Evening Star Newspaper, October 30, 1921, Page 47

EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS | SPECIAL ARTICLES he Sund EDITORIAL SECTION ay Staf. Society News Part 2—14 Pages Picturesque Statesman Who Now Rules the British Em- pire Started Life Humbly Educated Himself and Fought Way to Front. L—EARLY DAYS, \ EW will dispute that Lloyd George is the outstanding political figure of our time. Others may have surpassed him in this field or in that of human affairs. But no one can touch him in the sustained bril- liance and effectiveness of his ca- reer on the political field. His audacity as a challenger of the old order made him a popular hero, not in his own country alone, but all over the world, before the war. His conduct of the war brought him to the front rank among the statesmen of mankind. Alone among them has he survived both the war and the peace. And, de- spite sixteen years of continuous office, and all that his enemies say against him, he is the only British politician in whom the electorate have confidence today. In the ordinary sense of the word d no advantages Lioyd_George 1 : at the start. His father died when he was a year old. His mother, left without means, went to live in a four-roomed cottage with her brother, the village bootmaker of Lianstumdwy—a tiny village on the sea, in North Wales. * k ko But, In addition to the advantage of an exceptional natural endow- ment, Lloyd George did have two advantages. The first was the guidance and advice of his uncle. Richard Lloyd—unknown boot- maker as he Was—was a Very re- markable man. He was the lead- ing figure In one of those little communities known as “Churches of Christ,” more generally called Campbellites, one of whose tents was the generally unpopular be- lief that a man ought to preach the gospel without pay or reward. He had many friends among the thinkers of the day. And with all his gifts of character and in- sight, hé devoted his life to launching David Lloyd George and his brother William on a life of real usefulness and influence in the world. To the intense spiritual end intellectual converse which surrounded his youth are no doubt to be attributed Lloyd George's sincerity of constructive purpose, &nd his power of universal human appeal. * Kk X % Llovd George was fortunate in another way. Both in England and Wales the old patriarchal feudal- jsm—the feudalism which in its worst form had led to the quarrel between England and America— was rapldly being undermined. The rise of the industrial cities of the north country, the reform acts of 1867 and 1885 which gave the vote to the mass of the male population for the first time, the elementary education act of 1872 —all these were cutting at the root of the predominance of the old aristocracy in British political life. But despite these changes the edi- fice of political privilege still lay heavy on the land. Strong blows and a courageous champion were needed to make way for the new forces of democracy. Nowhere was the dominance of privilege er than in Wales. The religious life of Wales had been profound- Iy stirred by great preachers of the early Victorian era who wandered from hill valley to hill valley rousing the people from the dark materialism of their lives. But the rule of the squire and the parson in local public affairs was still unbroken. * ok k% Lloyd George's first battle was to attack that rule and make way for the new spirit of equality and na- tionalism in the land. The courage and independence of his spirit was first shown in the village school. It was a church school and it was the practice of the squire ang rec- tor to iwld a perindical examina- tion of the pup'ls before an audi- ence in the cateshism and creeds. Young Lleyd George had heard his uncle condemn this custom on the ground that most of the children were Nonconformists and were consequently being made to confess an alien faith. He organized a re- volt. There was to be a conspiracy of silence. The day came ani the rector commenced his questionin, only to be met with a solemn silence. This might be put down to shyness due to the presence of so many notabilities. But no, neither kindness nor sternness had any ef- Tect. At length, out of sympathy for a popular master, one of the younger boys broke the silence and the others, with the exception of David Lloyd George, surrendered. But the point was won and the managers of the school did mnoz again offend. It s David Lloyvd George's first triumph in his life battle in the cause of liberty. * k ¥ & He early determined to become a lawyer, The first step was to pass the preliminary law examina- tion and for this the elements of WASHINGTON, D. €, SUNDAY MORNING, LLOYD GEORGE—The Man and His Times French and Latin were obligatory. The schoolmaster could teach very little Latin and no French and the difficulty was Increased by the fact that the boy wanted very badly to keep it dark that he had embarked