New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-05
Cabinet Crisis in Great Britain

tion ut home. Americans will doubtless
feel some hesitation in commenting upon
the present Cabinet crisis in Great Btu
ain. For US the great marvel must be
that the British people have so long re-
tanned Mr.. Asquith i'm Office; yet IN saying
this most Americans will recognize lhaV
the reelection Of Mr.. Wilson must raise
similar problem for British observers. we
have to Judge Of British public men manly
bv what the British press says OF them,
inst as Britons must find their cher
source of information on our public men
in the American press. The result is
what might be expected: few Englishmen
will be able TO find a satisfying explana-
ton for the reelection Of Mr.. Wilson, and
the persistence Of Mr.. Asquith will oafhe
us TO the end.
We in America were more fortunate
than we could then realize not merely IN
the possession at the outbreak Of the Civil
War Of a supremely great chief, but also
in the fact that he was able to gather
around him men Of only lesser magnitude
Lincoln. Seward Stanton-these men tand
Iincoln's prominence was never ques-
tioned proved themselves adequate, eff
Gent. able. in the great tests Of the Civil
War. It was our generals who long failed
US: il was in the field and not behind the
firing line that the real source Of the long
DELAYS and great discouragements OF the
Civil War is 10 be found.
This has not been the case in Great
Britain. We have seen before our own
eyes the British people slowly but surely
learning for itself what It's leaders could
not teach it. We have seen public sentl-
ment outrun the laggard faith Of polti-
clans and the nation demand what the
statesmen feared TO give it. History will
do full Justice to the manner In which the
people of Britain have risen TO the supreme
crisis in their history, the volunteer
armies, the response Of remote colonies
the sacrifice and the slow but sure achieve
ment. These are things that will remain
an enduring monument to democracy.
Nothing Of this sort, however, can, 1t
must seem TO an American, be said Of the
British public men who have held office in
this hour of national peril. 1t is useless
for an American to pretend TO understand
the hold of Mr.. Asquith upon his country
men. We see only his failures, and they
are written all over the world. We recog-
nize that he is a superb parliamentarian,
an unsurpassed driver of the difficult
horses Of parliamentary groups; but, con-
ceding his skill as a driver, there remains
the unmistakable wonder as TO whether he
ever thought Of driving anywhere. Like
the driver in the chariot race, he rounds
the track again and again with magnifi-
cent skill. avoiding all the perils Of upset
and collision, but we on our side Of the
water fail TO grasp the idea that the rid
ing is everything and that the prosaic bust
ness Of carrying the burden of state from
one place to another is of no importance. We
have been watching Mr.. Asquith's blum
dering since the war began; we are dazzled
with his skill in avoiding a fall that seems
frequently unavoidable; but there remains
the old question, the old doubt, the old
wonder-whither is he driving?
Nor can the American feel less cause
for amazement at the survival Of Viscount
Grey For him Americans who know Eng
lish conditions must preserve real sense
of liking and Of gratitude. We have had
no better friend than Viscount Grey in the
Foreign Office, and not few of his critics
are attacking him to-day for policies which
represent a decent and generous regard
for American rights and feelings 1t is
difficult not TO feel that when he goes there
will be a new spirit and a different attitude
displayed toward our own country in the
British Foreign Office.
Yet what foreign minister in British his
tory has been so frequently wrong, with
such heavy costs TO his countrymen? His
belief that international rivalries would
WELD 10 treatment and German hatred for
Britain and determination TO destroy the
British Empire brought Britain UMPIRE
pared 10 the edge Of the abyss Like Little
Red Riding Hood he went on a grand
motherly errand-and uncovered the Ger
man wolf
As far back as the time Of the Confer
ence Of London, following the First Bal
kan War, his course destroyed the
Balkan League in the vain hope Of pre-
serving permanent peace. To satisfy Aus
tria and Germany, Sir Edward persuaded
Russia 10 sacrifice Serbia and France to
abandon Greece. His miserable Albanian
compromise denied Serbia a window on
the sea, insured the Second Balkan War
and thereafter Armageddon. In all this
he honestly, ceaselessly sought TO serve
the cause Of international friendship. But
what service could have been more fatal?
Only a little more than year ago II
was Viscount Grey, so British journals tell
us. who forbade Serbia 10 attack Bulgaria