LORD SALISBURY

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1508, 24 January 1901, Page 61

LORD SALISBURY

Np man now living represents more completely in h:s own per on ail those qualities xve have accustomed ourselves to see in the English nature tha’H' does Lord Salisbury. He stands for Britain in the coupe-.is of the nations, the veritable John Ball. Whatever* differences politicians may have on various points of domestic and foreign policy, men of all parties look upon Lord 'Salisbury as a safe, cautious, far-seeing Englishman, whose only ambition is to serve Ins country to the best of his ability. He is now entering upon his fourth period- cf Premiership, an honour that comes to few statesmen. If he ho]cl office to the 18 th of next YJarch lie will have ruled as long; as Mr Gladstone did, namely, twelve years and 137 days. The cnly record in the present century which exceeds that is the Premiership of Lord Liverpool, who held office altogether for fom teen years 319 days. It is by no means unlikely that Lord Salisbury'will equal that achievement, and perhaps excel it, and then he will he able to say that he Ims guided the destinies cf England Jongcr than any other man who has risen to power in the nineteenth century. Lord Salisbury comes of what might fitly he called a ruling race. The Cecils have been a power in English politics since the days of Elizabeth, the family being founded, by her great minister, Lord Burleigh. On the maternal side the Prune Minister lias also the blood of Louden Lord .Mayors in Ins veins. The Cecils have been described as a oaste by themselves, and certainly they are a people who .have faith in their house and in their order. The race of Cecil statesmen will net go out with the present Marquis if the promise given, by Jus able .sons in the House of Commons is even partially fulfilled. In his young days, Hebert Arthur Talbot Gascoigne "Cecil had little, hope of rising to his present high eminence. He was a brilliant student at Eton and ut Christ Church, Oxford; but he was a younger son, and not endowed with the best of health. In his later teens he set out on a tour of the world, and found himself in New Zealand and Australia. in 1852. The gold boom Avas on, and he went rip to the dio-Hngs at Ballarat and Bendigo. The life AA*as such as would appeal to an adventurous Englishman, and he remained at Bendigo some little time. The change must have done him good, for when lie returned to England in the following year he entered Parliament as member for Stamford, and he lias been actively engaged in politics ever since. If was not a life that spares the weaklv. and the energy Lord Salisbury has put into his work, both as a member of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, would have broken cloavii any hut a very strong, man. ile was from youth of an independentdisposition. and in the first sixteen months of his membership of the House of Commons he twice took occasion to rebel against his leader, Mr Disraeli. With Mr Roebuck and Lord John Russell, he formed, for some time, a. third party of Irreconcilables, who sat in opposition while the Conservatives were in power. The same course has been pursued on ctjier occasions by other men, and the result has sometimes been as happy as it proved for Lord Robert Cecil. He made himself indispensable to the Conservati\*es, hut he only joined the Ministry when he could agree with its policy.

In domestic affairs he - was also a. rebel in those days. His father expected him to marry some aristocratic lady of wealth, but Lord Robert chose to wed where his affections led, and he married the daughter of Baron Alderson, who had no pretentions to blue blood, but was simply a successful lawyer. who had risen by his merits to the Bench. The breach with his father plunged Lord Robert and his wife into something approaching: genteel poverty. They had hearts and heads that made them independent and they weathered the storm with dignity and success. Lord Robert wielded a pen of power, and he naturally turned to journalism. His contributions were appreciated by the “Times," the ‘‘Standard,” the ‘‘Saturday Review,” and the “Quarterly.” and the ensuing cheques served to keep the pot boiling in the London lodgings that was his home at that time. His wife is believed also to have turned her hand to writing, and to have been singularly successful. In later days a brighter prospect dawned for them, and this plucky lady as the mistress of Hatfield had the honour to entertain Queen Victoria and the German Emperor. A great change came over their fortunes in 1860, when Lord Cranborne died, and Lord Robert succeeded to that title, and became heir to the Maron i sate and estates of 20,000 acres. Political success came to him the following year, when lie was appointed secretarycf State for India in the Administration of Lord Derby. He could not. however, take the “leap in the dark” which the Conservatives proposed to make the following year by lowering the franchise, and rather than agree to the Reform Bill of Mr Disraeli he resigned office. Lord Robert Cecil’s career in the House of Commons was a brilliant one, and it came too soon to a close the following year (1868) when he succeeded

