Lloyd George

B Y THE S A M E A U THOR .

SS S OF B K - R CONF E ION A OO LOVE . — The Boo k m an says As a bo o k-lo ve r h e is He d li h th e enu n e thi . is e tfull eu g i ng . g y th usmstic and hi s e nth usi asm is c o nta io u , g s .

THE G OF EN E R Y LOVE . A M O EM IR . — The British Weekly says A bo o k o f s ta ndard m e ri t written with e r ec a , p f t t ste and true literar ki ll y s .

THE S THE B OULS O F RAV E .

The Christi a n A dvocate says - Much h as be e n writte n abo ut th e law o f sacriﬁ ce in co n n ectio n with th e war but we hi nk no thi n , , t , g so im a inati v c e t so s iri al and cri ural g , y p tu S pt as th s

DAV ID D H n . O G G C Th e Rt. o O P. . LL Y E R E, , THE ‘ N EW '

LLOYD GEORGE

AN D THE OL D

. W W E . ALTERS

% A T O T S O L o r m e AV THE G Y O F U H R HE U S BR E , ENER C I O A O O K- LOV Erc L OV O F O F . E , N ESS NS B ER ,

M a ny perso ns hold lka t the so -called new Lloyd George s the old o d Ge r i a w r c a - ~ 1LY P . i simply Ll y o ge n a lo k . DA RESS

- r t m o t S MOLL TT. True p at io i s is f no p ar y . E

LO NDON % O S E P H O H N S O N J J , HO ORN HAL L LB ,

no .

AT RY PREF O NOTE .

I A M indebted in many directions . To the

Authors of books , articles , etc . , touching the life and personality of the Subject of this little I volume should like to convey special thanks , and would mention in particular Mr . Herbert

Du Parcq , Mr . Beriah Evans , Dr . Charles

lea . . . . . Saro . , Mr A G Gardiner , Mr J F Mar c o ssan . . . , Mr Lewis R Freeman , and Mr Frank il t D no . I am also indebted to various kind friends , who , a by the spoken word and other means , h ve helped in the writing of these pa ges .

‘ ’ As r t The w L lo Geor e egards the itle , yd g , it is interesting to recall Robert Louis Steven son ’ s playful remark Man is a creature who lives not upon bread alone , but principally by ” - arte rs catch words . In certain u much has ‘ ’ TO been heard of the New loyd George . what extent the title is justiﬁed , as applied in a critical sense , rests with the judgment of the reader . It should be a dded that pen wa s ﬁr st put to o r 1 1 n these pages early in Oct b e , 9 5 . S i ce then s many fresh fears and uSpicio n s have arisen . The reader who would be just in his j udgment t on he e . should rea d to la st page , and b y d

E. W . W .

44 2065 2

CONTENTS . PACE Introductory Between the Mountainsand the

Sea m Approaching Maiih o o d Advocate Early Battles fOr Freedom Matters Political The Orator

Marriage and First Election ” Westminster Stormy Sessions A Free Church for a Free People The Cold Shades of Opposition The South African Wa r Little Brother of the Poor Home Life Wide Authority The Great European War Minister of Munitions The Highest Interests of Labour

Through Terror to Triumph % A Story of Progress Adverse Criticism The Unseen Future

INTRODUCTORY.

CHAPTER I .

INTRODUCTORY .

You would play upo n m e you would seem to know my stops yo u wou ld pluck o ut the heart of my mystery you wou ld r m st n o te to the to o m m s sound m e f o the lo we p f y co pas . S K l P . Ham et Act I I I . 2 HA ES EARE , , ,

C l v v - FOR IBLE , lively, rea istic , i id, that was our

ﬁrst impression of David Lloyd George . The impression was made some years before he - became world famous . He was showing two friends over the House at the time , and impressed all who witnessed the scene with his remarkable enthusiasm . It seemed , indeed , as though to him at the moment the House of Commons was the whole world and the two friends the only inhabitants , so thoroughly did he enter into his task . A thorough man And to thoroughness must be added unusual gifts of hi courage and tenacity . On s ﬁrst entry into Parliament it was clear to men of discernment that a great future awaited him . ” Yes , here , Mr . A . G . Gardiner wrote some years back in the Daily Na e s here was the it s ro potentiality of politics , and here , too , mance . My mind turned to that little se a village between the mountains and the .

- I saw the kindly old uncle , boot maker and local ( U ) % ” G rz THE N EW LLOYD GEOR E .

preacher, worrying out the declensions and the irregu lar verbs of a strange tongue in order to saw pave the path of the boy to the law . I the - ualiﬁ ed hi s boy of twenty one a Solicitor , with % htin foot on the ladder , g g the battle of the village folk against the tyranny of the parson , who refused the dying wish of a Dissenter to be ’ buried in his child s grave . Bury him where ’ he wished to be , said young Lloyd George , strong in the law , but if the gate is locked , ’ Old break down the gate . And the man was l ’ buried in his chi d s grave , and solemn Judges in London pronounced a solemn verdict in saw support of the young Hampden . I him , still little more than a lad , leaping into the ring and challenging the s quire of the village for the — possession of the Carnarvon Boroughs chal i lenging him and beating him . I saw him , w th nothing but his native wit and hi s high soaring courage to help him , ﬂashing into the great world of politics , risking his fortune and even hi s e s life in support of an unpopular cause , caping from Birmingham Town Hall in the clothes of a policeman , his name the symbol of

ﬁerce enthusiasms and ﬁerce hates . And then saw I him , transformed from the brilliant free lance into the serious statesman , the head of a great department , handling large problems of government with easy mastery , moving great

- merchant princes like pawns on a chess board , winning golden opinions from all sides , his name always on the lips of the world , but no longer in — ” hate but rather with wonder and admiration .

The secret of his power is obvious to all . I INTRODUCTORY . 3

Indeed , it is said that he wears his heart upon

his . sleeve Above all , is he hopeful and coura % eo us . g The bigger the task , the better he i likes it the h gher the stakes , the more heroic his play . He never fears to put his fate to the

all . touch , and will cheerfully risk his on a throw He has not only the eye for the big occasion and the courage that rises to it % he has the ” instinct for the big foe . But , there is surely, his a rich store of discretion at the back of valour . Were it otherwise he would have failed many Has he a le % times , and failed deplorably . f i d Rather has he the valour that springs from sound j udgm a i t and a sure consciousness of the power to carry every task he undertakes to a successful end .

