EARL OF OXFORD DEAD

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 280, 16 February 1928, Page 1

EARL OF OXFORD DEAD

LAST OF GREAT PARLIAMENTARIANS

TRIBUTES TO HIS MEMORY

By Cable.—Press Association. — Copyright. .Received 9.5 a.m. LONDON, Wednesday.

'J’HE Earl of Oxford ■* and Asquith died §t 6.50 o’clock this morning in his 76th year. His remarkable vitality and fight for life surprised the doctors, who had expected the end any time since Monday. His death yeas most peaceful. Lady Oxford maintained her bedside vigil until the end. The late Earl’s daughter and four sons were also present. Lady Oxford insisted on sending her own telegraphed intimations to the King and the Prime Minister, Mr. Baldwin.

rriRIBUTES to the statesman’s memory include messages from both former political friends and foes: Viscount. Cecil.—"He was a great and good man, and his death has left a gap that cannot be filled by any man alive to-day. He never claimed for himself the merit that belonged to another, indeed not always the merit that belonged to himself. Thus in wartime, all the merits of his administration were attributed to others and all the failures to himself, but he never complained. It may be that other men in great positions have been more admired, but I doubt if any have been more loved.” Lord Derby.—“ The nation has lost much by the death of this singularly simple and upright English gentleman.” Lord Reading. —“He was a great gentleman and an outstanding figure in great events. The dominating part he took in the entry of Britain into the war and the many measures for pursuing it, will never be forgotten. He was a singularly fine, noble character, with a complete freedom from vanity, jealousy, pettiness and ail forms of self-seeking.” Sir Godfrey Collins, M.P.—“He never maligned a foe or deserted a friend.” • * • Mr. Ramsay Macdonald. —“His death marks the closing chapter of our Parliamentary life. He was the last of what the Victorians meant by ‘the great Parliamentarians’ —men of leisure, culture, formality, dignity and catholicity. He was a great figure.” • * * Mr. Arthur 'Henderson, M.P.—“To know Lord Oxford was to have a pro-, found admiration of the sterling qualities of an English gentleman: He

was loyal towards his colleagues and considerate to his opponents. Public life is certainly the poorer for his passing.” • * * Mr. J. R. Clynes, M.P.—“His memory will be honoured not only for his fine record of public work and high Parliamentary achievement, but also for the rare attributes of his personal character.” Mr. J. Thomas, M.P.—“The nation has lost a great servant, and Parliament, to which he added dignity and lustre, a sincere and lovable friend. In good tune's* ah{l' bad times he was always the same,, incapable of a mean thing, and always subordinating his personal ’ to the public good.” Herbert Henry Asquith, the younger son of a - Yorkshire manufacturer, was born on September 12, 1852, at Morley. He received his earlier education at the Moravian School, Pudsey, and later went to the City of London School, where he won a classical scholarship. He entered Balliol College, Oxford, in IS7O. He' worked brilliantly at Oxford, and was Craven Scholar and president of the Union. He took a first in classics in 1874, and was made a fellow of Balliol. In 1876 he was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn. In 1877 he married Helen, daughter of Dr. P. Melland. She died in 1891, leaving four sons and one daughter. In 1894 he married Emma Alice Margaret, daughter of Sir Charles Tennant (“Margot”). There were two children of his second marriage. In ISS6 Mr. Asquith entered Parliament as a Gladstonian Liberal. He held the seat for East Fife, which he kept uninterruptedly until 1918, when he was defeated by a Conservative. When the Liberals returned to power in 1592, Gladstone appointed Mr. Asquith Home Secretary. In IS9S, after the resignation of Sir William Harcourt, Mr. Asquith was offered the Premiership, but refused. In 1905 he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer under Sir Henry Camp-bell-Bannerman, and in 1908 he succeeded him as Prime Minister, an office he held without a break until December, 1916. Troubles in Ireland, in the spring of 1914, induced him to take on responsibility at the War Office, so that when the Great War opened he was both Prime Minister and Secretary for War. In December 1916, he resigned the Premiership, partly on account of public criticism, and retired into private life. In 1920, however, he was persuaded to become a candidate for Paisley, and was returned by a good majority. When he took his seat, on March 1, his followers made it the occasion of a great demonstration.

Mir. Asquith was raised to the peerage in 1925 with the title, Earl of Oxford and Asquith. He will be succeeded by his son, Viscount Asquith, who was born in 1917, his eldest son, Raymond, having been killed during the war. BELGIUM’S GRATITUDE “WILL NEVER FORGET” FRANCE PAYS HOMAGE British Wireless-—Press Assn.—Copyright Reed. 12.15 p.m. RUGBY, Wed. World-Wide tributes to the memory of Lord Oxford and Asquith are being paid to-day. i The Belgian Government, in a message to its ambassador in London has paid a striking tribute to Lord Oxford. The message states: "Belgium will never forget the brilliant services of this illustrious statesman who directed the British Government with such loyalty and strength at ] the moment of the outbreak of war. Belgium will always recall with gratitude the momentous decision which he inspired, with a view to ensuring respect for treaties, and of helping Belgium to defend herself against the violation of her neutrality and independence.” The King of the Belgians has also sent a message of sympathy to King George and to Lady Oxford. The President of France, M. Doumergue, has addressed his condolences to Lady Oxford and has telegraphed : his profound regrets and those of the French Government. The. French Press pays long tribute.; to the late Earl of Oxford with special emphasis on his dominating part in Britain’s entry into the war. ! “Upon his shoulders fell the crushing responsibility of plunging the Em- ! pire into the war,” ssrs 'Excelsior.*” j “it was he who took the momentous

decision and for that alone the French people should bow in respectful homage and gratitude.”—A. and N.Z. KING’S SYMPATHY “LOST A VALUED FRIEND” BURIAL AT WESTMINSTER PROPOSED British Wireless—Press Assn.—Copyright Reed. 12.15 p.m. LONDON, Wednesday. The King has sent a telegram to Lady Oxford expressing his sympathy with her in her loss and his grief at the death of a valued friend and a great servant of the State. Lady Oxford has received an offer to bury Lord Oxford in Westminster Abbey, but has yet reached no decision '" n he Prime Minister. Mr. Stanley Baldwin, gave notice in the House of Commons to-day that he woud move a rc olutiun relating to the Earl of Oxford’s derth on Thursday, following the precedents of the deaths of Gladstone and Chamberlain. After to-morrow’s tributes the House of Lords and House of Commons will p.d jour a.—A~ &nd 2s.Z.