1 th ® way.'in. : which he holds the- hand- of a ' wy at a dance When-he made his first Jncial.visit,to,,London:the late Queen >'Vic- ' -ona;- inquired,, in -a ; sentence' that became 1 ■ -iniouSi Wnether there ;were-,many. men like 1 .illred Deakm-tn the .Australian .oontincnt ■ j

ft Load of Adulation. ; : . ' h 9; -has-been, belauded - impartially .'and (Mmprshensriwly. as an Adonis and a -Marcus Aurelius, as a.Cams Gracchus;and'aDemosN a 136511 Brummell, and a William i ' •: ti?; •' - I® : ®° iT 0 ?^ 01 • that \newspap6r ••menV / . only by repute;,and-seeing him «L+ ». first rls f "i place in„Parllai . ®cnt, -havo shuddered'inwardly to think-whi'i- ' 1 awful person such .\ . i .petted individuai'miisfc be. : PoaLm, to do • him; justice, "has .-;aJtraggled^^fuUyragainst these;'disadvari- !" A ■ G u S V ? a i uro intended him .to be} disliked /, perhaps, .but our- authority "concedes that 'it is well-nigh impossible to dislike him He has fought a great and on tho whole a sucjfcsful battle against tho load of adulation v , Miat Jiaa been pressed.uppn : him. This cir- - cunistance must , always -stand.'to his 'credit vvhile it explains a great'deal that would j 800 " 18 ' V mcomprehensible.' With every inducement'to develop mto a snob has mad . e conscientious efforts not to 'bo- . J como one.. Any unknown- and .undistinguished' person, aware of the blighting'effect of suc- > v -..-J?®, ° u . the average-temperament, would'hesK tato to approach Alfred Deakm He.would say that such.a -man could not,-retain* his- ■ - sense. of- oould' not judgo-exceptl by appearances As a matter of fact, the rrimo Minister is at his best, when talking-to obsoure peoplo. If you happen to be a neivs-p^l>or.reporter.travelling-in tho samo'train , jith Mr, . Deakin—rand . Mr. Buchanan ; has V -openin, that need' bother' .- either to entertain him or to keep out of his way. Jt is ;more,than, likely,/unless circum-1 '■, / i stances .keep him, otherwise occupied,-that ho :; will• make it- 'his business to-''entertain ] you. I J here are .certain -qualities, he recognises- He ,r has always time for, a piaii"-wh6\'is'intelligent and earnest, and anxious to got on: Ho does not worship succcss. Because ho has.had too n. lu ch of it, ho -knows'how. to value' it.'\

.Tho Qeakln Pause. i : • ; .•'■'■■ 4.1 : ) ? ea ¥®-?'-,¥?4 haW'-wearied-'of-iafl. . t.ie talk about himself as ; a .silver-toneued -orator, somewhat fearful that his/prestige'has ;-been,,won by gift' oftgab. : If';someoneo:ouM oonvjncß;him that he is no orator, at all. and has ■ only an amateur's familiarity with ' the nno\pomts of the King's English,, he would . • grateful.;; . It: is; that V sort :.of ■ among:ourselves when i..Webster died. Therp is inexpressible dignity / in the phraseoloegy of it,; boundless wealth in tho m6thaphor : of it, entrancing felicity in tne apt of it, yet' infinitely, more - than .ail .these obmbined. is- the contagious and graceful; emotionalism of,.it.. An .Australian ■ atheist confessed that ho. actually believed .in'th'o Raines of Hell-while Alfred'Dejikin'> was de'scribing: ; ;the.'.heat;::and" brimstone -of .'the v place in :6onnwtion\with . some.,tariff - devils. Tho .Prime Minister can put. the: howling. of hnngry- wolves into, his stateliest periods.' ' He makes; all ;hearprsvrealise ' the''loneliness-of "night in itho dark '.wo.ods by. a mere! 'gesture/ Moro remarkable than about his' oratory, is .the ..pause; of it. ' Alfred' Deakin achioves with his pause, what- Frederick.i-the. Great ■ accomplished by..tho' Use 'of. cavalry; The Australian . orator crowds' into- a pause .the'..roar- of 'the cannonade, the call of trumpets, the beat ,of the drum';: the .wails'of men-wounded' iiii battle, and the sympathetic voices : of comforters. ■ .It' is ' a '-mystery,of eloquonpa' akin;to'those: sudden;flows',of. tears preceding any bmotionai;idea'sufficient to account for them, analogous, : 'to'borrow; an illustration'from a-,totally different sphere, -to thht silent look .with which in'his palmy; days John L. Sullivan' knocked many . 'an tagonist out of the prize ring' before he' haS actually .laid a finger upon him. It'is because ho pa-uses,when he-does and' as he dobs that Alfred Dcaikin is the triumphant talker of thoantipodos., : • ■ "-'lt; is;.neressaiy • to'.get afrajr: frota the glamour of AltredDeakm'a .oratorysays Mr Buchanaii (whoso words 'we plagiarise), and

the shilling white, light of his character,. in order to. arrive' at "Some; teasonablo- estimate orJns value as a politician. On the latter subjoct a great deal ,• has been written—and a groat deal could bo writton—not all of it in, language of. oxtravagaht' eulogy. ' It is Said that the tempers of tho man b'f wbnls ?• Dlan action.are necessarily distinct. That -inay..bo so,'and. then again it may be otherwise. - What - is. certain would seem'to be .tljat. there, is no instance on record of a politician combining such a. gift of speech as Deakiri's with an equal faculty for wise, clear, vigorous, and. resolutely determined As a'State Minister this darling .of ;jh« ;gods was chiefly/ remarkablo for what.,he,, wished., but .failed ,to. do .in connection;'with ' iiTjgratiori. He had,.a.grcjitpoetic conception ,bf what.might | be. achieved in.the .arid regions of northem Victoria -by letting in healing streams of water, and causing .. wildernesses toVrejoico. He. constructed Channels, built reservoirs,-and expanded''.public- money. /The channels ran : dry, Tho'.. reservoirs.-became barren. The local bodies :repudiated the debt;,, It was a •splehdid!'fa'i]|iir<i 'on- ; MriDeakin's, part., There was.rnone thoilessi'rib getting over tho failure of.it. . ■^.. . . •

Asj an.'advocate.'- of?federation,, Alfred Deakin was a .complete-success!';, Eloquenco wasrequired. Alfred ;' Desdiin- supplied ■ it.'. He suppliedmore'. Bo,',|iad got 'tnat American classic,'/Tho - 'Federalist,' ;by, heart.'.'.Ho had pored,over tho Madison .papers. Ho'sat ;up ,nigtit .'after .'night over "many. a history .of, the 1 convention. .that ,fraiiied, .the present constitution ;' of' the. United' States - at' Philadelphia in-1787.': ■Ho unified tbo old Australia into tho Commonwealth of to-day." .