A BELATED APOLOGY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22657, 19 February 1937, Page 8

A BELATED APOLOGY

In his explanation of his Christmas message to the Duke of Windsor, Mr. Lloyd George offers an implied apology for an action that even his adroitness with words cannot justify. On his own confession, he acted impulsively upon the receipt of news that was terribly misleading and that he should have known, after his long experience of British politics, was probably devoid of truth. The British Isles, at that time, were full of the Duke's friends, as Mr. Lloyd George could be well assured by every consideration based upon that experience. Also, he needed no one to tell him that all at the helm of public affairs, including Mr. Baldwin as well as the Duke himself, had been fully seized of the gravity of the occasion and bent upon dealing with it in a way best serving the interests of the realm. For him to be tempted to think otherwise is not surprising, but to yield to the temptation by sending a message that gravely reflected on others, and these charged with momentous responsibilities, was a weakness of which he should not have been guilty. It was poor national service to obtrude upon a situation still delicate, when he was out of touch with realities ; and even a lingering wish to show himself at variance with the Government of the day should not have induced him to act upon impulse. A cabled request for information from someone better qualified than the "somebody" sending him inaccurate news would have saved him from a step he now manifestly regrets.