The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-11
Lord Robert Cecil, the New Power
in the British FOREIGN Office
u, r. WEN.

J. WIS a lhalNtI vi SURPRISE llitl 80
able "a man as Lord Robert should
have been content with the Under
Stewardship of state for FOREIGN AZ
fairs instead of insisting upon a seat in
the Cabinet and the seals OF a great
department, to which he was regarded
as entitled. by virtue OF the impor-
lance of the position which he had ac-
CURED in the House of Commons.
But in view OF the delicate condition
OF the health of Sir Edward Grey, who
IL now suffering from the strain of
noaryl ten years of assiduous, arduous
and unceaSiug duties as Minister Of
Foreign Aifairs-duties which have
had the effect, moreover, of affecting
his eyesight 10 an alarming degree
Lord robert is in the ordinary nature
Of events bound to have much more
work, responsibility and power thrust
upon him than ordinarily falls to the
share of an Under Secretary of State
and is certain to play a weighty role
in the direction of the foreign policies
of the British Empire. as we'll as exer-
cising an important influence upon
England's relations with the United
States in this era of international
strife and trouble.
Lord Robert has much in common
with his father and namesake. the late
and third Marquis of Salisbury. who
for so many years controlled the for
eiGn destinies of Great Britain as Sec
rotary of State n as Prime Minister.
Like him, he was a younger son. and
As is the case with so many of the
cadets of the great houses of the Eng
fish ~aristocracy, was compelled to
work for a living. Whereas his father
had recourse in his younger days to
journalism Lord Robert took to the
law and made such n success of the
bar that at the age of AZ he felt that
he was warranted by the amount of
money reaped through his lucrative
practice virtually to foresake the lat
ter and to embark upon a political
career in the House of Commons.
The House had had some experience
of him even before ne took his seat
within its precincts. He had ap-
peared before one of its most numer-
GUS committees as counse for those
who opposed the London County
Councils project for the extension of
the Chelsea Embankment, an extern
sion involving the alteration Of what
Is known as Chelsea Reach.
Despite the fact that in his speech
he did not use the word sand" or
"shingle" Lord Robert became so In
tense and earnest against the appar-
ent act OF vandalism to a naturally
pretty place that he was able to i'm
press upon the members Imagination
the picture of a delightful stretch OF
DNn,tfg,ta p,art,n pAnnar, ,,r;,h all1
dren disporting themselves on the
foreshore, on the sands and shingle
He wound up his address by boldly
inviting the members Of the committee
to visit the spot to judge for them
selves, arranged to accompany them
as their guide and so timed the trip
that they went there at high tide.
ON the strength of what they saw
they unanimously voted against the
measure and pronounced themselves
against the extension Of the Chelsea
Embankment. 1t vas only after his
had been don that some Of them
prompted by the protests of the Lon.
don County Council, visited Chelsea
Reach at low tide and were treated tC
the sight and smell of an expanse Of
malodorous Thames mud.
When Lord Robert first took hi.
seat in Parliament as member OF tn,
East M%arylebone district of London il
1906 he found that his younger
brother, Lord Hugh, had already &C,
CURED fame there by his gift of elo
quent oratory. Lord Robert Is in
ferior in this respect to Lord Hugh
but more lucid and above all NOR
practical.
He soon won the regard and tn
respect of the House and even sue
oeeded in dispelllng to a great extern
That prejudice on the part of tn,
Liberals who had come to look upol
the statecraft of the Cecils much il
the same way hat an evangelical
meeting would regard Jesuitism. Lik
the late Lord Salisbury, he has no par
t'cular graces OF manner or gesture
He goes to and from his sea- in tn
House Of Commons with "A kind O
Glgnihed lurch. In moments of ex
element he will move his hands VIC
lcntly up and down as If he wer
using some huge hammer and hi
voice will rise to the verge of shrill
ness.
He rarely laughs, and as in tn
case Of his father, any sense of hume
that he may possess takes the forr
81 satire and sarcasm. He is not goo
looking. has his fathers remarkabl
stoop of the shoulders and with hi
thin, curved nose, his dark hair, re
ceding from his pallid forehead, hi
grim, hawklike appearance, clea
S'aven face. his %glistening eyes an
ungainly gestures, presents "A person
alf,y not easy to forget.
10 II Lord Robert failed to receive
3 tt in the Cabinet, with the chlei
! ta.nship Of one Of the great depart
mcnts Of State, in the recent minis
''rIal organization, it is because h
differs with the leaders of the tnloi
t' party on the subject of tariff RI
'.lln, 1t may he recalled that II
after was virtually forced upon tn
ZIONIST party by the late Josep
'hamherlain, causing a split in II
uts and the secession OF sewers
'.rscrvative members from II
Iu.unist Cabinet then in office,
The late Lord Salisbury was a stri'
''''"ront to E%ngland's Old establishc
of free trade and his sons Rof
"'l md Hugh have followed in h
''..-'rps in this respect. Indeed, I.nr
'..'r' has been regarded as the leadt
rf 'to free trade element of the Unior
Isl party ever since that memorab
nlEn' "a February, 1909, when he mac