Show THE BRITISH CRISIS PRIME PRIME MINISTER ASQUITH BY FREDERIO J. J HASKIN Henry prime minister min mm- HERBERT ister and arid head of the government nt or of Great Oreal Britain since April IPOS 1108 Is th the first middle class nonconformist non con d democratic n premier England England Eng Ens land has hM ever had ills Ilia predecessor Campbell was democratic but hi his wealth and his landed estates caused him to be classed with the gen gen- tr try Balfour and Salisbury wore of ot Cecil blood born with the the- governing In In In- Rosebery was as and aid Is an aristocrat arts aris to the tips of ot othis his finger and und ho now 00 appears to ic- ic pent In sack cloth aril ashes the thc fact tad that once ho ha was the theE p E loader r of or tho the democratic demo demo- dUe cratic hosts Gladstone Glad Glad- 4 stone atone a ti radical I democrat by convIction conviction pr tion was as yet an aristocrat In Instinct and feeling It no er I can bo ho forgotten i that ho lie first en cn- 4 parliament a as all ft II Tory the beneficiary bene bene- of oC a a. corrupt Frederic i HaskIns nomination and a 0 corrupt election under under un un- un der the patronage of a a. notoriously corrupt corrupt cor cor- rupt duke Gladstone Gladstone- was like Jefferson In that the thc volcanic fires tiros of his political and philosophical d democracy were hot oot enough to set a nation ablaze but not fierce enough to destroy his personal arIstocracy aris arIs- And Ilk like Jefferson Gladstone th roby earned from his enemies tho the dishonoring dishonoring dishonoring dis dis- honoring epithet demagogue o Of all Mr Mr- Asquith's predecessors perhaps perhaps perhaps per per- haps the one whoso whoso- origin was closest to the tho people was waa tho the ToT Tory Disraeli The father of tho the primrose o statesman man was a struggling author and therefore entitled to rank In tho the professional proCessional class but Dizzy had to struggle upward against I tho disadvantages es Imp Imposed s sd d by his JewIsh Jewish Jewish Jew Jew- ish birth and his hll actual poverty But whatever hi his origin Disraeli certainly cannot be remembered as a champion of ot democracy Mr Ir AsquIth came to his present position post post- tion of oC power from a youth of J poverty po Overt lIe Ho sprang from an humble mIddle middie middle mid mId- dle die class family engaged in the clothing trade he had no mone money he got his education education education tion b by winning scholarships and he in mado ado his way to prominence by hy hard work at tho la law Vo British prejudice against lawyers lawyers law law- yore In high political place Is marked and Mr Asquith Is the first lawyer to be prime minister since the tho lays days of ot the tho ill fill fated Perceval who held office from 1809 to 1812 Throughout hout his entire career Mr Ir Asquith has enjoyed no adventitious aids I Ho He has risen b by sheer force torce of oC his own on will Ho Ito has none none- of or tho arts of the In Intriguing intriguing In in- politician Disraeli and none of or ortho tho the oratorical ma maglo lo of or Gladstone ho hohas hohas hohas has not the wIt x of a R. nor the Icy logic of a Balfour ho never can hope I Ito to havo have the cavalry dash of his supporter Churchill nor th the tho fiery tongue of or the tempestuous Lloyd c. c The Tho Asquith mind is a a. le legal al mind It deals with conditions not theories An Asquith policy is a case to be won Incourt in incourt incourt court not a causo to be he died for In bat bat- tle tie A democrat always s 's ho is adamant to resist r the passionate clamor of the th people une unless they sho show that they havo have reason as well wall as TI right ht conviction as well as prejudice upon their side sid He has hRS the tho hard common sense of or a a. Grover Cleve Clevo- Cleveland Cleveland land and the tho clarity of ot expression of ot a Benjamin Harrison on without CI Cleveland's egotism and lacking Harrisons Harrison's eloquence While Asquith is the tho leader leador and captain cap cap- tam tain of or tho the or organized d forces of the Liberal Liberal Lib Lib- eral party it cannot bo be said that ho Ito Is tho tim moving spirit In Iii the present swift progress of political thought It is Lloyd Lloyd- Georgo who Is 19 loading th the battles of or democracy In Great Britain Asquith never ne could havo have invented the radically progressive e schemes proposed by his Welsh chancellor and Winston Churchill His Is not the offensive generalship of oC his tile party part But he be Is powerful and wise in defense and arid therefore ho ha remains the actual as well as tho the titular leader Iader of Liberalism because c ho is recognized throughout the tho kingdom as tho the chief champion of ot tho the doctrine of ol free freo trade After Arter all free trade Is the citadel of the Liberal policy and if It that fortress should fall the tho cause rouse of social reform would be left loft hopeless for many runny years to come Although it would havo have been Impossible even een n n. score of years cars ago for Cor a man ol ot Asquith's humble origin to have havo attained to the high position of ot premier and al although at- at though he hc occupies that position b by virtue virtue virtue vir vir- tue of ot the loss of control of ot the landlords over the Liberal party part yet It is AsquIth who ho gives to the Liberal government o to today today today to- to day a measure of respectability which it would not possess if Lloyd Lloyd-Georgo or Winston Churchill sat at the tho head hend of ot the cabinet council Lloyd George e Is a Welshman and actually says things without without with with- out qualifying phrases calling spades spades and thereby making milking himself a l horrible son poison utter utterly unfit to drink tea of at an afternoon with perfect gentlemen Winston Churchill is half hatt American and therefore more than half haIr barbarian His mother as ns Lad Lady Randolph Churchill or oras oras oras as Mrs George Cornwallis ma may be perfectly acceptable but ove every follow tellow knows that there Is a a. wild west streak In her son which makes him so much of ot ofa ofa ota a savage that he was Impudent and rude enough to Intimate