upon so ambitious a career until he had something to show. To- gether his Uncle Richard and he tackled the obstacle, though his uncle knew nothing of either lan- guage, and, with the help of a grammar and a dictionary, they succeeded. He passed the examina- tion at the age of fourteen. The final examination was passel with honors when he was tw one, and then a little trass plate appeared outside the duor of tne little house in Criccleth, “David Lloyd George, Solicitor,” and the back parlor was given up to be used as his office. * *x Xk X One of his first briefs was the Llanfrothen burial case, and here again he seized the opportunity of challenging the authority of a church which, though established, was not the church of the people. The parish churchyard had been enlarged by the gift of a piece of ground seventeen years before by a Mr. and Mrs. Owen. A minute in the vestry book recorded the fact, but no deed of conveyance had been thought necessary. Non- conformists were permitted, by act of parliament, to bury their dead in the parish churchyard with the rites of their own de- nomination, but the local rector considered this a direct attack upon the established church, and persuaded Mrs. Owen, after her husband’s death, to convey the piece of land to him in solemn form, with a condition prohibiting the use of any but the burial rites of the established church. Then an old non-conformist quarryman, one Robert Roberts, died, and on his deathbed asked to be buried by his daughter's side. The daugh- ter's grave was in this pafticular “part of the churchyard, but when the old quarryman's relatives ap- plied to the rector for permission to carry out the burial according to their denomination they were refused, and by the rector’s orders the grave, which had been partly dug, was filled in. The aggrieved relatives consulted Mr. Lloyd George, and he Instantly took up their case. He told them to go ahead, “and it you cannot enter in any other way, pull down the churchyard wall.” Let them leave the rest to him. A Calvinistic minister spoke the burial service and the old man was buried by his daughter's side. The rector took the case to the county court. Lloyd George fought him, and car- ried the case through the higher - courts until he won. * ¥ ¥ x On another occasion he defended four quarrymen who were prose- cuted for fishing in a mountain tarn. He believed that, despite tradition, the rivers should be free to the public, but he found the local bench of magistrates were so far prejudiced In favor of tra- dition, perhaps because some of them were landlords, that the chances were heavily against his clignts. His method was charac- teristic. When the chairman, a ressure on America to QOutline olicy as to Naval Armaments BY N. O. SENGER. RESIDENT HARDING is having his first close contact with what might be called a hand- to-hand grapple with the prob- lems which are to come before the arms limitation and far eastern con- ference in discussing with Secretary Hughes and the other members of the American delegation to the confer- ence the policy of this country to- ward limitation and reduction of naval armament and building pro- gram. The time arrived last week when the administration had to pass the point where the problem was one of anticipation and meet it and deal with it and his assistants had been wrestling with it for weeks before, but as the assembling of the conference grew | nowhere had come rapidly nearer near a solution. The officials, had they needed a re- minder of the exigency of the propo- sition—and they needed no such spur —would have—hgen aroused by the suave suggestion made by Vice Ad- miral Kato, the head of the Japanese naval delegation. to Secretary Denby that he and his colleagues would be z1ad to be informed of the American xess upon the subject eration might be given to them in ad- vance of the meeting of the confer- ence. * x x * It is not likely that public intima- tion will be given of the naval policy of this government until it is dis- closed officially to the conference. A careful writer might go farther and predict that the formula will not be completed until the conference is well under way, for its determiantion Is one of the most serious phases of all the business coming before the conference. One thing may be stated authori- tatively at this time, although in so doing a popular impression to the contrary may be shattered. It can be said that the Navy Department is not holding back in the traces in this great movement to limit world arma- Secretary of the Navy Denby | that consid- ments; that it is not seeking in a| grudging spirit to resist the tide of | public opinion and hold on to every possible vantage point and prestige for the Navy, but is sincere in trying to conform to the public demand for international agreement which will bring a lessening of the burdens of | warlike preparation. In this sense, the s irit of the