MR. BALFOUR RESIGNS

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1282, 10 November 1911, Page 5

MR. BALFOUR RESIGNS

PARTY TAKEN BY SURPRISESTRENGTH UNEQUAL TO THE STRAIN. YOUNGER MAN REQUIRED. By Tolejraph—l'rcss Association—Copjrrlghl London, November S. Mr. A. J. Balfour has rosigucd tho Leadership of (lie Unionist party, on tho ground oi ill-iiealtil. -Mr. Balfour's resignation caino as a bombshell in the Unionist camp, especially as lie had concealed any impatience ho may have felt regarding recent attacks on his leadership. -Mr. lialfour announced his resignation at a hurriedly-convened meeting of tho i.oiulon Conservative Association's executive. (Itcc. November 9, 8.55 p.m.) London, November 9. Tho meeting was attended by about i'orty bankers and merchants, who wero not aware of tlio reason of the sudden call until Mr. Baliour made his dramatic and unexpected statement.

Mr. Bailour, who spoke with evident emotiou, referred to the ever-increasing strain of political life. If the fortunes of tho party rose ho .would no longer havo the vigour to conduct a Ministry, lie hud beeu thirty-eight years in Parliament, leader of a party lor twenty, and for ten years leader of tho wholo House, a longer term than had been held by any Minister since Pitt; Only four or fivo Unionist members of the House of Commons ever worked under auother leader. Tho increasing strain was due to tho Government expecting the House of Com-' inons to sit ten or eleven months in the year. He feared it would bo increasingly difficult to find men of adequate leisure and position, prepared to undergo tho great toils now attaching to politics. Probably the country was nearer entrusting its affairs to those who, for quito worthy, but, on tho less satisfactory reasons, were prepared to,work tho political machine merely °as professional politicians. Ho believed the present to bo tho best time to relinquish tho leadership. The present session was non-contentious, but Home Rule and Disestablishment were ahead, .and beforo the end of the next session there might be a general election. It would bo wrong that his successor should not have an interval to preparo for tho fight.

Proceeding, Mr. Balfour said that none should take a gloomy view of the party's prospects. "We aro on the upward grade." Critics and grumblers were liko microbes; when strength was recovered the microbe resumes its proper place, and becomes comparatively innocuous. The Government has lived on electoral bribes for six .years, and is now lapsing into the old radical practice of destroying institutions and jerrymandering. There are signs of tho steadily-growing disgust of the better classes of the population, and this would bo an, inestimable advantage to his successor. Personally, ho desired to leave tho position with its heavy responsibility before ho suffered the most insidious of all diseases, intellectual petrification, which made a veteran less able to deal with new problems with freshness and elasticity than a younger man. Ho was vain enough to hopo that he had not reached that stage, but he was miserable at tho thought, that he ran tho margin fine. Ho hoped to still havo years of activity to devote not only to the party but also to tho country; such services, however, would not strain. Tho meeting received tho announcement with regretful silence, and afterwards a resolution of satisfaction was passed at his remaining the member for Loudon City.. Mr. Balfour only attended tho House of Commons on two occasions during the Autumn Session. It is understood that his doctors havo forbidden him to accept any position of responsibility in any future Administration. A meeting of the Unionist Commoners is to bo held at the Carlton Club on Monday, when it is understood a leader for the Commons will be chosen by ballot, tho leadership of the party remaining in abeyance. The general opinion is that tho choice lies between Mr. W. Long and Mr. Austen Chamborlain, but it' is possible that Mr. Bonar Law may bo chosen as a compromise.

It is generally 'believed that the recent attacks delayed rather than hurried Mr. Balfour's resignation.

The Halsbury Club on Monday passed a resolution tendering Mr. Balfour and Lord Lansdowne assurance of loyal support.

