New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-04
BRITAINs PET COPPERHEAD
of the Unctuou Who Failed to Persuade ~
Country to Wax Fat by Berayng France and Belgium

mating word. or a single plain necessity OF '"'
situation. such as the adoption OF compulsory
sorvice. that he has not been the laSI "
rocopnize He has never once, from 'he n'9'
outbreak Of hostilities, been inside tne Hi"u0
and hearts Of the people; and ms forecasts
Of how they would act in certain emergen-
clos especially if compusion were applied 70
them. might have been written by an bsqu'-
mau of the natives Of Patagonia.
Mr.. Gardiner never has understood the war
and never will. He never has understood
the British nation when it is reused as u =
to-day. and he never will As the leader OF
the "Hide-the-Truth Press" he has slithered
10 and fro between facile optimism and an
equally unreasoning depression. Inc one
thing he cannot do is to face facts lie IS
lust Literary gent ptchforked INTO an IN
comprehensive world and bereft OF all con
seriousness save for some indecent remnants
of an instinct that makes him peep at Arma-
geddon through the perscope Of party. That
he should be talking pacihsm just now is pre-
cisely what one would expect Of him.
But | confess / did not think even Mr..
Gardiner could be guilty of such an article
az have lust read from his pen in the Janu-
ary atlantic Monthly" entitled "'The Times
and the Man Who Makes TT 1t Is sneerng
attack on Lord Northcliffe, compounded about
equally of the rage Of the dlettante against
the man Of action and the jealousy Of
third rate editor against a master OF ms
craft Everything that malice and the title
tattle Of Fleet Street could suggest Mr. Car
diner has dressed up 10 serve his tlnsel pur-
pose ! do not know whether Mr.. Gardner
has ever even spoken TO the man he assails.
/ should Judge that he has not. At any rate
I who have known Lord Northclife for SIX
teen wears and have been and still am closely
associated with him. have not the least hest
tation in declaring Mr.. Gardeners sketch OF
him to be a caricature so wholly unrecog-
nizsbe as to cease even to be libellous
But what would particularly call your at
tention to is Mr.. Gardeners grotesque mis-
reading Of the political situation under his
very nose After disappearing every one
of Lord Northcliffe's actions in regard to the
war, and particularly the motives that
prompted them, Mr.. Gardiner ends up with
shrek of triumph over the collapse OF Lord
Northcliffes efforts to Dust Mr.. Asquith and
Sir Edward Grey and to put in their places
"a LLOYD George Carson Curzon combination,
with men like Lord Derby, Mr.. Chamberlain.
Mr.. Bonar Law and Mr. Balfour to give it
countenance" And before even his diatribe
could appear in print the very "comblna-
Ioh Wnlcn ne INFORMED the IeduerS oi Inc
Atlantic" had been finally defeated" was in
office, to the enormous relief Of the British
people and Of all the Allies. Mr. Gardiner
could not see il coming, could not see that it
ought to come, could not see that it had to
come. A trebly bandaged mole was never
binder. And yet | make no doubt there are
stil Americans who regard "The Daily News"
and its editor as an authority on British
affairs SYDNEY BROOKS
New York. Jan ., 1917.