Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-11-14
GREAT CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY
"A Life q, Lloyd George That
Is Not a Canbaiqn Document

Perhaps in af.S years some other
biosrapher will be insisting that the
very qualities which were the cause
Of his weakness in his earlier career
were the qualities without which hs
could not have risen to the occasion
when war came.
Mr.. Raymond suggests It. but he
cannot find II in him to admire those
qualities. lie advances the novel
theory that the vagnries Of the mans
political record arose from the condi'
tions Of his life. lie was born poor
and for years had to struggle to sup.
port himself and his family. Mr.. Ray.
mond snys that the poor man is never
allie to take long look ahead
financially. lie cannot commit him.
self to a course Of life because he never
knows whether he will have the money
to pay tic bills. He literally II com.
PEELED 10 live from hand to mouth and
to meet each crisis as It comes. AS
Lloyd George had acquired the hnbit
OF living from hand tn mouth financial.
~ he found this habit governing his
political life. In order to preserve 1t
he seized hold Of the nearest straw IN
order to keep his head above water.
The fact that in the next crisis he had
to reverse himself never troubled him.
lie forgot the past and never locked far
ahead into the future. But he man.
aged to keep above the surface even
though at times 1t looked as II he were
about to 20 under never to come up
again.
This theory Of political opportun-
ism arising from the confirmed habit
Of financial opportunism goes some
distance on tho rav Of explaining
what has been explained bv Others IN
a much less credifab bic manner.
pCT whether these qualities explain
owhy he succeeded during the war in
doing what other men had failed to do,
Mr.. Raymond insisted that his free.
dom from the various social, educa!
tiOnal and financial inhibitions which
bound other men had much to do with
his success. The traditions in which
other men had been reared mnde them
see impossibilitics where Lloyd George
ignored them. lie was not a financicr,
and when money was needed he said 1t
must be got and it was. He was not
a manufacturer, and when guns were
needed he said they must be made and
they were made. And so on through all
the varied activities of a long campaign
to defeat tho German pretensions.
The book starts with his birth and
it ends just before his Coalition Gov.
crnmcnt broke down this fall. But
the breaking down of the Coalition Is
forcshadowcd. It had survived by
curious magic long after It had actually
died. Mr.. Raymond says. just as the
man in Poe's story survived for seven
months with all the appearance Of
life, but dissolved at once as soon rs
the magic passes that had vivifed
the corpse had been reversed. This
prophecy was good one, for the Lloyd
George government collapsed as soon
as the Conservatives said they would
go into the approaching election alone.
Mr.. Raymond does not gloss over
anything. even going into the details
Of the Marconi scandal. in which Lloyd
George was involved. The hostile
British newspapers talked about his
great wealth. derived from his use OF
official secrets, and his houses in
various parts Of England and his
magnificent villa in the south Of France.
They printed pictures Of his house in
England taken from such an angle as
to make It look much bigger than it
was. This sort Of an attack on a public
man in England may surprise those
good people who think the sensational
American newspapers are sinners above
nj! men in such matters. But LLOYD
George was vindicated by a parliament
ary inquiry. In the course of which he
said that his total wealth was only
enough to give him an income of $4,000
a year in excess of his salary. Since
then he has doubtless saved little
more and Andrew Carnegie has left him
IN income of $4,000 a year for life.
The book, while 1t is an excellent
life Of the man, is also compact and
readable summary of the history of the
political life Of Great Britain for the
last thirty years. 1t will, doubtless.
be widely read by all interested in con.
history.
GEORGE W. DOUGLAS,