New-York tribune., 1909-10-24

very sparing OF the air of command
ne had none at all. nor was the voice
o'her than deep and low. He seemed to
renounce those advantages of which
other orators make the most But pres
emily you became aware that the SEN
tences which fell from these lips were
perfect in form; not the least like writ
ten sentences. yet finished and polished,
win directness. a carrying power, a
force, which went straight 10 the minds
OF this listening Senate. Always a con-
sldered speech. and as IL went On II
seemed to you as IL II were the weight
of thought which bowed that strong
head, and so it was
He was ever a fighter, get WITH
a ferveT of religious sincerity which
ranked him with the Crusaders Fa-
matte he might be on certain questions,
those which touched the Church abore
all but the words were the words
Of truth and soberness. This sim
phclty, this absence OF srtifce, this
modesty Of bearing, this reliance through
out on fact and closely woven logic. and
thls contempt for everything like pre-
tence or the tricks Of the footlfghts-
"ell' 1 used sometimes to wonder what
the effect Of il all would have been in,
Tor example, the United States Senate.
Lord Lansdowne has an anxious mind.
not at all the kind best fitted for leader
ship II there be one trait in his charac-
ter stronger than another it is caution
Out Of four great posts he has held,
Governor General OF Canada, viceroy Of
India, Minister of War and Foreign Min
lister, there is but one in which he ac-
Quired great re N. He was good
Governor General. a good Viceroy, not
a good Minister of War, and a supreme
ly good Foreign Minister How came he,
then, to be leader Of the Unionist party
in the Lords? The answ. is, much as
boss in American politics becomes boss
not by election, not by appointment,
but by a recognized natural fitness for
the place. A boss is not made He is
born. Then he makes himself. Far be it
from me TO suggest an analogy between
a political boss and the leader Of the
Lords The analogy is strictly confined
TO the method by which each comes into
being, and must not be pressed beyond
that
Mr.. Winston Churchill presents Lord
LansdOwne to you as a dictator. Mr..
Lulu Harcourt calls him, in company
with other Peers who do not allow the
Radical majority in the House OF Com
mons 10 determine what the Conserva-
! tive majority in the House of Lords
shall do, an assassin. But imagine
that Lord Lansdowne would be very
| much obliged to anybody who would re-
lieve him OF the obligation to make up
, his mind on a great question, to make
il up for his party and himself. His
power OF Will is not equal to his intel
lectual power. But he is an example Of
a class of public servants more common.
think. in this country than in any other
one OF those men who have nothing
TO gain from office, who do not want
money or position, who have little pleas
ure in the tumult Of political trays who
have ample use for all their time in
other ways. But they happen to have
sense OF public duty which is overruling.
They devote their lives to the state be-
cause the state has need Of them. That
is Lord Lansdowne.
rather see some one else in Lord Lans-
downe's place. I speak as a disinter-
ested spectator looking on ut a great
fight which he naturally desires to see
well fought. II things take the shape
they are expected TO take, you want at
the head a man with the instinct of bat
tie. There are such men in the Lords.
Lord Curzon is one; Lord Miner is an
other; either Of them well equipped in
other respects also for leadership. This
instinct for battle Lord Lansdowne has
not. His place is in the council cham
Der, not in the camp. He sees objections
too clearly. He does not like to take
risks. And the burden Of responsibility
lies heavy on his shoulders. Whatever
decision he takes it will be with anxiety,
with pain, with blood and tears. But
there are moments when a leader needs
TO go joyousIy forth and battle in the
careless rapture OF a glad, confident
morning.
Lord Lansdowne may, and I think
must. elect 10 fight, but he will go forth
as If to a funeral That is all right il
the funeral be of his foes but we do not
wear mourning for our foes: especially
while they are unburfed. What must
press upon him. what must drive him
to the field, is the conviction that II the
Lords show the white feather now they
may as we'll shut up shop for all time
to come To Lord Lansdowne. penetrated
with the conviction that Second Cham
her and this Second Chamber. is essen
tial to the security Of the State. as 1t is
this I judge, is the one argument which
will be final. u. W. D.