ad- To Handle the Publicity I FOI’ Armaments Conference - Haggis- Ewing PHILIP H. PATCHIN, One of the men responsible for far-| nishing the news of the activities of | the delegntes. His headquarters are/ located in the State, War and Navy/ building. During the Paris confer- |-tion of naval armament.” ence he held a similar position for the Tnited States, : a ministration and the Navy is sincere- ly altruistic. But it must also be said, and cannot be too explicitly or emphatically stated, neither the ad- ministration nor the Navy is oblivious to the practical aspects of the case and the cardinal principle of this administration, believed to be also that of the majority of the people of the United States, that national self- protection must be guarded at every step of these proceedings to come. * ok ok ok It is not reasonable to think that it was by mere accident that the first paragraph of the agenda proposed\for the conference was devoted to “limita- Such is the title, and it is divided into three sub- heads, namely, “Basis of limitation,” “Extent” (of limitation and “Fulfill- ment,” by which Is meant adoption of requirements for the effectual carrying out of the agreement to be reached. The United States, Great Britain and Japan are vitally interested in naval armament. If some agreement is not reached to curtail the building of cap- ital ships, the increase in their arma- ment, the construction and use of sub- marines, the creation of naval bases in the Pacific and the use of aerial ma- | chines in naval warfare, it is e\'idenli to all that these three great powers| will enter upon a rivalry which will create a burden of expense that will crush industry and the producing popu- lation of those countries. Navies are supposed to protect property. The point is rapldly being reached where the cost of the protec- tion of property becomes greater than the value of the property itself. Think that suggestion over; it is not original, of course, far it is realized by all the leading econdmists of the day. Joxxxx Great Britain is recognized as having Just claim to the right to maintaln an 2dequate navy. Her island Isolation renders her; dependent upon her navy for the constant flow to her shores of the necessarfes of life and the necessi- ties of Industry, raw material which ot OCTOBER DAVID LLOYD GEORGE. PHILIP KERR—WHO HE IS. Philip Kerr was secretary to Lloyd George from 1917 until a few months ago, when he resigned to return to the field of journalism, and to have more leisure to attend to his personal affairs heir to the Marquis of Lothian, are important and ext Mr. Kerr was specially charged with foreign affa George's principal political secretary which, as he is ive. and was Lloyd during the latter part of the war, the peace conference and at all the other international conferences in Paris, Spa, San Remo, etc., which have taken pl. since then. His knowledge of international and imperial affairs is immense. He has met almost every statesman of eminence in the world. It is well known that he was in Lloyd George's speak with greater authority of Lloyd George Mr. Kerr has visited over thirty states er of Amer from end to end. He is a real admi heard to_extoll their institutions and ntimate confidence, and no man can nd his poli America, and knows Canada ns, and has often been cter. There is an intensely ch teresting democratic significance in the fact that the descendant of one of the oldest families of the British nobility. much wealth and with the highest social and polit have accepted the appointment of secretary to Lloyd people, and should be writing of him in this series of a a graduate of Oxford. @ man of I standing, should orge, a man of the rticles not only with admiration for his mentality as a great force, but with affection for him as a man. local potentate, argued that the legal point must be tried in a higher court Lloyd George re- plied, in a perfectly polite man- ner, “Yes, sir. and in a perfectly just and unbiased court, too.” The chairman, aghast, asked which magistrate he was referring to as biased. “I refer to you, in-particu- lar, replied Lloyd George. The indignant magistrate left the court, followed by three others. The bench asked Lloyd George to tender an apology. but he sat un- moved, saving, 1 shall not with- draw anything, because evers word I have spoken is true The four had to return and proceede With that attac the petty ty v of local magistracy fell to the Some one had had the courage to speak up the justice and imp: ¥ of their rulings. 