New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-05-20
MIR. BALFOUR.
As nrRATER. AS LEADER. AS SUCCESSOR
TO MIR. GLADSTONE. AND AS SONE-
THING MORE THAN A POLITICIAN.

They who did not hear and DO not redu WI
Balfour on Monday on the Welsh Dises'aohsh-
ment BILL and who yet care to know what SOL
NJ speech he made may well be puzzled by '"e
conflicting opinions Of the papers. one OF inc
most brilliant searching. and Impressive speeches
that he has ever delivered in the House Oh |o''-
,,ops" saws the chief Unionist authority. Then
II YOU turn to the party organ or Llperahsnh 70"
road. .11ls speech on the first reading Of the
Welsh Church BIZ was one of the tamest ana
the most perfunctory he has ever delivered IN
The House of Commons" This you may 'hlhN
nothing but the natural antagonism OF friend
and foe But It Is not quite that Ihere Is
streak of fairness even in politics. If you know
yvhera n look for H. Turn to another Liberal
organ and YOU will find this speech described as
axnert unooual but With intervals OF eloquence
and force and its tone almost consistently gooo.
o.ake a third Liberal authority. and you VIII DC
.,,rad that Mr. Balfour made the best OF
haa case A fourth Liberal thinks nothing couiu
have heen more admirably attuned thah Inc
oneninr. that 1t was In the best GLADSTONE"
parliamentary style and that 1t had that eieNa-
,,on of tone which Mr. Balfour perhaps recahs
IN one more than any other speaker lerI III inc
House" .
what then does the Daily News expect 10
1T, -. o instrumentation OF which 1t STANDS
convicted by the testimony OF its own coHeasue'
90 ou,eso Nav even in the descriptive Parlia-
mentary sketch in its own columns H. W. i-''
who has a sense Of fairness speaks OIL Ihe cIoSe
NJ Mr.. Balfour's speech as in somewhat ioi',e'
oyatorical style than has been usual WITH MN
~ late The usual safeguard or sheel ""iO'
takes the purely partisan view. hndins us iiie"u'
all white and its opponents all black Is sl'hpie
So. oe,ao,ua1 one It is TO be found in the habit
Of lif1tN
1,rg,,sbnoen. Of reading only paper. and that
the one which takes their own side IN pohucs'
They would do much better if they confine them
o,,,as IN one 10 choose the best of the other
s,5a Nothing SO narrows the mind as steadily
licking FOR what YOU wish to see and seeing
that only.
Years ago remember meeting an Engishman
eminent in public life, who put before niue
comnany of men after dinner his own theory Oh
q rather difficult question, just then a burning
question When he had finished. he turned 10
his neighbor and asked him what he thought OIL
the matter IL agree with you answered the
neighbor The eminent man looked blank. but
in that case we have nothing to DISCUSS re-
torted he: II hoped you would take the other
side. I wanted to hear 1t thrashed out such
was the state OF mind Of man endowed WIN
really superior mental faculties. The average
man prefers you 20 agree with him. perhaps De-
cause he has no particular confidence in his own
judgment until it has been confirmed by some
body else.
AS to Mr. Balfour, It may be said on the evil
dence Of the best judges on both sides OF the
House of Commons that he Is rapidly becoming
x,-v great member Of Parliament indeed. have
hard from dozen sources a remark very Ike
onsoof those quoted above: That Mr.. Gladstones
mantle has descended upon him and not upon
any Of those who sat by the great Liberals side
Mr. IBalfour inherits the great traditions which
10 Mr. Gladstone were always precious-tradi-
tiors from which ne never departed I'll late IN
life and seldom then. He has something Of the
dignity, the elevation OF tone. the courtesy the
grand manner. which distinguished Mr. Glad
stone 1t might be hard TO coy VINO else on the
noor Of the house has them. The Speaker has.
and ne has also the authority which. in a meas
ure belongs TO his Office. but which is never
really effective unless It be personal also.
On one ever-memorable occasion Mr.. Peel
showed how full the measure of II was when Mr..
Gladstone totally failed to exert his Leader
Of the House-I mean the night Of the riot last
year I always thought. and still think, that
Mr. Gladstone knew himself to be responsible
for that deplorabe explosion OF pent-up passions.
passions which he, perhaps unwttingly at
first and beyond question in the end regretfully.
had provoked. So depressing the effect upon
himself that when the Speaker called upon him
to give an account Of what had happened. he
could not. During the tun1ult. the din Of battle.
the exchange Of blows the old man had sat
with white, scared face. shrinking from the
reality which was before him. He had made no
effort to quell the riot-it is no reproach to an
old man past eighty that he had not. But neither
& had Mr.. Balfour nor was Mr.. Balfour when
eIad b1yt ha al,arf nc uta uch
better condition to give It than Mr. Gladstone.
1t was not question. mainly, of age but of tenn
permanent, and both men seemed TO feel the same
adherence of violent scene, and the same in
Y capacity to deal with 1t or to accept any part.
II even for good. in such transaction Whereas
the mere return of the Speaker to the chair his
mere presence, his look. and the sound Of his
magnificent voice. every tone instinct with COM
mand, had sufficed TO restore order. had no
Intention Of recurring to this painful episode
but 1t throws light on the anarogies between
Mr.. Gladstone and Mr.. Balfour. Neither Of them
was is. an ideal leader, because both Of them
possess In high degree certain qualities which
AZ them for other things than the leadership OF
an assembly which is often turbulent and often
like Martha. anxious about many things which
are not vital nor Of high import.
Mr.. Balfour's growth leader and as debater
has been retarded much more by his qualities
than by his defects 1t was long before he could
persuade himself TO take politics very seriously
and am certain that nobody else could have
persuaded him to do it. The two things he had
most in common with Mr.. Gladstone were sweet.
ness Of nature and intellectually Mr. Glad
stone was put 80 early to political work that
the more delicate and tender traits of his char
acter took on certain robustness which was
perhaps. In, the beginning. foreign to him. The
gold was alleged to make 1t more Mt for the
mechanical arts Of public life Mr.. Balfour en-.
tered politics as an amateur and an amateur he
long remained. He served no regular apprentice
ship. His membership Of the Fourth Party lef