SIR EDWARD GREY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 144484, 19 September 1914, Page 3

SIR EDWARD GREY.

' A CHAEA-CEEPu-SIUDy. •“The British Foreign Seerefary„..(m whoso diplomacy depends at this moment tho greatest issue for humanity that tho imagination can. conceive, is'' but a shadowy figure to the British pujjlie,” says an English journalist. Writ-' ing before the European crisis developed. “Ho is raiher a shadowy figuro ' to Parliament itwelf. The first Foreign Minister to sit id tho House of Commons since the dajm of Palmerston, it ; may also be said of him that he is 'in tho House, hut not of it. Ordinary Parliamentary debates have no interest for him. When he has answered a few, r questions about foreign affairs ho disappear.-; from tho scene, and" only emerges from his chosen obscurity to •take part in a division. He wants no, , limelight. The garish Parliamentary Ascenes that are meat and drink for his colleagues have no attraction- for him. ’ “Formerly Under-So.crctary for Foreign Affairs under Lord Rosebery, ho has for several years controlled': the foreign policy of England, and atrthis moment may bo described as the supremo councellor of tho world. With' all his detachment. Sir Edward Grey is' ail interesting personality. V.- ' BOYISH-LOOKING FIGURE. '■ “Ho retains a wonderful air of youth. Tho dark hair, tho smooth face, the ‘ clear profile with its suggestion of a r pensive hawk —these features have by tins time become rather familiar to those who study tho illustrated newspapers. Seen frera tho galleries of the House of Commons, ho looks quite g young man, though now over 50p,it is : . always interesting to note the surprise on the faces of strangers when-they discover that this quiet, boyish-looking - speaker—to whom whiskered and baldheaded ambassadors in the diplomatic gallery are listening with strained attention—.is the man who holds all the strings of diplomacy in -his hands,, and in whose power it has been on several occasions within our memory to keep or break the peace of the .world. ■ “Sir Edward Grey, has boon a.member of tjio House of Commons for nearly thirty years. As a Balliol man he cultivated the society of a group of men all of whom, with htmsqlf, have arrived. : at positions of distinction. Ho was an intimate friend of Mr. Asquith before, either of them had got to a front bench. ' ■; A WORKING NIGHT. 'AND DAY. “The young baronet and the iking ' lawyer were always to bo seen, together at Westminster, and this friendship has survived all the vicissitudes of the intervening years. They were Liberal Imperialists together in. tho days when the Radical Party was torn, with dissension and tho' fact that- Sir H. Camp-bell-Bannerman was able to lure them into his Cabinet when ho took office without power (tho general election had still to come) in the closing days of 1905 must bo recorded as one of the most remarkablo achievements of that rev markable man. ■ _ _ “Sir Edward Grey believed in' tire South African war, but as Foreign. Secretary all his efforts have been_ in tho direction of peace. Ho is working day and night at the Foreign Office!- and the Ambassadors of the groat Powers slip in and out and have interview® that may effect the lives of millions oft people. The House of Commons has a great respect for Sir Edward Grey, who manages to convey the impression “with l 1 remarkablo achievements-of thesrespect 1 for himself. • NO-PHRASE-MAKER. “He-hasi cultivated-a-style- of “spaechthat inspires confidence. Thoro is nothing flamboyant about it. He does not go in for phrase making; Not many things that he has said* are remembered. But-his smooth, measured, quiet!y-confidenb stylo is wonderfully impressive, and all tho iixr.o he is talk—ing you have the feeling that thorois ; a mail who is even wiser than ho appears to be, and who, while partly taking us into his confidence, so eagerly , withholds things which would not bo to the public advantage to disclose. His 1 quiet' power is Rustrated by the way in which he has induced tho House of Commons not to wrangle about foreign affairs. Before his time the office of Foreign Secretary was filled' by a peer in order that the Commons should not have opportunities of mischief, and sometimes tho Commons took their ireven go 1 by badgering the , Under-Secre-tary. A NEW ORDER OF THINGS. ’ “Sir Edward Groy’s bold decision, to remain in the House of Commons and, so to speak, to tame it, has contributed to produce a new . order of things. Con tinuity in foreign policy is one .of the developments of our time, and haa had a restraining effect upon the House of Commons. But the personality .of Sr Edward Grey has been a great factor. On him at 'this moment -rusts- an almost h tolerable burden of responsibility. Tlio passing of the years has not aged him in appearance as it has aged hte friend and chief, the Brimo, Minister, But in his thoughtful eyes may bo seen a dim reflection -of the-great things within his knowledge.”