LURE OF A CORONET.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, 20 July 1925, Page 3

LURE OF A CORONET.

RESISTED BY W. M. HUGHES,

SECRET HISTORY OP THE WAR.

Lord Hughes, K.C.8., G.C.M.G., P.C., LL.D., M.P. Only a few years have flown since this was a practical political possibility, declares the Sydney “Sun.” Alfred Lord Milner, who passed aw,ay recently, was the magician who was to translate plain William Morris H*;hes from the green benches of the House of Hepresentatives to the solemn splendour of the House of Lords. Milner was an Empire builder —one of the few. The Dominions and Overseas Possessions li,ad no more informed or loyal friend. He studied Empire building at Balial, and lie, strove to apply the lessons of ancient history to young modern nations. South Africa provided him with a vast experimental field. Gradually he gravitated from library lore to practical .knowledge. W. M. Hughes would have made small appeal to Alfred Milner, Governor of the Capo of Good Hope in 1897, but W. M. Hughes, militant Prime Minister of ,a “to the last shilling” Commonwealth in a great war, had irresistible attraction.

All the world knows that tho Asquith Cabinet almost fell to pieces in 1914, when it had to declare w,ar. And two years later when the outlook in Franco was black, there was tho Marquis of Lansdowne outside the Cabinet witn his “peace at any price” letter, and Ministers of State, whose feet were getting very, very cold. Only three men in that Government never lost heart, Lloyd George, Lord Carson and Lord Milner. Lloyd George carried tho fiery cross, Lord Carson, enormously combative, could not do aught else but fight. Lord Milner quietly measured tho situation, and with dogged resolution and iron nerve, helped to pump new courage into the faint-hearted. Ho recognised in William Morris Hughes the will to conquer in cxcelsis. The Hughes manner, tile Hughes methods, tne Hughes machinations; were to him just a little crude, a trifle repellent, a tiny bit garish. But behind them ho saw tho fine tempered steel of the man as a fighting force, and lit thought he should remain in Etiglariu as one of the foXiiilOst standard bearers.

In tho inner circles of tho Coalition Party, Milner had enormous influence. Living the lifo of a recluse, frugal, aesthetic, and content with a most modest competency, selflessness was tho keynote of his public service, and when he made appeal to those endowed with riches, there was response. So it came about that Lord Milner was empowered to offer reasons to W. M. Hughes why ho should forsake Australia for tho larger stago of Great Britain, when tho heart of the Empire most needed red blood. They were broached _ at a private dinner, when Lord JSTorthclifle, then at the top of his career, and Lord Biddell, possibly the next most outstanding figure in behind-the-scenes activities, were present. Finally, tho overturo was made through still another party, and tho terms were these: —A seat in tho Cabinet; a seat in tho Houso of Commons; an income for lifo of Ti'OOO a. year; tho right to dispose of the corpus, which would produce this income at death; grid a peerage at tho end of the war. The deceased statesman hoped that this financial assurance would dip the scale towards London. As everybody knows, it did not. 'William Morris Hughes preferred to remain directly associated with Australia. And Lord Milner, though vastly disappointed, said musingly: “He’s very human, and one of tho big moil oi our times.”