MR. LLOYD GEORGE'S DAY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3048, 9 April 1917, Page 4

MR. LLOYD GEORGE'S DAY

* —-"■ ' '■ \\ Below is given, a yery interest* ' i ing account of an average day in ' ' the Prime Minister's life by Mr. s '. i Henry Suydam, the special cor' ' '■ respondent of the "Brooklyn ' ' Eaglo."- . ■ . . -'i David Lloyd George, Prime Minister! ' of Great Britain, works sixteen, hoursj : a day. i His general routine' has been id ': work from seven o'clock in the morn-jj ■ ing until eleven o'clock at night. Therel is po munition-maker or soldier in. thJ British Armies who does more pioinjj honest_ hard labour in one day tham the Prime Minister. ' j The stocky Welshman who walked?; ■ confidently into the executive offices aft 10 Downing Street on December 8 tol take ocmmand of the Britisli EnroW was not a man. of unsapped physical) resources) although of remarkable pow/. er of recuperation. He had behindS him a record of more than two exhausting war-time administration 1 tasks accomplished with, euch speed asij would ordinarily have wrecked thejj health and nerves of the pre-war types of English, statesman, • bred in the! ways of indolence. Yet here are the; concrete facts or the . Prime daily routine: ' • jj He begins work at seven in thev ' morning: an hour that is black-' asi midnight during the English, winter,? Two large dispatch-boxes filled ■wSlirj ■ ■urgent dqcumente requiring immedi- , ' ate attention are placed , in. the Prime].; 'Minister's personal apartments eacTt' evening by Iris private secretaries. He;' considers those on rising, either scribbU ing instructions on them or putting: them aside'for further consideration.' He works for an hour and ; a half 3 andi at 8.30 breakfast is served. Breakfast .in tho Lloyd George housed hold has not been conspicuously a famj ily funotion during these first weeks .OE the new Government. One or two Min-' isters, officers, or economic experts are , usually invited, and a lively discussion' proceeds during the meal, whiclT con* eludes at 9.30 promptly, when the Pre- : mier enters the executive offices and takes up the most pressing war mat* ters that may have arisen during thet night. ' 1..,/ ■.. . Hβ is thus engaged! from' ten tflf: eleven o'clock, and it may he Tindery stood that only the most important, correspondence is Brought personally to , ; his attention. The corps of private, secretaries who hare accompanied Mr. Lloyd George through the Ministry or Munitions and 1 the War Office diver« : everything possible to the heads of Departments concerned. The War Council. At eleven o'clock promptly begins the; most vital event of the day: the meet* ing of the War Council. The members; of this, small and almost omnipotent body are in daily conference with other members of the British Cabinet; Any; officers of the Army or Navy, Govern-j taent experts, and foreign diplomats of Allied nations are liable to he summoned for consultation; everything anaanything idating to the conduct of the, war is considered and discussed. While; Mr. Llord George does . not render! "snap" judgments, he retains a tre-i mendous amount of exact informational bo that usually a given problem IS/ solved with the greater speed that re-> suits from having all the leading ex-; perts in attendance while the problem j js under- discussion. The conference or; the War Council usually ends at two' o'clock. • .':. : Mr. Lloyd George spends not rnora than forty-five minutes at lunoheonvj Officials are again invited for informal! consultatioi. The Prime Minister does' little of the talking, preferring the; consecutive statements and explana-i tions of the guests who give evidence*; along the lines' of their own particularwork. At 2.55 luncheon is concluded/ and the. Prime Minister.is available' for special conferences wiflT distinguished visitors whose position _ demands that they be officially received,; Callers of this character include foreign: Ambassadors and Ministers, whether: Allied or neutral Powers, high officers j of Allied Armies, members of_ Allied! Ministries, and members of Parliament.-, There,are usually fifty persons eaclr day who ask for audiences, but theij total number received does not usually!! . exceed ten, who are interviewed be-"' tween three and 3.3o'o'clock. From 3.30 to 5.30 .another meeting, of the War Council is usually held/' . These, afternoon meetings are now tak->' ■ ing up and making decisions upon the most important questions of the war with regard to the military, naval, and diplomatic situations in every theatre of operations. Mr. Lloyd Goorge hears; . all that can b~e said, and no exhibits his unusual faculty for quick decision.

A Day of Comparative Rest.

Between six and eight, when dinnertj is served, Mr. Lloyd George may have a few minutes with memhers of his I family, may receive important visitors,' or attend to his correspondence, aW though .'the meeting of the War Coun-«j oil often lasts until eight o'clock ori even later. Dinner is occasion fonj further business; there are always two j or three guests who know much, more', about specific aspects of- the war tham' the Prime Minister, and who have beeit; asked therefore to place their informa- : tion concretely at his disposal. Din" ner is concluded between nine and ten o'clock. Mr. Lloyd George retires at 10.30, sleeps for about 8i hours, antt Js ready at 6.30 or seven o'clock tha; next morning to attack the two dis«, patch-boxes before breakfast guests art; rive. He does this for sis days g< week. Sunday is a day ofcompara-i tive rest, interrupted invariably_byfl some emergency war matter, .vvheff able to leave town during the week* end, the Prime Minister retires . to n$ small house within short distance o£] London, but remains in constant tele*! phonio communication with his secre-' taries at the executive offices. . . • It may be understood that thai strenuous routine here outlined no time for formal appearances in the} House of Commons. In delegating the leadership to Mr. Bonar Law the, Premier was not establishing a prece-j dent; he was merely yielding to an obvious necessity for concentration. " v "■■■'.