to George V V. that George had bats In his belfry touching on and appertaining appertaining- to a certain matter of governmental gO policy about which George most probably know knew nothing and about aboul which Winston Inston knew a great deal Mr Asquith oven even in battling battling- for tor tho the cause of essential democracy even en In at attacking attacking at at- tacking the privileges of the landlords the clergy and tho the brewers even en In In Insisting In- In upon the tho practical abolition of ot the tho house of ot lords will not by directness of ot phrase or 01 boldness of adjective wound tho the sensitive e respectabilitY which is lit th the themon montAl montal mon mon- tal tai cuticle of over every overy Briton of oC the upper classes It Is to Mr Asquith that tho the Radicals mu must t cr credit the fact that the de defections do- do of bf moderate Liberals and aristocratic aristo cratic ts have been so 80 few during dur dur- lug ing the two tempestuous years cars of his pro pre n And yet et when tho the Asquith speeches arc aro analyzed they are ore found to be quite Quito as radical and equally as socialistic social social- an as nn any of ot those utterances which are arl billingsgate from Lloyd George and anarchy from Winston Churchill That Asquith IK Itt so 80 radical Is IB C cause cause- for Cor surprise for tor In the tho days dars when Lord Rose Kose- bery was the leader lader of or the thu Liberal party part the head government A was wag his closest friend Even then Rosebery Rose nose her bery hery was wavering wa In his faith in the cause of democracy and there thero was tt u popular impression that Asquith Vo was S but hut tho the echo of at his chief Indeed Rosebery in iii retiring sought ought to drop his mantle mantic upon the shoulders of or Asquith but tho the distrustful party would not have It so 60 The worth worthy but hut mediocre Campbell Ban nerman nc a assumed tho the leadership because there thero was no natural leader header nail and A. Asquith continued to work In tho the ranks But hut long before Bannerman's retire retire- ment was announced everybody knew that Asquith would be bo his successor The prime minister was born bom in a village vii vil lage of Yorkshire In 1852 1862 When he was 12 years old his father tathel died leaving nothing nothing noth noth- ing InK and young Asquith camo came to Lon London on onto to live 13 with an uncle Ho He entered the tho City of London school and there thero won two scholarships which enabled him to go o to Oxford where h re he entered college His car career fr at ot Oxford was a brilliant on one on and after he left lell the nr university lt ho he was called to tho the bar at Lincoln's Inn In 1876 It Is ha Interesting Alting to Americans to recall the fact tact that thal there was but one one- other p person r on called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn that day dl- dl Wu VU Ting ring Fang the Chinese c. c diplomatist so 80 long a a. popular resident of Va Washington To eke eko out tho the meager mear Income derived from the law Mr A Asquith was a contributor contrib to the and periodical press In 1883 he published l' l a n. treatise on the newly enacted corrupt practices act which brought him into favorable notice of ot politicians all over the country country- In 1886 he was as elected to parliament as the member for tor the constituency of ot East Fife Fifo In Scotland which ho he has r represented over ever since His first prominence was as gained In when he defended one of the men being tried for complicity in the famous Camous Trafalgar Tra ra- ra square riots In the next year ho was Junior to Sir Charles Russell Il afterwards afterwards after alter wards Lord Russell of In the Parnell commission That commission was as summoned to Inquire Into tho the genuineness genuineness gen gen- of or a certain letter which Parnell Farnell the Irish leader was as supposed to have written condoning the famous Phoenix park murders and which had been published published pub pub- In the tho Times It was Mr l Asquith's cross examination of Macdonald manager of ot the tho Times which overthrew the case caso for tor that paper and which convinced th the public that the letter was a II forgery torger even e before tho tha adventurer ad PIggott had confessed con con- lessed the tho crime and had committed sui sut- sut clde cide But It was not until within thelast the last few tew months that the public found out that the forgery of tho the Parnell loiter letter was wasa a deliberate conspiracy entered into b by bythe the Conservative o government and antI the theIn TImes In 1892 Mr Gladstone called Asquith Into the thc cabinet and gave ga him the tho post o ot of home secretary This was so 80 surprising In Inlew view lew of or the fact that AsquIth did no not spring from th the governing class that even e W. W v. v T. T Stead referred to the tho appointment as audacious He lIe retired from office when the Liberal party was overthrown In 1895 and was a prominent worker In the the- opposition until the Liberals returned to power In 1906 when he ho was given tho the pos post of ot chancellor of the exchequer Ho lie was responsible for tor the tho production of throe three budgets those thoo of 1906 1907 1901 and 1908 The first two were not remarkable but the third possessed ed the salient feature of or the tho grant rant of or old ago age pensions which was the tho forerunner of or the present ent campaign for social reform When Mr Asquith became premier Lloyd George succeeded him at the thc exchequer ex cx- chequer and the great constitutional crisis was precipitated Tho The government government government govern govern- ment has had a stormy career but It has battled for tor a great principle and If It 1 it fL wins Ins It will vIll permanently enthrone tha democracy in absolute power In Great Britain The prime prima minis minister tor is a tuna mat who appeals but little to the popular Imagination Int- Int but If It ho Is successful in his present fight tight his name will bo ho writ large In tho the annals of the age use long British struggle for liberty Tomorrow Tomorrow The The British Crisis B Balfour Leader of the Opposition |