He is at the bottom , as Mr . Gardiner writes ,

the most subtle , the most resolute , and the

. has most wilful force in politics He passion , but it is controlled . It does not burn with the deep spiritual ﬁre of Gladstone . It ﬂashes and sparkles . It is an instrument that is used , not an O bsession of the soul . You feel that it can ” be put aside as adroitly as it is taken up . That he is a steadfast man goes without saying . Having once put his hand to the

. hi s plough , he does not look back Knowing ability to cut a straight furrow , he goes straight ahead , sure of eye and hand . And the fire within him , whether or no it be of the nature r that burnt in the g eat soul of Gladstone , is certainly an undying fire . Sparks may shoot u — forth , flames may leap p the heat and force may lead some men to imagine that the fire % ” 1 4 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

must burn to ashes , but the warmth and the glow remain . % Again , it has been said that he has the swiftest mind in p o litics It is a mind that carries no impedimenta . Hazlitt once wrote an The I norance o the L earne essay on g f d , and de clare d that anyone who has passed through the regular gradation of a classical education and is not made a fool by it , may consider himself as having had a very narrow escape . Certainly a the man of le rning , unless he wears it lightly, as Macaulay said of Milton , and has assimilated it easily , starts with a heavy handicap when he r i comes down int o the realm of aff ai s . He s under the dominion of authority and the awe of the past . Mr . Lloyd George has no such restraints . He is like a runner ever stripped for the race . The pistol may go O ff when it likes . ” He is always away from the mark like an arrow . How many figures of speech spring to the mind when thinking of such a man—the swift and sure runner—the man in whose soul burns an — undying fi re the sure and steady ploughman l debat r o . the agi e and nimble wit Again , some have called him the showman ; whilst others s 3 have compared him to a ider , spinning his web as he goes along . An done of unusually keen insight has likened him to a child , looking at % r - life with f ank self assertion , free from the formulas and prescriptions , seeing the thing , as it were , in a flash of truth , facing it without Old reverence because it is , and without fear ” because it is vast . I s this , after all , the main secret of his power

BETWEEN THE MOUNTAINS

AND THE SEA .

CHAPTER II .

BETWEEN THE MOUNTAINS

AND THE SEA .

The n sa d Great- Heart to M r V - - T th T . al ant or ru hou i i f , ” t w th b ha ved th s e L m has or e . et e see th sword he ily y lf y . S o W h i showed i t hi m . hen e h ad ta en t i n hi s ha nd a nd o o ed k , l k ther eo n awh e he sai d Ha i t i s a ﬁ ht l em a erusa b de . il , , g j l ' THE IL G IM P OG S P R S R RE S .

THERE is , as we have seen , the actuality of romance ” in the life story of David Lloyd

George . In Llanys tumdwy, the little Welsh village between the mountains and the sea , scenes were enacted whi ch clearly foretold the O f future the young man who went forth armed , r - r - - as G eat Hea t said of Valiant for Truth , with a ” r ight Jerusalem blade . Manchester claims the honour of being his birthplace , and upon the house in which his r e pa ents lived a plate will, no doubt , be ﬁx d , recording that the Right Hon . David Lloyd

1 1 86 . George was born there on January 7th , 3 His a p rents , however , moved to Wales before he was a year Old.

Pembrokeshire was their native county, and to Pembrokeshi re they returned , and there took r as a fa m known Bulford , a few miles from r Haverfordwest . Thi s fa m was the scene of ﬁ many trials and dif culties . After little more % ” 20 THE N EW LLOYD GEOR G E .

ff ’ than a year of e ort Mr . Lloyd George s father died suddenly of pneumonia .

The widow was left with three little children , unprovided for and with no apparent means O f — support left to the mercies of the world . But the world held for them a noble friend . In ’ a Ll nystumdwy lived Richard Lloyd , the widow s brother , a man in a humble position , but with a heart of gold . He hastened to the help of the bereaved family, and brought the mother and the three children to the little cottage in which — he followed his calling as a sho e maker . Great claims are made (a nd justly) for Richard

Lloyd . It may , indeed , be said that to him we are indebted in a very la rge measure for the great achievements of his fam o us nephew . This noble O ld man still lives , and will surely live in blessed memory . t A distinc ly religious man , he belongs to the l les o r re igious body known as the Discip f Ch ist. t l This sect , rue to its princip es , has no paid r a nd r minist y . Their hope their ideal is to e r so o tu n , far as p ssible , to the practices and o f t he r t a mode of worship ea ly Chris i n Church . In Llanys t umdwy their minister for m any years a Fo r was Rich rd Lloyd . over ﬁfty years he l t preached in the i tle chapel , and he still retains , it is said , a good Share of the freshness of his early ministry .

During the boyhood of his famous nephew, Richa rd Lloyd worked on week- da ys in the little shoemaking shop which became known P arl am n u c as the i e t Ho se . Here rusti politicians and others congregated t o discuss local and BETW EE N THE MOUNTAI NS AND THE SEA . 21

national questions . Here the boy David ha d hi s mind awakened to problems whi ch con cern the people , and to those minor questions L lan (though of vast importance , no doubt , in y st um dwy) whi ch affect small estates an d com m unit ie s . Here the young David put the ﬁrst edge to the sword whi ch was to be used with such effect in after years . Want and privation has been the stone upon whi ch many famous reformers have sharpened their weapons . But , happily , Mr . Lloyd George never knew actual want . He came , however , near enough to the poverty line to understand the feelings of those on the other Side . My ” % mother, he has said , had to make a hard struggle to bring up her children . But she never complained and never Spoke of her troubles . It was not until long after that we were able to appreciate how ﬁne had been her spirit in th e hard task of bringing up her fatherless children .

- Our bread w as home made . We hardly ever t a nd r ate fresh mea , I remember that our g eatest luxury was half an egg for each child on Sunday ” m r m o n g . The National School of Llanystumdwy enjoys the honour of having taught Mr . Lloyd George ’ ” a all the three important R s . It is sm and but w as l humble school , b essed in the days now a a r in mind with he dmaste of unusual parts . l r r David L oyd Geo ge p oved a ready pupil , w t t r though he as n o a par icula ly studious boy . n o w t w Then , a s , his chief gif s ere quickness of perception and a ready grasp of essentials quick to learn , in earnest in all matters of account , % ” 22 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR GE .

blessed with a retentive mind , and withal a bo s yi h boy . Adventures in the countryside did not always turn to his advantage . I ndeed , a farmer in the locality, on finding a damaged hedge or fence , % would almost invariably exclaim , It is that young David Lloyd has done this Re minders of those adventurous days are to be found in the initials the boy carved on the old Dw fawr bridge over the river y , and on a tree not far distant may be seen to this day the foll owing letters and date carved by the boy’ s — D . . l th 1 8 1 . . G 6 own hand Ll , January , 7 i He was a great weaver of stories , ch efly from — his own imagination stories of mighty enter prise , such as fire the youthful mind . But through all he was blessed with the guidance of an uncle who could tell of life out of mature in experience and sober judgment . A great fluence in his upbringing was , of course , the little

Chapel at which his uncle preached . The boy walked the two miles to the Chapel thrice every Sunday and also on Wednesdays for week- night services . After the services , when on his way ’ t h e homeward at his uncle s side , young David would discuss eagerly various points in the dis course , such discussions being warmly encouraged by his uncle . He was baptiz ed by his uncle in the Bapistry placed in the brook which ﬂows in front of the co n little Chapel . This is a scene worthy of te m latio n— p the saintly uncle , the ﬂowing brook , the little Chapel—the child born in h umble circumstances , yet blessed with remarkable

% ” 24 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR GE .

l . l to the bul ying He challenged the bul ies , declaring his readiness to ﬁght them in succession . a nd Place time were appointed , and a boy , who had left the school , was invited to act as umpire .