30, 1921. Lloyd George's next exploit was to challenge the political domi- nance of the conservative party. It was a daring step for a young man of twenty-seven to take—far more daring in those days (1890) when the prestige of convention and the older generation was far greater than it is now. His first election (Carnarvon boroughs) was a fight between the old order —placid, venerable, graceful—and the new, vigorous, democratic na- tional spirit incarnate in Lloyd George. “The tories,” he said at the outset of the campaign, “have not yet realized that the day of the cottage-bred man has at last dawned.” He was right. On April 4 he was returned by the narrow margin of 18 votes in a poll of 2,900. His defeated opponent was Mr. Ellis Nanney, the once all- powerful squire of Llanstumdwy, Mr. Lloyd George's native village. * k ok * His first few years in parliament not notable. In his charac- teristic way he was quietly learn- ing to understand the new world into which he had entered, so dif- ferent from the intense local life among the Welsh hills and valleys, though he early revealed the same courageous spirit of sturdy inde- pendence in defying accepted con- vention = But his heart was still with Wales. He was concerned to com- plete the work of emancipating and instilling democratic self-re- liance into his countrymen which he had begun in Carnarvon. He threw himself into the campaign for the disestablishment of the Church of England in Wales. He challenged the grand old man him- self—Mr. Gladstone—at the height of his authority, and the leader of the liberal party, to which he be- longed, in order to fight him tooth and nail over the clergy discipline bill. But much of his time was epent in organizing Wales politi- cally and breaking down the pow- er of the English liberal machine in Wales. In the end he triumphed and the Welsh party—an independ- ent unit in the liberal party— emerged, pledged to work for the national needs of Wales as well as for the larger causes of liberalism. £k * * “Lloyd George was and still is a fervent Welsh nationalist. He is never so happy as when he is at- tending the national Eistoddfod and singing the beautiful old Welsh hymns for hours in concert | with ten thousand of his fellow countrymen. There was a time when Welshmen were ashamed to acknowledge themselves as such among Englishmen. Since Lloyd George took his courage and in- dependence to Westminster, still were more since he became prime mi ter, there is not a Welshman who is not pround and assertive of his race. He always been in favor of autonomy for Wales as well as for Ireland, but he has always resisted the Sinn Fein spirit in Wales. He has often said to me that little na- tionalities gain enormously from union with big ones provided they By Philip Kerr (His Secretary, 1917-1921) Courage, Broad Human Sym- pathy, Compelling Oratory and Power for Popular Leadership Outstanding Traits of the “Little Welshman.” : carry Lloyd George on to a wider field. In the autumn of 1899 he was traveling in Canada when the news of the impending storm in South Africa arrived. He instantly hurried home. He was not pre- cipitate in his judgment about the Boer war. He was clear that Kruger was wrong in his treat- ment of the Uitlanders and in at- tacking the British forces, but he was certain that with better statesmanship the issue could have been settled without war. He was in no sense a pacifist, and his sym- pathy then and now with small nations has been always tempered with a strong sense that they have no right to live unto themselves alone. = What inflamed, however, every instinct of his nature was his sense that certain aspects of the imperialist policy represented the same hateful spirit of domination which he had spent his early life in fighting in Wales. As long as it was a question of repelling the Boer advance on Natal and Cape Colony he was cautious. But after the fall of Bloemfontein, when it became clear that annexation was the policy of the government, he came out against the war with all his might and main. In a speech at Oxford he expressed his con- viction that by annexation “we shall miss something infinitely precious to every true lover of Britain, the distinction of being the hope and shield of the weak and oppressed in all lands.” * ¥ ¥ X He entered upon a campaign from one end of the country to the other. He attacked Joseph Cham- berlin—the leader of the war party and the most formidable debator in parliament—and on one occasion so successfully that Chamberlain got up and crossed the floor of the house and shook his fist in Lloyd George's face. He went down to Birmingham, the stronghold of the war party and almost the pocket borough of Chamberlain, end took the town hall to speak against the war. The crowd became so violent that they drove Mr. Lloyd George and his friends off the platform into a little back room, shouting for his do not allow themselves to be over- shadowed. Events, however, were soon to blood. The chief constable deem- | ed the situation so critical that | he insisted on Lloyd George donning a policeman’s uniform and passing out in this disgulse as the only method of saving his ife. On another occa on at Bangor, in his own native Wales, th crowd was infuriated at his audac- ity in walking down the central gangway of the bhall after