Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-24

e.
When parliament meets, as it must soon
do, Joseph Chamberlain and his pet tarill
scheme will be vigorously-not to say VI
ciously-attacked by three former members
of the unionist cabinet-Sir Michael Hicks
Beach. Lord George Hamilton and c. I.
Kitchie.
Some facts about the careers and charac-
tiers of these men will serve to-explain their
present position. They are all tories of the
old-fashioned type. They are all parliament
tary veterans. They dislike Mr.. Chamber
lain and all that lie typities. They hight for
free trade because it is the established sys-
TEN in exactly the same conservative spirit
that their fathers fought against it when
the corn laws were in force.
Mr. Chamberlain's sternest, sturdiest,
most dangerous foe in the house OF COM
mons is undoubtedly Sir Michael Hicks
Beach who resigned the chancellorsmp or
the eXchequer in August of last year pc
cause as he did not hesitate to tell ms
friends there was too much Joe IN the
cabinet
The feud is of long standing. Even before
the South African war Lord Salisbury had
To use his utmost personal influence to
maintain a Sembiance of harmony IN the
cabinet between Sir Michael and Mr.: Cham-
bcrlain In 1873 and 1899 the relations De-
tween them were so strained that those VINO
were behind the scenes looked daily Tor the
resignation of one the other.
Nobody save the cabinet ministers, KNOWS
exactly what happens at cabinet meetings.
but rumors leak out. 1t is said that at one
meeting, toward the end of 1898, these Two
adversaries after a bitter duel of words,
rose excitedly from their seats and seemed
about to fly at each others throats. other
members of the cabinet hastily drew them
mi
broke up in confusion.
Not on Speaking Terms.
Certainly Sir Michael and Mr.. Chamber
lain were not on speaking terms at that
time. or for long afterward. Sir Michael
seemed to take pleasure in cutting MS
colleague in the house.
\ prominent liberal NJ. p. who wanted
some information on a question of finance.
went to Sir Michael for it, and remarked
to him:
MIR Chamberlain advised me to come to
you
Mr.. Chamberlain? 1 don't know him.
Who is hep
dow absurd! AS if you don't know! 1
mean the secretary of state for the colo
MES.
"Ah. yes I am officially acquainted with
the secretary of state for the colonies. But
/ don't know Mr.. Chamberlain
Sir Michael is an old man now, and his
eyesight began to fail him as far back as
1856: but he is a great fighter still, and his
personal dislike of Mr.. Chamberlain will
lend Zest to his attack upon the latters
tariff schemes when parliament meets
Since the death of Mr.. Villiers he has
been the Father of the House of Com
MONS which he first entered in 1864.
Few men have held so many high govern
ment positions he. He has been parlia-
mentary secretary to the poor law board,
under secretary for the home office, chief
secretary for Ireland three times, secretary
Hf state for the colonies president of the
board Of trade chancellor of the eXchequer
twice and leader of the house of commons.
Thus far he has held the official positions
of both Mr. Chamberlain and Mr.. BalfOur,
as we'll a ; several others
What Sir Michael does not know of par
liameutary warfare is not worth knowing.
He will tower head and shoulders above
his comrades in the fight against Mr. Cham
berlain. UnQuestionably he is the strongest
man among the tories in the house of COM
mons.
Harcourt. II is curious that the two great
est British financial ministers of modern
times were brought up on rural estates and
knew nothing of high finance until they
were pitchforked into it by the exigencies
of politics.
Lord George Hamilton's Grievance.
The Right Honorable Lord George Fran
ance against Mr.. Balfour. He considers
that he was induced to resign his office as
secretary of state for India under false pre-
lenses That is no small matter for Lord
George. He showed cons siderable moral
courage in resigning for the sake of his
principles
He is a very poor man. and his official
salary OF to,uOO a year was extremely i'm
portant to him. He will now draw ~ OOO
a year from the British exchequer. That
sum is allowed to men who have been cab
met ministers so long as they are out of
haV NAL 10
that they need 1t to maintain the dignity
of a statesman. Lord George made that
declaration many years ago. and has
drawn his f2CO) a year whenever the lib
erals have been in power. Since 1874 he
has never been left out of a conservative
government
He is the third son of the first Duke of
Abercorn. That proud old peer had a large
family, but very little money. AS a conse-
quence his sons have to hustle for a living
Lord Claud. the second son, is chairman of
the Great Eastern railway and bears the
reputation of being the best railroad man
agcr in Great Britain. Lord Frederick. the
fourth son. used to edit William Waldorf
Astor's Pail Mall Magazine" Lord Ern-
est. the sixth son, is glad to turn an hon
est penny by writing magazine articles and
historical romances.
The handsome Hamiltons" as they are
called in Scotland, are one of the proudest
families in the British peerage. and they
have the right kind of pTide-'.noblesse
oblige' None of them has sought to re-
pair his shattered fortunes by marrying an
heiress. They have all preferred to work
and marry poor girls of aristocratic fami-
lies Ike their own.
A Safe Man.
Lord George entered parliament when he
was twenty-thrce and has been there ever
since. He became a member of the gov
erument at twenty-nine, and a cabinet min
lister at the early age of forty He is now
only ffty-eight, which is youthful for a
British statesman. so that he may yet have
great career before him. although his
achievements up to the present have been
respectable rather than brilliant. He is re-
safded by the conservatives a safe"
man, who is not likely to make mistakes
or anything else. either
Personally, he is a genial, kindly soul.
His family pride is kept for his own use
and never shown to other people In poll
tics he is a tory of the tories but in prt-
vate life he is the most democratic of men
One evening in '9S he was walking
through the streets of Ealing, the constit-