BRITAIN'S LOST LEADER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20520, 22 March 1930, Page 11

BRITAIN'S LOST LEADER.

IS (WORLDWIDE SYMPATHY

!¥«££££>.•• • ' " 1 ■ • M BALFOUR AS COMMONER.

TRIBUTES IN PARLIAMENT.

WORK FOR THE EMPIRE.

LASTING NAME IN HISTORY.

By Telecrapli—Press Association—Copyright. (Received March 21, 5.5 p.m.) b / !, LONDON. March 20. ' ' . The coffin containing the body cf the fate Earl of Balfour was taken to-day to 115 » King's Cross station on the first stage of the journey to Whittinghame, the earl's Scottish seat,, where the burial will take place. The news of Lord Balfour's death has brought, from all parts of the world tributes to the late statesman. At the memorial service to be held in West- " t minster Abbey on Saturday the heads of all the foreign embassies and missions will £'■ attend. A memorial service will also be ii held in Edinburgh at the same time. At Whittinghame the funeral will be as private as possible, and only relatives and a few intimate friends will attend. ■Striking tributes to Lord Balfour were paid by the party leaders in both Houses - > of Parliament to-day. In the House of Commons the Prime Minister, Mr. MacDonald, asked the. House to unite in doing homage to-the work and memory of one who sat in the House for nearly half a century, and led it for nearly 12 years. Statesman and Philosopher. . Lord Balfour, he said, was a doughty politician and party leader, but even / w hen he was the object of angry attack he never lost his personality in his work. His politics were a philosophy, and his methods intellectually balanced. In his latter years as an elder statesman Lord Balfour had exercised more influence than, ever before on British public life. " 17 His work for the League of Nations was embodied in its foundations. His handwriting was enshrined in the surety of the freedom how being developed by the * Dominions. The world had emerged from the war bearing his name on many of its -fA gateways. His insight was recorded in the happy relations which were growing up how between the United States and ; "t. Britain: The Conservative leader, Mr. Baldwin, ' f said one characteristic of Lord Balfour / throughout his life was his rare courage, V, . physical and moral, a courage shown particularly during the years when he \ held the office of Chief Secretary for Ireland. No finer intellect, no greater dialectician hAd been engaged in politics. An All-embracing Mind. It had been said of the Earl of Oxford, the late Liberal leader, that he was " the last of the Romans." Ii might be said of Lord Balfour that he was the last of the r/ifiß His mind was all embracing. He ioved science, music and philosophy. He had an intense love of his country, j jj-Sf an intense belief in the part she was playibr in the world. • Mr. Baldwin said he believed Lord Balfour's career as a national statesman, dating from the first day of the war until . the last day'of his life, would be remembered as long as the history of Britain was written. 1 Mr. Lloyd George, the Liberal leader, feaid that by the death of Lord Balfour they seemed to have finally severed the link with the.great Victorian epoch. He would rank Lord Balfour with Gladstone as the most formidable Parliamentary debater he had ever, heard in that House. But Lord Balfour's rich faculties were better adapted to the part which he had' played during and after the war. Lord Balfour was one of the most valued assets of the Empire. During the terrible days of the war, and after the war, when passion was still raging and the volcanic fires were still unquenched, his calm judgment was a treasure. Three Outstanding Events. ' There were three outstanding events which would give him a lasting name in history. The first was the Washington Conference, the success of which was - largely attributable to the wonderful courage with which he had accepted responsibility for a bold .decision. It was the only disarmament conference that had ended in disarmament.

The other two events were the Balfour v 'Decla ration regarding Palestine and the Balfour Note regarding war debts. The Balfour Note was a great gesture, worthily made by a, great man. Tributes to the dead statesman were also paid in the House of Lords by Lord Parmoor, the Marquess of Salisbury and Earl Beauchamp, the leaders respectively of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Parties, and by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Davidson. * A BROKEN ROMANCE. DEATH OF LOVED WOMAN. WHY BALFOUR DID NOT MARRY. (Referred March 21, 10.35 p.m.) LONDON. March 20. The reason why the late Earl of Balfour had never been married was revealed by a close friend of his, who told the Daily Mail that he only once fell in love, but the romance ended with the sudden death of the woman he loved. She was the" Hon. Mary Catherine. Lyttelton, daughter of Lord Lyttelton, Mr. W. E. Gladstone's brother-in-law, and a sister of the late Mr. Alfred Lyttelton. She died in 1875, when she was 24. She actually died as Mr. Balfour, as he then was, was on his way to see her, with a ring he had just purchased. He was then 27, and throughout his long life he remained faithful to her memory. I ZIONIST MEMORIAL SERVICE. SYNAGOGUE IN AUCKLAND,. The Auckland Zionist Society and the Auckland Women's Zionist Society will honour the memory of the late Earl of Balfour at a memorial service to be held in the synagogue at 7.30 on Monday evening. The memorial address will be delivered by the Rev. S. A. Goldsteiin. An invitation to attend the service is Extended to all citizens. 1