Evening star., 1901-12-17
RoSEBeRY HAS HIS SAY
CRITICISES THE PRESENT BRITISH
MINISTRY SEVERELY.
Declares 1t Has Alfenated England's
Friends All Over Europe-Dis.
cusses Boer War.

A dispatch from Chesterfield, England.
last night says: Lord Rosebery's long-ex-
pected and much-heralded speech. delivered
here tonight. was received with marked en-
thuslasm by an immense crowd. It can
hardly be said to have thrown much light
along the pathway Of the liberal party.
That the speech was a finished oratorical
effort was amply testified by the frequent
applause with which the speaker was in
terrupted. But 1t is doubtful. when he had
finished. II his most admiring listener could
have given any Justification for this en-
thusiasm, save that it was Lord Rosebery.
Resolved into its elements. the speech mere
ly said: Get together" The speaker him.
self confessed that he did not pretend to
say how this cohesion should be accom-
plished. In urging his fellow liberals to re-
| organize, Lord Rosebery quoted the follow
ing words from the message Of President
Roosevelt: We hope to keep going by slow
steps, not by bounds. We must keep our
eyes on the stars, but We must also re-
member that our feet are on the ground
The following was the tenor OF the former
premier 8 speech:
The ministry was wrong, but the liberals
should be very careful how they tried to
set it right.
Turning from the immediate outbreak Of
the war, Lord Rosebery touched upon edu-
cation, in which, he said, Great Britain was
woefuly behind her sister nations. Her
commercial development was also sadly
atrophied, and the time would soon come
when Britain would be forced to fight for
trade supremacy. She would then be as
helpless as though armed with bows and
arrows
Lord Rosebery maintained discreet
vagueneSS on the question of his personal
inclinations concerning the leadership OF
the liberal party. He said that he could
not imagine himself in the position of a
minister. But in the next breadth he told
how he would reorganize the war office II
it fell to his lot. He said this reorgan1za-
ton, however, should be postponed until
after the war. The speakers recipe for the
proposed reorganization of this office was a
Enthusiastically American one, nancy,
the appointment of commission.
Concerning the governments conduct OF
the war, Lord Rosebery was severe and
scornful The complaint of the government
that the Beers had not made war according
to the recognized rules reminded him that
the same thing had been sad by the old
Austrian generals Of the young Napoleon,
when the latter was beating them. He was
particularly sarcastic at the expense Of the
explanation of the Earl of Ha.sbury, the
lord chancellor. that only sort OF war
fare was now going on, and he strongly
condemned what he termed the scandalous
misrepresent tions by which the govern
ment had precipitated the last general elec-
ton.
Lord Rosebery heavily blamed the gov
ernment for it's tactlessness, which he de-
clared had produced unparalleled Ill viii to-
ward Great Britain N every European
population and which he attributed largely
to what he called the provocative oratory
Of Mr.. Chamberlain, the colonial secre-
tary.
While he was emphatic on the necessity
Of vigorously prosecuting the war and ex-
pressing the fullest confidence In Lord
kitchener, Lord Rosebery said that he
thought the government should be pre-
pared to listen to peace overtures, and he
contended there was nothing degrading or
abusing in recognizing the exf.ed Boer gov
ernment for the purpose of making peace.
The three greatest civilians who had waged
war in the past century, the speaker said
Pitt, Birmarck and Lincoln-had not dis
Lord Rosebery recounted the occasions of
1896, 1870 and 1865. No sane Boer now
hoped for anything but annexation, he said,
and for many reasons it was urgent that
the war should be ended. The Beers should
not be unnecessarily humiliated The
former premier protested emphat!caliy
against treating the Beers in the field as
bandltti. To Beers swearing allegiance, he
said he would give the largest possible am
nesty and the fullest civil rights. The 40
600 prisoners must be resettled In South
Africa, and harsh Treatment of the Beers
would be like applying sparks to gunpow-
der.
scornfully rejecting the Iuea that such
an empire as Britain could not provide an
istry, Lord Rosebery said that in all his
life, from all the bitterest foes Of Great
Britain, he never had heard such disparage-
ment Of her as that doctrine implied. If
that were true, he continued, the nation
was more fitted to control a cabbage gar
den than an empire.
In conclusion and amid loud cheers Lord
Rosebery declared his services were at the
disposal of the country In anything he
could do to further the policy he had just
expounded. He said it was not to party
that he appealed; party in this matter could
avail little or nothing. He appealed unto
Caesar from the parliament, with it's half
hearted but overwhelming government sup
porters, and from distracted and dsunited
opposition, to that silent but supreme tri-
bunal which. in the long run. shaped and
controlled the destinies of the British peo-
ple namely, the tribunal of public opin-
ion and common sense.
Lord Rosebery spoke for almost two
hours and was received throughout with
the greatest enthusiasm. He afterward ad-
dressed an overflow meeting of IL 600 peo-
pie in another hall. Here he spoke but
briefly. as he was very hoarse.