"ENGLAND'S ONE GREAT MAN."

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13396, 26 January 1907, Page 5 (Supplement)

"ENGLAND'S ONE GREAT MAN."

ANOTHER VIEW. Jl7 JOHN MOFFAT. As one of that contingent which Mr. Chamberlain's tactics during the last four years have driven out of the ranks of the Unionist party in the Old Country, I feel it impossible- to allow Mr. Voile's description of "England's One Croat Man" to stand unchallenged. In 1900. realising the necessity of vigorously prosecuting and speedily terminating the Boor War, I consented to contest the Elgin burgess at the general election in tho Liberal Unionist interests; succeeding in reducing my opponent's majority 1 was shortly after adopted as Unionist candidate in another constituency, which I was nursing at the time when Lord Salisbury withdrew from the arena of practical politics, nominating his nephew, Arthur Balfour, as leader in his place, a post which the Cecils apparently viewed in the light of a family heritage.

At this juncture Mr. Chamberlain ac\t«d a moderate and unselfish part: instead of risking the disintegration of a united party by urging his own claims upon tho leadership, claims which his most bigoted opponent could not deny were weighty, he cheerfully acquiesced in Lord Salisbury's decision and repeatedly avowed his intention of loyally obeying and strongly supporting his new leader. Doubtless he realised the distrust with which the great English families—the Russells, the Cavendishes, the L'hurchills, and others regarded him. a distrust engendered during that earlier era in his career when he was the mouthpiece of Radicalism militant, a cause which ho only abandoned when the desire to revenge the .slight Mr. Gladstone had placed upon him drove him to exert his unquestioned abilities for the destruction of the Liberal party. He was also well aware that Hie great, landed proprietors, the dukes and noblemen, who to this day possess an almost sovereign voice in the inner councils of the Tory party, desired as their leader one chosen from their own class, and would oppose innumerable obstacles to the advancement of any who like himself belonged to the manufacturing or upper middle caste, obstacles which had exerted to its utmost the genius even of Beuconsfield.

At any rate, whatever may have been the | motive. Mr. Chamberlain raised no objecj tion to Mr. Balfour's being in-tailed Pre- | mier, most probably thinking his own iron | will could readily mould that of Lord Salisi bury's nephew to his purposes, and that j consequently he himself might Income the ! power behind the throne. The Cecils, how- • ever, were more crafty r.nd capable than he- had deemed possible and. while industriously circulating this theory of the power behind the throne in the hope that it might content the ultra-Chamberluinite wing- of ; the party with the existing regime, they | simultaneously employed every artifice to maintain their own ascendancy over Mr. Balfour'- mind with such success that, hefore long, he had promised to bring in a Bill placing the Church of Kugland schools, in which, roughly speaking, some 50 per cent, of the children in Kugland and Wales were educated, upon the rates,* at the same time | leaving them under the control of the j Church: in a word, taxation without rej presentation, a measure upon which the I Cecils had long >, their heart-.

•Joe. a- he is often familiarly named, I speedily grasped the situation; he recognised that Mr. Balfour was not capable of being influenced by others to the extent ho had supposed, and moreover that the only influence to which he was really susceptible was being exerted by Mr. Balfour's own friends anil relatives. To be brief, the archintriguer now found himself in a position somewhat resembling that of a great, cardinal of the Medieval Church. There was once upon a time a Catholic priest who obtained considerable celebrity - on account of his excessive humility. in this priest's room a fisherman's net whs always hung in order that, as he would explain, he might not forget his humble origin, adding that, his parents were only humble fisherfolk. This praiseworthy humility, being joined to great piety, speedily procured him advancement in the Church. After many years, a vacancy occurring in the Papacy, a crafty cardinal, thinking he could without difficulty control the simple mind of this humble priest, persuaded his fellow-cardinals to join in giving him their suffrages and electing him Pope. On tin- following day, calling upon hi- friend to congratulate him upon the eminence to which lie had attained, he observed that, the net had disappeared. You may judge of his astonishment at receiving the reply: "My son, the net lias caught it- fish !" But Mr. Chamberlain was an awkward fish to retain in any net, however strong, and without delay he commenced tearing a passage through its meshes.

