The Otago Witness. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1916. THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3274, 13 December 1916, Page 37

The Otago Witness.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1916. THE WEEK.

WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY.

"Nunquam allud natura, allud sapientia dixit." —Juvenal. "Good nature and good sense must ever join."— POI'B.

"We prefer to remember with gratitude

Exit Mr Asquith.

the dignity with which Mr Asqnith 'represented the nation, the loftiness of his

public life, and the great services which the Empire owes to him, rather than sling the garbage of the gutter at a great patriot." So says the Sunday Times. and the sentiment will be shared by all right-thinking men. Probably the time had arrived " when a change _ in Government was essential to the winning of the war ; but it is in a highly degree regrettable that the change should have been brought about by what Mr Asquith himself describes as' - a carefully engineered campaign against Viscount Grey and himself." in which the prime mover war; Lord Northcliffc. and the means used by the Northclift'e group of newspapers/ When it is remembered that this campaign in its original intention included Lord Kitchener as well, it is impossible to avoid comparison between the tragic and dramatic end of the great soldier coffined in an ironclad and sinkin cr to rest in the depths of the turbulent North Sea and the forced resignation of the great politician, assailed by the abuse and vituperation of his party foes. It may well bo that Mr Asquith ardently desired deatli at the post of duty rather than virtual obliteration of the public life, which for a record term of years placed him in the high command of national and Imperial affairs. Eleven years ago one of Mr Asquith's great admirers wrote of him: "Let it be admitted at once that one great qualification is missing in the equipment of Mr Asquith as an ideal political leader. He does not appear to have that magnetic personality, that power of striking the popular imagination, possessed in an eminent degree by Mr Gladstone, and to a lesser extent by Mr Chamberlain and Lord Rosebery." After questioning whether this magnetic personality, however desirable in a political leader, was vital and essential to the problems of that dav. the same writer added: "Is it not rather the safe man that is -wanted—the map of sagacious judgment and strong will : the able and progressive thinker of enlightened mind ; the fearless man of action and the genuine reformer?" The things in Mr Asquith's make-up here referred to are primarily the reasons for his seeming failure as a leader in war time ; and yet when the history of the war come? to be calmly and dispassionately reviewed, it will probably be found that he was the only man who was able to hold the tangled reins of government and to keep the country and the Government together. It was in this direction that his sanity, sagacity, and strength of will were displayed, and which enabled him time and again to tide over political and industrial crises. It lias yet to be revealed how near, on more than

one occasion, the people of Great Britain were to social revolution, if not indeed to civil war. from which twin terrors they were delivered by Mr Asquith. What in some quarters has been dubbed the vacillation and indecision of the Coalition Government was in good part an educational campaign, destined to prove to the people of Great Britain the real meaning of war. For it must not be forgotten in criticising the Asquith Administration,, that the Government was confronted with two tremendous tasks, and the first and foremost of these tasks was to educate and organise the British people. Thia perhaps was Mr Asquith's special mission, which, having accomplished, he is able to step aside and leave the winning of the war to his successor. His decision to accept no title or reward for his services, and his determination to in nowiso embarrass the new Government, speaks volumes for the quality of his patriotism.

The eyes of the world are fixed upon Mr Lloyd George, and the situation calls for every particle of courage, every ounce of energy, and every bit of determination which the new Prime Minister possesses. The Spectator encouragingly declares: "The whole, nation is behind him. Those who distrust his methods are as determined a-s those believing that he is the man of the hour desire to give him an untrammelled chance. The ball is at his feet." Ho has cast aside all precedent and jettisoned many' constitutional conventions, his dominant idea being to win the war in the shortest possible space of time. In " Ordeal by Battle," after severely criticising the conduct of affairs • under Mr Asquith's government, Mr F. S. Oliver writes : " Leadership is our greatest present need, a>nd it is here that the Party System has played us fake. To manipulate its vast and intricate machinery there arose a great demand for expert mechanicians, and these have been evolved in a rich profusion. But in a crisis like the present mechanicians will not serve our purpose. The real need is a man, who, by the example of his own courage, vigour, certainty, and steadfastness, will draw out the highest qualities of the people; whose resolute sense of duty will brush opportunism aside; whose sympathy and truthfulness will stir the heart and hold fast the conscience of the nation. Leadership of this sort we have lacked." The question which everyone is asking cfc the present moment is whether Mr Lloyd George is the man to fill the bill and to play the part above described. In the formation of his Government he has displayed both daring and decision; his selection of his colleagues is aptly described by the Nation as "a tremendous straddle between Tory Imperialism and Labour," since owing to the attitude of his former political associates he has been forced to eliminate entirely the Liberal element.. Whether by accident or by design Mr Lloyd George has embodied in the personnel of his Government the principles laid down by William Blake in "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell " —viz., " Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence." It is possible that Mr Lloyd George has dreams of a Tory democracy similar to those once so fondly dreamed by Lord Beaconsfield : at least the presence in the same Government of representatives of Labour like Mr Hodge and Mr George Barnes, sitting cheek bv jowl with typical capitalists such as Lord Rhondda, Sir Jo?eph M'Lay, and Sir Alfred Mond is" calculated to produce startling results, and it certainly portends a marriage oj heaven and hell which must either end in a lasting union of capital and labour or in a roval divorce. One notable feature of the new Government is the large infusion of business men who are non-parliamentarians, and c which would seem to forecast the organisation of the nation upon business rather than political lines, and which is destined to exert a palpable influence upon the progress of the war. More important still is the setting opart of Mr Lloyd George. Mr Henderson, Lord Curzon. and Lord Milner as aninner or War Cabinet, and who. relieved of any and every other responsibility, wil! be free to devise means and carry out methods aimed at securing prompt and decisive victorv. The war policy already outlined includes the imposition of furthersacrifices upoii the people. including further regulations for the control of food and • drink, the curtailment of luxuries, the possible raising of the military age or partial mobilisation of the civil population for war work, releasing for service the younger men now employed in exempted trades.

"The Ball at His Feet.*'

Mr Lloyd George's programme is likely • to have trial, because the outlook at present is dark and desperate. The people of Great Britain will .welcome sacrifice and hardship if only :t leads to the winning of the war. Looking out upon the situation there is scarce ~ bright spot to be seen. Bucharest has fallen : King Constantine has delivered Greece into the hands of the enemy ; and von Hindenburg is boastins: of his resolve to make a clean sweep of the Balkans by concentrating the German. Bulgar, and Turkish forces against the Allied army, and linking up. with the Greek forces within six weeks. A political crisis has occurred in Russia, probably the outcome of German machinations, and there ara' rumours —certainly unfounded—of a want of good faith on the part of Russia "n respect of the rescue of Rumania. On the West General Joffre is said to be worn out by the incessant strain of 28 months of war. and there are rumours of important changes in the French commands : and the approach- of winter means a virtual cessation of operations on the British front. Most serious of all. Germany's submarine activity is taking a continual toll of British and neutral shipping, and there are reports of the presence of a German armed raider in

Darkest Before Dawn.

tho Atlantic. Australia is compelled to reduce her reinforcements, and the political crisis in England is necessarily diverting attention from the conduct ot the war. All things considered the prospects are darker than at any time since August: 1914, and Germany has reasc 1 for great jubilations.- Nevertheless the old proverb that it is darkest before the dawn must ever be remembered, and the average Briton is at his best when the situation is most desperate.