But news of the coming contest leaked out , and ’ came to the schoolmaster s ears . Consequently, r the e was no ﬁght on the lines arranged . Bu t the moral of the story holds good . From his earliest days David Lloyd George has been on the side of the oppressed , and ready to ﬁght their cause against any Odds . Of wars of a more serious nature we shall learn later . Here we need only recall an incident relating to old- time battles .

1 0 . When , in 9 9 , Mr Lloyd George visited his Old school , to receive from some of his old school a n fellows address of congratulation , he recalled - 1 8 0 the Franco German war of 7 , and how the war was ca rried on by the boys of Llanystumdwy school . The boys , he said , divided them r s — r selves into two pa tie F ench and Prussians . The F rench entrenched themselves in the porch ” of the school , and , Mr . Lloyd George continued with a smile , as he indicated an old schoolfellow , there i s Napoleon % There can be no doubt that the Napoleon of

Llanystumdwy school was defeated . Then , as now , the cry from David Lloyd George would % have been , No quarter The tyrant must be ” crushed . Even at this early date we see the champion of freedom drawing his sword . APPROACHIN G MANHOOD .

CHAPTER III .

APPR A HI O C N G MANHOOD .

’ I do not value chiefly a m an s uprightness and benevolence wh ch are as i t w h st m nd e v s I t the and ere i s e a a e . wan ower i , , l fl ru i t o a m a n that some ra ra nce be wa te d over ro m hi m to me f f , f g f f a nd som e r eness avo ur r n te rco u se ip fl ou i r . TH O REA U .

HERE c an T be no doubt that Mr . Lloyd George was inﬂuenced in hi s choice of a career by

Go ffe . r Thomas y, a solicitor of Liverpool Du ing ’ t ll the anxious days af er Wi iam George s death ,

o ﬂe . Mr . G y showed much kindness to Mr Lloyd ’ ’ r r George s mothe , and became a he o in the boy s eyes . He saw in the solicitor a ﬁgure worthy ” of emulation . Few other human beings in the boy’ s knowledge could make the crooked straight r and bring comfo t and cheer in like manner . A model man And if obstacles (and they were many) could be overcome , then he , David Lloyd

George , would be a man in the pattern of the

. Go ﬂe . able and benevolent Mr y He , too , would i h be a sol citor . And this ambition , t anks to ’ the boy s industry and the self-sacriﬁc e of his

z . uncle , was eventually reali ed ” My uncle , Mr . Lloyd George has told us , se t i never married . He h mself the task of educatin g the children of his sister as a sacred % ” 28 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

and supreme duty . To that duty he gave his ”

his . time , energy, and his money The ﬁrst Obstacle to be overcome if the boy’ s desire was to be realised was the Preliminary

Law Examination . The boy was then not quite fourteen years of age , and one of the subj ects he was had to take up for the examination French , which , unfortunately, was not taught at the school of Llanystumdwy . fﬁ This di culty did not , however , deter the boy . Together with his uncle he studied the language with the help of a grammar and a dictionary . Many an evening did the two spend % plodding ” l along the pathway of knowledge , At ast , the youthful scholar was ready to take the ex amination , and he j ourneyed with his uncle to

Liverpool . One can imagine with what anxiety the household awaited the result . At last it came , and David Lloyd George had scored his ﬁrst impo rtant victory The next step was to ﬁnd a suitable opening ’

ﬁ . in a solicitor s of ce Again , the way was made clear . An opening was found in the ﬁrm of

Messrs . Breese , Jones and Casson , of Portmadoc , 1 8 8 a neighbouring town , and in July, 7 , Mr . r Lloyd George left Llanystumdwy . Late , he was articled to Mr . Casson , a junior partner in o all the ﬁrm . He won the esteem , h wever , of the members of the ﬁrm , and of the senior partner ,

Mr . Breese , in particular . This astute lawyer who was , b y the way, Liberal agent for the county r r of Merioneth and pa t of Carna von , once re marked o f the young Lloyd George Mark that lad . He will become one of the leading men in APPROACHIN G MANHOOD . 29

the land some day . He has the quickest and f sharpest mind O any man I know .

During this period , Mr . Lloyd George kept in

close touch with his home at Llanystumdwy, and now began t o take a more active part in the - t st wee k night services at he Chapel . At ﬁr he

read a portion from the B ible . Later , he de l r ive ed short addresses on Bible subjects , dis l be p aying , we may sure , gifts of an unusual

order . It was not long before other congre atio ns g desired to hear the young Welshman .

In the early pages of a diary kept by Mr . Lloyd a t George the time , is the following entry es tinio S Pcaking at Missionary meeting at F g, a nd delivered my address from the pulpit . a Audience listened with marked ttention . Later % com es this entry % attended Sunday- School t Cen enary . Delivered address .

Strange to say, about this time doubts con cern ing certain religious m a t ters swept like an

evil Wind over his mind . But these disturbing thoughts were soon ex pelled by the reading of ’ l a r R a us Carly e s S rto es rt . He now became a t t - devo ed and en husiastic Sunday school teacher , and in aft er years he declared publicly that the best t raining he ever had was in a S unday school It is what has chi eﬂy enabled me to do my ” work as President of the Board of Trade . t law At his time he was , of course , studying , o t but he f und ime for general reading , and a note book in which he made entries concerning certain books reveals the interesting combin a tion O f constitutional hi story with the plays of ’

a r . ancred Sh kespea e Of novels , Disraeli s T is % ” 0 3 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

r mentioned , whilst touching political wo ks and pamphlets we ﬁnd mention of % Five Years of ” Tory Rule . In , at any rate , the choice of his ’ t reading, he had by now entered in o man s

- estate . Certain entries in his note books at this time are of remarkable interest . For instance , t concerning the death of an acquain ance , who t lost his life on the playing ﬁeld , we ﬁnd his entry He might as well have lost his life in the pursuit of some noble Obj ect as in the vain ” pursuit of pleasure .

Later , we find the young Lloyd George sending t o Nort ales Ex ress a contribution the h W p , and expressing in his diary his feelings on his first 8 80 % 1 . appearance in print November 5 , When I eagerly opened the North Wales Express r this morning , I found my own cont ibution a l h ad on same p ge as eading article . I first of ’ all looked up Notices to Correspondents , expecting to find a refusal of my letter , but was ” disappointed on the right side . A by- election gave him further Opportunity for exercising the powers of his pen , and in an a N v 1 1 880 o . 6 entry from his diary, d ted , , , we learn that he wrote under a pseudonym a severe criticism of the Views of a certain political opponent . Am afraid its length and virulence ”

x . will tend to its e clusion , the entry runs Then he adds cheerfully, However , it does not matter ” much . Pseudonyms do not blush .

Another entry, referring in a humorous vein ff t 1 1 8 80 to a airs political , is da ed November 7 , , ’ and runs , Attended Mr . Rathbone s meeting at Criccieth . Very enthusiastic considering that

% ” 2 N EW 3 THE LLOYD GEOR GE .