a hostile meeting, and waited all night outside a cafe in which he had taken refuge. Meantime he had slipped out unnoticed at a back window! But only a few months later the tide began to turn. He brought a very unfriendly audicnce at Nevin, also in Wales, to their feet in a storm of enthusiastic ch ing by spontaneously turning and saying to them in Welsh: See here now—five years ago the electors of the Carnarvon bur- oughs handed me a strip of blue paper, the certifica of my elee- tion, to hand to the speaker as their accredited representative. If I never again represent the Carnarvon boroughs in the house of commons, 1 shall at least have the satisfaction of handing back to them that blue paper with mo stain of human blood upon it * k k¥ At the general election in the same year Carnarvon boroughs re- turned him to parliament with the largest majority he had et achieved. On that occasion the crowd was so enthusiastic for him that his friends had to close around him to ensure his safety. So ended the first phase of Mr. Lioyd George's life. He had won prominence as the champion of liberty, as the indefatigable op- ponent of privilege and tyranny in all its forms. first in Wales, and later in a wider field. He was the acknowledged representative of the young radicalism which gained its opportunity with the franchisement of the people. He had won his triumphs by his courage, his broad human sym- pathy, his oratory, his power for popular leadership. He was now to be tried in the more difficult school of responsible statesman- ship. (Copsright, 1921, by the McClure Newspaper ndicate.) en- ext Sunday—The Assault on Wealth and Privilege. she can not produce. Japan now asserts | that her peculiar position in the orient entitles her to a navy adequate to main- tain her rights in the Pacific. That claim was reiterated no later than last [ week, according to cable dispatches, by her principal delegates to the conference now- steaming to these shores. The United States, in the opinion of leaders of the administration which is now in power in this country, cannot afford to be second either to England | or Japan in naval strength. The United States is largely responsible for the protection’ of the integrity of the south- | ern continent on this hemisphere; it has | vast commercial interests in the orient and is morally obligated to sustaining | the policy of the open door in commerce there, if not inferentia]ly and sentiment- | ally bound to uphold just dealings with | the weaker nations. * kX ¥ X | The problem presented in ‘these| considerations is sald to be the work- ing out of a plan of equitable limita- | tion of armaments, still preserving a| close margin ‘of equality of strength among the powers, if these various| claims. are recognized as just—and who is to decide that they are to be! denied? Therein comes the first of! the subheads of the subject, “Ba ! of Limitation.” Upon what basis will | the conference start to define limita-| tions? It is a grave proposition for the assembling statesmen and tech- nical experts, all of them quite aware | of the tremendous popular sentiment | in each country for a sane agreement | to limit the monstrous expense in the | present outlay and forestall and pre- vent the unthinkable possibilities of future outlay. * * * x It is noted £hat the second subject; in the agenda proposed for the con-| ference relates to “rules for control of new agencies of warfare” It is said in military and naval circles that all the leading powers are at this Republican Leaders Begin to Fret Over Delays in Redeeming Pledges BY WILL P. KENNEDY. EPUBLICAN leaders are grow- ing fearful of what will hap- pen in the next election be- cause the specific legislation for which Congress was called into extra session has mot been passed, and because the republican campaign pledges to the voters have not been kept. The TUnited States Senate held responsible. The voters of the country who put the republican party in power are growing resitve, according to reports received from practically every state in the Union by the party leader: who are only too anxious to receive exactly the Kkinds of re- party’s is being opppsite ident Harding, who gave his personal pledge and the pledge of the republican party to the voters that if they sent him to the White House he | would see that certain definite legis- lation was passed and business con- dition improved, is growing equally impatient. As concrete illustrations of President Harding's frame of mind take the letter he wrote to Senator Medill McCormick of Illinois recently on the work of Congress; take also the executive order which directs the United States bureau of efficiency to put into operation a practical classification of federal employes and re- | re-establishment of a merit system, | Congress having played so long with that proposal without getting any- where, even after spending about a | miilion dollars to