THE F0REIGN SECRETARY

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 97, 24 December 1913, Page 4

THE FOREIGN SECRETARY

Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, has held office now lor eight years. Over a hundred years age a kinsman of Sir Edward (.Earl Grey, was the promoter of the Reform Bill of 1832, and occupied the same position that Sir Edward Grey does today. Towards the end of November. Sir Edward was presented with tiu Freedom of the City of Newcastle. In his speech acknowledging the hono. done him, he said the Greeks had at old saying, so impressed were ibex with the precariousness of human affairs, that “no man should he called happy till he was dead.” Hi 1 might safely say that no one shall be call ed happy until he is out of office. Sr. Edward went on to say that the work of a Foreign Secretary seemed to ial. into four great compartments. First, he had to dp Iris utmost to secure that there should ho no political changes in the world of combination: which were likely to threaten from outside the security of the Empire o. the maintenance of the communications between separate parts of t.ic Empire which was so essential to the development and prosperity 01 ouch. A Foreign Minister had also to do his utmost to prevent the nation drifting, as it was prone to drift if care wen not taken, into an undesirable increase of responsibilities, especially of territorial rcspdnrabilities, because,’' ho added, “we have enough on otu shoulders already. Our desire is L

keep, to-develop, to make .secure what ,w« have, and I believe wc have arrived lit that stage in the development of our Empire when to add to its extent. or is responsibilities is to endanger [he security of what we already possess. Well,' then, there is tin paramount interest of our world-wide commerce outside the Empire, in prompting 1 ‘and''encouraging which thf Foreign Office co-operates ‘closely; wick the Hoard of Trade. yßnt do all yep can' to ‘ehconnige comriiCrcE,' do 'a!!' you can to keep the doers' op’efi and smooth its path, it still reuia,ins,true that the paramount interest ( oly commerce, the greatest service you can render to it, is the maintenance of peace and the keeping of this country —so far as it is humanly possible to do so—not merely .from actin'! war hut even from the apprehensions and rnjjietv ,of war. The fourth, ,great ■branch,”, continued Sir Edward, “h that of using the humanitarian influence of this country to do what it can to promote humanitarian objects in the world. All these are important branches. One section of public

opinion will ' concentrate on' one o them end one on another. The See rotary of State for-• Foreign’ Affair iias to attend to all, hut he has'ti endeavor to keep the large sense o perspective which, while not neglect ing any of them, will prevent hiir from pushing the interest of any om so far as to sacrifice the others.’