THE THREE REDMONDS

New Zealand Tablet, 4 May 1911, Page 807

THE THREE REDMONDS

AN INTERESTING FAMILY GROUP

The • entry into Parliament of Mr. William Archer Redmond, the son of the Irish leader (writes Mr. Frank Dilnot, in the Daily Mail), adds a third Redmond to the Nationalist Party, and completes the most interesting family group in the House of Commons. The name of Redmond has long been associated with the British Parliament, for a member of the family was in the House in 1859, and the grandfather of the latest representative of the family sat for Wexford as far back as 1872. Mr. John Redmond, the present Nationalist chief, was first elected in 1881, and his brother, Mr. William Redmond, has been in Parliament continuously from 1883 to the present time. Mr. William Archer Redmond now comes to continue the line, and the House, which, even to its most Radical sections, takes a domestic pleasure in any hereditary connection with itself, has given him a very heartv welcome. The Maiden Speech. The Messrs. Redmond, indeed, possess a personal interest in the House as great as the political interest roused by the name in the constituencies. The characteristics of Mr. John Redmond and his brother, Mr. William Redmond, have long been known and appreciated by their fellow-members, and there are signs that the third Mr Redmond will prove as interesting a figure as his predecessors. Everyone in the House knows the affectionate relationship between the two Redmond brothers, and no differences of political opinion have any effect on the sympathetic recognition of the pride which father and uncle feel in the election of the younger member of the family. . This was very pleasantly voiced on the night of Mr Archer Redmond's maiden speech by Sir Edward Carson' the bitterest Irish opponent of Mr. John Redmond. Before commencing a particularly vigorous attack on the, Rnmo Rule propositions of the day, Sir Edward turned to the Irish benches and said with what pleasure he had listened to young Mr. Redmond's speech. 'ltis a gratification to know that the honourable member for Waterford (Mr. John Redmond) will be so well succeeded by the honorable' mem-