make: a study. * k k k Here are the cold facts that make the present situation look dangerous to the republican party leaders: For more than a half century there has been running a sentiment against the smaller or more conservative bodies of legislation, like the Sen- ate in our own country. There have been campaigns throughout the land time in a state of dread suspicion of |along the line that the Senmate was what _the other powers may have in (Continued on Third Page.) ’ irresponsible to the people. That finally tovk form in the change of the people, as it were, a club to de- mand attitudes on legislation. into the conservatives and the radi- cals. change in method of election. are reviving. At present there is acute criticism for what is denominat- ed inaction in the Senate. l to say, this criticism, unlike all eriti- cism in the past, eminates’from the Iconservxlive element. The basis of { this criticism is the sharp contrast Ibelween the expedition with which { | one hand, and what is termed “delay” in Senate action. * k¥ % The main points of discussion in the country now center about the program of the House in contrast with the program in the Senate. The House sent to the Senate in July the tariff bill, after a month of considera- tion. It was followed by the tax bill. That was followed by the anti- beer bill. That was followed by the railroad refunding act, and last Mon- day was also sent across to the Sen- ate. the bill providing for a com- mission to devise a system of re- funding the foreign loans. All of these are major measures and rest in the Senate without final action on any one. The tariff, tax, refunding of rail- roads and of foreign loans are all considered great constructive meas- ures that have to be passed this ses- sion—and some action must also Re taken on the anti-beer bill, to appease the country, the republican leaders ad- mit. In addition to all that the House has done in the way of direct legis- lation awaiting concurrent action. it has also passed about three times as many resolutions as the Senate on subjects not requiring joint action. This shows that the House has been exceedingly active. To emphasize this sharp contrast between House action and Senate delay, witness the v Strange | the Holise has been acting, on the House to the Senate, fixing the mem- fail through Senate inaction. This bership at 435, as at present. This is campaign differentiated the people | purely a House matter, and stands to What- Antagonism ceased with the | ever the House sets as a limit on its |own membership the Senate ought | ties insist. * Kk % of the party, power, overlooks Symptoms of determined opposition | not to obstruct, leaders of both par- The country, criticizing the delay the fine program of legislation the Con- gress has enacted. This includes the One of the Irish Leaders At Conference in London MICHAEL COLLINS, better known ne {he mont eluxive chiet of the republican army, in attendance at the peace confer- ence. L] method of electing senators to give reapportionment bill sent by thejbudget bill, immigration measure, five constructtve preces of Yegislation in aid of the agriciultural industry, Jtwo of which amend the farm loan act to make er, the agri- cultural export aid bill, the measure to prevent gambling on grain ex- changes and the packer legislation; and—of political as well as humani- tarian importance—the Veterans' Bu- reau act, uniting all agencies having to do with the care of men in the uniformed service of the country, as well as many other important items of legislation which are now on ths statute books. The country is losing sight of the accomplishments of Congress simply because the two principal subjects, i specifically mentioned by President Harding in his call for the extra s I sion, as the main business of the sesx- sion—the tariff and tax measures— have not been passed. Just so loni as final action on these two measures is delayed by the Senate. the country is finclined to criticize Congress for inaction, and this thought is likély to carry over into the next campaign, the republican leaders are fearing. * k % % Those who have studied the situa- tion and who have looked below the surface find that inaction in the Sen- ate is due to the rules under which that body operates. In the House the rules not only permit teamwork, but make possible expeditious action. De- bate can be limited. An hour for vot- ing can be fixed at any time by a vote of the House. That obviates the ne- cessity for an overtowering leader- ship, but does require a spirit of team- wqrk which * is easily available. Hence the successful program in the House. In the Senate the rules will not' per- mit ordinarily of The limitation of debate, and the fixing of a time for voting Is both uncertain and entails inevitable delay. Teamwork is dif- ficult and leadership must Jbe tower- ing. The absence of rulef” calls for (Continued on Third Page.) i