THE LATE LORD READING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 1, 2 January 1936, Page 6

THE LATE LORD READING

' DKITAIN has lost a valued statesman by the death of Lord Reading. He was a horn diplomat, a man oil courageous | principle, adroit, amt had the gift of persuasive speech. He came of humble parents, his father being a London merchant. 'The boy loved adventure, and his thirst for it and the outcome oi: that thirst won for him almost as wide renown as.his brilliant career at the Bar and in politics. “From Cabin Boy to Yice- | roy” is aptly descriptive of his Irfe. He sailed before the mast, j as a boy and journeyed up thte Hooghli River to Calcutta. His ability as a speaker was largely responsible for his appointment to the post of British Ambassador at Washington, in which capacity he did much to strengthen the bonds which are now I definitely binding American and British people into a union of infinite strength. Politically Lord Reading was a Liberal, and lie was appointed Solicitor-General for England in J 9.10 and was the first Attorney-General to enter the Cabinet. Three years I later lie became Lord Chief Justice and was elevated to the | Peerage. He rendered efficient service during the Great War, I and was entrusted with a difficult financial mission to the United | States in 1917. the year before the conflict ended. Just before the cessation of hostilities he was sent to Washington as Ambasi sador Extraordinary, and on his return in 1919 was warmly complimented on his work. It was in India, with its complex problems and racial differences, that he found his next post. He was appointed Viceroy in 1921, and served in that capacity lor five years. His private fortune was greatly depleted during that five-year term, and he retired to England. His first visit io India was as the drudge of a sailing ship. His last was as \ ieeroy. “.Such a son doth England truly love,” a man with the Anglo-Saxon temperament which responds to the call of adventure and moulds well when life demands self-reliance.