New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-12-14


eide. the personal character of certain
Ministers counts for much Those who
belong TO the inner Cabinet are Of the
FIRST Importance, since it is the inner
cabinet which for the most part de-
,ermincs the decision of the whole I'M
uieldy body of twenty-one. OF these
and one or two others l wish to say
enough to give the reader clew TO the
nersonal influence they are likely TO
bring 10 bear on great public questions.
OF the inner Cabinet, Ministers become
members i'm two ways: by the choice
of the Prime Minister and by force Of
character, or perhaps, in one or two
cases, by sheer self-assertion. which
itself, when successful, implies force
OF character. Official precedence has
not much TO do with it, OF His Males
Tvs Five Principal Secretaries of State
not more than two. or possibly three
are of the elect.
There was time when. paradoNicai
though Prime Minister, was not the
chief authority in his own CABINET
His ascendency was Intellectual not
PERSONAL Mr.. Lloyd George. his Chan-
cellor of the Exchequcr, had elbowed
him aside, or into the second place
The paradox, If 1t be one, is not politl-
cal The Prime Minister has often IN
English history, both in the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries. been not
much more than a fgurehead After
Sir Robert Walpolo's long supremacy
the headship Of cabinets passed. as II
nv natural reaction. into the hands
of inferior men, The Duke Of Grafton
and Lord Rockingham were examples.
Later, Mr.. Addington was conspicu-
GUS instance. The transient and en-
barrassed figure Of Lord Goderich -
DIsraeli's phrase--was another; ana
Lord Aberdeen a third. superior as he
was 70 the men | have named.
Mr. Asquith does not belong in that
CATEGORY. He did not. even during ms
temporary eclipse. To-day. though he
is not and never will be master in his
own Cabinet as Disraeli and Mr.. Glad
stone were masters in theirs; as Peel
was even more completely in his; ana
as Pitt was he is master. The change
,s due partly TO circumstances; partly
TO the mistakes Of his rivals.
Fer various reasons Mr.. Lloyd
George. notwithstanding the decay OF
his authority, has 10 be considered next
after Mr.. Asquith when you take ac-
count of driving forces. He is stu a
driving force; still on the whole the
most powerful Minister next after the
Prime Minister: still the man VINO
among Mr. Asquith's colleagues has the
strongest hold perhaps upon the party
and certainly upon the country Long
since he captivated the Imagination OF
p4ople who do not think but feel. or
all men in public life he Is the most
emotional. OF all men in control OF
great affairs he is,the most feminine
He comes Of a race essentially feini-
nine; the Welsh. He is prophet win
honor in his own country. He owns
Wales. body and soul He is TO Wales
what Mr.. Roosevelt is, or was, to the
United States; the incarnation OF what
his countrymen believe 10 be their ma
tional spirit; as Mr.. Roosevelt is OF
what one section Of the American peo-
pie believe TO be the American sPirlt
Each Of them Incorporates into ms own
individuality some Of the best, and per
haps all the least good, OF the traits
which characterize the whole people; as
a people and as a race.
The popularity of each is due not III
the first instance TO her merits Dut
to his defects. 1t is an axiom OF soc!-
oloey that a great body Of people with
great qualities and great faults love 10
see their faults reflected or REPRODUCED
in their idols. II is a visible PROOF OF
the doctrine. dear alike to the dema-
gogue and the multitude, that all men
are equal. Rousseau, Jefferson ME-
Bryan, Mr.. Lloyd George-what are
they all but examples OF the value
which a popular fallacy may have IN
the theory of social contracts or III
practical politics?
return to the practical politics from
which ] have been tempted too far
Mr. Lloyd George is a politician not
less practical than Mr. Murphy HIM
self. His methods are different but
his aims are much the same. He is out
for votes. No doubt he believes that
Radicalism is for the general welfare
No doubt he has enthusiasms when
express themselves on the platform and
in Old Age Pensions and Insurance
Acts. No doubt he detests class ascen-
dancy and sympathizes with the less
fortunate classes But through IL all
and underneath it all, he is politician
bent on party triumphs.
You see it in his inheXible opposition
70 General Election or referendum on
Home Rule. He and Mr. Redmond are
Of one mind. Mir Redmond wants his
pound Of flesh and Mr. George wants
him to have it. Mr. Asquith, relin-
gushing the prcteXt that Home Rule
was the issue before the people in lJlO
when the present Home Rule Bill had
not been draftcd-falls back on the