LEADERS OF BRITAIN

Taranaki Daily News, 10 December 1931, Page 14

LEADERS OF BRITAIN

PROMINENT MEN IN POLITICS. ADDRESS TO ROUND TABLE CLUB. A talk on some of the chief lieutenants and other prominent men in the public life of England was given by Mr. T. C. List to members of the New Plymouth Round Table Club at the fortnightly luncheon. The talk was a continuation of one in which the speaker had dealt with Mr. Ramsay MacDonald and Mr. Stanley Baldwin. Things in Britain had moved a great deal since the previous address on the leaders, the speaker said. The Socialist and Conservative leaders had joined forces and gone to the country which had given them the most decisive mandate°ever known in British political history. The great and growing Labour Party had been smashed, and democracy vindicated in a period of great national stress. He was hopeful that as a result the grave problems facing the country would be solved in the near future. He was confident the British nation desired to strengthen the trade bond between the mother country and her overseas Dominions, all of which could look forward to better times. It was comforting at this time to know that Britain had such wonderful men at the head of affairs, for there was no question that the present Cabinet was composed of the best men in public life irrespective of the party to which they belonged. England had again shown that in times of crisis she produced the right men. Before turning to some of the public men of the day Mr. List emphasised the care in speaking taken by English public men. They were thoughtful and deliberate, weighing each sentence, giving each word its proper place and value, unlike the typical Dominion public man, who was always sure and confident of himself but not always so particular about observing the niceties, of speech. The average English statesman took infinite pains in his preparation of a speech. As an instance he quoted an extract from Lord Rosebery’s great speech to the first Imperial Press Conference in 1909, which was regarded as one of the greatest and most prophetic ever uttered by an English statesman and wss compared with Lincoln’s Gettysberg speech as living throughout history. It had & great effect upon the nation and

particularly on the people of the Dominions, for it showed uncanny insight and predicted the Great War. The preparation of this memorable speech, Sir Harry Brittain had informed the Press delegates, had taken Lord Rosebery over a fortnight, and then he had committed it to memory. Mr. Winston Churchill had rendered distinguished service to the nation in several capacities, the speaker said. Some regarded him as a political mountebank who ruthlessly forced his way to the front, thrusting aside in the process better and worthier men, but after hearing him speak it was clear that Mr. Churchill had a brilliant intellect and a powerful personality. He was rich in vocabulary and fertile in imagination and had the ability to effectually marshal facts in arguments, arriving at a logical and convincing conclusion. ■ The nation was under a debt of gratitude to Mr. Churchill for his services to the navy, which he prepared for the war, busying himself for months getting everything ready. Mr. Churchill realised what Germany’s preparations meant, and had it not been for him New Zealand and other parts of the Empire might to-day have been members of the Ger- , man confederation. Mr. Philip Snowden the speaker characterised as undoubtedly the strongest , I personality in the late Labour Cabinet. I He had fixed principles from which ho ] would not deviate by a hairbreadth under any consideration or under any pressure. He never weakened in his allegiance to the free trade policy in epite of an intense campaign waged by j a section of the Press. He gained the respect of the financial and commercial > interests of London by his firm stand \ against the French in regard to the at- . tempted whittling down of the British share of German reparation payments. , Mr. J. H. Thomas, known to everyone ’ as “Jim,” was a unique personality, the ’ speaker continued. With his jovial, free f and easy manner; he was ou good terms r with all classes of society. There was not another like him in the Commons, nor perhaps in the whole land. He looked !, at lue differently from most other men, acted and spoke differently. He was in t a class by himself.. Though he pro--3 claimed himself against the present sys- ! tern of society there were few who had e done better politically or financially or _ extracted from society more pleasure 3 and joy than he. He was a forcible and » arresting speaker, and his success as a t public ma.n could be readily understood, j Hereditary succession, Mr. List said,

provided Britain with some able leadens | and illustrious statesmen, but it also furnished who proved a hindrance rather than a help in the government of England and the development of the Empire. To the .former category the Chamberlains belonged. Austen followed the footsteps of his father Joseph, and though he had the Prime Ministership almost in his grasp he missed. To-day he was regarded as a spent force, as a . who had had great opportunities but failed to take full advantage of them, a frank and honest man with an arresting dignity and simplicity but without the force and strength necessary in a successful political leader. , , , Mr. Neville Chamberlain, Austens half-brother, was in * ! mould. He resembled his father in his dash and political abandon. With an , impressive record of public ® erv ’ J ce was now Mr. Baldwin’s right hand man , in the National- Cabinet. He was consulted on everything, and it wa« con- , sidered that when Mr-. Baldwin doffed the mantle of Prime Minister it would | fall to Mr. Chamberlain.