The Press Saturday, June 27, 1925. The Attractiveness of Mr Baldwin.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18419, 27 June 1925, Page 14

The Press Saturday, June 27, 1925. The Attractiveness of Mr Baldwin.

We have pointed out before what an •asset Mr Baldwin's character is to his Party and to the nation, and how much attention the subject attracts in the English newspapers. It is still attracting attention. The more Mr Baldwin reveals himself, the better he is liked. This, avc think, would apply to every political party in Britain, save perhaps the Communists. His political position is stronger to-day than ever before, and the main reason is that he is a man whom everybody likes, respects, and trusts. It has become a commonplace that in English politics character counts for a great deal. It certainly has stood Mr Baldwin in good stead. The " Spectator " remarks that he is an example of success achieved without deliberate competition, one of those men who rise quickly because they are genuinely uncompetitive, who do not strive jealously, but are sincerely glad to see other men succeeding and advancing. His past holds no record of political intrigue. His honesty is patent; his dislike of humbug is plain for all men to see; and he is singularly free from bitterness. He can hit an opponent hard at times, but his speeches are remarkable for their good humour. Ho never loses his temper; never abuses the other side; never shows the red flag of hatred. The impression is conveyed that he has a very large charity, that however much he may dislike an opponent's opinions, he is ever ready to concede' to him honesty. He has an unusual capacity for seeing the virtue in an opponent's case, and the weaknesses of his own side, as when he tells Conservatives that the miners have genuine grievances, and invites employers to revise their business methods and their attitude towards their men. Ho is not a learned man in the ordinary sense of the word, but he is distinctly a man of true culture. Though in intellectual gifts and mastery of words he is much inferior to Lord Oxford (Mr Asquith's title is not yet familiar), the two men have much in common. Both have serene minds, both distrust I anything savouring of demagogy, and j both hold fast to the same, moral principles. It must be an advantage to Mr Baldwin that he is an Englishman. English Primo Ministers have been in a minority of late years, and the English, Who, after all, are the predominant partner in the business of Great Britain, cannot be blamed for preferring one of their own kind for a change. More than that, Mr Baldwin is typically English to a degree that can be matched only by going back a long way in politics. Lord Oxford has Very valuable English traits, but intellectually .he stands somewhat aloof from' the average man. There is about him an atmosphere of austerity. Mr Baldwin unbends more easily, has a jollier manner, and is almost - boyish m his ways. Lord Oxford speaks like a scholar. Mr Baldwin speaks like a plain man, though not like an uneducated one. There is in him a touch of two great and representative Englishmen, Cobbett and Dickens. This is due to.his close connexion with the masses of tho people and .the very soil of England. Ho is at once an employer of labour on a large scale (or has been), and a devout lover of the countryside. He understands tho wage-earner's mind,' and sympathises with man}' of his grievances. Mr J. H. Thomas has revealed that when, years ago, the railwaymen were fighting one of the great railway cpmpanies for recognition of their union, Mr Baldwin stood alone among the directors for conceding the demand. This attachment to the soil of England is profound. Lord Oxford suggests tho city. Mr Baldwin suggests the country. A recent speech of his on the sights, sounds, and scents of rural England, has been rightly described as worthy of inclusion in anthologies. The poet in the statesman was revealed. " To me, England " is the country, and the country is " England. And when I ask myself "what I mean by England, when I " think of England when I am abroad, " England comes to me stealing through "my various senses; through the ear, " through the eye, and through certain "imperishable scents." He wenS on to enumerate some of these delights of the country—"the tinkle of the "hammer.on the anvil in the country "smithy; tho corncrake on a dewy "morning; the sound of the scythe "against the whetstone, tho wild "anemones in the woods in April, the "last load of hay being drawn down "the leafy lane as the twilight steals "on," "the sight of a plough team "coming over the brow of the hill." The description was beautifully done,

and he passed from that into an eloquent and moving recital of English virtues, in which there was nothing that might offend the foreigner. Without being an obstructionist, he has his strength fast rooted in ancient things. Many Prime Ministers have been more gifted. A\ r e doubt if any has commanded wider respect. In the troublous times in which his lot is cast he will have need of all the virtues that he draws from the country and the stock which he loves.