New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-10-13

! 49," anu VI MI LLOYD GeOrgeS
Budget Of 1909 II is certain he would
nave been the infiexible opponent Mr..
Gladstone has spoken on both sides Of
many great questions, but In finance
Tie was a purist. do not believe a
"oro can be quoted from any speech
or writing of his which could betwistcd
INTO an apology for the principles I'M
DERIVING that Budget, or for Mr.. Lloyd
Georges finance in general. He looked
upon the Treasury as the efficient safe
guard against extravaganza; against
any use Of public money not strictly
necessary In the public interest. He
mad been / forget how many times
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and as
chancellor Of the Exchequer stood ut
the door OF the Treasury with a fam
ing sword. Economy, frugality, re-
trenchment, these were his watchwords.
He would have said with Burke, Nag
nun est Uectigdl p0rsimOnid. Nothing
would have so filled him with horror
| as to know that under the present
Chancellor OF the Exchequer the Treas
ury had become great spending de-
partment.
Or nothing except to learn that by
one at least Of the leaders Of the Lib
eral party it was meant that the policy
OF this once great and once Liberal
party should become a policy OF spolia-
ton. He believed In a future life. He
believed, perhaps, that in a state Of
post-mortem existence he might be
aware OF what was passing on this
| earth. Should that be 81. 1t is not diff
cult to imagine what he would think
Of the proceedings for which his name
is now sought as a shelter. II anything
could bring him back to his beloved
Midlothian, that would bring him.
would give something to hear again the
accents Of that noble voice as he poured
scorn on those who would invoke his
authority in defence Of methods and
purposes he detested and had ever de-
nounced.
He went to Midlothian almost as to
forlorn hope. He made it an impreg-
nable citadel Of true Liberalism for
more than thirty years; during fifteen
Of which IL was his own constituency
He owed much TO Lord Rosebery, him
self the chief figure in many ways in
that part of the world. What Lord
Rosebery did for him, what he spent.
how he toiled. how he bent people TO his
oh ~, he
triumph which was Mr.. Gladstones has
never been fully told, and 1 suppose
never will be. But for whom else would
LORD Rosebery have set his hand to this
work? For whom else could he have
done what he did for Mr.. Gladstone?
Can you conceive of his doing 1t for the
protege of Mr.. Cultivate?
Mr.. Gladstone's coming was chal-
lenge TO this very Duke OF, Buccleuch,
whom Mr.. Cultivate proposes to bank
rupt; the Duke being. in 1880. Earl OF
Dalkeith, and had been member for
Midlothian from 1874 to 1880. Never
from beginning to end Of that campaign
was there word Of personal invectlve.
OF Mr.. Outhwaite's vulgarity Mr.. Glad
stone, Of course, was incapable, but no
man could hit harder when he chose,
and no man demolish an adversary with
courtesy OF manner more complete.
Even 10 Mr.. Disraeli, whom he re-
garded with religious horror, ne pre-
ferred to be civil. All his speeches,
then and in 1884, l heard: in Midlothian
and far to the north Of Scotland. I
wrote Of them at the time in these coll
umns, copiously and with enthusiasm.
All / wish to say now is that the abid-
ing impression of them is vivid after
many intervening years, during which
my admiration OF Mr.. Gladstone. from
1888 onward, had TO take critical
form. From what I said In 1879 and
1884 have nothing to abate, nor do
now think the spirit he then showed.
or his political methods. less lofty than
did then. Lord Morley says in
characteristic sentence Of his biog-
raphy:
zone should take care lest in quench-
ing the spirit OF Midlothian we leave
sovereign mastery of the world to
Machiavell."
Alas, II was Mr.. Gladstone himself
who later did some Of the quenching,
and who to some extent qualified him
self for q rivalry with Machiavelli. But
the spirit he brought with him 10 Mid
lothian he left with Midlothian. He
had convictions which. If not always
permanent, were sincere while they
lasted. There was in him no touch
of the charlatan who walketh In these
later times at MONDAY and calls him
self Progressive, here and beyond the
Atlantic. The spirit survived. For
thirty years 1t identified itself with the
party which had been Mr.. Gladstone's.
Then, when the spirit went out of the
party II went out of Midlothian, and so
to-day a Unionist sits in the great
Liberals seat.
To measure the full Midlothian con-
domination of this land taxing heresy
Won must add the Labor vote TO the
ITnionist. Mr.. Provost Brown was out
spoken against it. His 2.4lS votes are
votes against that and against the GdD-
eminent also, which he continuously
Ill Infr th,aI