Tho newspapers of all parties have expressed appreciations of Mr. Balfour's intellectual and moral qualities. Unionists generally refrain from commenting about a successor. Tho "Standard" asks if tho decision is irrevocable. Tho "Daily News" says there are many aspirants for the leader's cloak, but none can wear it with Mr. Balfour's grace and authority. Tho "Chronicle." questions whether hounding out Mr. Bali'our can have tho effect of consolidating the Unionists. "Tlio Times" says tho resignation was received with little surprise and very great genuine sorrow by an overwhelming majority. The decision may be taken as irrevocable. Mr. Balfour was not harassed into resignation, but waited until the mutinous spirit of the party had almost disappeared. The choice of his successor lies in Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Long, Mr. Bonar Law, and Mr. Carson.

ME. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN'S VIEWS. (Rcc. November 10, 1.5 a.m.) London, November 9. lord Lansdowno denies the rumour that he intends to resign tho leadership of the Unionists in tho House of Lords. Mr. Austen Chamberlain, speaking at a Tariff Reform League Dinner, deplored Mn Balfour's resignation. He could testify from intiinat'e conversations that Mr. Balfour was a true friend and a determined supporter of Tariff Reform, and,' above all, Imperial preference. Whoever was chosen to lead the House of Commons must have tho full and ungrudging support of every member of tho party, MR. BALFOUR'S CAREER. CHARACTER SKETCH. The resignation of Mr. A. J. Balfour of the Leadership of the Opposition will occasion surprise throughout the Empire. Tho reason assigned for the step taken is ill-health, and probably there is an element of truth in that, but there is little doubt that the resignation has been prccipiated by the rifts and disag reomenb within tho party. Mr. Balfour sits in the llouso of Commons as tho representative of the city of London. He entered Parliament in 1871 when he was six-and-twentv vcars of a<>u and lie did so (*ays the "Pall Mall Gazette"). it has been said, ■ less to please himself than lo please his uncle, the late Lord Salisbury. Certainly he was in no hurry to address tho House, when ho did make his maiden speech it was about nothing more palpitating than "Bimetallism." He passed for a dilettante, and although he went to the Berlin Conference, as his uncle's private secretary, acted with the little band of tho '"Fourth Party," and was President of the Local Governmont Board in' ISSi, nobody took him any more seriously as a possiblo force in politics than ho seemed to take himself. In fact, he was better known for his "Defence of Philosophic Doubt" than for anything else. But there was a revelation coming. Mr. Balfour became Irish Secretary. Great was the joy—not unmixed with amusement—of the Nationalists. "What? Clara? .We'll soon mako