frequently clipper: in gal!. iie was known m iho.-.e qa. s as •'the vine gar merchant,” and Doa.oii once relied him ‘•'the great master of gipes aml dents and jeers.” On one occasion he -described Mr Gladstone's Budget as being a discredit to a pettifog: 7 mr attorney. This was thought to exceed the license of debate. The iolioAvieg night lie rose and intimated lie had an apology to make for the remark. 'ihe house cheered as it usually does at such a display of goner vs f- eh’uo.'. Lord .To!: ir'■! on reflection he considered the criticism was unwarranted, and fit? begged to apologise—to the attorneys! In the same yen* as he left the House of Commons he he o' me interested in the commercial life cf the country as chairman of the Great Eastern Railway. Its affairs were in a deplorable muddle, and the line Avas practically in Chancery. Two years’ tenure of office gave him time to bring order out of chaos, and his administrative ability placed the company on a sound footing. Hi- skilful operations on the Great Eastern led to him being employed along' with Lord Cairns as arbitrator for the London. Chatham and Dover Railway, Avhich was also assailed in nearly a hundred actions-at-law. It had a capital of -ome eighteen millions sterling, but the lawyers bound it- hand and foot, and strong men were required to tree it. The two noble lords tliroAv themselves into the work and succeeded. The future Prime Minister now became a member of the Hou v cf Lords. His loss to the popular Hous ■ was deeply c'eploivd by his colleague - evd opponents. hut he neA'er permitted the Upper Chamber to ovpnvhe!p. him, and prove the ‘'grave cf a rerun. Mien A as if ks done for manv mm :.f lighter calibre. Rather has be. by his own Avr.rk there, added to ir-* lustre and justified its usefulness. In 1874 he returned to the India Office under Mr Disraeli, and a few years 1 ter he was- appointed; Commissioner to the Conference at Const a lit in ord e. Tie was Foreign Minister in 1878 during the perilous days of the Russo-Turkish Avar. Perhaps his hour of pre-test triumph was when Lord ' Beacons field and he returned from the subsequent Congress at Berlin with the memorable trophy, “Peace Avirh Ikon surd’ . Lord Salisbury was noiv recognised as the second man of the party, and Avlien Lore! Beacons livid died a tow years later he was unanimously installed as leader of The Conseiwaf ives. Mr Gladstone had just returned from bis first Midlothian campaign, and was in office. In 1835 Lord Salisbury ivas called upon for the first time to form a Cabinet ; and his second opportunity came in 1886, after the split in the Liberal ranks. He held office till 1802, Avhen Mr Gladstone obtained a. majority. Again, in 1835 Lord Salisbury war, returned to poAver, and he Uu! behind him a. greater majority than any Minister had ever received since the first Parliament following the Reform Bill of 1832. He has been sent bade to power again by a. majority almost as great, and has the singular honour of two successive spells of power. FeAV public men. are less known by the man in the street than Lord Salisbury. He dees not lend, himself to tlie manufacture of gossip. When he is not at the House of Lords or the Foreign Office, he is living in seclusion at Hatfield, or in seme quiet corner of France. He never hankers after the personal paragraph, or the record of ‘'unostentatious charity” done in sight of the reporter. His concerns are in red dispatch boxes, and he lives at the end of the telegraph wire. For whether he is at home or abroad his Avork goes on for eA*er, and demands instant attention. The Foreign Secretaryship is an arduous post, and the Premiership is the work of a strong man. Yet Lord Salisbury has hitherto- managed somehow to overtake the -duties of both. The Prime Minister is a sort of-overseer or manager cf the nation’s workshop, and the various'Ministers are his foremen. The responsibility of their mistakes or neglect fails on him ; it is h’s duty to so harmonise the various interests of each department, s;o that the whole concern shall go on smoothly and -swiftly accomplish all its ends. A delicate and difficult task when each departrr cut is represented by a man of ability rnd strong individuality, anxious primarily for the success of his own work. Yet this post oif Prime Minister carries Avitb it no salary at all; the work is gratuitous. As Foreign Secretary Lord Salisbury got a salary of £SOOO a year, and the majority of his colleagues in the principal departments have the same. He has now relinquished the active control of Foreign Affairs, and as Lord Privy Seal lie will be without- a salary at all.

Next to politics science chiefly in ' crests the Prime Minister, and then may be. said to come literature and .Iris duties as a landlord oir squire. I have some doubt about plac'ug the claims of his land' so far down in the list-—hut really no one save himself can be quite accurate in this respect —for when in the country he takes a very deep interferes t in all that concerns his estates, and shares actively in the management of them. He was one of the first to introduce electricity as a motive power in the A\ 7 crk of his own farms. The Rfoer Lea passes oA*er his land, and it lias been harnessed and compelled to supply 7 poAver to make the electricity that lights

drives various corn mills and machines on the farms. This practical adoption of new forces Avas made by direction of Lord Salisbury a dozen years ago, Avhich shows that in some directions at any rate he is by no means conservative. To the ciA'ilising influence of electricity he looks for great developments in the years that arc- to come. As he remarked at the opening cf the o\*erliead Itaihvay in Liverpool : ‘There lies in electricity a force by Avhich every human relation will he powerfully affected.'’ In this direction even more than in the Avay of political change we may have to look for the impetus of much of our progress in the near future. Chemistry has for many years been a favourite study cf his lordship, and when ho presided over the meeting cf the British Association at Oxford in 1894 a speech that Avas remarkable for its wide and accurate knowledge of many other fields of scientific research.

It is not, however, as a scientist or a country gentleman that the personality of Lord Salisbury appeals to his countrymen. He is the Prime Minister, the first Englishman of the time, the man to Avhom avg look to> steer the ship of State through the reefs and crosscurrents that seem ahvays to beret- her course. I cannot perhaps close this brief sketch more appropriately than by quoting a declaration of policy* which he made while a. young man, and Avhich be. has ever striven to live up to. He said—“ln our foreign policy what we have to do is simply* to perform our oun part with honour, to abstain from a, meddling diplomacy, to uphold England’s honour steadily and fearlessly, and always be. prone rather to let action go along -with words than to let it lag behind them.” —‘‘Weekly Telegraph.”