Abbey contemplated monuments of departed genius . In the evening went with uncle to ’ ” Madame Tussaud s . In spite of his early impression of the House of Commons , his diary shows that his interest in politics was in no Wise abated . An entry for 1 st 1 88 March 3 , 3 , speaks of the Marquis of Salis ’ ”

. are bury s attacks on the Government They , he remarks , a Splendid piece of criticism , fact , ” m an1 ulatio n p , and distortion . And on April th 7 of the same year , we find the future Chan ’ c ello r m aking thi s entry % (Reading) Carlyle s ’ Hero Worship . Budget . Very clear and satisfactory . A thorough exposure of Conserva tive (or rather Jingo) finance and a complete ” vindication of Libera l finance . 1 88 Thus wrote the Lloyd George of 3 , certain his of point of view , convinced beyond doub t that right was on his Side , a liberal through and ” through . It is said that he has widened of e r cent years , though it is claimed that he is — still a Liberal and through and through . The ” ew N Lloyd George , one admirer writes , is the h as old Lloyd George . His sword the same edge ” and is of the same steel . There are some

f . persons , however , who hold a dif erent view ADVOCATE .

CHAPTE R IV

ADVOCATE

There i s su re a i ece o d vi nit i n u s somethi n that was ly p f i y , g be o re the e emen ts an d o wes no ho m a e to the s un . f l , g S R HO W R i i M ci I . O e o ed . T S BR NE , l g i We co unt hi m a wi se man that n o ws the m nds and ns de s , k i i i

S LD Table- Tal E EN , k .

N -ﬁ r t O s . gaining his twenty year , Mr Lloyd Geo rge aga in visit ed Lo ndon and sat for his xa ﬁnal e mination in law . He passed with r was honou s , and in due course admitted for o f - mally to the Roll Solicitors . To day , he % t h e r wrote home after ce emony , I went to Cha ncery Lane a nd got admitted in regular humdrum fashion . The ceremony disappointed

. the me The Master of Rolls , so far from having i i anything to do with it , was actually l sten ng to some Q . C . at the time , and some fellow of a clerk swore us to a lawyerly demeanour i n our pro fe ssio n o ff at the back of the Court , and we shambled to the Petty Bag Ofli ce to Sign the ” rolls . so He was , however , now a qualified licitor , and a brass plate was duly fixed to the door O f t i the the li tle house in which he l ved , and back parlour given up to the practice of the law . 3 5 % ” 6 THE N EW G 3 LLOYD GEOR E .

Clients came slowly , hesitatingly at ﬁrst , but the young man ’ s exceptional gifts eventually won

- a name , and much needed cash . Soon he had the gratification of recording in his dia ry some r stirring victories . In an ent y dated January 1 8 8 3oth , 5 , he tells how whilst having dinner he was asked to defend a man for assault . This was about the en try runs . Saw larties rushed down to police station by % a y much tempted at first t o decline to go altogether . I felt so timorous . Got fellow off , ” to his immense satisfaction . Another victory came on February 24th of o the same year . Won a b ating case at ” r Pwllheli after a long and sha p fight , he % re records . Have gained in confidence , he marks later , and somehow feel I make tolerable ” is advocate . H days now were full to over 20th flowing , and on June we find him recording that he was up at breakfasted at and posted letters at After waiting twenty ”

R C . minutes for youngster to get up , the entry % o t continues , I g letter from Carnarvon , enclosing garnishee order on W. J . Started along railway there . He had gone to the village ; met him there and served him . Ran bac k , r perspiring to saturation . Caught t ain to bw c Festiniog . Down to Tany l h to serve ” t Then at Portmadoc . Home 8 rain . On June 2 3 rd he went t o Pwllheli County ”

Br nm o r . Court . y Jones , Judge , he records

Very shrewd and clear . Knows great deal of t Law . Sees Oint of case . Very cour eous to s advocates . f he continues like this he is ju t ADVOCATE . 37

’ ’ the sort of fellow I d wish . He ll stimulate you l carefully to prepare your case , especia ly as

l . regards legal points . He de ights in these Got

6 . my application all right . Home train Stroll with Williams towards Llanystumdwy . Then engaged with clients until between 1 0 and 1 1 . June 24t h proved a great ﬁ eld day Up

trn c . between 5 and 6. Po r ado County Court Won ” Pe n tre fe lin s. all my cases , he record tresEass case Very hard fought but won on point of w.

Also Festiniog pony case . Glad I won this . Plain tifi It will do a world of good to me . had consulted all Festiniog lawyers . I had over thirty cases on my list . Had all the fighting cases except two or three . Home To W w . . Chapel . After Chapel ith G to station ” for my letterpress . t Later , whilst still engaged wi h Petty Sessions Co urt s he and County , had reasons for asserting t a that Magis rates , particularly l ndlords , were % wanting in judicial fairness . It seemed to them to be trifling with sound principles to claim a presumption of innocence in favour of a villager ” accused of poaching . Mr . Lloyd George set himself to change this state of affairs . He was not going to be brow- beaten by the justices of e any bench . It was , he declar d , essential to show that a solicitor could beard the magis trates in their dens without being instantly led ” o ff to execution .

The first fight in this direction came in May, 1 8 8 r 9 , When four qua rymen were charged before the Carnarvon Magistrates with unlawfully fish in l . g with a net in the Nant le lower lake Mr . % ” 8 N EW 3 THE LLOYD GEOR GE .

Lloyd George was retained for their defence , and in the course of the case he b oldly contended that the bench had no jurisdiction . Whereupon , the Chairman remarked that t h e point would have to be proved in a higher Court . ” sir Yes , , Mr . Lloyd George said , and in ” a perfectly just and unbiassed Court , too . % ” If that remark , said the Chairman , is meant as a reﬂection upon any magistrate sitting on this bench , I hope you will name him . A more insulting and ungentlemanly remark to the Bench I never hea rd during the course of my experience as a magistrate . From this the scene took on a very stormy c aspe t , and was recorded as follows in a local newspaper M r L lo Geor e % . yd g But a more true remark ” was never made in a Court of Justice . % The Chairm an % Tell me to Whom you are referring . I must insist upon your referring to any m agistrate or magistrates sitting in this

Court . M r L lo Geo r e % . yd g I refer to you in par ” lar ticu . , Sir The Cha irm an (rising) % Then I retire from

- the chair . Good bye , gentlemen . This is the ﬁrst t im e I have been insulted in a Court O f ” Justice . The report goes on to say that the Chairman o then left the Court . Whereup n , another magis trate rose and said In fairness to the Chair man and other magistrates I must say that Mr . Lloyd George was not justiﬁed in making such ” remarks .

THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

x t desk , inscribed and ﬁ ed wi h his own hand , ’ were Ab raham Lincoln s fa m o us Wo rds There is a vague popular bel ief that lawyers are l e t L et no oun m an c oo s n the necessari y dishon s . y g h i g

‘ l aw for a calling for a m om ent yield to the popul a r belief The lawyer has a s uprem e opportunity of being a good man . EARLY BATTLES FOR FREEDOM .

CHAPTER V .

EARLY BATTLES FOR FREEDOM .

T n a nt ca m e u a nd M - t nt m he the r . Great hear we to eet gi p, ” im a as he we nt he dr w hi s sword h nd , e . ' G M O G PIL RI S PR RES S .

