MR DAVID LLOYD-GEORGE.

Grey River Argus, 25 September 1911, Page 7

MR DAVID LLOYD-GEORGE.

NEW ZEALANDERS IMPRESSION OF A BRITISH STATESMAN

(N.Z. Times)

When Sir John Findlay addressed tho No.w Zealand Club after his return from the. Imperial Conference, giving some highly dnterfesting reminiscences of notabilities he met in London, greatest .interest was taken in his brief, enthusiastic reference- to Mr D. Lloyd George. It was evident that >tjhe great iEjnglislv statesman, the idol of tho people, had appealed mo:|e to the. New Zealander than :anyonfi else, and a "New Zealand Times" representative enclaaivoured ' to get further Lloyd .Gcorigo impressions from die. Attorney-General. It was not until yesterday that Sir John could spare time for a talk ; then in a few minutes, he irattled off a vividly interesting- skqtch of a fascinating personality.

"Mr Lloyd George was present as Chancellor of tho Exchequer but had not ii; that capacity any occasion to make important addresses, or, indeed, anything that could be called an address at all. "Nevertheless" said Sir John, "wo saw a .good deal of. him, f>ov hie was pres-ent .enmoxe .t>h-a-ni one occasion, and we met him informally at several private interviews. I heard him too, making 'important speeches, in his place in Parliament.' MOST ADMIRED— MOST HATED.

"He is probably the .most intcriesting figure in the. Public -lite of England to-day, at once the. most admired a.nd the imost liated. Oi this I saw an illustration on the .day following tho Coronation when London had gathered in the streets to see the. Royal procession. On one. side of a square near the Houses' of Parliament was the peers' stand, filled to overflowing with these gentlemen and thek fric;nds. Below , were the str.ee.ts packed with the humblest of commoners, the. line of the procession toeing kept clean .of soldiers and policemen. Shortly before the advanoe guard of the procession reached this spot, Mr Lloyd George— a little girl's hand in his— walked slowly down between these lines of men 'in r : ed and .blue to his place in a stand further on. He was greeted by some groans from 'the peers' stand, and instantly a cheer rose from tin crowd ed pavements — increasing as the groans increased — until it scorned to become vocal contest .between tho people of the pavement and tho peers. M.r "Lloyd Georgo walked on with that little elastic .gait of his so expressive of his nature, and dispositoin. He smiled good-naturedly ' to left and right, and. sweeping the peers' stand with a look of hearty amusement and gaiety, passed on to his place. A FASCINATING FIGURE "It is. not his humble, origin) and meteoric rise that make him such^ a fascinating figur.o, although the picture of the old uncle— local pr.eachex and bootmaker— coaching the fatherless Welsh lad in the elements of Latin as a preparation for the law. livns in the mind of the. British people. What thq British people love above all else kv a man is the firhter. tho quality of moral courage— and he is a man who' knows not fear. "Whether .it was leading- a revolt at school, an attack upon tha. cemetery gates that, excluded the body of an old dissenter; that .gnim hour at Binmingham. during t\vs Boer war, when his life was in the gravest peril foo-m a frenzied mab— whether 'it w^as in these hours of daring" or in many another .situation demanding intrepidity in his public cairwr, he. . has a'ways shown himself one of the dauntless souls." IS HE A LEADER? Do you think that this strong