The Wanganui Chronicle MONDAY, MAY' 31, 1937. J. RAMSAY MACDONALD

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 127, 31 May 1937, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle MONDAY, MAY' 31, 1937. J. RAMSAY MACDONALD

pHE retirement of Mr. J. Ramsay MacDonald from Cabinet

rank and from active public life, is being overshadowed by the similar action of Mr. Baldwin. The greater has been eclipsed by the lesser. The two men are fundamentally different. Fate made Ramsay MacDonald run from scratch in the race of life: Mr. Baldwin was out on the limit mark. The Scot won perhaps because of his lack of advantages; the Englishman won because every advantage was given to hint. Mr. Baldwin was born to a comfortable, nay, a wealthy position, a way of life was opened up to him. He was given the best schooling and education that England could provide. Solicitous relatives and influential friends surrounded him. Had he not won through to a front-rank position it would only have been either through his own lack of ability or by reason of his own fault. The greatest impediment to Mr. Baldwin was the plentitude of his opportunities. Happily, he had sufficient character to seize hold of his opportunities and to pursue the path which opened before him. It was not until he became Prime Minister that his strength was taxed, but all that could be done to support him was available to him. Ramsay MacDonald saw the light of day first in a humble cottage at Lossiemouth. All of the inconveniences and handicaps inherent in a humble home were experienced by this lone lad. Rising to the eminence of a pupil teacher, he moved from his restricted home life out into the world. In London he found generous and willing hands to help him, and he was particularly fortunate in being able to enjoy the friendship of John Morley. His marriage to Margaret Gladstone, niece of Lord Kelvin, occurred at a time in his life when he was already a man of mark. Her wealth relieved him of the necessity of earning a living and permitted him to bend his whole efforts in pursuing a public career. It has been conceded by all who know that the marriage was a true romance. The subsequent bereavement was a deep blow to the man who was to become twice Prime Minister of England. But the man who had been forced to sacrifice his health to secure what he deemed to be an education necessary for his purpose, could not permit a personal bereavement to divert him from his mission, which was a war against poverty. To understand Ramsay MacDonald’s career it is necessary to bear in mind that central idea, for it explains his whole attitude towards life. MacDonald once described himself as a Conservative sitting on the Labour benches. He had a great respect for tradition, and he believed in the continuity of growth in social development. His socialism was, therefore, of the evolutionary kind. He visualised it as a condition of the future, but a condition, nevertheless, to the realisation of which some immediate contributions could be made. Ramsay MacDonald was, nevertheless, a realist, and when the necessity arose for Great Britain to make sweeping economies, he appreciated the fact that unless those economies were made in a rational way, then inflation of the currency would be the alternative, in which event the pressure upon the poorer people would be terrible indeed. It was the fear of far-reaching consequences for evil to the mass of English workingmen which caused Ramsay MacDonald, Philip Snowden, J. H. Thomas, and Malcolm MacDonald to forsake the Labour Party and support a National Government. Further, this central idea of warring against poverty explains MacDonald’s conduct in remaining in the National Cabinet when it became abundantly clear that he no longer dominated it as leader. He realised that while the Conservatives were dominating the situation there was still an opportunity for him to influence it as a inpmber of the Cabinet which would be lost to him were he to resign. This attitude has been justified by results, for the National Government of England has some commendable legislation and activities to its credit. While, in consequence of recent external events, it has become necessary for attention to be concentrated upon rearmament, the Government has for a much longer time been exercising considerable enterprise in implementing its rehousing policy. The rehousing policy has been a very important factor in reviving prosperity in Britain’s domestic markets, and there has been a continual improvement in general conditions in recent years. Mr. MacDonald’s contribution to this result, while not publishable, must nevertheless have been very helpful, to say the least. Further still, it must be remembered that in a Cabinet comprising all parties the conflict is removed from Parliament to Cabinet caucus. If Mr. MacDonald had left the Cabinet he would have debarred himself from the effective arena. In later years, the heavy toll which Mr. MacDonald had taken of his own strength revealed that he had overdrawn on Nature’s bank. He has, nevertheless, continued in harness until the end of a chapter which closes with the resignation of Mr. Baldwin. Mr. MacDonald has received very little from England. His first Cabinet was destroyed by a forgery—the Zinovieff letter. His second Cabinet was broken because his followers were not sufficiently alive to the realities of the situation which had arisen. His health has been broken, the friends and associates of his lifetime have become estranged. His personal loneliness appears to have increased in recent years. Perhaps ambition caused him to sacrifice friendships. Now he passes from public life, and in his going it is as though he has slipped through a side door, while the main portals swing wide for the man on whom Fortune has smiled from his eradle onwards.