WE have seen how in boyhood Mr . Lloyd George took the side of the weak and boldly challenged the largest and strongest boys in the school at

Llanystumdwy , and how later , as a young

Advocate , he waged a moral battle against the in ﬂuential and digniﬁed Magistrates of Car

Da rv o n . His next battle was fought in the — village of Llanfrothen an important and most interesting engagement , of which there have been many accounts . Mr . Herbert Du Parc q states the case thus In 1 864 the old church yard O f Llanfrothen had been enla rged by the gift to the Rector and parishioners of an ad join ing piece of land . The gift had not been by deed , but nobody had any doubt about its l 1 86 va idity, and in 9 a wall was built at the cost rt of the parishioners , enclosing the new pa of was the churchyard . There , in fact , ab undant evidence that the ground had become , and been treated as , part of the parish graveyard . The fact would never have been disputed had it not 43 % G 44 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR E .

8 0 been for the Morgan Burial Act of 1 8 . This .

Act of Parliament permitted Nonconformists , after giving formal notice to the clergyman , to bury their dead in the parish Churchyard with ” the rites of their own denomination . % diﬂi c ult It is a little to comprehend , Mr .

Du Parcq remarks , the type of mind to which such a concession can seem anything more than an act of barest justice . The most extreme opponent of the Nonconformist position could at the very worst , only complain that he was being coerced into exercising Christian charity . But o ne the Rector of Llanfrothen saw in the act , 11 must suppose , a direct attack on the sanctity s 1 8 8 1 i of the Establi hment . In , ncensed because under the provisions of this ha ted piece of legis lation a Dissenter’ s body had for the ﬁrst time been laid to rest with the rites of a dissenting religion in the piece of ground acquired from

Mr . and Mrs . Owen , the Rector seems to have hit upon the brilliant contention that , because there had been no conveyance and no couse cration of the new ground , Mrs . Owen (who was by this time dead) had never lost her title to it .

Mrs . Owen , a faithful daughter of the Church , was readily persuaded to convey the piece of land in solemn form to the Rector , on trust to ermit the parishioners of Llanfrothen to be S f ur ed there , but upon the condition that their burial should be to the accompaniment of the l rites of the Church Of Eng and . This seemed to the Rector an ingenious solution O f the ” iﬂ t d i cul y. S e - ubsequent events , however , prov d that the E ARLY BATTLE S FOR FREEDOM . 45

8 8 Rector was sorely misguided . In 1 8 the ques tion was again raised . In that year an old t e quarryman , named Rober Roberts , express d on his deathbed a desir e to be buried in the grave where his daughter lay in the parish graveyard . t h e t TO this desire Rec or at ﬁrst acceded , and the grave was opened . Later , however , the Rector discovered that the burial service was to be con M ducted by a Nonconformist inister , and this , Ac t e t o in View of the Burial , was h ld be illegal . n hi s Thi king that justice was on side , the Rector now claimed the right to select the spot where the deceased should be buried . The grave of ’ was the quarryman s daughter closed , and r a anothe spot selected in a desol te, forbidding % part of the churchyard . A spot bleak and sinister , Mr . Lloyd George has said , in which were buried t h e bodies of the unknown drowned that were washed up from the sea in this region ” of shipwrecks .

At the earnest request of the injured persons ,

. h e Mr Lloyd George took up t case . After a night spent in examining the parish records , he ’ came to the conclusion that the Rector s action was illegal . Bold and courageous m easures followed . The oung Advocate advised the friends of the (lead quarryman to enter the churchyard and reopen the ﬁrst grave . This advice was followed . But on the day of the funeral the mourn ers found the gates of the churchyard locked . They were not , however , to s be denied . The gate were forced Open and the Old quarryman was buried according to the im wishes expressed by h on his dea thb ed . % EW G THE N LLOYD GEOR E .

defi ed The Rector , finding himself , appealed and l to the law , a c aim was duly filed in the

Portmadoc County Court . The outcome was that , one Morris Roberts and seven other defendants were sued fo r d a mages for wrongfully f ’ entering the plaintif s land , and digging a grave a therein , burying corpse and conducting a funeral service contrary to the provisions of the ” t rust deed .

Mr . Lloyd George defended , and the jury to whom the c ase was submitted returned a verdict in favour of the defendants . The Judge , how a ever , dis greed with the ﬁnding on a point of

t o . law , and damages were awarded the Rector

But the young Advocate was not to b e outdone . t t h e The case was aken to High Court , where the a former judgment was qu shed .

r n t o . Conce ni g his vict ry , Mr Lloyd George % wrot e at h e time ' Cole ridge (Lo rd Chief r l Justice Coleridge) ead out slow y, with emphasis , the whole squa bble The Court laughed ’ at my r etorts upon His Honour and His Honour s futile answers . Suddenly someone clapped my a Mach e n back and s id , Well done , g It was

riﬂi th . . G E . F So far as the County ” c Court j udge is oncerned , I have triumphed .

Further battles in which Mr . Lloyd George played a n important part were the outcome of the Anti- Tithe League formed by Thomas Gee o and John Parry , of Llanarm n . The war began in Flintshire an d 1 88 8 i , by had spread through

Merionethshire to Carnarvonshire . In South

Carna rvonshire it fell to Mr . Lloyd George to act as Secretary to the League . He had pre

% N EW THE LLOYD GEOR GE .

young speaker, who had not only done much for humanity, but had also suffered much for humanity, and , therefore , they all honoured him . To oppose a man because he did not - belong to their nation was most narrow minded , and contrary to the principles of their religion . They remembered the parable of the man who fell among thieves . His neighbour was not the man who belonged to his own nation , but a stranger from Samaria—not the priest and the

Levite . Mr . Michael Davitt was the — — stranger from Samaria an Irishman who had come there to bind up their wounds . Let them respe ct him on that account . The people who Spoke against bringing Michael Davitt into Wales were those who on bended knees begged princes who were no better than German half breeds to come into Wales to preside over our

Eisto ddfo dau . Why, then obj ect to the intro ha duction of a true philanthropist , a man who d ‘ ” do ne much for his fellow men i MATTERS POLITICAL

CHAPTER VI .

MATTERS POLITICAL .

I t is as ha rd a nd severe a thi ng to be a true politician as to be t l m r ru y o al .

CO A dvance me nt o earn n . BA N . f L i g

’ How Mr . Lloyd George learnt in his uncle s shoemaking shop in Llanystumdwy to discuss matters of public interest ; how politics were deemed a very serious matter and discused with weight and circumstance how the boy a c me to talk as a grown man , and to embrace in his outlook , not only matters of concern to the u immediate neighbo rhood , but also of the great

has . world , already been recorded Of no less importance in developing the boy’ s t outlook , was the smithy si uated at the lower end r of Llanystumdwy . Here , howeve , the talk was chi eﬂy of theological matters . — an Hugh Jones , the smith elderly man , - white haired , handsome , with a massive head seldom condescended to spea k of such % inferior stuff as politics% But many ardent local ’ t po liticians met beneath he smithy s roof . In

e Mr. de d , Lloyd George , when addressing his old - 1 0 school fellows in 9 9 said , Yonder smithy was my ﬁrst parliament , where night after night, % ” 2 5 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE . we discussed and decided all the abstruse questions relating to this world and the next , in politics , in theology, in philosophy, in science . There was nothing too wide and comprehensive for us to discuss , and we settled all the problems among ourselves without the slightest mis

iv ing . % A Welshman takes to politics as a duck ”

