New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-12-28


His Matesty's Principal Secretary
, state that now mention him He
- ommonly referred, to as the Home
.,ry and commonly described as
akest Home Secretary within
q, mediate memory of man. YET,
IN a way. he may pass as the repre-
.a,,otive of a faction; OF faction in
'.snlf weak. yet strong enough TO hold
-. balance i'm this unbalanced Cabinet;
-, nerbaps TO turn a minority into a
majority. He has had an undistin-
r,isbed career in distinguished posi-
lions BY birth a Cockney; If | may
co 60 colloquial a word in respect of
,ersonage so high in official rank.
o., profession a Barrister: F, entitled
therefore to be spoken of as learned IN
,hA law. which otherwise you might not
..rrose him 10 be: nor did | ever hear
ne ranked among those leading
. who are in continual request
by 50 ,citors.
for in extensive practice; extensive and
Of 2 kind unusual; combining with the
rs,,aI business of a solicitor a sort OF
Mercantile Agency or Bureau OF Refer
ence; and charging himself with the
recovery Of small claims, Of which the
aggregate total is very large. These
ore hardly cases in which a counsel Of
high position would be required; nor
does it appear that Mr.. McKenna rose
IN the dignity of X. c. Such 'minence
as he may have had must therefore
have been acquired as junior COUNSEL;
wearing stuff and not silk.
He has what l will venture TO call
Junior counsel mind. Challenged one
dav in the House Of Commons to de-
fend his action as Home Secretary in
first forcibly feeding and then letting
loose upon the community an impris-
oned militant suffragist, he alleged a
judicial decision as the all-sufticient
reason for his treatment OF this woman.
Asked to give the reference, he cited
an obifcr dictUm Of, think. Mr.. Justice
Phillimore; TO the effect that the Gov
eminent should not permit prisoner
10 commit suicide. I call ii an ootter
dictum because such is its nature, and
because it did not appear that it was
a judicial declaration or a point before !
the court and essential TO the decision
NJ the case in which the learned judge
was giving judgment. The distinction
is one Of which every lawyer would
take note: but Mr.. Mckenna did not. |
He was content with quoting SEN
fence which. though without real judi
cial authority. might seem to bolster up
his case
The anecdote is illustrative Of MT t,
McXenna. He does not appear to pos
gess z legal mind. The defect is seri-
Gus one. since. as Home Secretary, he IS
charged with the duty Of supervising
The administration Of the law. II is he
who has 10 advise the King whether 20
grant or withhold a pardon. 1t is he
who is ultimately responsible for the
METROPOLITAN Police. II is he who gov
ems the gaols. 1t is he who devised
that monument of misplaced ingenuity
known as the Cat and Mouse Act; ne
who was responsible for carrying out
its provisions: which he enforced in a
manner so casual and slovenly that his
brand-new Act Of Parliament presently
became a byword: and was defed and
resisted by the very people
It was meant TO control.
Whether il is he who advised the re-
lease of Mr.. James Larkin from thdt !
Dublin gaol to which he had been
sentenced for seven months ] am not
sure: since Dublin is in Ireland. and |
the processes Of law in ireland are
mysterious. Mr.. Larkin was, and ls'
the most dangerous Of the men who'
under pretence Of promoting the lights
Of labor, organize and enforce an IN
tolerable tyranny. The paralysis OF
trade and industry in Dublin the sur
fering Of all classes, but OF the poorer
classes especially. is his work. But the
cause OF labor is held by Trade Union
TO be one and indlVlslDle'
Right or wrong, justice or injustice
have nothing to do with the matter.
It was thought that the Radical defeat
at Reading and the leduction OF the
Radical majority in Linlithgow from
> 900 10 800 were due to the votes OF
disconnected laborers. To appease
that discomfort and to recover the labor
vote needed in other constituencies, the
Government opened the prison doors OK
Mr.. James Larkin; and he has since
been free to preach sedition. anarchy
and his favorite Ito hell with CON-
tracts" doctrine, where and when he
would. The Cabinet. or the Inner can
met is believed TO have ordered his
discharge. il was a political act.
MIR. McKenna is not Of the Inner
Cabinet and I ought not, therefore, to
be drawing his likeness for you I'LL
after more eminent Ministers have been
But he has lately been d.
lowed to speak in public for the irrec-
oncilable wing of the Cabinet
1t is his dealing with the militant
sufragists which has given them what
hotoriety they have; and such hold as
they have on the minds OF those VINO
with them from sentimen-
al reasons. A strong Home Secretary