The Washington herald., 1921-11-06

Dixie. Redmond, Harrington and the
late King Edward, among many
others. With Randy -Pandy' at the
head of a table lined with celebri-
ties and Jenny at the other between
the two biggest guns the Churchill
dinners always left memories.
knowing everyone who was worth
knowing and several who were not
but who had to be known Lady
Randolph applied all her ability to
what was called politics. but which.
when translated. meant the political
advancement OF first her meteoric
husband and later her ubiquitous
son, Winston. 1t still means that
and probably always viii, but when
ii is worked by a brilliant and dar-
ing woman, confident of her charms.
kowtowed to for her social posi-
tion. and ruled by an overwhelming
ambition Tammsny isn't in IT, and
a new word has to be found for
corruption.
Unlike Lady Randolph. whose
strenuous efforts to engineer her
husband into the highest political
position failed because Of his in
herent inability to refrain from sky
rocketting. Mrs. Asquith was the
wife Of premier for many years
clever. astute woman. with a per-
sonality carefully rendered eccen-
trio, II is certain that Mrs. Asquith
did nothing to help her husband in
his career. On the contrary, her de-
sire to absorb the spotlight. her
delight In shocking society. her
mordant wit, her colossal indiscre-
tions made the name of Asauith a
lightweight to the public which
likes its premiers to be dignified. il
nothing else. Her strange curly
hair. her Dantesque face. her capa-
city for making intimate friends
with the leaders Of the opposite
party were very trying to the esIIb-
eral element represented by the ex-
lawyer. 1t seemed all wrong 70
these middle class people that their
premier's wife hobnobbed with the
titled hunting set. followed the
hounds like a man. and had
duchess in every one of her
pockets. Her association with
coterie of brilliant men and women
of all shades Of opinion who called
themselves Souls" shattered the
conventional ideas Of Little Eng
landers. And finally her inability to
keep the war secrets and her open
contempt of Mr.. Lloyd George and
his newspaper hackers brought
about, to a great extent. the politi-
cal downfall OF Mr.. Asquith.
Then there is the much talked
about Lady Astor, the first woman
member of the house Of commons.
unique figure In a Parliament
hitherto barred and boIted a1aInst
the intrusion OF women. A verv
charming, amiable, well-maanIn9
lady, with more courage than abiI-
ity. an almost childish delight In
being in the public eye, Ladv Aston
Is unpopular at Westminster. ana N
she were a man would Inevitable he
promoted to the house of lords In
order TO be got rid of. As an arden.
advocate of prohibition she Is hone
lessly unpopular TO the yast ma
jority Of voters. In the bouse r.
self, now that the first violence az
surprise has passed and the early
thrill of seeing a lady in that his
torie chamber has dulled avav everv
member is her friend and MANY her
admirers; but every one would
believe, heave a huge sigh OF relief
were she to retire into private lifa
to run her own house ana the Az
mestic politics thereof, because she
grinds her little axes far too Otter.
seeming to be unable, to see beyond
them at the real problems OF the
day.
The careers of these three ladies
go to show, think. that woman Is
out OF her charming element when
she breaks into politics. and IA bet
ter out of the political arena. To
begin with she is, usually, allied
with feminine prejudices which send
her off at peculiar tangents. She
has the sense OF the ridiculous that
enables her to see the funny side Of
other people, but is devoid of the
sense of humor that enables her 10
see the ridiculous antics performed
by herself. She talks too much and
Is without the gift OF reticence. She
relies on Intuition and cannot be
bothered to master facts. II man
wears nice tie and. says nice
things he must be nice man, how
ever nasty his purpose. Then. too.