The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-11-10
J. Ramsay MacD Donald

The career of J. Ramsey Mcdonald from the days when he was fiery young soapbox orator to his first rise to definite leadership in 1924 and through subse- quent years of success and failure was vigorous and busy one. During his seventy-one years he outlined, directed and carried on stout campaign; part { of the time the great favorite of the Labor party, and at intervals just the opposite. Hastily scanning the important events of his life, and at no time was he actually dormant, one cannot help but be i'm pressed by his capacity and genius for work. It would seem that he must have had a superhuman strength and vast amount of willpower to progress as he did from one phase of political life to another, and in the face of the changing scene in England during the past twenty-five or thirty years.
 However, he is regarded by those who may or may not have agreed with his views, as a powerful personality and the leading champion of Labor in his genera tion. He was from the time of his rise to leadership in 1924 to practically the pres ent time prominent as we'll as dominant figure in the political scene. He was born . poor boy in Lossiemouth, Scotland, and though obscure, his forbears were of the great family of Macdonald. He had an incalculable energy, and as the popular phrase expresses it, was born to do big things Ambition was in him and he was not to be circumscribed by the smallness of the 2,000 population Lossiemouth. The English House of Commons and pre- miership of England were ahead of him. He made this latter, so to speak, three times. Sometimes he was on the top ID popular favor, sometimes at the bottom As is the case so often with a man that works tooth and nail for cause and for a certain group, his own turned on him not once but often.
 He has been spoken of as a gallant figure, but he was also lonely one. Some of his ideas were doubtless too abstract and too ideal. This makes for unpopr- larity eventually. But one feels assured that he was honest in his convictions, and he had definite theories for world peace early years he had also been Socialist, but drifted from that group to the Fa- bians, and by 1894 he had quite clearly associated himself with the Labor party, to which party he has since given allegi- ance, although his tenure as Labor prime minister was established by conservative legislators. Although seventy-one and in falling health MT. Mcdonald was still fired with an ambition for work and was planning to write a work dealing with . history of political events during the past twenty years, this was to include in part his position during the World War, in which he served, although he was a Pacifist at heart; also it was to contain his rise to leadership in the Labor party.
 J. Ramsay Macdonald was to all appear ances character hard to understand. It has been aptly said The was too con- sistent for inconsistent people to under stand", and also that "he applied prac- tical methods to the attempted realiza- ton of an impossible dream" However intangible the dream he was, undeniably, 8 pretty active man, dreamer notwith- standing. He had magnetism and among his associates was Jamie" His knowledge of parliamentary government was extensive, and he was successful politician. He was one of the great figures of the present day whose influence was greatly felt in England