THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1053. VISCOUNT GREY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22053, 8 September 1933, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1053. VISCOUNT GREY

While the death of Viscount* Grey of Fallodon entails no premature breaking: of the thread of a notable career, for he had long withdrawn from public life, the announcement of it is likely to be attended with reverberations more widespread than have attended the passing; of men who asserted greater claims to distinction. For the name of Sir Edward Grey, by which he will always be best remembei'ed, is indelibly associated with one of the most momentous and tragical episodes in the history of the British Empire and the woi ; ld. The very mention of it recalls the beginnings of the Great War, and those fateful days when the dark danger-clouds were enveloping Europe, and the questions whether a conflict could be averted or, if not, whether Great Britain would be drawn into it, awaited answer. Upon Viscount Grey, as Secretary for Foreign Affairs, devolved the heavy responsibility of giving expression, for foreign benefit, to the views of the British Government relative to the crisis that had arisen. The dramatic elements of that chapter of the nation's history could not fail to leave an ineffaceable impression on the minds of all who experienced the suspense of that brief interlude, after the Serajevo episode, during which the Powers that were to meet in a clash of unprecedented magnitude stood yet upon the brink of the abyss. Viscount Grey's own account of what went on at the Foreign Office and in the Cabinet during the last week of July and the first week of August, 1914, is set forth in his "Twenty-Five Years," a volume which is both a literary achievement'of distinction and one of the major documents of history. In that personal record, which reflects most impressively the tenseness of the situation, he has chronicled with characteristic absence of embroidery the efforts that were made in the first place to avert war altogether, and then continued up to the last moment in the hope of ensuring that the hostilities should be confined within a limited arena. But all prospects of that kind were dissipated in consequence of Germany's refusal to respect the neutrality of Belgium. A British ultimatum was sent to Berlin requiring a satisfactory answer as regards Belgium by midnight on August 4. Thus, in. Viscount Grey's words, the chapter closes: — That evening some of us sat with the Prime Minister in the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing street. I was there in touch with the Foreign Office to certify that no satisfactory reply had come from Berlin, though this was, after all that had happened, a foregone conclusion and a matter of form. Churchill also was among those present, ready at the appointed "hour to send out the war order that the fleet were expecting. Midnight came. We were at war.

Renders of Mr Lloyd George's war memoirs which have been appearing in our pages will have noted that he blames Viscount Grey for the part he played in these events, saying that his personality was distinctly one of the factors that contributed to the

great catastrophe, and that had he warned Germany in time of the point at which Britain would declare war, and wage it with all her strength, the issue would have been different. His estimate is that Viscount Grey lacked altogether the quality of audacity which makes a great Minister, and that his failure to avert war was one of temperament. The view that war could have been averted had the British Foreign Office acted differently savours, of course, of the wisdom that comes after the event. Its correctness cannot be proved any more than it can perhaps be disproved. As to the justice of Mr Lloyd George's appraisement of Viscount Grey's qualifications to handle the difficult situation which confronted him there will no doubt be differences of opinion. Conceivably it has been coloured by the fact that after the split in the Liberal Party Viscount Grey did not elect to follow Mr Lloyd George, but opposed him. The question arises again as to the measure of individual responsibility in connection with these events that was borne by the Foreign Secretary. He has himself described the strain that was imposed upon every member of the Cabinet during the crucial days that preceded the declaration of war, and concerning his own momentous speech of August 3, in which he placed the issues before the House of Commons, his words are: — The real reason for going into the •war was that if we did not stand by France and stand up for Belgium against this aggression we should be isolated, discredited, and hated; and there would be before us nothing but a miserable and ignoble future. The speech was directed to presenting this consideration in the way that would convince and make the strongest appeal to the House, and which was, in fact, the way the issue presented itself from the first to some of us, and in the end to all the Cabinet, except the two, John Morley and John Burns, who resigned. Whatever may be said concerning the failure of Viscount Grey to avert war, no doubt obtains as to the strenuousness of his efforts in that direction. They are reflected in the despatches published at the time, and the suggestion that the failure was not unavoidable will scarcely serve to undermine the widespread conviction that the war was the outcome of circumstances against the force of which the statesmanlike abilities of no British Foreign Minister could have prevailed. For the rest Viscount Grey will rank as one of the most interesting, though it can hardly be said popular, figures of his time. He had, more than any man in affairs, it has been said with due regard to his record as a statesman, the passion for world pacification. He went into public life without enthusiasm, and escaped from it with relief. Partly, no doubt, because he held aloof from the game of politics he carried more personal weight, observes Mr A. G. Gardiner, not merely in Parliament, but also in. the country, than any single Parliamentarian since His speeches conveyed conviction by simplicity and dispassionate gravity, and his appearance was arresting. No man, it was said, could be as wise as Viscount Grey looked. His was a mind that could find satisfaction in the contemplative side of life, and in quiet pursuits such as that of the angler and the student of bird life. In his latter days the pathos of failing sight added itself to that which will continue to attach in a measure to the name of a man who, in the hour of his greatest responsibility, became one of the chief instruments of a tragedy of a kind against the occurrence of which no statesman could have laboured more diligently.