short work of him." The tables were speedily turned, and it was "Clara" and his Crimes Act that made short work of them. In vain they Howled and raved— iilid re-christened liiui the "Tiger Lily"; il was no use. Mr. lialfour maintained the reputation ho had won as the stroug-e.-t Irish Secretary of modern times. AS I.KADKR. Since ISOI, .Mr. Balfour has led his party ill the Commons, and led it in a stylo which has great qualities, and, al the same lime, is not exempt from I lie defects of those qualities. lie always leads like a gentleman; lie is the most personally popular man at Westminster; his loyally to his colleagues is almost proverbial, "and there is nothing liner to bo seen in the Parliamentary arena than his occasional defence of ono of their number. Then, the high plane on which, intellectually, ho lives and moves cannot fail to raise .the tone of any society in which he plays a prominent part. In short, Mr. Bultour's leading has ever been done in the grand manner, lint it must be confessed that in one sense.ho has never risen, either as Leader of the Opposition or as Prima .Minister, to tlio height of tho reputation hu made for himself in the Irish days—and (ho Irish nights. After that supremo display of undaunted, unfailing energy lie relapsed, to some extent into his old habit of political dilettantism, lie is proiessedly "a child in these matters," and his ingrained hatred of "dirty" work carries him occasionally too far, for ho is ant to consider overytuing he has to do with machinery as necessarily dirty. In short, the statesman and tho Parliamentarian are influenced—wo will not say dominated in Mr. Balfour by the philosopher and tho man of taste. Mr. Balfour was never a strong man physically, indeed, it was at one time doubtful whether his public career would not be cut short by the necessity of facing, every winter, tho choice between death and exile to Egypt. But if Mr. Balfour does not present an ideal combination of the qualities which best fit a man for tlio rough-and-tumble of party politics, there is no denying that lie rendered inestimable scrvico to the country and Empire during his eventful term of office. But for hi'm—for his tact, patience, and persistent determination to stand by Lord Lansdowne while he completed his _ two great achievements, the Japaneso Alliance and tho Anglo-French Agreement—Ensland would not stand whero sho stands to-day in the eyes of the world. But for him, too, we miyht not havo emerged from the North Sea incident without war with Russia. Mr. Balfour's attitude towards Tariff Ilefym has been defined by him with unquestionable precision since his defeat by Mr. Horndgt- in East Manchester. Tlio day before tho meeting of the Unionist party at Lansdowne House (held on February 15, 1906) the ex-Premier, in a letter to Mr. Chamberlain, made bis standpoint so clear that even the wilful blindness of opponents could no longer affect ignorance of his precise position. Holding that "Fiscal Reform is and must remain the first constructive work of the Unionist Party," he deprecates as inexpedient any immediate formulation of tho precise methods to bo employed, but holds that, "though other nitnn* mny bo possible." the establishment of "a moderate tariff on manufactured goods . . . and a small duty on corn . . . should bo adopted if shown to be necessary for the attainment of tho ends in view, or for purposes of revenue." The unanimous adoption of Mr. Balfour's leadership by tho party meeting, despite the reservations of tho small group of Free-Traders, led by tho late Duke of Devonshire, was a foregone conclusion. During the last Parliament he further emphasised his position, and declared unequivocally for Tariff Rcform. 11l his manifesto for tlio January election of 1910 he defined tho issue as fought it. lie was not less definite in his appeal to the electors in the following December,.when he bracketed Tariff Reform with tho reform of tlio nou.se of Lords as the prime objectives of Unionist policy.

A Puzzle. Mr. J. L. Garvin, in a character sketch in tho "Daily Moil," refers to tho Leader of tho Opposition thus-.—No contemporary character in tho politics of any country has been so completely misunderstood or so frequently misdesenbed. Mr. Dal four has puzzled tho most subtle psychologists who have attempted to analyse him. Ho has often been a problem even (o his friends, and it is one of the secrets of his power that he remains an enigma to his They liavo abundant experience of him, yet every strong thing in has career has taken them unawares. Again and again, from his Irish regime to his extraordinary tenacity, dexterity, and resource in tho fiscal controversy, ho has done what they said it would 1m impossible for him, of all men, to accomplish. Tho Ministerialists are repeatedly charmed by his agreeable manners into forgetting iiis deadly ability. When he is courteous they cannot think he is in earnest. When ho is delightful they cannot believe that he means to hurt. When ho uses a punctilious, a scrupulous moderation, as has been the case throughout the present session, they assure each other that Mr. Balfour does not mean business—whereas they ought to draw accurately tho opposite conclusions. These politicians, after more than twenty years of expericnco of Mr. Balfour, are further from understanding him than ever. And vet whenever Mr. Balfour reveals himself, as ho has done again and again, as a personality no less formidable than perplexing—"sinewy" and "subtle," to recall Milton's fino phrase—and as a man, in short of incomparable dexterity and unsurpassable courago in difficult crises, liis opponents are invariably as wrathful, nonplussed, and amazed as though they had no previous opportunity of studying hiiu. Between crises they appear to discount him as before. And whenever ho makes a fatal stroke—as before— they regard him as a ruthless, a cynical, and an iniquitous politician. Tho almost mechanical alternations of complacent disparagement and furious denunriation which mark Radical criticism O; Mr. lialfour aro among the inimitable diversions that politics have to offer to tho judicious mind. Radicals have known him to bo adamant. Yet they continue to deceive their party and themselves by calling him a political dilettante and cartooning him as s trifler. Among tho absurdities of political criticism and caricature in our time this will appear to posterity as among tho most incomprehensible and grotesque.

