The Daily News WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 109, 29 April 1908, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN.

lie who aspires to lead and govern other men ought liist to acquire a thorough mastery over him-clf. No doubt a knowledge of tlii„ iinporlnnl elenieiil ■ arv truth came early to the mind of the late Itight lion. Sir Henry Campbellll.iuiicrmaii. As the twig is bent so grows the tree. Dunng the period 01 ; a.101e.-cellce it i> po-lblc to -ketch <a'l the ideal man. and. by scdul.m- iron willed attention, to grow up to a realisation of that ideal. What wa- at lir-t a severe task, a very arduoii- strain, falls at la-t, by habit, an acquire! nature, inio a thing ol very ca.-v a.tomplishiiieiit. It has been written ol the late Premier of the Motherland that ever auiiikl the -train, stress, ami triai Ol public life, even though human pa-.-.ion liilioii-I.v burst in thumler aronm him, Sir llen'rv remained perfectly calm comfortable, and imperturbable. Thorn who imagine that he wa- originally en I ilnweil by Nature with such a disposi 1 li.m can'liave very little fOiu-vpiioii o what a t ainjibell is like.

No one ever attributed to Sir Henry ( C.impbcU-lianucruiaii the attributes ol geuiu-. He wa- no orator; there was . nothing dazzling or -otil-stirring about him; he .was not born to take the Eng- ( lish world by storm. 15ut genius has it* drawbacks, (.cuius is notoriously (HTCtitric; and eccentricity leads to the IK'ipetration of mistake-;, and mistakes may be very expensive in human lives as 'well as treasure. A good plain man, as Sir Henry was, who loves his tiod, hi rt country, and Ins King may better serve niankiud than the most brilliant of geniuses. The late Premier is to bo warded us a workman who had'thoroughly mastered ltis business. Entering Parliament- when still a. young man, lie served bis apprenticeship under Gladstone—a genius who made mistakes; but Sir llenrv was too carefully busy in seeking to quench the tires in his own nature to permit himself to lie lifted by the patriotic lives which sometimes completely carried away his lofty chief. Between llladstone and Canipbclkßannorinaii there is a wid e psychological gapI J'aticnllv. ploddingly, with.au easy contented good nature. Sir Henry nd icrc t ' to his work, cheri-hing no ambition ! hieher than the Speakership of the i Hoi,-,- of (..ninioiis. To quality tor j m-0vi,,.. a succe- in such a |iosili»u .» \ 1,,,,, should know no passion of Ins own. ~n , | p,..-ess alc er as llexible as a Damascus blade, l'or more than forty hmi-s Sir Henry wa« a member ol the iliiu-e of Commons; he may be said to have passed his lite there. He knew every shad,, of its varying moods and phases, but he went on himself uni moved Men came into the House, their I -hailows swept across the lloor, oblivion swallowed them, but he still went on immovable. He know men' individually a. s well as collectively, and the management of men individually as well as eolIle/ca'tuVinto the possession of that wonderful tactfuluess which lies at the bottom of the art of guiding', leading, directing nien.

(ilaiWone was dead; Lord Uosebery, handicapped by being i" the I pp"i' Chamber, had been tried without success; a leader was required to draw tonether a disorganised party. As a matter of tact, of all the old warriors ol the Oladstono period whn-e qualifications for leadership could for a moment be seriously entertained, only Sir Henry wa- left. Out of doors in the counlry >iot :i soul \va„ enthusiastic about th' apparently- cold-blooded Scot, anil when be assumed the leader-hip ol the Liberals he compromised himself and h;s partv still further with the country ny bis attitude as a pro-ISoor. Sir Henry, however, being truo to hiin-elt, it lollowed that he wn- not likely to prove luUe to auv man. The Motherland never culled Sir Henry Campbell-Jiau-nerman to power: there never was mam feted the slightest spark of enthusiasm for Him personally anywhere: the country was sick 10 death with the Con--ofvntivcs. and relentle-sly swept them away, and so Sir Henry came as .1 matter of coiir-c lie was wise. In tic. formation of his Covcrnmeiit he withered around him the most brilliant of lb,, politically voting men ol his partv. and established the most talented political combination Hint has held liower in Knglaud for many years. Fro n \h,. day of"the announcement of hi-Mioi-tn conlhlcnce <-amc to him: pcopl i i.,-..w to at least ,■..- -I. if they tailed fo cherish a warm regard, for the genial. Kindly, quizzical, stolid old gentleman whose only trouble—if he could possible 'nave a troable-was that his follower* in rarliament were too many. His Premiership \va- undoubtedly Sir llenrv's best period. Difficulties came to his Coverniuent as they come In all Covcrnments, but he. met them like a man. true t» himself. If few will weep for him, it is at least certain that not -, simdc eurs e «ill follow him to his honored grave, and in these day- ol (strife I hat at least is worth something to achieve.