THE PEOPLE'S HERO.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10876, 20 September 1911, Page 2

THE PEOPLE'S HERO.

MR DAVID LLOYD-GEORGE.

NEW ZEALANDER'S IMPRESSION

(From Our Own Correspondent.) -Wellington, September 18. When Sir John Findlay addressed 1 the New Zealand Club after his return from the Imperial Conference, giving some highly interesting reminiscences of notabilities he met in London, greatest interest was taken in his brief, enthusiastic reference to Mr David Lloyd George. It was evident'that the great English l statesman, the idol of the people, had appealed more to the New Zealander than anyone else, and to-day •in an interview Sir John Findlay gave ! .a vivid sketch of that fascinating per- | sonality. MOST ADMIRED, MOST BATED. • "He is probably the most interesting figure in the public life of England to-daj r ," said Sir. John Findlay, "and .at once the most admired and the most hated. Of this I saw an illustration on the day following the Coronation, when Xondon had gathered in the streets to see the Royal procession. On one side of a" square near the House of Parliament was the peers' stand, filled to overflowing with these gentlemen and their friends. Below were the streets, packed with the humblest of commoners, the line of the procession being kept clear by soldiers and. policemen. Shortly before the advance guard of the procession reached this spot Mr Lloyd George, a little girl's hand in his, walked slowly down between these lines of men in red and blue to his place in a stand further on. He was greeted by some groans from the peers' stand, and instantly a cheer rose from the crowded pavements, increasing as the groans increased, until it seemed to become a vocal contest between the people of the pavement and the peers. Mr Lloyd George walked on with that elastic, - youthful gait of .his so expressive of his nature and disposition. He smiled good-naturedly to right and left, and sweeping the peers' stand with a look "of hearty amusement and gaiety, passed on to his place. A FASCINATING FIGURE. "It is not his humble origin, and meteoric rise that make him such a fascinating figure, although the picturo of the old uncle, local preacher and bootmaker, coaching the fatherless Welsh lad in the elements of Latin a-s a preparation for the law, lives in the mind of the British people. What the British people love above all else in a. man is the fighter, the quality of moral courage, and he is a man who knows not fear, whether it was leading a revolt at school, an attack upon the cemetery gates that excluded the body of an old dissenter, that grim hour at Birmingham during the Boer war when his life was in the gravest peril from a frenzied mob, whether it was in these hours of daring or in many another situation demanding intrepidity in his public career he has always shown himself one of the dauntless souls. IS HE A LEADER? "Do you think that this strong fighting spirit will unfit him for higher responsibility some day?" the interviewer "Well, he is a Celt, but his is not the blind recklessness of a Celt," replied Sir John Findlay. "He is one of the men to whom, I believe, politics is essentially a gospel and not a game. He is a "man with a mission. With him it is the 'cause,' the cause first and the guerdon of popularity and glory afterwards, if it but comes through the promotion of the cause. He is the disciple of no political school of thought. He has been in the fighting line ever since he entered Parliament, and has borne more than his share of the heat and burden of the day. Years, with their weight of work and responsibility, have begun to ashen his hair, and leave their traces on his brow, but he seems to carry eternal summer in his soul, and his laugh and manner have all the spontaneity and freshness of a boy. No man, I was told, was more personally popular in the House of Commons, and certainly it seems safe to say that' no man is more widely and intensely popular with the masses of the people of England. He counts for more in the future of British politics than any other man, not mainly from his intellectual or oratorical qualities, for he is no equal of Mr Asquith in intellectual grasp and power, that magnificent control of the right word, the expressive phrase, that command of stately lucidity which distinguishes the Prime Minister above all other men. He is not Mr Winston Churchill's equal as a parliamentary speaker, nor lias lie Sir Edward Grey's lofty and impressional personality. But he has fixity and sincerity of purpose. He feels his politics as perhaps no other British Minister does, save Sir Edward Grey, and it is from this trait he gets the courage and enthusiasm with which he tackles such desperate problems as that of his Insurance Bill. He can be adroit and elusive when necessary, but his style is markedly a frankness which is very fascinating. THE DIRECT ANSWER. "We pressed upon Mr Lloyd George," remarked the Attorney-Gene-ral, "the iniquity of the existing system of double taxation under which man resident in London, who makes his whole income in one of the colonies, is taxed fully on its amount both in England and in the land where his income is made. He did not attempt to defend this upon any broad or fine-spun principles of justice. He made no effort to cloud theissue and so escape one point. He simply told us how many millions the British Exchequer would lose by the concession we asked, and said, 'Gentlemen, we cannot afford it, and on that ground alone it is useless to discuss the matter further.' It is this spirit of courageous frankness which wins so many friends and so much loyal support. It is constitutional with him, not mere policy; but, while a score of qualities mark him out for leadership, his friends contemplate such a contingency with some uneasiness. He has the impulsiveness of the Celtic temperament. Naturally a tender-hearted man, he is on the one hand too fond of concession as an act of grace, while on the other hand,, under sufficient provocation, or from some devotion to a particular principle, he will resist compromise to the point of obstinacy. His present leader, indeed, in a speech he recently delivered, touched upon some of his defects when he said: 'My colleague has a most sympathetic nature. I sometimes am disposed to think he is too impressionable when appeals are made to him for a concession.' Under Mr Asquith. who is the embodiment of unemotional, sober judgment and sagacity, one wise to know the limits of resistance and .the bounds determining concession, Mr Lloyd George has been largely protected from the defects of his qualities; but, shcnild the day come when his hand, must take the helm, that spirit at once daring, impetuous, and concessive. and that at times unpractical s.nd obstinate resistance of his, may lead to the political maelstrom. , But who can tell? He has in the past risen to his responsibilities with splendid courage and self-mastery, and he may have the power, should the need arise, of subduing- these weaknesses to the necessities ?of the highest office." •