Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, SATURDAY, FEB. 16, 1935. YOUTH IN POLITICS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18632, 16 February 1935, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, SATURDAY, FEB. 16, 1935. YOUTH IN POLITICS

Periodically there arises a cry foi younger men in polities, but it is stirpricing how infrequently youth really gets its chance in this sphere, more particularly in the Dominions, where there is :t tendency to deride Jinmat it fit v as consistent only with incompetency, and where political oMiee is generally held to be the reward of years of party allegiance, and ability appears' to be a very minor consideration. In England., at times, there have been some notable exceptions and one of the striking characteristics of the present National Government is that, although it is led and controlled by some of the. stalwarts of political life, it has given great opportunities to younger men. In recent weeks there has been a demand foi the entrusting of greater responsibility to the more youthful and virile members of the Government in a belief that such a policy would result in a more ambitious and constructive programme being advanced. The implication from some of the comment is that the administration has been left in old men, but that, this is not altogether the case is made clear by an examination of the ages of some of those who are taking an increastrnjlvoromin|n^|r^^|bHy|^m

In a Ministry totalling "2, there are at. least a dozen who are under fifty years of age, and several of these who are still under forty. Until of these, young 'Ministers hold Cabinet: runic, and there are others whose offices are. perhaps, even more important. A review of them, all is not possible, but there are three names which are outstanding among the younger school of English politicians, and their careers are sufficiently .riking to warrant their being briefly sketched. They are Mr. Anthony Eden, aged 27 years, the Lord Privy Seal; Air. Leslie Hore-Belisha, a year younger, but holding the important post of Minister of Transport; and Air. Oliver Stanley, at the age of .28 years, Minister of' Labor. In view of the similarity of their ages, it is only natural that their careers should run largely on parallel ines. Each was still in his 'teens and still studying when the Great War broke out, but each saw active service, two attaining the rank of major and the third that of captain, while two were awarded the Military Cross. After the war they resumed their studies, Afr. Stanley being called to the Bar in 191!) ami Ah'. Hore-Belisha in 1922. They entered the House of Commons together in 1922 and rose to prominence almost simultaneously. h is an in (cresting point that the interruption of the war which is so frequently blamed for having crippled the careers of young men, in these eases seems to have better fitted them for the assumption of the responsibilities of public life. .Mr. Eden has been liailed at the triumph of the National Government, but. his success is international for as the representative of Great Britain on the League of Nations lie is regarded as one of the dominating figures at Geneva. His progress is nol due to mere hmk, nr to any special perferment, but to the determination with which he applied himself to his allotted tasks. Air. Stanley, who is a son of the Earl of [) why, has been less prominent in some respects, but in the House lie has always claimed attention because of his earnestness and sincerity. His handling of a comparatively minor under-secretaryship brought his capabilities under the notice of the Government leaders, and when a Minister of Labor was required in 1922 it was upon him that (lie choice fell. Realisation of the fact that unemployment is only one of the problems with which he has to deal will serve to show that his position is no sinecure. Tim youngest of the trio, Mr. HoreBelisha, is generally recognised as one of the “corning men” in Parliament, The keynote of his success seems to be thoroughness. AVlieri Secretary to the Board of Trade, he sacrificed his first summer holiday in order to investigate the iron and steel trades, and tin' following year he spent his holiday in Lancashire so that lie would know more about the troubles of the cotton industry. He then became Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and last year was appointed Minister of Transport and entrusted with the difficult problem of reducing the heavy toll of traffic accidents. He selected the first subsequent public* holiday as a suitable occasion to spend the whole day travelling in the most congested districts in order to study traffic problems. Clearly, the success of those men is not due to mere chance, but is the reward—if. there is such a thing as reward in polities—of individual effort. There are, of course, other careers which are little less striking than those mentioned, and a still younger school is represented in the present- nniler-Scere-taries, three of whom are Mr. ABUeolm MacDonald, the 22-year-obl son of the Prime AHnister, who recently visited Australia and New Zealand in an effort to learn more about Dominion affairs; Mr. R. A. Butler Under-Secretary for India, who, at the ago of 22 years, has had to take a leading part in the handling of one of the most difficult pieces of legislation ever brought before the Imperial Parliament; and Earl Do La Warr. aged 24 years, who, ns TinderSecretary of Agriculture, lias boon closely associated with the recent complicated negotiations concerning the meat import restrictions. It is interesting to speculate as to whether tin* great strength of British politics, irrespective of parties, is not very largely due to this policy of encouraging the younger men and ensuring that members of the rising generation will be fitted to carry the responsibilities of State. Tt, is no mere accident that this position exists; rather is it a typical sidelight upon the British conception of politics as an honorable and distinguished career, requiring the highest degree of technical science and demanding careful training and a thorough apprenticeship. In this country politics have not the same standing, unfortunately, for, instead of encouraging young men, the tendency is to regard Parliamentary life with cynicism ami even contempt., and to view as the most suitable candidates for election those who seek a hobby in the evening of their lives or others who have proved incapable of making a success in other spheres; while Ministerial office, more often than not, is the reward of long service rather than of ability. The British system is an admirable one, indeed, and one tlint might well be emulated.