He was aware that Mr. Balfour's Education Bill was bound to arouse the fiercest hostility amongst the Nonconformists; he knew that, the great secret of his own influence rested upon the fact that he was very generally viewed as the chief exponent of the Imperial idea. On being accused of supporting Mr. Balfour's Education Bill, in a half-hearted fashion he defended . him-

self by saying that Imperial affairs detained him at the Colonial Office while his leader was debating the measure in the House, wishing perhaps to picture in the minds of his adherents himself ruling the Empire while his colleague attended to the repairs of the parish pump. At last, discovering (he intensity of the odium Mr. Balfour was incurring with the

electorate, he devised a scheme for almost entirely evading responsibility for his leader's social legislation. On the plea of attempting to bring about a bettor feeling between Boers and British in the Transvaal, he asked for permission to proceed to South Africa in a battleship, intending in his own mind to make a sort of triumphal progress through that laud and thereby keep the limelight .-till focusscd upon himself. Clad to get Mr. Chamberlain out of their immediate vicinity. Mr. Balfour and his friend-; somewhat rashly granted his request. During his absence Mr. Balfour's utter fatuity and mediocrity became glaringly apparent, and only feelings of loyalty to the party prevented large numbers of Unionists from deserting to the Liberals. Shortly after Mr. Chamberlain's return from his South African tour, which i- too well known to you all for me to dwell on, a Cabinet!! Council was called to hear the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget for 1903. At this meeting Mr. Ritchie announced his intention of repealing the duty of one shilling iter quarter upon imported wheat imposed by Lord Salisbury's Administration during the Boer war. Mindful of his position as the missionary of Empire, | and filled with optimistic views regarding I the future of our colonies, Mr. Ohamlierlain j urged that the shilling per quarter should I stiil be levied upon foreign-grown wheat, j but that colonial should enter fluty free, thereby giving a -mall preference to |. the produce of our colonics, Mr. Ritchie I refused to accede to Mr. Chamberlain's re- | quest.*, and Mr. Balfour foolishly supported I Mr. Ritchie. Mr. Chamberlain finding op- | position useless gracefully gave way, and the Cabinet broke up. When Mr. Ritchie's I proposal to abolish the shilling duty altoi gether had been carried, his friends coni gratulated him upon his victory over the | Colonial Secretary, and the whole Balfour ; clique began to think Mr. Chamberlain had ! been a sort of bogey whose whole strength i had lain in the fear he had inspired, but who became harmless if resolutely opposed. Poor fools! They little understood the | depths of this modern Maehiavelli. lie was : now placed in a position which deprived him 1 of almost all real power, and he decided to ! make himself Premier in Balfour's place, or ; if that, were impossible to break up and i ruin the Unionist party. To revenge himj -elf upon Mr. Ritchie was a, task which | lie knew could be easily accomplished; to seize the reins of the Tory party was a more difficult task. After much meditation ' he decided to start a campaign in favour of I colonial preference, thereby maintaining his | position as missionary of Empire, which had j won him such prestige with (he nation at l.i r ..e -it the same time demanding, in no uncertain tones, protection for tho British farmer, thereby gaming the support of the ,>reat landowners, who have such a say 1.1 Che councils of the 'lory party: nor did this astute politician forgot to advocate protection for tho home manufacturer, tho.ely ensuring the funds being forthcoming which were so necessary for the prosecution of

his campaign. He made his first speech upon the subject in May, 1903. at Birmingham, unci upon tho following day tho political world was in a furore. Lord (Joschen, Mr. Ritchie. Sir William Hareourt, and Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, the only four men alive who had occupied the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer, three of them members of his own party, in quick succession denounced his proposals. The Duke of Devonshire, Lord .lames of Hereford. Lord Balfour of Burleigh, and others refused to countenance any gamble with the food of the working' classes. All the most eminent political economists in the British Isles united in signing a joint condemnation of his scheme. Sir Henry Campbell-Banner-man, Lord Rosebery. Mr. Asquith, Mr. Haldane, Sir Edward (Jrey, and other prominent Liberals joined in the swelling chorus of disapproval. Lord Hugh Cecil and Mr. Winston Churchill, the two most promising young men in the Unionist ranks, publicly told Mr. Balfour, in no unmistakable terms. 1 hat. Mr. Chamberlain was bent upon bringing about his ruin. Lord Inverclyde, the. chairman-of the Cunard line, together with other prominent shipowners and shipbuilders, gravely warned the public that- if such proposals were carried we should lose our supremacy upon the seas. And. in face of all this storm. Mr. Chamberlain never quailed. His failure meant. Mr. Balfour's ruin, and so did his success. Mr. Balfour's ruin ho had determined at all hazards to achieve.

