BRITISH PERSONALITIES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 114, 16 May 1931, Page 1 (Supplement)

BRITISH PERSONALITIES

MR. J. H. THOMAS (By T.C.L.) Tho Right Hon. James Henry Thomas, ALP., P.C., Secretary of State for tho Colonies in tho Alinistry of tho First Labour Government, and now Minister for War in the present Labour Administration, is a unique personality. There is not another J. H. Thomas in the House of Commons, nor perhaps in the whole Kingdom. He looks at life differently from most other men; ho acts differently; his language is different. In short, ho is in a class by himself. Ho proclaims himself against the present system of society, yet there are few who have got on better politically and financially, or extracts from it more real pleasure and joy than he. Apparently his early hardships and deprivation have not left their mark on him or embittered his nature. He is on good terms with everybody, from tho highest in the land to the ’ornyhanded son of toil. It is no uncommon sight to see him take a stiff and noble Lord familiarly by tho arm and walk along with him, digging him in the ribs occasionally to emphasise some point or drive home some argument. His is a jovial, free and easy manner that appears quite genuine. Naturally he is in great demand as an after dinner speaker. It was at the Queen’s Hall that overseas Pressmen met and heard him. The newspaper magnate, Lord Beaverbrook, had given a dinner to the visitors in order that they might meet Air. J. L. Garvin, the editor of the Observer, whom he described as the greatest living British editor, a judgment which, by the way, is not shared by leading journalists at Home. “Jim” —everyone calls him “Jim”—Thomas was also on the programme. Ho was supposed to fill the minor role, but he soon became the scar performer, for Air. Garvin, like so many other distinguished literary men met in Britain, is not so successful on the platform as he is in the sane Inn sanctorum. In truth, he was somewhat dull and boring. “Jim,” with his breeziness and humour, was a welcome change. He was just his natural self, at least that was the impression he conveyed, but those who knew him well averred that he deliberately cultivates and retains his plebeian manners and unpolished way of speaking in order to retain the support of his Labour admirers. He drops his aspirates and interlards his remarks with unconventional but emphatic phrases. Altogether he is a forcible and arresting speaker, and his success as a public man can readily be understood.

“Jim” Thomas gained his education in the hard school of experience. He was born in Newport (Wales) ;n 1872 in the home of parents who worked hard from morning till night. When only nine years of age he was sent to a draper’s as errand boy. He afterwards took jobs at a chemist’s and a painter’s, and then he secured a position in the docks. From the docks he graduated to the Great Western Railway Company, where he eventually became an engine-driver, and ended by being elected leader of the National Federation of Railwaymen’s Trades Union. From this exalted position his transference to Parliament was but in the logical order of things. During the war he accorded the Government whole-hearted support. He recruited for the army, and showed his fellow trade unionists the way to duty. He made such a success of this work that he was sent on a diplomatic mission to do propaganda work in America, and the Government rewarded his services by making him a Privy Councillor. Following the war, he was much in evidence as a Labour leader. There were many industrial troubles in this readjustment period, ending in the great upheaval in 1926. Thomas stood for order and reason and constitutional development. He was as outspoken 1 to his followers as to the employers he was fighting. It is related that on one occasion the railwaymen started an unauthorised strike that looked very serious. Thomas hurried to the scene of action, and began a furious struggle with the strikers. He rated them soundly, and at the end of four days he had won; they called the strike off. He immediately resigned. He refused to act as their leader if his authority was not to bo heeded. He was besieged on all sides, and entreated co retain his post. Ho was stronger —and more cheerful —then ever. Later he led the railwaymen in a struggle which resulted in their obtaining good terms from the companies. Thomas has never been a believer in direct action. He prefers round-thc-table negotiations between masters and men. Naturally he was a prominent figure in the general strike in 1926. Before it started he used all his influence to bring about by peaceful means an agreement between the owners and minors on (he question of wages and hours. But the mine leaders were adamant and tho owners obstinate and the Government supine. When the die was cast he threw himself wholeheartedly into the strike on behalf of the men. He must have known it was foredoomed to failure, because as a shrewd and capable man he realised that the strike really was an attack upon law and order. During the succeeding years his reputation as a statesman, as distinct from that of a Labour leader, suffered sori ously by his participation in this strike. But as a member of the present Labour Cabinet he has re-estab-lished his position, and to-day is the trusted friend of Capital and Labour alike.

He speaks, when he is in serious mood, with every sense of responsibility, and his advice and utterances carry considerable weight, amongst all sections of the community. He is no theorist, but a practical man of affairs, so much so that he is reputed to have won for himself a considerable fortune, enabling him, if he desired, to retire from public, service and en joy the good things of life. He does not; wish to destroy the English social economic system. He only wants to improve it, to adapt it. so that the under-dog can have a better chance of rising. A system that, has enabled him to rise and win for himself a great fortune is good enough for him. He is proud of the system. Indeed, on one occasion lie exclaimed: “One must

feel proud to live under a eonstitu- ,' tion which enables a humble boy with ( i a meagre education, surrounded by i a poverty, to attain in so short a time \ to the dignity of one of His Majesty’s I principal Secretaries of State.” Only s a “Jim” Thomas could say this, anil 1 only a British community could share I his pride iu such an achievement. ’I