New-York tribune., 1912-04-21
London. March II.

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.,anv specialties he had one which per-
.,.sted all the rest. He had the gift Of
sting animosities. He made enemies
-,rhf and left, and the anger he pro-
,.oked was not political only, but per-
Anal. perhaps more personal than politi-
"a, when he quilted the Unionist ranks
,or tbe Radical benches, that, If any
hing was a political move, but the
I,n,onists took it as a personal offence
They said:
"Winston belongs to us by birth, by
,osition. by the memory Of his father,
ne conviction. He can have no motive,
M excuse for changing sides, except the
wish for that Cabinet office which he
soueht from Mr.. Balfour and Mr.. Bal
fonr denied him. He is a deserter.'
have said something before now Of
the yindictiveness with which his old as
sociates, and even some of his friends,
nlrsued him. 1t was not a pleasant
tonic. and ] understated the truth. If
nut It a little more clearly now. 1t Is In
order TO sharpen the contrast between
,bs feeling Of yesterday and the feeling
~ to-day. l wish also to pay tribute
IN Mr.. Churchilrs sense of dramatic
values. for there has been nothing more
dramatic than the situation he lately
contriyed. ] will state 1t in q sentence
before coming to the details. not all OF
which, perhaps. are generally known
His appearance and speech at Belfast
captjvated and recaptured that half OF
The public which had latterly been grow
ing cold TO him. He was once more the
idol of the Radicals and Of the Irish Ma
tionaIists. His speech at Glasgow on the
day after brought over to him that other
half of the public which had never for
given him his desertion. So that, i'll the
course Of two Gays. from being the most
detested of all men in public life, he te-
came the most popular. If you look at 1t
only as a feat Of political dexterity' 1t Is
without precedent. But that is far from
being the only way to look at it.
am one of those who, as a spectator,
looked on his Belfast performance as
deplorable incident. But I wish to do
him justice. His English critics thought
lately taken charge of the Navy should
put himself forward as an advocate of
the disruption Of the United Kingdom by
Home Rule. The First Lord Of the Ad-
miralty is expected to be, with reference
to vital issues, less of party man and
more of an Englishman than anybody
else in the Cabinet. For the First Lord
is In charge of the First Line of De-
fence. To him is committed, far more
than TO any other Minister. the safety Of
England against a foreign foe. He him
self felt that strongly. He said; not in
public:
Il recognize to the full my RESPONSE
bilities as First Lord to the nation as a
whole. AS President of the Board of
Trade and then as Home Secretary, 1
have been party man, as had a right
TO be; as it was my duty to be. / have
spoken on all sorts Of subjects, in and
out Of the House of Commons, as Lib
eral am not going on with that. But
there is one subject on which l must
speak, and that is Home Rule. To that
] am pledged and I must redeem my
pledge"
thought it an unlucky view, because
Home Rule is the one subject which in
wolves the disuniting Of that United
Kingdom the unity Of which il is the
particular mission of the First Lord 10
safeguard. But of his sincerity there
could be no doubt. And so it was that
he undertook his pilgrimage TO Belfast.
II he gave il a thought he must have
known that the announcement Of his
going would be taken as a challenge to
Ulster. 1t was, I think, the Irish Ma
tionalists and not Mr.. Churchill who
We're responsible for choosing Ulster
Hall. the citadel of loyal Ulster. Worse
still. II was there that his father, Lord
Randolph, had made one of the great
speeches Of his life, with it's never to- be-
forgotten declaration that, sooner than
surrender to the Nationalists, ulster
will fight and Ulster will be right" He
was going there to controvert his father;
TO put himself in opposition to him and
TO his memory. A due sense of filial
piety would have led his footsteps else
attempt to speak in Ulster Hall would
mean civil war. Mr.. Churchill gave way,
and he actually delivered his address in
tent in the Roman Catholic quarter Of
the city. Even so, il took some thou
sands OF troops to keep the peace; at a
cost of some $4,000; a sum Of money
which works out at not far from S. a
word; an unusually high price for ora
pry, even Of tho highest kind. And IT is
'ne taxpayer who pays. / do not sug-
gest that he had it in mind. but it is
evident enough that this setting of the
Stage enhanced the effect he wished to
produce. To assemble 5000 troops in
time Of peace TO keep the peace is to
fivet all eyes.
Alter all, II was only by stratagem
mat Mr.. Churchill. whose wife was with
hifn' escaped from Belfast without run
ming the gauntlet Of a mob. Escape he
did, however, and after a rough recep-
uon at Larne. where he took ship for
suanraer arrived in Glasgow. 1t was
Known he was to speak in Glasgow, but
II was not known that he meant to make
declaration OF policy. must go back
little. His appointment to the Ad-
miralty had reused misgivings because
ne had been known as Minister op-
posed to forward policy in the build
ing OF battleships. He was immersed In
schemes for ameliorating the lot Of the
poor and of the workingmen Social
reform" had seemed to him the vital
question. The question whether there