A MAN OF THE DAY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6486, 15 May 1899, Page 2

A MAN OF THE DAY.

SIR HENRY CAMPBELLBANNERMAN. (Tit-Bits.) Sir Henry Campbell- Bannerman is in the front rank of the men of whom the public will probably hear a great deal during the next few years. That, seeing that he is already sixty-two, and has been in Parliament over thirty years, may seem a strange thing to say, but those who know him best believe that Sir Henry has in the past preferred to be a useful member of Parliament rather than a " popular " one. With his friends he is, of course, populai in the best sense of the word, and it would be difficult to find a single man. among the 670 members of the House of Commons whc is mora generally liked by all parties. But Sir Henry is, nevertheless, not by any means so well known in the country as many of his colleagues, and in that sense, at any rate, he has his reputation yet to make. Nobody who knows him has any doubt that he will make a popular political leader. He has the reputation among his friends of being one of the most thoroughly genial men it is possible to meet. He is clever, frank, and has a good fund of wit. He might do anything, said one of his friends, if he had ambition, but of ambition in its most personal sense he has none. He has, however, the sterling qualities that make a true man. Without them he could never have sprung from a Tory household to be the leader of the Liberal Party. Sir Henry's career is one more example of a house politically divided against itself. About the beginning of the century two brothers set up a small draper's shop in the East End of Glasgow. They were James and William Campbell. The little business ; prospered, and one of the brothers became Sir James Campbell, Lord Provost of Glasgow. Prosperity came in time for Sir James to send his boys to the University, and the eldest son, James Alexander Campbell, went to Glasgow University and became a Tory, like his father. Henry, the younger son, ! went to Glasgow, and then to Cambridge, and became a convinced Liberal ; and today both brothers are members of the House of Commons, each voting against the other on almost every motion. SIB. HENRY SOON MADE HIS MARK. He took office in Mr Gladstone's first Administration, three years after he entered Parliament, and he made himself so valuable in various directions that he has held office in eveiy Liberal Government since that time. He has been Secretary for War, as well as Financial Secretary to the War Office, and he has also held the important posts of Chief Secretary for Ireland, Secretary to the Admiralty, and President of the Local Government Board. It is an open secret that Sir Henry nvght have held one of the proudest offices open to an Englishman but for his devotion to duty. He lias always declared that to him Parliament is higher than party, and he has confessed to one political ambition. It was to be Speaker of the House of Com-' mons, and when Lord Peel retired that proud post was open to him. He would nave been unanimously chosen, but he was considered far too valuable a man to be spared from the councils of his party, and he yielded to the pressure of his friends and dropped his candidature. Sir Henry's post-bag, for days after his ; election as Liberal leader, testified to the popularity of the choice. Letters poured in from all parts congratulating' him — many coming from Scotland, many from oolitical opponents, and one even from France. ■'Journalists were concerned about the length of his name, but they quickly solved the difficulty by christening thenew leader "C.-8.," and Sir Henry has now~the happiness of knowing that j STBSTBODY Vf ISIIES HIH WR1.1,. I But it e_r_ajnly weuld be convenient if be WDuld rtorten his name. It i s the ' longest name on either of the Front Benches. A London newspaper complained that it "Beaut nearly a whole line every time _• wa. ___fcioned. But it is lucky, ' nt any r_t_, that it is not fashionable to jive oar great men all their titles when speaking of them. Here is the Liberal _a_ •_ a fall aftme, «_ it stands in the refermet hook* *. " Right Honourable Sir Henry >»pßell-Baßn«rman, G.C.8., MP., x\C., U.A., LL.D., 8.L., J.P." JOttting hi. in____at_ friends. Sir .: Henry , 3s -_j_ovrß; a» •.'.. flis man who. deposed the

