Statesmen in Action

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 300, 15 September 1936, Page 11

Statesmen in Action

Sir, —Years ago I read in those inimitable chronicles, “My Diaries,” by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, that Sir Edward Grey. afterw_ard Lord Grey of Fallodon, was ignorant of French or of any foreign language, that he had been out of England once only, and then only as far as Paris, and that he was so ignorant of geography, that he hardly knew the Red Sea from the Persian Gulf. I thought all this an exaggeration, and when, in 1905, Sir Edward became Minister of Foreign Affairs, my scepticism was increased. French' is styled “the language of diplomacy,” and we' always take it for granted that, no matter what party is in power in England, the man who fills the important portfolio of Foreign Affairs must necessarily be much-travelled, scholarly, and a man versed in all that pertains to diplomacy. These impressions, however, will be effectively disposed of if we read the evidence supplied by Lord Grey himself in his "Twenty-five Yeart," referred. to in my letter appearing in your issue of September 10, really an autobiography and apologia, in which, despite its title, the author urges “-the claims of long descent” in an irrelevant account of his ancestry. In his introduction the great man evinces an extraordinary lack of confidence in himself: “It must not, however, be supposed,” he writes, “because the writer was for so many years, and these the most critical, at the centre of affairs, that his account is necessarily authoritative and complete. It is precisely the man at the centre who is often unable to see the wood for the trees.” This admission is typical of the amazing candour which characterises the work throughout. Lord Grey admitted frankly that he was no French scholar: “In French I know my vocabulary to be limited, my grammar to be imperfect, and my genders to be at the mercy of chance; further, I am told that my accent is atrocious. But, with my back really against the wall, something relevant could always be made forthcoming.” With equal frankness he details how. the French Ambassador, Paul Gambon, would call at the Foreign Office, and how in an important interview, Lord Sanderson was called in to act as interpreter, though he seems to have dispensed with the interpreter as the “conversations” progressed. Though he spoke French ill, he could read it, and Cambon was in the same plight with English I Accordingly, the Englishman who was unable to speak’French and the Frenchman who was unable to speak English, developed the practice Of exchanging letters confirming the arrangements arrived at during their grammarless dialogues! - To the last Lord Grey insisted that be had never made any binding arrangements—that “we were perfectly free.” The oleaginous French wirepuller, however, thought otherwise, and when the time came he mercilessly reminded Grey of the obligations to which he had bound England, and held him to his bargain. True, there was no formal treaty, but there was what Mr. Lloyd George called “an obligation of honour,” and it was made and entered into in quasi-oifieial talks in a room of the Foreign Office by men who were uncertain whether they understood each other! Mr. J. A. Spender in his “Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman” tells us in detail how, when Sir Henry was forming his Ministry in 1905, Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Haldane, on behalf of the Rosebery faction of so-called Liberal-Im-perialists, declined to take office unless Sir Henry made way for Mr. Asquith by going to the House of Lords. Sir Henry firmly declined, however, rightly holding that having lead the Opposition in spite of the Rosebery intrigue, it was the will of the vast majority of the party that he should have his reward. Although it had been authoritatively stated by “The Times” that Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Haldane declined to serve under Bannerman, they thought better of it at the last moment and joined the Ministry. It were far better for England and the Empire had Sir Henry passed them by. Apart from the scathing indictment by his own colleague, Earl Loreburn in “How the War Came,” of which the author makes no reference in "Twenty-five Years,” Grey admits that immediately after assuming office he commenced the so-called “conversations" with the French Ambassador behind the backs of the House of Commons, and though he repeatedly stated from his place therein that Britain was under no treaty obligations to France, he had nevertheless committed the nation as if a treaty actually existed.

It is a pitiable revelation and one can only wonder how long the masses of the people will allow their highest interests to be played with by mediocrities in high places.—l am, etc., P. J. O’REGAN. Wellington. September 11.