And what was Mr. Balfour doing amid-: all these trouble- -what resolute steps was he taking to neutralise the effects of Mr. | Chamberlain's blows - / Doing nothing! Tak- ! ing no" steps! Only trimming his sail- to every breeze, first pretending to sympathise with* Mr. Chamberlain, then secretly assuring the free trade wing of hi- party that he would never desert their views: in a word, acting precisely a- Mr. Chamberlain had anticipated he would act. disgusting the public, losing the support of his friends. Early in the autumn Joseph Chamberlain launched another thunderbolt by resigning his position in the Cabinet, at the same, time by a crafty intrigue driving his old foe Mr. Ritchie out of the Cabinet, in company with Lord Balfour of Burleigh and Lord (Joorgo Hamilton. Their example was spoedilv followed by that of the Duke of Devonshire, and Mr. Balfour was forced to ' fill the vacancies with men like Mr. Lyttleton and, when later on further vacancies occurred, mediocrities like the Karl of Cawdor. He himself now issued a pamphlet upon the hotly-debated tariff question, which with advantage might have been compressed into four line-, • I'm not for free trade. And I'm not for protection. I approve of them both. And to both have objection.

j while Mr. Chamberlain asked my uncle to j organise a vast meeting in the St. Andrew's i Halls in tilasgow. at which my uncle took the chair. Hen- Mr. Chamberlain opened his campaign in real earnest. The meeting was a most impressive spectacle. Upon the platform were seated rank upon rank, many of the most influential peers and gentlemen in Scotland. The body of the hall was closely packed with men and women who, without exception, rose to their feet upon Mr. Chamberlain's entry and cheered him for ten good minutes. A great orator at all time.-, on this important occasion he ! excelled himself, and the meeting was an | unequivocal success. His speech, which I was everywhere reported verbatim, made a profound impression, and many shrewd ob- ! servers began to pognosficato his early success. But surely, though slowly, the glam- | our died away, not to be evoked once again ; by eloquent speeches ami thunders of apI plause. Common sense no less than genius lias her victories, perhaps more lasting though not so resplendent, and the electorale decided to maintain (lie tariff system under which we have so greatly prospered during the last fifty years. The more certain did it appear that Mr. Chamberlain's proposals were doomed to j failure the more strenuously did he endeav- ' our l<> commit the Unionist parly to them, j by these methods making utter disaster tit the polls an absolute certainty for Mr. Balfour. On tin" plea of putting the party upon a more democratic basis he got com nil of the Lilveral-IJnionisl organisation and club. whereupon the Duke of Devon-hire, Lord James of Hereford, Lord (iosohen. and some -event members, including myself, resigned and formed a Free Trade Club. Mr. Winston Churchill, Mr. Wilson, myself, and others were so persecuted, at his instigation, that we resigned our candidatures for the coming election as Unionists, and joined the Liberal party; nor were we by any means the only one- who were troubled in 'this fashion. The editor of the Standard had, in a series of leading articles, fearlessly pointed out Mr. Chamberlain's main objective, and endeavoured to awaken Mr. Balfour to the real facts of the situation. Under Mr. Chamberlain's guidance, a syndicate was formed, which, in Mr. Arthur Pearson's name, purchased the Standard for £300,000, and after the transaction was completed their first act, was to dismiss the too scrupulously honest editor. Sir John (iorst was driven out of tin- representation of Cambridge University and Chamberlauute candidates were run against Mr. Gibson Bowles and Lord Hugh Cecil to split the Unionist vote and so ensure the return of two Liberals rather than of two Ralfourites. Shortly after the general election, which proved such a Sedan for I he Unionist party. Sir Edward Clarke was so worried by Mr. Chamberlain's henchmen that his health broke down under the -train, and he had to resign the representation of the city of London And this man, who attempts: to gain his end- bv contemptible intrigues, who will sacrifice everything to revenge himself upon his private •enemies, who will advocate or oppose any measure to gam popular support, who is one day Home Ruler, another day Unionist, who is one day protectionist, another day free trader, is 'the man Mr. Vaile would have the New /ealander love, honour, and adore.

Much attention (the Yorkshire Post says) has been aroused among the textile, manufacturers of the North by an announcement made at the Bradford Technical College byMr. P. I.)reaper as to artificial silk. At present nearly the whole of the artificial silk manufactured is made on the Continent, where tiie total output is estimated at eight tons a, day. The Knglish manufacturer has been content to play second fiddle. Up to a year ago artificial silk, in which the individual filaments were comparable with thc'ie of real silk in size, and which possessed the necessary elasticity and soft- | ness to give a. silk-like effect to'cloth, was quite unknown. The difficulties to be overcome seemed almost insuperable. Mr Dreaper said that the problem had been successfully attacked by Dr. Thielo, and he had for inspection samples of silk practically indistinguishable from the real article in "softness, appearance, and "covering power."'-