ber who addressed the House for the first time this evening.' Sir Edward referred to that maiden speech as a manifestation of the hereditary principle. His . tribute recalled .the occasion on which Mr. Austen Chamberlain made his maiden speech. That, speech, like Mr. Archer Redmond's, was on Home Rule, a topic which had just separated Mr. Joseph Chamberlain from Mr. Gladstone. The latter, with the fine courtesy which always distinguished him, promptly offered his congratulations. It was a speech,' he said, 'which must have been dear and refreshing to a father's heart.' It is quite certain that the same thing might have been said the other night with reference to Mr. John Redmond and his son. The Irish Leader. The political work of nearly a quarter of a century has made Mr. John Redmond and Mr. William Redmond into a part of the great Parliamentary machine, and has established them firmly in the personal regard of both friends and foes. If the gifts of Mr. John Redmond are the more admired, it is the human traits in Mr. William Redmond which have secured for him general affection. What niche Mr. Archer Redmond is going to carve for himself we. cannot tell, but, at any rate, he starts with great advantages. > . Though each of the three Redmonds in the House is typically Irish, each of them has a very definite individuality. Strangely enough, the two brothers so closely associated politically and personally are very different men. Each in his different way has been a striking figure in the House of Commons for many years past. The Irish leader is a passionate man who cultivates silence. Animated by an unwavering enthusiasm, but forcing himself ,to severe restraint for the sake of his future plans, he is known as the hard, determined political fighter, giving no mercy, asking for none, and ready when the day comes to strike mercilessly. He has had no time to develop the humor which no Irishman ever lacks. His purpose has been too serious, too grim, his difficulties too great, to permit the light jest and the witty repartee. His life has been given up to political warfare. And yet away from his political work Mr. John Redmond is not at all an ogre. Amiability and reasonableness go with a certain business acuteness. In Ireland I heard him telling funny stories of his American experiences with a gravity which only gave them keener point. But. both in the House of Commons and out of it . he maintains a dignity which is absolutely part of him. • Mr. William Redmond is an entirely different type of Irishman. He has wavy iron-grey hair, humorous eyes, and his face, though of the Redmond type, is much softer in contour than his brother's. He is not heavily built, and in place of the almost invariable frock-coat of Mr. John Redmond, he wears always a jacket suit, generally with a bunch of violets in his button-hole. His voice has a drawling brogue, peculiarly effective for purposes of repartee. He makes frequent use of it, and question time in the House is a great period for him. As his courage is equal to his wit, he has added much vivacity to Parliamentary proceedings. He is a great favorite with members. Popularity at Westminster, as in school life,, is often indicated by the manner in which a man is known, and no one ever refers privately to Mr. William Redmond except as 'Willie Redmond,' which, with its implication of affectionate familiarity, exactly describes the attitude of the House towards him. They idolise him in Ireland. I was at Cork during the recent election, in which he was a candidate, and was present when one of a crowd of working women forced her way into the brake from which he was speaking, put her arm round his neck and kissed him. A Son of His Father. To these two is now added Mr. William Archer Redmond, aged 26. He was returned at the last election for East Tyrone, the seat previously held by Mr. T. M. Kettle. He chose the debate on Home Rule on Wednesday last as the occasion on which to make his maiden speech, and it is safe to say that after Mr. John Redmond and the Prime Minister there was no speaker who was looked forward to with such interest by the Nationalists. He took his place on his father's bench, being separated from him by two or three other members. There was a general desire to take part in the debate, and young Mr. Redmond had to wait his turn throughout the dinner hour. The loyal Nationalists waited with him. He looked indeed the son of his father as he sat there frowning with nervousness with a bundle of notes in his hand, crossing and uncrossing his legs as he waited for the opportunity which was so long in coming. He has his father's bold, hawk-like nose, his square jaw, his determined mouth, and ;fchere is the Irish leader's expression -in his eyes. The resemblance would be phenomenal were it not that in place of the grey hair, thinning rapidly, of his father, he has a luxuriant mass of dark hair. When the Speaker at last called on him he rose amid enthusiastic cheers from the Nationalists; and plunged at once into his facts and arguments. He spoke fluently, but with just a trace of awkwardness,'which will disappear when he becomes accustomed to his environment. TTio yQiQg jg o strange blend of his father's, and his uncle's. Mr. John Redmond had a place .at the end of the bench in the comparative obscurity of the gallery, and one' could imagine his emotions as he leaned forward to lose no word of his son's first speech. Mr. William Redmond came hurrying from the lobby, and stood at the Bar listening

to the young man with an expression of happy reflectiveness. As to the members in general, they divided their attention between father, uncle, and nephew. Everybody had temporarily forgotten Home Rule, and for once in a way politics were far from the minds- of all. ' 'Mr. William Archer Redmond, the member for East Tyrone and the son of Mr. John Redmond, Nationalise leader, was invited to make a confession of his emotions during his maiden speech in the House of Commons (says the Daily Mail of February 17). J.:' Was I nervous? To tell you the plain truth, I was not. lam not nervous by temperament, and the occasion was one which compelled me to forget all about myself. I was full of my subject—perhaps too full. You see, I was born in the great war of 1885, so I became a Home Ruler in my cradle. Then, from early boyhood, I have been so much at the House of Commons with my father that the atmosphere of it is quite familiar to me. Friendly Advice. /But what would have happened if I had followed the advice of all my friendly counsellors I fail to imagine. " Don't be too cocky," said one; "the House likes modesty in a new member." " Whatever you are, don't let yourself become nervous," said another. "Don't shout!" said a third and a fourth to keep my voice up. ; I decided to forget it all. The difficulty was not to get going, but to stop; not what to say, but what to leave out. That quality comes from practice. Think of the compression of Mr. Asquith's speech that s night, and (if I may add this) of my father's. I made my first political speech in the election of last January, and when I tell you that it was Mr. Devlin I was assisting you will see that I had a good master. I was called to the Bar last year.' ' ■