DEATH OF EARL OF OXFORD

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 118, 16 February 1928, Page 9

DEATH OF EARL OF OXFORD

END OF LONG AND STRENUOUS CAREER By Telegraph.—Press Association.—Copyright. (Rec. February 15, 10.30 p.m.) London, February 15. Obituary—Earl of Oxford and Asquith, aged 75 years.

AN EVENTFUL LIFE The Earl of Oxford and Asquith was born in Yorkshire in 1852. When he was six years old his father died, and he was brought up by his mother. His first schooling was received at the Moravian School, at Holbeck, near Leeds, whence he went to the City of London School. He was a brilliant pupil at the latter institution, and from the very outset seemed to take life seriously, applying himself to his studies with a de-

termination to succeed. There is a tradiiton that during dinner time and play hours he used to steal away from his companions in order to read the ‘Times” at a bookseller’s shop. Eventually he went up to Oxford and won the Balliol Scholarship. During his college career he was devoted to his studies, and his life was distinctly that of a student. He was somewhat’solitary in his habits, and the lighter side of university life did not appeal to him. He achieved a great reputation at college, and carried everything before him, proving himself first man of his year. He was thin, reserved, almost sad, but young, ambitious, and full of conscious strength. When he left college he went’straight to the Bar, but notwithstanding the briliancy of his university success, he had to pass through his full share of the disappointments of the briefless barrister. The responsibility of supporting a young wife and numerous family did not tend to lessen the anxiety with which he looked out on life. There was nothing for it but to put his shoulder to the wheel and work with steady hope that success would at last crown his efforts. The comparative leisure which he enjoyed gave him time for study, and he immersed himself thoroughly in the study of politics, for public affairs had always had a fascination for him from his earliest days. Slowly he began to find his feet, and to obtain recognition ror his, ability in the Courts. In 1886, Air. Asquith, as he then was, went down to East Fife, defeating his opponent, who had turned Liberal Unionist, and was returned to Parliament to support Air. Gladstone and Home Rule. In 1887 he made his first mark in the politics of London by his defence of Mr. Cunninghame Graham, when that brilliant, but somewhat eccentric, Scotsman was prosecuted, together with John Burns, for attempting to vindicate' the right of public meeting in Trafalgar Square. He put his case well, but failed to secure an acquittal. Still, his connection with the case stood him in good stead with the Liberals both inside Parliament and outside it. It was remembered to him for righteousness, and helped him afterwards to be able, as Home Secretary, to restore the square to the people. Air. Asquith made his mark when, as junior to Sir Charles Russell, he . conducted the cross-examination of Mr. Macdonald in the Parnell trial. His cross-examination was termed a most brilliant display of skill, the witness —a shrewd, intelligent -Scotsman—beingl mercilessly held up to a scoffing world. When he concluded his crossexamination, Air. Asquith had not only established his reputation in the Commission Court, but throughout the nation at large. From that moment he never turned back. When 40 years old, Mr. Asquith was offered the Home Secretaryship by Mr. Gladstone, and although this appointment created surprise at the time, subsequent events justified Mr. Gladstone’s choice. He sprang to the front as a debater of the first rank as the Home Rule Bill forced its way through the House of I Commons; he fought for Welsh disestab- ( lishment and local veto; he made more speeches up and down the country than any other member of the Government, praising the loyaltv of “our Irish allies.” and uttering terrible things against the

House of Lords. But at a later period a change came over him, and he joined the little band led by Lord Rosebery, whose apparent intention it was to draw the party away from Home Rule and pro-Boerism. Afterwards Mr. Asquith became a protagonist in the great fiscal controversy, following Mr. Chamberlain about the country, throwing himself into the battle with all the zest of a skilled combatant. He had his reward in the last general elections in January, 1906, when Liberalism and free trade swept the country, and Mr. Asquith came into his second term of Ministerial office, this time as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The conflict with the House of Lords influenced all the political measures of the next few years, and the protracted struggle resulted in 1911 in complete victory for the Commons. Mr. Asquith then introduced the Home Rule Bill, and, when the Lords amended it, he announced that the King had, during the previous summer, agreed to. create as many peers as might be necessary to secure that effect should be givem to the decision of the country. This announcement came as a bombshell. A section of the Conservatives shouted him down in the House, but the party was divided, and the Lords let the Bill pass rather than tolerate the unlimited creation of peers.

Mr. Asquith’s Cabinet, whose position had been gradually weakened, received an accession of strength in the spring of 1914 from the so-called “Ulster Rebellion.” After the warlike measures in Ulster and the resignation of officers there, rather than engage in civil war. Mr. Asquith offered a compromise as regards that part of Ireland, but it was not accepted. He dealt with the situation by a’ surprise move, taking over the War Office himself and giving it to be understood that the Government would not tolerate insubordination by officers.

But this bitter controversy was stopped by the war. In 1915 the shell shortage question became acute. Mr. Lloyd George dilated on it, but Mr. Asquith denied that the operations had been crippled by lack of ammunition. There was a move for a coalition, and Mr. Asquith invited the other parties to join the Government. He was still unwiling to introduce conscription, and the Derby recruiting scheme was tried. Meantime the half-hearted treatment of the blockade, the food problem, and air defence had created dissatisfaction, which centred on Mr. Asquith. Mr. Lloyd George suggested a War Council, minus Mr. Asquith, except as a consultative member, with the power of veto. This ultimatum was not accepted, whereupon Mr. Lloyd George resigned, and, as Mr. Asquith could not carry on without him, he followed. Mr. Lloyd George became Premier, while ISIr. Asquith, when the left wing of the Liberals formed themselves into a separate body alter the war, put himself at their head. At the December, 1918, election he and his principal colleagues lost their seats. In the catastrophic defeat of the re-united Liberals in 1924 he was again among the vanquished. The Earl of Oxford had never been a rich man, and in July, 19*27, it was announced that a group of friends had subscribed a lump sum of £lO,OOO, and also provided an annuity of £3500, so that he might spend the rest of his life in dignity and comfort. Considerable comment was aroused by the fact that these donors, included non-Liberals. In May. 1927, Lord Oxford was installed as High Steward of Oxford, an honorary post. By his first wife, Helen Melland, of Manchester, Lord Oxford had three sons, Raymond, Herbert, and Cyril, and a daughter, Violet (Lady Bonham-Car-ter) . Raymond was killed in the war, and his son, Viscount Asquith, born in 1917, is heir to the earldom Lord Oxford’s second wife was Margot Tennant, by whom he had two children, Antony and Elizabeth (Princess Bibesco).