. t e takes to water , as Mr Lloyd George has o f marked . One his earliest political memories is of the year which % marked an epoch in ” % the history of Welsh Liberalism . I was a ” boy at school then , he said in a speech delivered 1 1 0 in 9 , and I was in the blackest Tory Parish in the land . I believe my old uncle , who l brought me up , was the on y Liberal in the

so . Parish , you may guess the sort of time I had

Let me tell you what happened . He was not the only Liberal in the Parish . There were l three or four others , and I will tel you what happened to them at the election . One or two e the of them refus d to work for Tory candidate , f and two or three actually went urther , and dared to record their votes for the Liberal . All of them received notice to quit . I remember some lads who were at school with me in the same class in a year or two had to leave the neighbour

. l hood I was very young , but young ads do not forget things of that sort . I knew the reason why they left . It was because the great Squire of the Parish had turned their father out of the house , purely because he dared to vote for ' the Liberal Candidate . After the Election , notices to quit were showered upon the tenants . MATTERS POLITICAL .

What happened % They were turned out by the score on to the roadside because they dared to vote according to their consciences . But they woke the spirit of the mountains , the genius of freedom that fo ught the might of t he Norman r for two centu ies . There was such a feeling aroused among the people that , ere it was done , the political power of landlordism in Wales was shattered as effectually as the power of the ” Druids . This was the fire that burnt so fiercely in coming years . Of that fire more later . Now we are concerned with the Welsh lad who took to politics as a duck takes to water . Whilst still lit tle more than a boy he became a member of a the Portmadoc Deb ting Society , and on Novem he r 2 8 th 1 8 8 1 l , , he b ossomed forth in grand % style in a debate on the motion , That Irish landlords Should not be compensated in respect of any reductions of rent co nsequent on the ” ri I sh Land Act . A bold motion , but not too bold for young Mr . Lloyd George , No question ” e aw d him , no problem was too large . We nex t find him O penin g on the affi rmative side the question , Should the County Franchise ‘ be assimilated to the Bo rough Franchise i But this last was a small matter compared to the part taken by the young debater o n the r Egyptian War . Touching this la ge question , we have it on the autho rity o f a local paper that o he delivered a m st eloquent harangue , full of n i r cli ch ng a guments . He found the debates of the Society of con sum in g interest , and revelled in the opportunity ” 54 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR G E .

i for discussing great and sweeping uest o ns . fl'xe Indeed , the subjects were as wide as y were % ’ r bold . Fair T ade versus Free Trade , was l r among the se ection . F om this came a jump d Bra lau h . to Mr . g and the Channel Tunnel e Th n came a heated debate on Trade Unionism , followed by a discussion on the vexed question of Phonetic Spelling .

As a whole the subj ects cannot , of course , b e termed political ; but they undoubtedly lead up to the intensely interesting entries made later by the young debater in his diary . Indeed , in the diary we have a clear View of a great poli t ician in the bud . An entry made on November 1 8 1 8 8 the th , 5 , reads Reply to the attack on as a Chamberlain . (Joseph Chamberlain w t this time , of course , a Liberal) . Pointing out that every Tory mushroom thought he ought to attack Chamberlain . I then quoted Burns on the attack on Gavan Hamilton . I attacked cynyffynwyr (sycophants) and appealed to people to vote with judgment and conﬁdence . All this latter part from Chamberlain down was delivered in a very impassioned manner , and I was tremendously cheered on Sitting down . I ” felt I had made another stroke at Criccieth .

On the next day Mr . Lloyd George addressed Tal sarn a meeting at y , but records that it wa s not very enthusiastic The people , however , listened attentively and gave some appreciative % -ﬁ e applause . I took twenty v to thirty ” minutes , he says in his diary . Not much ﬁre r in me . Took Leasehold and Fai Trade . Was - r asked at the end to explain the ballot pape s .

% ” G 56 THE N EW LLOYD GEOR E .

Splendid majority . Scarcely anticipated it after

l . all the prognostications of evil . Fe t elated ll TO . Home 6 train . our meeting at Town Ha t Rather late when I got here . Very much c hee red on mounting platform . J . T . J . allowed t o x w . speak , but all ne t speakers ho led down e m Never saw such confusion . Rather l j oyed it . I had no speech ready myse f

E . . was utterly unable to speak and the meeting J ” broke up .

A few days later he records that he is weary , r r sleepy, and utterly done up . He ose , howeve , t and was c heered by news of great Libera l ” r victo ies in the counties . Am convinced , r he wrote in his dia y, that this is all due to ’ a m r Chamberl in s speeches . Indeed , his ad i a tion at this time fo r Joseph Chamberlain was O f a O r o the n ture f he o w rship . % ”

Mr . Nort Chamberlain , he wrote in the h % ales O server in 1 8 8 W b 4, is unquestionably the o r future leade r of the people . Any ne who eads his speeches will know the reason why . He does a r no r not gue closely like Sir Charles Dilke , does he discourse with the polished elegance of Mr . Trevelyan and yet his speeches have far greater effect upon public o pinion than those O f either O f O f the two . He understands the sympathies his countrymen . It is therefore that he spea ks l a - m an intel igently and str ight forwardly, like a o O l who is pr ud of the pinions which he ho ds . m o He has no dread of Tory isconstructi n . He does not hedge round his sentences lest the viper ’ l r sting them . He is a Radica , and doesn t ca e

so . who knows it , long as the people do He is MATTERS POLITICAL . 5 7

convinced that the aristocracy stand in the way

of the development of the rights of man , and he unflinchin l says so g y, though he be howled at as an ill- mannered demagogue by the whole Ke nnelr o f y gorged aristocracy, and of their ” fawning millions . t Strong words , foreshadowing , it may be hought battles still to come . Here , however , the main point of interest rests in the fact that the Joseph r 1 88 fl Mr Chambe lain of 4. very largely in uenced . Lloyd George in forming views concerning whi ch so much adverse criticism was heard later . t Change follows change . Jus now political parties are at peace . We who live in the dark 1 1 6 yet enlightened year , 9 , see the Aristocracy i and the Democracy f ghting shoulder to shoulder , with common sympathies and one all- important ’ aim . Mr . Lloyd George s two sons take common ’ ffi a measure with the o cers of His M j esty s forces , and are one with the Duke and Belted Earl . is There no talk now of the gorged aristocracy . - z a re To day, all good and valiant citi ens of one m an blood , and no can fling a stone . Some men say that herein rests the reason why it is s a id that % a a new Lloyd George h s arisen . We sha ll

S EC .

THE ORATOR .

CHAPTER VII .

THE ORATOR .

I t is o o r e o uence which o n shows that the ora tor can ta p l % ly lk . Wo rds sho u d be e m o ed as the m ea ns not as the e nd a n u a e l pl y , l g g m t v i s t ts the m s tru e n co n i cti o n he wor . , k S I R OS H R Y LD D isc ur rt O . o ses o n A J UA E N S .

