EARL OF BIRKENHEAD

Hokitika Guardian, 28 November 1928, Page 8

EARL OF BIRKENHEAD

RETIRFAIFNT FROM OFFICE

LONDON. October If)

General regret is expressed that such a brilliant intellect as that possessed by the Earl of Birkenhead should be now lost to tho Cabinet. It was thought that lie would remain in office until the general elections, hut it now appears lie is anxious to take up immediately the position in the city which he has been offered.

“Lord Birkenhead,” says The Times, “will lie a greater loss to the Cabinet that to his department, in which lie has sat rather loosely for some time past; and. if lie were to leave the India Office at all, it is j list as well that his successor should take hold of it at the beginning of the main four of the Simon Commission. But lie has always been a valuable counsellor in the general work of the Government. The brilliant invective with which lie sometimes delights the House of Lords and reduces a debate to common sense has often been df equal service behind the scenes. Brilliance apart, there is no saner or cooler head in the Cabinet whenever it can lie brought to hear upon a difficult problem of administration or of politics. The difficulty has always been to keep it concentrated on public affairs—especially since it became necessary to look outside for a more substantial livelihood than the public service l affords.

“ It is admittedly a matter of money that leads to Lord Birkenhead’s resignation; but there is no reason on that account to denounce the ‘ system ’ which sometimes induces men of great ability to exchange Downing street for Lombard street or Fleet street, or any of the other thoroughfares where the monetary prizes are largest. It is a commonplace that the business off government cannot enter into competition with these wealthy private concerns; and it is a commonplace also that a highly successful barrister, who joins the Government at the height, of his fortunes, may have contracted habits of living which are out of all proportion to his future income.

“It has long been supposed that Lord Birkenhead’s commercial future would he found, to some extent at all events, in association with tho Berry Brothers, who—in addition to their ownership of the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph, and many other newspapers—have extensive electrical, coal, and shipping interests in AYales.”

.MINI) OF TilE LAWYER.

“ Lord Birkenhead’s career has been Hie most dazzling o*f any in our time,” says the Sunday Times. “His mind cuts like a diamond, and his tongue, on occasion, like a sword ; consequently lie has not always engaged public affection, hut lie has never failed, even among his bitterest foes, to enjoy their keenest admiration and a respect that in some of his adversaries must have been more akin to dread. But the vitality and elan of the ‘Galloper’ are only one side of the picture; on the other is the searching analytical mind of the lawyer, which has been responsible for some of the finest constructive statesmanship of our generation. It is only necessary to remember his reform of the tangled, old-fashioned law of property, and the decisive part he played in the Irish settlement, to recognise Lord Birkenhead’s permanent contributions to British legal and political history.” MORE POLITICIAN THAN STATUS-

MAN

“If we look at the careers behind him,” writes the Morning Rost, “we incline to think that he would have done best to stick to the law. for there have been few more brilliant advocates; in public life wo have always thought him more a politician than a statesman. He came into Parliament in that dark time for his party when it had shrunk to a despondent Opposition, and the wit and vigour of his speeches carried the war into the camp of a victorious enemy, and made him the hope of his own side. Ilf the towering sails of such talent lu.d been but balanced by an adequate ballasting of principle, no hopes would have been too extravagant. As it was, we bad to deplore the abandonment of the union by one ol its strongest defenders. “ Lord Birkenhead no doubt made a mistake from the material point of view when he accepted the Lord Chancellorship. To sit down upon the yielding softness of the Woolsack is a temptation which no lawyer seems able to resist: even although the House ol Lords, having been deprived of power, has fallen in importance. II be bad remained an advocate he could have made an income adequate to an expansive and generous nature, which adds to bis other talents the talent ol spending.”