THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16276, 8 January 1915, Page 8

THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY

RT. HON. WINSTON CHURCHILL, M.P. By Dvvro Wtlijamson, author of "The Life of Queen Victoria," "Gladstone, the Man," etc. I stood -with half a dozen men opposite the Prime Minister's house to see the Cabinet assemble on the eventful day when it was -decided to send an ultimatum to Germany,, demanding a reply -within 24 hours, as to -whether she meant to respect the neutrality of Belgium. One by one came the Cabinet Ministers, each realising the solemnity of the crisis. Lord Haldaue, with the pallor of the man who had been -vwrking all night; Viscount Morley, faced -with the added trial of coming separation from old friends and colleagues; debonnair Lord Beauchamp, for once without a smile; Sir John Simon, with the imperturbability of a lawyer; and then, walking very slowly, cajne Mr Winston Churchill, lost in thought, his grey hat tilte dover his head. He entered No. 10 Downing street, hut two minutes later a messenger arrived with a despatch-box for him with urgent news from the Admiralliy. The door was opened, and in the hall of the most famous house in London -was seen Mr Churchill opening the scarlet box. He stood there, a silhouette framed by the doorway, bareheaded now and looking a great man, with his splendid forehead, and largo, brilliant eyes. "This is Churchill's chance," said one of my companions, "the chance of his lifetime. The Marlborough blood in his veins must bo tingling at such a moment." —A Kaleidoscopic Career.— Truly it has been an astonishing career, which found its climax when Britain went to -war last August. Only 39 years old, Winston Churchill has done enough to have earned fame in three fields of human activity. As a soldier he fought for Spain in Cuba, served in two Indian campaigns, gained another medal at the battle of Khartoum, was scribe and gallant soldier in the South African war, and was at the capture of Pretoria. He has written a novel, various books of travel, and the lasting biography of his father. For 14 years he has been in Parliament, and a Cabinet Minister for the last six years. To-day, as First Lord of the Admiralty, he carries one of the heaviest responsibilities of any living statesman! And, I repeat, he is not yet 40. Alone among his Majesty's Ministers, Mr Churchill can exhibit an advertisement offering a reward fer himself, "living or dead." After he had escaped from the Model School at Pretoria, where he had been sent after capture by the Boers in December, 1899, the following notice was circulated concerning him. It "was printed on rough paper in the style of a village newspaper office : — "£25.

" Tw«nty-five pounds sterling REWARD is offered by the Sub-Couamission of tho Fifth Division on bshalf of the Special Constable of the said Division to any on« who brings tho escaped prisoner of war,

CHURCHILL, living or dead, to this office. " For the StrbCoiuiniaskm of the " Fifth Division, " LODK DE HASS. " Secretary. "

Apropos of his escape—surely one of the most exciting incidents in a career full of adventure —a characteristic example of his brilliant literary style may be quoted. It is a revelation'of his thoughts which explains much in a man who is a practical mystic. Mr Churchill thus wrote in his book about his experiences in the -war: "I looked at the stars. Orion shone brightly. Scarcely a year ago he had guided me, when lost in the desert, to the banks of the Nile. He had given me water. Now he should lead me to freedom. The elation and excitement of the previous night had burned out. I found no comfort in any of the philosophical ideas which some men parade in their hours of ease and strength and F,afety. They scorned only fair-weather friends. I reajised with awful force that no exercise of mv own feeble wit and strength could save me from my enemies, ami that without the assistance of that High Power which interferes more often than we are always prone to admit in the eternal sequence of causes and effects, I could never succeed. I prayed long and earnestly for help and guidance. My prayer, as it seems to me, Svas swiftly and wonderfully answered.' "

—"You Fight Too Well."— There was an amuinng tribute paid during the South African war to Winston Churchill as a fighting man. When an armoured train was captured by General Smuts, one of the. "passengers" was a fairhiiircd young man, who asked if he might Kond oil' a telegraph message. "1 am a war correspondent," he said. General Smuts burst out laughing at the naivo •statement. "You have done the best part of the damage," he said to the young man. 'Yon tight too well to Iμ; treated as a civilian." It was a well-cl<\<;crved compliment, but one which Mr Churchill would h-avo appreciated better if he had not been among the captured. —Whv Hβ Left t-lie Army.--