I e s a M r T ts i n a n im ss ned t n i e d . oo a o o e as I f l, i , p i , f coul d ex ress m ee i n s a t the resent m o m ent i n a m ost re ~ p y f l g , p , ” n /s l m i —z — n e t rt ear ab e anne r I co u d o t a s a . , f f l ly g IC K Do mbe and S o n D ENS . y .

% s f THE gift of Tongues it is aid, is hal the battle to a politician , and Mr . Lloyd George has enjoyed from very early in his life the gift of clear , forceful and eloquent speech . Unlike

Mr . Toots , he got a good start . We have from an authoritative source a picture of him as a child of two standing upon a ﬂight of O f stairs , addressing an audience composed the other chi ldren of the family . While he spoke he thumped on the stairs with a stick , to make sure of the attention of his hearers and ” to drive home his points . Later , we hear of the little David displaying his powers at an

Eisteddfod held at Llanystumdwy . Here he i delivered a moral hymn , Remember , ch ld , to

- Co a blent n ddwed w r . speak the truth ﬁ , y , y, y g i

61 % ” G 62 THE N EW LLOYD GEOR E . — Further public appearanc e s the addresses delivered at various chapels , and the speeches made in the Debating Society at Portmadoc ,

ll as . fo owed a natural course Indeed , there is ample evidence Of his seeking to develop day by day and in every way possible his gifts of e public utteranc , both as regards matter and style , particularly it may be said as regards style . In his diary he comments , as we have seen , upon the Style of Mr . Joseph Chamberlain . ” s l It is , he note , clear , intel igent and straight o i forward , like the man who is proud the opinions which he holds He does not e e oun hi nt nce h dg r d s se e s . At all times the young orato r was on the look out for fresh methods of giving point and effect to his speeches . It is recorded that during his younger days , he would walk through the country lanes rehearsing his Speeches aloud . In — his search for good public speakers particul arly — speakers with a clear and definite message he listened critically to orators Of both sexes and I st he gives in his diary , under the date , August , 1 8 79 , not only candid j udgment with regard to the oratorical powers of a certain lady, but also most interesting views concerning % Women ’ s ” ” Rights . Miss Becker , the entry runs ,

spoke at the Town Hall , Portmadoc , on ’ Woman s Rights . Very few real arguments .

She proved too much , which proves nothing . The earth would be a aradise were women to

ff . She have their su rage was rather sarcastic .

Mr . Breese rose to oppose her , and made a half hour speech . Very good Spoke in rather low

% THE N EW LLOYD GEOR G E .

’ ’ I v e ra ers . p y , and that s how I know mine written a speech out six times with my own ’ ‘ ’ ’ hand . I couldn t do that , said Mr . Lloyd ‘ George , I must wait for the crisis . Here are ’ ’ r l my no tes fo the Queen s Ha l speech . And he took out of his pocket a slip of paper with half- a doz en phrases scrawled i n his curiously slanting hand . The result IS a certain thinness which contrasts with the breadth and literary ’ l form of Mr . Churchill s hand ing of a subj ect , or ’ with the massive march of Mr . Asquith s utter ance . But it has qualities of sudden eloquence , imaginative ﬂight and quick wit that make it e unique in the records of political oratory . Abov h as x all , it a quite une ampled air of intimacy . His swiftly responsive nature brings him into x e traordinary close relations with his audience, s o that he almost leaves the impression of a brilliant c onversation in which all have been engaged . This responsiveness , While it gives to his speech its rare quality of freshness and a exhilar tion , is the source of his occasional ’ ‘ i z indiscretions . Lord Sal sbury s bla ing indis c re tio n s were due to his detachment from men and his remoteness from the audience . They were the indiscretions of an Olympian . The o f o indiscretions Mr . Lloyd Ge rge come from his r nearness to his hearers . He cannot esist the stimulus of the occasion . It works in him like wine . It ﬂoods him with riot of high spirits and swift fancy, until he seems to be almost the voice of the collective emotion . The soil of his mind IS astonishi ngly fertile but light . He 18 always Improvising . You feel THE ORATOR . that the theme is of secondary importance to the treatment . No anchor of theory holds him , and he approaches life as if it were a new problem . It is a virgin country for him to ” fashion and to shape .

Thus it comes about that we get a bright, fresh in hi s hi note all doings , whether in c ldhood , early o boyho d , youth or young manhood , or in that h happy period with w ich we are about to deal .

ELECTION .

CHAPTER VIII .

MARRIAGE AND FIRST ELECTION .

— —' M arriage when i t i s m arri age at all a s only the temporary seal whi ch m a rks the vo wed trans i t of temporary i nto u nti ring service and o t ul i n to eterna love . , j ﬁ f l R K IN S esam e and L s e . US . ili

I T requires the pen O f an Allen Raine to tell the love story of David Lloyd George . We want the atmosphere , the local colour , the true Welsh setting to appreciate to the full the few facts Of known . We require pictures Mynydd Edny Pencaenw dd fed Fawn , and y , and various other im places . Above all , we want a clear , vivid

ression Of the persons concerned . But we must pe content with knowing thr ough the imagina tion , if through no other source , that in the love l affair of Mr . L oyd George and Miss Maggie

Owen there was the charm of true romance . A friend com es near to the desired mark when he ” s write of the glories of the Land of My Fathers , of the winding lanes and wide roads leading to — grea t centres of activity from quietude amidst open nature to stone forests of houses and crowded Streets , and reminds us that in the lives of David Lloyd George and Maggie Owen there was a happy blending of both town and country suﬂi c ient Of the company of Mother Nature to l ni teach them the great essons of the U verse , 69 % ” 0 N EW 7 THE LLOYD GEORGE . and sufﬁ cient of the town to show them the great need of putting the lessons learnt into practice .

Touching certain days previous to Mr . Lloyd George ’ s marriage there are in his diary two Of entries unusual interest . The ﬁrst falls under 2 8th 1 8 8 the date November , 5 , and reads

Took M . O . and her cousin home . (M . O . was r r the future M s . Lloyd Geo ge) . The second entry, made after a debating Society soiree , ” reads Took Maggie Owen home . The Miss Maggie Owen referred to is the only daughter of Mr . Richard Owen of Mynydd Edn fed y Fawn , Her marriage with

Mr . Lloyd George was celebrated at the little a Pe nc e n d n 2 t a w d o th 1 88 8 . chapel y January 4 , i The ceremony , wh ch was of a simple nature , was performed in part by the saintly uncle to whom o y Mr . Ll d George is so deeply indebted , But though simple , it was a stirring occasion for a d Pe nc e nwyd . A local paper tells how early in the day ﬂags were to be seen in all directions , together with a considerable display of bunting . % ” th e After luncheon , the report continues , newly- wedded couple left by midday train for

London on their honeymoon . The town was ” illuminated at night and ﬁreworks were let o ff .

