Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-13

The island. which by 1916 had seen
defeatism growing, instantly braced
IN He spellbound at a time when
spellbinding served a big purpose. His
boundless imagination. his matchless
vigor his preference for direct-minded
men able to cut through obstacles and
get things done somehow and any
Wav-these qualities were of incalcu-
liable value. He engaged on endless,
torturous intrigues-but they were
necessary to get his way. He rode
roughshod over personalitieS-but this
was war to the death. To the Titanic
struggle. in which the destinies OF Brit
ain and her empire were at stake, ne
brought precisely that vitality and
tenacity which had driven him on and
up in his own personal battle with lie.
Ready TO Sacrifice.
Behind the scenes he was bluff. hard,
businesslike also tricky and ready to
sacrifice anybody to gain his own
ende-which ends, however. boiled down
to the single aim OF winning the war.
He fought, energized, drove. organized,
performed miracles Of cajolery rallied
forces. He also sold titles and hlled
his political party chest to the brim
and packed Parliament with hand
picked men he could count upon-not
a nice lot, profiteers largely. hard
! faced men who had done well out of
the war, but who were useful because
subservient. realizing that their po-
/ litical futures depended upon the big
chiefs favor.
/ At the peace conference he constituted
himself Britain's attorney. He was de-
termined, like any good lawyer, to see
/ that his clients got all they thought
/ they were entitled to and, II possible,
bit more Clemenceau taking the same
! line. Wilson. the idealist, got squeezed
in the dog fight between the rival at
torneys.
Back home. he looked around and
saw no rival in sight Who was there
to supplant him? Nobody-nobody but
/ little men. All the big men, all 1.-The
/ first-claSs brains, were gathered round
/ him, subservient to his wishes and ac-
! knowledging his supremacy. AS Am
bassador Harvey confidently wrote to
the United States Secretary of State
| at this time Mr.. Lloyd George
is not merely the head of the British
! government. He is the government,
! in full and absolute control
! Astonishing to look back to that time:
! There. for four years after the end OF
the fighting, tower Lloyd George and
/ his coalition ministry. They dominate
! the whole scene They block out the
]
! anxious search to detect Ramsay Mac
/ Donald, and you may look in vain
/ for a gentleman named Stanley Bald
WIN But there Is Lloyd George, al
ways in the limelight and on the front
| page the biggest figure not merely in
Britain but in Europe. where he crates
and negotiates maneuvers and bar
gains at conference after conference.
/ He baSked in the sunshine Of a power
more absolute than that of any other
British prime minister in history. His
/ obedent Parliament assured his huge
/ majority. The cabinet. in the words
of the first lord of the admiralty to
/ an American diplomat on the eve Of
/ the 1921 Naval Conference. no longer
I assumes to do anything more than to
/ register and approve the prime min
/ ister's proposals" winston Churchill
/ privately admitted at the same time
that but for Lloyd Georges favor he
would be down and out as political
factor Even Curzon, haughtiest of
aristocrats Lloyd George had reduced
to the position of igurehead.
Gathers Powerful Aides.
! Around him the all-powerful premier
had gathered a redoubtable encourage
to aid. protect and further his inter-
ests. Sir Maurice Hankey astute and
fertile in ideas: Sir Edward Grigg,
guardsman. diplomat, publicist, his
confidential man; Philip Kerr. his adj
wiser at the Peace Conference and in
charge Of the Lloyd George paper, the
| Daily Chronicle, and one or two others.
Each in turn had his satellites and
trained aides. Representing him in
Parliament he had the smooth. astute
| Jew, Sir Philip Sassoon one time init
mate Of the Prince of Wales. Earl
Haig's private secretary during the war.
/ a multimillionaire whose mother was
a Rothschild and who could swing a
most powerful cohort to the premier's
support (as an instance of this. one
may quote the provision Of SIS ,000, 600
to buy newspaper for Lloyd George
Yet his position had its Achilles
heel and he knew it. His was a per-
sonal dictatorship which. to be perpet-
uated. must soon put down roots in a
party. He has split the Liberal party
by ousting Asquith, its leader. He had
made innumerable enemies, playing
! persons like paWns in his game. No.
body. really trusted him any more He
could not shove in and make himself
Tory party chief, and he could not
! expect TO maintain a perpetual coali-
| ton. What better, from his viewpoint
than the alliance of the first-class
brains, rally around Lloyd George of
the chiettains he had picked from the
Tory and Liberal parties and from big
business, and the creation Of a new ma
tlonal party on the ruins of the divided
Tories and Liberals. with LLOYD George
as eternal prime minister?
what dream! 1t might have be-
come reality. But the country wanted
tranquility, and he. politician wise,
Kept 1t at constant tension by recur-
rent crises which got ever more sem
Sational and dramatic, and which he
Played up to maintain the legend of
MS omnlpotence and indispensability
he was always going off to European
conferences to settle world affairs and
never getting them settled. One thing
alone ne had settled-he had played
chlef role in the Irish settlement. which
ended the feud of 500 years.
rinally, pursuing a fatal pro-Greek.
antl-ltallan policy, with an eye to max
ing a greater Greece bastion of Brit
ISM sea power In the Eastern Mediter-
[ rn' ne alienated France and got
britain on the edge of a fresh. nm
wanted war with a rejuvenated Turkey
Ignored by Colonies.
Then he banged the war drums and
sent forth the tribal call to the British
dominions to stand in case thew were
needed to face Renal and his legions
! AT Chanak The dominions. farther
away from Welsh wizardry than Brit
ain. ignored the tribal call. They indi-
Gated that they were through. If Llovd
/ George wanted another war, he could
! have it--alone
That event broke the spell. 1t was
/ followed by meeting of the Tories in
| their stronghold in the Carlton Club
The Lloyd George adherents spoke
GcTushingly in favor of coalition and
Lloyd George. Then up rose a quiet
obscure man and slew Lloyd George as
neatly as David slew Goliath. It was
Stanley Baldwin who here declared that
Lloyd George was dynamic personality
and as such q DESTROYER Laa T. :. =.