A Man of Action. Mr. Balfour accepts tho party system because it is the only means through which tho work necessary for the existence and advancement ot tho State can get itself done. But he evidently wishes it were otherwise and would undoubtedly have preferred a moro national and ra'tioual system of managing public affairs were it possible to devise one. We might say of him that ho belongs to party under protest. Ho has become a spealier in spito of himself, although he is now unquestionably, as ho himself onco said of ■Mr. Gladstone, "tho first parliamentarian in the first Parliament in the world." But nothing in all this gives that clue to Mr. Balfour's character which the Ministerialists ought to have taken a iirm hold upon long ago and would do well to grasp oven now- Mr. Balfour is not a man of words. No one has moro contempt for them. The truth about him is not only that he is a man of action, but in emergency he is as masterful as masterly. He is the opposite of the lath painted to look liko iron; for he is tho rapier of clean steel regarded by foolish persons at their own risk as a wooden sivord. When Mr. Balfour went to Ireland he was described in a phrase— "Silken manners and a heart of steel." Nothing more quintessentinlly right was ever said about him.

Almost every one of Mr. Balfour's characteristic political achievements has been not only nil ordeal of intellect', but a crucial test of the nerve, the courage, and tlio whole fibre of a man. If the Budget is a revolution was lie not. what Bismarck always regarded himself "a predestined anti-revolutionary," seeing that Mr. Balfour was torn in 1818, the very year of revolutions, when nearly every throne bat our own was rocking; and Socialism then seeking more Utopian ends by more violent methods, first became a distinct menaeo to every society founded upon the ancient bases of nationality and patriotism? And he received liis forename Arthur, not at all after the shining King of Celtic dream, hut after the Duke of Wellington, who was still living at that time. Names have their influence—and the throry that Mr. Balfour represents in politics the spirit of Torres Vodras—a spirit capable of strong strokes of elTensive strategy, but inexhaustibly stubborn and ingenious in defensive tacticsr—is not so faueiful as it may look. ' Party Loyalty. Tlio loyojty of tho members of the Conservatives .tor their chief was finely oxpressed by Mr. Lonß, iI.P., at a public

meeting Irjd in Swindon on September 17 last. Mr. liiing said:— 1 am not one of those who Ijeiievo I hat. any one individual or set of individuals, is, 01' are. necessary to (In l exislenco ot any party, but 1 do believe thai every party will do well to keep within their ranks capable and distinguished men. .1 liavo had the privilege nl working in verv close communion with Mr. linlfoiir and lord Ixiusdmvne. and I can safely say that two men of higher instinct, ot greater capacity, of greater energy, or of truer loyalty could not jiossiblv be found. Why should we as t.nioni-ts try to drive men of that sort out of the public liold? 1 also know that in my leader. .Mr. Jiailour, tiiero are faults to he lounil, but I do not want tho day to come when Iho Archangel Gabriel is to descend and lead a political party; I do not think ho would bo plying his proper function iu tho world's work, t'ntil this happens, wo must bo led by mortal men, and every mortal is liable to make mistakes and has his failings. Mr. llalfour has his. I do not deny that in some mailers ho sometimes causes us anxiety. 1 wish ho realised more completely tho business needs connected with tho management of the party. But because I recognise this, because I know it and speak oi it, is it any reason why I should Inlter in my loyalty to a man who I believe can lead us liotteV and more securely and to our interest than any other man I know of alive at tho present moment? Is it any reason why I should not ask my fellow Unionists' to rally with mo and others to the support of our loader, to lot him feel suto that if ho will go steadfastly along on tho path of Unionism and give us a clear, brave, and determined lead wo will follow him and help him to win tho victory which cannot be very long delayed?