COLONIAL SECRETARIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13762, 29 May 1908, Page 7

COLONIAL SECRETARIES.

LORD CREWE AND COLONEL • SEELY. INTERESTING PARTICULARS. [FROM on; owv CORRKBTOXDEXT.J London. .April 23. RoBKET Ort'l.KT AsIIIiCRTCi.V ' C*R!.WKMilkes. first Enrl of Crewe, « ho takes office as Secretary of State for the Colonies, in succession to Lord Elgin, became Baron Houghton by succession and Earl of Crewe by creation, having inherited the estates of his maternal grandfather, the second Baron Crewe, of Crewe Hail, Crewe.-- He was the only son of the first Lord Houghton, familiar in his time as Richard Morickton Milne.', known in society as "' the cool of the evening," to literature as a graceful poet of merit, and as the original of Lord Beacons-field's "Mr. Vavasour,*' and to the world at large as the friend of a host of. men of letters. Lord Crewe has inherited some of the literary gifts of his father, with more political stability. He served an apprenticeship as assistant private secretary at the Foreign Office . to Lord Granville, who was a friend of his father. • In 1886, he became a lord-in-waiting to Queen Victoria, and on Mr. Gladstone's return for a last brief spell of office, he most pluckily undertook the ungrateful task of acting as Lord-Lieuten-ant of Ireland, under a Home- Rule regime. Irish society was furious, and marked its disapproval of the Government policy by refusing to attend the Viceregal Court— a mistaken protest, which lias not been repeated in the case of Lord Aberdeen. Lord Houghton was not to blame, and he bore the boycott with exemplary good temper. Outside the Vice-regal Lodge he had little opportunity of distinguishing himself, as the actual administration of Ireland was in tiie hands of Mr! John Morley.

Lord Crewe's second marriage, with Lady Margaret Primrose, daughter of Lord Rosebery, caused his name to be closely associated with the Imperialistic wing of the party, hut recent debates in the House of Lords have revealed the fact that there are considerable divergencies of political opinion between "the noble relatives." At the time of his appointment. as Lord President of the "Council, there was some grumbling in the party at the conferment of this post of dignity and comparative ease upon so young a peer, for Lord Crewe is now only 50. But it was soon seen that the office was no sinecure, for although Lord Ripon was titular leader of the Government in the House of Lords, his advanced age compelled him to delegate to Lord Crewe the difficult duty of leading a hopeless minority in times of stress. He did his work very well, improved rapidly as a debater, and dealt out hard knocks to very doughty opponents, without in the least impairing his popularity,-which,' on the contrary, has grown steadily during, the last two years. " If a peer be ever, considered eligible for the Radical Prime Ministership in it-lie "future, Lord Crewe will doubtless be the man." remarks the Daily Telegraph. Colonel John Edward Bernard Seely, Under-Secretary. of State for the Colonies, ie the youngest, son of. Sir Charles Seely, arid:is,now in his:4oth, year. . He was educated at .' Harrow and. y at, Trinity. College. Cambridge; he was called' 'to >. the Bar at the Inner Temple IT; years ago. He is a lieutenant-colonel., commanding the Hampshire Carabineers, and was serving with the Imperial'- Yeomanry :in South Africa when, in May, 1900, Sir Richard Webster was appointed Lord -Justice of England, and raised to the peerage as Lord Alverstone, a vacancy thus occurring in, the representation of the Isle of Wight. In spite of his absence, and with the help of his wife, Colonel Seely won the seat as a Conservative, with .a four-figure majority. On returning from the war and taking his seat in the House of Commons, he soon quarrelled with the Unionists, and crossed over to the Liberal benches, and it was as a Liberal that he was returned for the Abercromby. division of Liverpool, at the general election, defeating the old Conservative member by a narrow majority of 199. His appointment as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Colonies will, not compel him to seek re-election. For his services in the war, Colonel Seely was several times mentioned in despatches. New Zealand will naturally be more interested in the new Colonial Minister than in any other member of the new Cabinet. Of him the Times says: "Lord Crewe, who replaces Lord Elgin at the Colonial Office, has admirable qualities of tact and sympathy, which will in many ways operate to secure harmony of relations. But he will not be able to make any concessions to the colonies on the subject that they have most at heart. For the present, at any rate, preferential treatment is further off than ever, and 'while that great standing difference remains, it may be feared that the most generous outpouring of sympathy upon minor points will not avail to make Lord Crewe's tenure of the post a very conspicuous success." " Lord Elgin supereession in any reconstruction of the Cabinet was almost inevitable, and Lord Crewe's appointment will meet with general approval," comments the Telegraph. "If lie i.< not likely to restore the office to the pre-eminent status which it enjoyed when it was held by Mr. Chamberlain, it is at least certain that he will avoid the bad mistake* both of matter and manner which have occurred far too frequently in the last two years. Moreover, his appointment will, we are sure, be entirely acceptable to colonial opinio:";—in itself a circumstance of the highest moment. Inasmuch ni Lord Ripon retains the dignity of Lord Privy Seal, despite his weight of year.--, i! will be seen that the Prime Minister ha;- not so much constructed a new Cabinet as reshuffled the members of the old one. Lord .Elgin alone has been jettisoned."