The Dominion THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1928. THE EARL OF OXFORD AND ASQUITH

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 118, 16 February 1928, Page 8

The Dominion THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1928. THE EARL OF OXFORD AND ASQUITH

No dispassionate critic of Lord Oxford and Asquith’s political history can withhold admiration for the late Liberal statesman’s personality, clarity of mind, mastery of phrase, and entire absence of ostentation. The dynamic qualities which make for popular leadership were not his. Instead, there reigned a cold logic which dominated by its irresistible force his political following, but left the electorate in general unmoved and unenthusiastic. Of his personal charm, which was great, the multitude knew little, if anything. Intimate contact alone revealed those qualities of heart and mind which cemented the loyalty and adherence of his party. To the public he appeared as a detached and somewhat academic figure, from which emanated fine utterances, set out in faultless periods, arranged in perfect logical symmetry. _ To these qualities, irreproachable from an academic point of view, he owed his lack of success during the war. His dispassionate detachment of mind made him an admirable judge of the circumstances which had to be weighed before coifiingto a conclusion that the nation must go to war in defence of principle, but that very detachment made it impossible for him to inspire the nation with the fiery ardour of active militarism. To declare war is one thing. To carry it on is another. With all his political faults, many and glaring, there probably could have been found no better leader of the nation during the war than Mr. Lloyd George. It was an occasion for the big drum, the vehement gesture, the fiery appeal of extravagant super-heated language. Lloyd George had enough of these and to spare, and he "expended his resources with energising and stimulating prodigality. Asquith, on the other hand, was entirely without the spectacular attributes which in national crises appeal strongly to the imagination of the multitude. Convinced of the efficacy of a principle, or a certain course of action, he clung to it with all the patience and determination of the logician. But he had to be convinced—or, more correctly, he had to convince himself—before he would act. His alternative attitude, as described by his political enemies, was “to wait and see,” a mental disposition altogether unfitting for such sharp and galvanising decisions as the rapidly succeeding crises of the Great War demanded. ,

History will accord him the credit of some significant changes in the constitutional structure of the nation. But in everything be attempted, he insisted that the logical sequence of events should be preserved, and finality reached at the proper time and in the proper place. Here he was patience personified. His Parliament Act ended the condition of stalemate which, for example, made any kind of progress in regard to the settlement of the Irish problem wellnigh impossible. But he delivered his attack on the Upper House by the slow and laborious process of securing his constitutional defences, and, as a final condition precedent to legislative action waited till he received his mandate from the ballot-box.

Amongst his colleagues, and in Parliament, Asquith commanded the highest respect for his qualities of mind and heart. His speeches never hurt, he was loyal to those who served under him, and the brilliance of his mind was universally admired. Even those who did not agree with his political principles often found it impossible not to admire his personality, his astuteness in leadership, and his unostentatious devotion to duty. In recommending him for a peerage and a seat in the House of Lords, his political opponent. Mr. Baldwin, paid a graceful and deserved tribute to these high qualities of heart and mind. It was an act which evoked unreserved approval from 'all sides, and was appreciated by the nation as an appropriate climax to a life of devoted service.