— — qp Duke." A shrewd observer wrote of him - in 1892 : ' "Mr Campbell -Bannerman has only one fault. He is lethargic. A fewcrackers ignited, under his coat-tail would do him good. If he could only be induced to become ti vegetarian and to read only, one P'reneh novel a month he might depose the Duke of Cambridge, and become famous in history .is the man who created the British Army!" Within two years Sir Henry had fulfilled the prophecy. War Ministers of both parties had shrunk from interfering with the Queen's cousin, but Sir Henry induced the Duke to resign jvithout creating any commotion. To him it was merely something that had to be done, and he did? it. It was a magnificent triumph of tact,and earned for the Secretary the gratitude and esteem of every man in the Army. , • Sir Henry has another claim on the ' esteem of the Army— two, in fact, for he married a General's daughter. , He conferred A GREAT BOON ON 20,000 MEN by establishing the eight hours'; day at Woolwich arsenal. Speaking of the result of this experiment not long ago, Sir Henry said: "The men havo gained enormously, arid the taxpayers are as well if not better off under the shorter hours* It was a great experiment, but it has more than justified itself, for it has been. an absolute success from every point of view." . Sir Henry's last official act, too, added another mark to his name in the good; books of the British Army. The last thing'; lie did before leaving office was to complete the purchase of the new Under Hilton Rifle Range, Westmoreland. The . range, comprising miles of Hilton Pells, is of the utmost value to the Army, affording first-rate musketry practice, and troops aro in constant practice there for five months each year. . ; Soon- after conferring this boon on. Tommy Atkins Sir 'Henry's office -aa Cabinet Minister ceased. It was' on the vote for his salary that the Rosehury; Government fell. The reduction in his salary would not have been a serious matter, for Sir Henry is rich enough to afford to light his cigar with a £5000 cheque* But an important question of principle wa. involved — the question whether the word of ai Minister should riot be accepted without reserve by the House of Commons — • and Sir Henry and his colleagues preferred to resign rather, than subscribe to the violation of this principle. June 21, 1895, was a memorable day in Sir Henry's career. On that afternoon the (announcement of the Duke of Cambridge's resignation was made, and later in the day the man who had successfully achieved this great step was attacked on! ai point of comparatively trifling importance, and defeated. He had made his mark oa a friend of the Army, and -the Army had BROUGHT ABOTJT HIS FALL. It waa characteristic of Sir Henry that, as soon as the fatal vote had been taken, he should leave the House and quietly drive home in a cab to dinner. His chief colleagues were absent when the vote waa taken, and on returning he found the House in the hubbub of a crisis, of which; everybody -was wondering ' what would be' the end. But Sir Henry, the Minister most concerned, was the least perturbed man in the Cabinet. Imperturbability, . indeed, is the newleader's chief characteristic. Nothing ever ruffles him. An Irishman once said of him that "you can neither depress him, nor provoke him, nor tire him out." He is one of the few members of Parliament who ara never heckled, though .when attacked he is, always ready with a fund of good-natured retort. Sir Henry and Lady Campbel. Bannerman are acknowledged to be among the best hosts and hostesses in society. Nobody, knows better how to give ai good dinner. Lady Campbell -Bannerman is a daughter of the late General Sir Charles Bruce, and whether in town or at their beautifnl home, Belmont" Castle, in Scotland, she is never so happy as when dispensing hospitality to her husband's friends. «,. As has already been said, Sir Henry is immensely rich. He i s said to have an annual income of £50,000 a year. But ne is not ashamed of the fact that his father was a draper. He derived . considerable wealth under the will of an uncle named Bannerman, m Kent, and it was under this will that he ASSUMED HIS EXTRA NAME. «m _"*? » ir Heur y wLo coined the word Ulstena; so often used in Irish politics; and a good story' is told of another phrase— "finding salvation "—which is often attributed to him. When the Home Rule question first became a factor in English politics, Sir Henry was discussing the matter in the lobby with the late Mr Mundella, who said, "Well, waiting till now, I have come to the conclusion that it has got to be accepted, and that that alone can ojear everything up." ' • 'JE* s '" ? a . id Sir Heni 7J "you are just m the position of a man who, in the language of the Salvation Army, has 'found Salvation.' He ______ been in great" perplexity and distress, and when he goes through the operation that the Salvation Army so describes, he feels that everything is made right by this one thing." When, some time afterwards, Mr Mundella was speaking, he amazed Sir Henry by telling his audience that "Mr Campbell-Banner-man has told him that he has found salvation long ago." It has .often been said of Sir Henry that his riches have made him too easy- , going for politics, and that he is inclined to treat everything lightly. According to • an Irish M.P., be tried to "govern Irishmen by Scotch jokes." But already he has dispelled this illusion. He has shown ' that if he is good-humoured he can also be strong, and that if he is inclined to go through life with a smiling face, he is not unmindful of its serious side. The general verdict is that he is one of the two or three men in politics whose names will be on everybody's tongue during the next few years.