Once a friend asked Mr Churchill why he exchanged the army for a political career. He replied, "I was very happy in the army and liked soldiering. But the fact is that in time of peace there is little if any scope in the army for a man who wants to be active. Of course I mean very active, and in different ways, for there is always*plenty of routine work in military service. Anyhow, a man must choose his own way of life, and if it is only fighting that a man wants thero is plenty of that in politics." I think the "wanting to be active," of which Mr Churchill spoke, is a clue to his later career as a statesman. He ceased to be simply a political tighter when he became First Lord of the Admiralty. Some critics on his own side in politics have complained of this change, but the I'inpire can now realise that it was infinitely more important for him to focus his powers on the efficiency of tho navy than to disperse them by delivering political speeches all over the country. Of the two occupations, there is no room to doubt which was more valuable.

All bis life Mr Churchill has had a brusque manner. Part of it is due to nervousness, part to impatience. He cannot "suffer fools gladlv," and is so intent on following his own fine qf thought that he makes a bad listener to other men. In the House of/ Commons he has never earned the easv popularity which geniality and accessibility procure for a Cabinet Minister. He hurries through the lobby, voting hastily, and saying little to anyone of his colleagues, and then retires to his room, unless there is Admiralty business under discussion. Members who have introduced deputations to him have blushed and trembled at Mr Churchill's short and sharp methods. These last two or three years he has been often in the company of Sir Edward Grey, and the reason is now disclosed. Foreign pciicy and the navy were being linked in closer bonds, and the preparedness of the navy was an essential to the strength of Great Britain in diplomatic argument. —Preparing His Speeches.—

All through his political career he has taken excessive pains with his speeches. When he first entered Parliament he used to learn them "by heart," as schoolboys say, and he would pace up and down his flat rehearsing the speech that was to win for him still more attention as a "coming man." The House of Commons does not appreciate too much elaboration in a young member's speech. A new M.P. who had made a reputation at the Oxford Union once asked Mr Chamberlain's advice as to his maiden speech. Mr Chamberlain, drawing on a long experience, said, "The House would take it aa a compliment if you could contrive to break down!" It was sound advice, for the House of Uommons resents cocksureness in. a young speaker. So Winston. Churchill had to wait for some sessions before his repeated successes compelled men in all parts of the House to acknowledge his powers. Now there is general agreement that he is a first-rate debater, with undeniable gifts as an orator. Flamboyant may seem some of his phrases, after the slovenly speeches that even eminent Front Benchers deliver, but there is the "grand manner" that Parliament appreciates occasionally. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman was a shrewd judge of speakers, and he was one of the first men in the House to acclaim Mr Churchill as a first-class speaker. The story is told that once after another young member had spoken. Sir Henry asked a Cabinet Minister what he thought of the performance. He muttered—"Platform," to which Sir Henry responded wittily, "No, overflow." There was discernment in that criticism, for it had been a speech which would have delighted an overflow meeting at a by-election, but was quite unsuited to a deliberative assembly. Since he became First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr Churchill has spoken less frequently, reserving his efforts for introducing the Navy Estimates or for full-dress debates. He is a great phrase-maker, and likes to embellish «v "prosaic statement with a "purple patch." His finest speeches, in the opinion of good judges, were those he delivered at Dundee when seeking a constituency in 1908. They were remarkable for their eloquence, their lucidity, and their popular appeal. They were reported verbatim, and were afterwards printed in pamphlet form and had a wide circulation. Mr Churchill's skill as a man of letters has made him more careful of his style as a speaker, and the result is that a verbatim report reads with all the fluency and conciseness of an essay. "I think there are few things pleasanter," he said to a friend, "than to sit at a desk witii sheets of good paper and time to cover them with one's thoughts." "His "Life" of his father was a real portrait drawn with consummate ability. It was all the more remarkable because Winston uhurchill was only 21 when Lord Randolph Churchill passed away, so that he was dependent on history, and other men's recollections for many of the facts relating to his father's mete'oric career. How proud that father would have been if he could have lived to have_ seen his son First Lord of the Admiralty! Introducing Winston as a schoolboy to a friend, Lord Randolph said, "He's not much yet, you know, but he's a good 'un." Shall we endorse the father's verdict and say of Winston Churchill, "He's a good 'un ",?