NEW UNIONIST LEADER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14836, 13 November 1911, Page 7

NEW UNIONIST LEADER.

MR. BONAR LAW CHOSEN. PROBABLE ELECTION TO-DAY. By Telegraph.—Pre'3 Association.— Copyright. (Received November 12, 5.5 p.m.)

London, November 11. It is understood that Mr. Auster Chamberlain and Mr. Walter Long, each of whom have been mentionet as the probable successor to Mr. A J. Balfour in the leadership of the Unionist party, have decided tc stand aside in favour of Mr. Bonai Law. Sir Edward Carson has declined tc allow himself to be nominated. A meeting of the party will be helc on Monday, and it is stated that Mr, Bonar Law will then be nominated for the position of leader by Messrs, Chamberlain and Long. The selection of Mr. Bonar Law if understood to be due to the influence of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain. The newspapers, in announcing the choice of the new leader, comment on the fact that he is a Canadian by birth. THE NEW LEADER'S CAREER "A DEALER IN HARD FACTS.' Mrr Arthur Bonar Law, who, despite the fact that he has had only 11 years' Parliamentary experience, has attained such a. prominent position in British politics as to be given the leadership of the Unionist party, has for some time past ■been regarded by his admirers 'as a coming Prime Minister of England. As an earnest and powerful advocate of fiscal reform Mr. Law has made a reputation for himself, and has earned the title oi " the most powerful advocate of tariff reform in the House of Commons." It is therefore not surprising to be told in This morning's cable messages that Mr 'Bonar Law's unopposed selection as the successor of Mr. Balfour is understood tc be duo to the influence of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain. There was no more determined opponent than _ Mr. Law of the now famous reciprocity 'pact between President Taft and Sir Wilfrid Lauder, which has now been consigned to oblivion by the hitter's crushing defeat in the recont Canadian elections. Mr. Law is an exponent of Imperial preference, and one who has always claimed in and out of Parliament that "Britain is for the Britons." It is not as an orator that Mr. Bonar Law has made' his mark in what the present Prime Minister of England last week described as "the greatest deliberative assembly in the world." Nature has denied him the shining gifts which render his great antagonist in the House of Commons, Mr. Lloyd-George, so emotionally effective when he refers to the traditional glories and blessings of free trade. The new leader has been termed "the Gadgrind of English politics." Ho ia a dealer in hard facts. He is a man who has been described as having little or no appeal in the tones of his voice, as being neither witty nor clever nor magnetic, but withal so much to the fore that his succession to Mr. Balfour will be regarded by those who have followed his career as a natural political event. The very absence of those brilliant qualities which have raised contemporary British statesmen to international renown has made the solid and serious Mr. Bonar Law illustrious, according to a recent character sketch in the London Daily Mail. An entire absence of ornament in speech, but ■. the conspicuous presence/ of common gsnse, "a terse and forceful exposition of practical matters," are noted as Mr. Law's distinguishing characteristics •i« debate. He is rather the man who, having convinced himself that a certain course is necessary, will work without any personal ostentation, but with a certain grim ruthlessness until his object is attained. "That is how Mr. Bonar Law reveals himself. He stands at the table of the House of Commons, a tall, spare figure, with a suggestion of Scottish gauntness about him. He is generally in a long frock coat or cutaway. He stands very erect, one hand by his side, the finger of the other hand resting lightly on the box in front of him. He has no gestures, and he consults no notes." The speeches for which Bonar Law is so celebrated in and out of the Commons are described as " amazingly factful." His efforts are the more impressive because he never makes use of a note. Once in a long while he will thrust his right hand into the left breast-pocket of his coat and draw out a small sheet of paper containing some reference or some quotation. But he restores it to his bosom or lays it on the table in front of him with a quickness,suggesting his eagerness not to spoil an argument by depriving it of the extempore quality. He is not a great orator in the sense that he can move by any appeal to the emotions, but for that very reason he is the more trenchant debater. His grasp of practical facts, his lucid exposition of them, and a certain firmness are his outstanding characteristics. As one admirer puts it : "He first lifted himself in the world as an ironmaster, and even now, as he stands beside the table of the House of Commons, there is iron in the hard directness of the man, and in that air of quiet resolution which marks him from head to foot."

Mr. Law was born at New Brunswick, in Canada, 53 years ago, and he is the son of a Presbyterian .minister. He went to the High School at Glasgow, and while a mere youth was put to business. He forged ahead at a rate that made him as powerful in the steel trade of Great Britain as any president of the Carnegie Board'in the United States. Not until ho was 42, and famed as the chairman of the Glasgow Iron Trade Association, did Bonar Law find a seat in the House of Commons. Once there, he made up for lost time, and was Parliamentary secretary to the Board of Trade during the last three years, Mr. Balfour's stormy period of power. Mr. Law proved himself a peculiar master of the dry, cold, and irresistible facts which, stated without passion, demolish the most brilliant propositions. His assertions relate invariably to trade returns, to tariffs, to reciprocity, to preference.