THE MEMBER FOR INDIA.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 62, 10 September 1910, Page 12

THE MEMBER FOR INDIA.

A PERSONAL SKETCH OF MR. ( MONTAGU. One of the ablest young men of the House of Commons, Mr. Montagu, Under-Secretary for India, had his first opportunity during the last week of July, and employed it to such advantage that he is sure of promotion if the Liberal Ministry should continue in office. Whether in office or not, he is certain to leave his mark on parliamentary life, wrote recently Mr. Frank Dilmot/ in the Daily Mail. The Hon. Edwin Samuel Montagu, now thirty-one years of age, is the second son of Lord Swaythling, the great banker. He entered politics early, for in 1906 he won the Chesterton division of Cambridgeshire for the Liberals with a majority of 513, and in 1910, when many of the shires were swinging back to Unionism, he not only kept/ his seat but maintained his majority to within a dozen. In the last Parlianient this tall reflective young man — practically a silent member — would come unobtrusively from behind the Speaker's chair, seat himself on one of the back benches, and get through hours of debate with a far-away expression on his face. Politics always seemed distant from his thoughts. As a matter of fact he was raking in all that, was said and was losing no opportunity of adding to his equipment, being probably quite determined that his opportunity Was coming. Unlike many ambitious youiig members, he did not make frequent attempts to catch the Speaker's eye. He seemed rather to be a young member who would be embarrassed should he be called upon to speak. Diffidence and diligence appeared to be his predominant characteristics. Those who knew him privately said he was possessed of high capacity. MR. ASQUITH'S JUDGMENT. Mt. Asquith nowever was aware of his ability, for he quickly picked him out as Parliamentary Private Secretary to himself, a post which calls not only for wide knowledge but also for tact and quick decision. The Prime Minister is by virtue of his experience a pretty good judge of men. Mr. Asquith had made no mistake. In his silent, unobtrusive way Mr. Montagu soon demonstrated his power. He did so in the Prime Minister's private room, in the informal conference* behind the Speaker's chair, in the House ifeelf when during a debate ho was seated just behind Mr. Asquith, ready to support a line of argument with references or quotations from books or documents. Somehow the House grew to have a high estimate of Mr. Montagu — though he hardly ever said a word in debate. In 1908 he did service on the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform. During the Budget discussions of the 'following yeaT he wrote a spirited letter to the Daily Mail asking opponents of Mr. Lloyd George's proposals to bring forward their definite Tariff Reform alternatives for raising revenue. In February this year he was appointed Under-Secretary for India. Many members of the House of Commons were a little surprised. They were not convinced that Mr. Montagu had the calibre for such an important post. When a Secretary of State (in this case Lord Morley) is in the House of Lords the Under-Secretary in the Commons has often more of the actual fighting to do than hi" chief. When it is remembered that it is India which this particular Under-Secretary has to answer for— lndia with its 300 millions of population, with its diverse races and creeds, its princes of high descent, its nations of patient workers, its section of seditious rebels, its army of governing civilians, making up a vast and complex Empire — remembering this, it is not to be wondered at that there was some burmise as to whether this studious young man of thirty-one could handle his enormous charge. Would he be capable of dealing firmly with, those who advocated leniency to the propagators of disorder? Would he be strong enough to resist the tactics of extremists on his own side? Would he be clever enough to meet the legitimate criticisms on points of administration which would come from the Opposition? These questions and others have received a complete and, indeed, a dramatic answer this week. Mr. Montagu is fully capable. MR. MONTAGU'S OPPORTUNITY. It was not^ong after his appointment that Mr. Montagu showed that he was not a docile nonentity. True, he did not bring himself into prominence by methods some Under-Secretaries adopt, by taking up a position on the Treasury bench as near to the Prime Minister as possible, by entering the House from below the bar when there was a full attendance of members, and walking up the floor and in full view taking, up a position with the senior Ministers. He would sit at the end of the Treasury bench, in the obscurity of the Speaker's chair, where he could be seen by few. But if those who stimulate Indian unrest imagined from this that they had au Under-Secretary who could be hustled or bullied they soon found out their mistake. Mr. Montagu had not long to wait for a question from one of the pro-Indians below the gangway. The serious-faced young Under-Secretary rose to the table aud read out in a pleasant, deep voice an uncompromising reply. Members were interested — as they always are in a new personality. The member below the gangway sprang to the attack with a supplementary question. Mr. Montagu did not turn the other cheek to the smiter. He rose alertly to his feet, faced his critic, and repeated with deliberate force all that he had said before. The House as a whole was very pleased. A GREAT SPEECH. Other incidents followed after this, and the membeis interested in India on both sides of the House began to feel interest in the approaching speech of the young Minister in introducing tbo Indian Budget. It was his first great occasion. When he rose to the table the Prime Minister was on the Treasury bench to listen to the first bio; speech of the young man whose official career he had initiated. Up in the gallery was Lord Swaythling, an old man with a long white beard, eagerly watching his son seated among the Cabinet Ministers. It must have b:ien a uervous moment for Mr. Montagu whtii he rose to the table to begin his speech. He showed no trace of agitation. Quie, confidence possessed him. He made a striking picture at the table. He is tall and rather ungainly. Lank black hair surmounts a white, overhanging forehead, and his single eyeglass somehow seems very incongruous in his intense, student-like face. B.ii when he speaks, his deep-toned, clearcut phrases alter one's whole impression. He becomes at once a person to whom It is necessary you should pay attention. _ His speech, long, comprehensive, forcible, was marked by modesty. Ho was brimming with incontrovertible facts. He dealt in his lucid, deliberate way with the various phases of the Indian Empire, its agriculture, its trade, its taxes, its revenue, its general financial position, and finished with a lengthy and statesmanlike examination of the political situation. And he "wiped the floor" with certain mischievous, bxxeybodies,, " .