IMPERIAL POLITICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 14285, 1 February 1907, Page 8

IMPERIAL POLITICS.

THE CABINET. The following are brio! sketches of the men concerned in recent changes in the personnel of tue Imperial Government; — DR MACNAMARA. Dr Thomas James Macnamara’, who has been appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board in succession to Mr Walter Ruffbiman, is one of the brilliant young men of the Liberal Party, and has long been regarded as certain of political preferment. Forty-six years of age, a Canadian by birth, and the son of a sergeant of the 47th (Loyal North Lancaster) Regiment, he was educated at St Thomas’s School, Exeter, and at the Borough Road Training School for Teachers. From the age of sixteen to thirty ho was a Board School teacher, holding appointments successively at Exeter, Huddersfield and Bristol, in 1892 he was appointed to the editorship of the “ Schoolmaster,” and four vears later filled the position of president of the National Union of Teachers. From his earliest years he showed a great predilection for politics, and in 1895 he made an unsuccessful attempt to enter the House of Commons, contesting Deptford, then a Conservative otronghold. At the General Election in 1900, when the Conservatives went to the country chiming to have secured “peace and honour” in South Africa, Dr Macnamara _was returned for the Northern Division of Camberwell by a majority of 1330, and at the last General Election succeeded in vanquishing his Conservative opponent by a majority of 2817. Dr Macnarnara (who' is an honorary L.L.D. of the St Andrew’s University) is a Home Ruler. Ho is a great worker, a voluminous writer, and a believer in municipalising gas, water and trams, the Disestablishment and Disendowment of the Church, and, above all, of the development of national education. He is one of the most effective speakers either in or out of the House of Commons. MR 0. E. KOBHOUSE. Mr Charles E. Hobhouse, the new Under-Secretary for India, is the eldest son of Sir Charles Hobhouse, Bart., and was born in 1862. He was educated at Eton, Christ Church, Oxford, and at Sandhurst. Entering the Army in 1884, he became successively lieutenant in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, captain of the 7th (Militia) Battalion of the King’s Royal Rifles (1896), and. later major of the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Gloucester. From 1892 "to 1895 he was private secretary at the Colonial Office, during the Liberal Government, being member of the House of Commons for the Eastern. Division of Wilts. He has travelled extensively, and is a Wiltshire landlord. He was returned for East Bristol in 1900 by a majority of 1131, and at the Conservative debacle in January, 1906, he beat his opponent by 4806. In the last Parliament he took a prominent part in debates on Army reform, and showed, an expert knowledge of the subject. He has long been looked upon as certain of receiving office under the Liberal Government. ME WALTER RUNCIMAN. Mr Walter Runciman, who has succeeded Mr Reginald M’Ksnna as Financial Secretary to The Treasury, is a son of Mr Walter of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and was born in 1870. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduated B.A. in 1892, and M.A. in 1805. He contested Gravesend in 1898 without success, and in the following vear was returned for Oldham. At tho General Election in the following year he was defeated, and in 1902 was returned for Dewsbury by a majority of 1157. At the last General Election his majority was 3810. At the General Election in 1900 Mr Runcxman’s opponent for Oldham was Mr Winston Churchill (then a member of the Conservative Party), and there stands on record a prophetic utterance that Mr Churchill made to his (then) political opponent, when they were watching the counting of the votes. “Whatever happens, the last has not been heard of either of us,” said Mr Churchill. But not even Mr Churchill could have fonseen. that they would have both gone to the Front Bench in the next Liberal Administration. Mr Churchill has outpaced Mr Runciman, but there were electors in Oldham who declared that Mr Runciman was the cleverer of the two. He is, perhaps, next to the Under-Secretary of the Colonies, the most brilliant among the younger men on the Liberal side, and his progress has been unfaltering. The son of a ship-owner, Mr Runciman- has distinguished himself in the House by his admirable speeches on all matters of maritime interest, and his defence of Free Trade, from the shipping point of view, has done a great deal to expose the fallacies of the Traffic Reform©rs. He is one of the coming men of the party, and his position as Undersecretary to the Treasury will bring a shrewd knowledge of business to the assistance of the Gov eminent. \ ..