It was further written at the time that Mr . Lloyd George had made a pre- eminently wise choice . Time has fully j ustiﬁed the words and if usefulness in the lives of married people may be accounted a Sign of ha ppiness then Mr . and r Mrs . Lloyd George may indeed be conside ed

r l rr . fo tunate . Short y after the ma iage Mr Lloyd George ’ s name was put forward as that of a

% ” 7 2 THE N EW LLOYD GEORGE . election (1 886) the Carnarvon Boroughs had

Swet e nham C . returned Mr . , Q , a Conservative 1 8 0 Early in 9 that gentleman died suddenly, and now came the opportunity to W in back the l 2 th o d . constituency to its beliefs On March 4 ,

his . Mr . Lloyd George issued election address ’ at n-and In this he referred to Mr . Balfour s b o ba onet y rule in Ireland , and made it clear that ’ he was a ﬁrm believer in Mr . Gladstone s Home

Rule Policy . He stood , moreover , for the Dis establishment and Disendowment of the English

Church in Wales , for the taxation of ground Of rents , and the enfranchisement leaseholds , and a liberal extension of the principles of decentralisation . It is interesting to recall passages from speeches made by Mr . Lloyd George at this time . The ” Tories forget , he said , that they are living in an enlightened century . I once heard a man l declaiming wildly against Mr . Tom El is as a

Parliamentary representative . According to that l ’ man , Mr . El is s disqualiﬁcation consists mainly in the fact that he has been brought up in a cottage . The Tories do not yet realise that the ” - day Of the cottage bred man has at last dawned . his On another occasion , speaking in best style , his voice tuned in perfect accord with his in S piring words , he said , A holy war has been ’ proclaimed against man s inhumanity to man , and the people Of Europe are thronging to the crusade . The great question for us to determine is this % Whether in this mighty Armageddon Wales Shall simply be the standard bear er of another nation , or shall the Red Dragon of MARRIAGE AND FIRST ELECT ION . 7 3

Wales once more lead forth a nation to do battle for right i ” % In the same speech he said , You have ledged yourselves to a great programme D i l isestabl shment , Land Reform , Loca Option

and other great reforms . But however drastic an d broad they may appear to be , they, after all , simply touch the fringe of the vast social questions which must be dealt with in the near

future . There is a momentous time coming .

The dark continent of wrong is being explored , and there is a missionary Spirit abroad for the ” reclamation to the realm of right . Much adverse criticism and not a little sar casm was levelled at the fiery young candidate . % The intelligence , the magnificent intellect of ” P le st n . u o Mr George , said Sir John , member % for Devonport , did not confine him within the narrow limits of the small Principality of which they were so proud ; his ideas were as ” boundless as Europe itself . It is instructive , the n Pulesto n after march of years , to see Sir Joh so impaled , to speak , upon the point of his own sarcasm . From another quarter complaints were m ade to Mr . Gladstone against certain views of — the self opinionated young Celt . The Grand Old l - Man re lied in ful , well rounded manner If a Welsh constituency were to return a gentleman who , whether Tory or Dissentient , would vote against the claims which Wales is now justly making , that her interests and feelings should at length be recognized in concerns s properly her own . Even if he re erved or n promised you his individual vote, by supporti g % ” 74 THE N EW LLOYD GEOR G E . the Party opposed to you and keeping it in power, he would make that vote perfectly nugatory . r fi M P . . Mr . Acland , . , and Mr Ellis G if th threw in their weight on the side of Mr . Lloyd George , and Sir Wilfrid Lawson , glad to support one who stood for the principles of temperance , appeared on various platforms in the young ’ candidate s favour . Moreover , Irish National ists joined in the fight , j ourneying from Ireland to North Wales to answer their countrymen from Ulster . It was seen that there was to be a

. The tmes warm contest , with a close ﬁnish T t newspaper , commenting in weigh y fashion upon the ﬁght , foreshadowed the defeat of Mr . Lloyd

George . . The Hon . Frederick Wynn , it pointed out , had thrown his weight into the ﬁght , and the

Hon . Frederick Wynn was the Squire of Glyn lif n l o .

z ud On April the candidates were nominated , and on April ro th came the elections amidst intense excitement and the occasional street ’ l e s singing , said a ocal newspaper, of Lloyd G orge fam o us battle song

’ Hurrah Hurrah We re rea dy fo r th e fray ’ Hurrah l Hurrah W e ll d ri v e Sir J o h n away I Th e G rand o un Man will tr u m h Y g i p , Llo yd Geo rge will win th e d ay ' Figh t fo r th e Freedo m o f Cam bn a The result was declared on the following day Lloyd George Ellis Nanney A l m r v ctor I so smal ajo ity , but i y And . shortly 11 18 r after ma riage , David Lloyd George realised h l S o . wa s l great ambiti n He now , or wou d be

very soon , a Member of Parliament . WESTMI NSTER .

CHAPTE R IX .

WESTMINSTER .

What do you thi nk of my entering the Hous e of Commons 2 ” I th n re o ns Twem o w ee n th at i t i s the best c u i k , j i l , f li gly, l b % n ndo n i L o . I N ua F end CK Our ut r . D E S . M l i

THE new Member , after being introduced by Mr the future Lord Rendel and . Acland , took the oath and hi s seat in the Ho use. This was on is was u 1 th 1 8 0 . H April 7 , 9 reception partic larly i cordial . In the evening he wrote in h gh spirits % After a very enthusiastic reception by the o ff i Liberal Members of the House , I am to d ne ” with my friend Sir John Pulesto n . The cottage lad of a few years back now moved in the high political circles . It is worthy of note th at Sir John Pule sto n had been one of the sp eakers on the Conservative side in the n Car arvon Election , and had given extremely hard blows . An interesting side light this on the Party System 1 Another interesting glimpse of the life political is found in a letter written hi s by Mr . Lloyd George after ﬁrst division t My ﬁrst divisions las night . I voted against ” - Bi u l . metallism , but I co ld not te l you why Not more t ha n a week had elapsed when th e young Member interrogated the Leader of the 7 7 % THE N EW LLOYD GEOR GE .

House with regard to the Town Holding Com mirtee . The privilege of actually addressing the House was carefully reserved . He was too % wise to risk early failure . I Shall not speak in the House this side of the Whitsuntide holidays , he wrote to his uncle in a letter touchi ng the Temperance question . Better not appear too eager . Get a good opportunity — ’ and make the best of it that s the point . Let the cry against compensation increase in force and intensity . Then is the time to sp eak . I can do better myself then . The steam is hardly up yet . That was evident in the debate , which was rather an unreal one , no fervour or earnestness characterising it . The House does not seem at all to realise or to be impressed with the gigantic evils of drunkenness . Later on , there will be more of that spirit as the country ” gets roused .

Later , we ﬁnd Mr . Lloyd George sending notes of a speech to Criccieth , so that his brother William and his uncle (known affectionately as the Bisho p might pass judgment upon it . I enclose the notes of the s eech I in tend delivering o u the Welsh Church at the a T bernacle . Read it and send me your candid opinion as to its merits and demerits . It is im a s l n . p y rough outli e , mind you Will it do if duly elab o rated Let m e have your opinion

Es o b . by return . Show it to the g (Bishop)

He can send it on to me on Friday . If you ”

s . or he have any good j oke in support , end it on is in ee d . , d , The speech was a great success It ‘ abundantly clear that so far as the public plat

% EW THE N LLOYD GEORGE .

” fr a man who speaks too e uently . This evi ’ l eo r s dent y touched Mr . Lloyd ge ready sense of humour . Later he wrote Poor Old Sam His great failing is that he never acts upon his a precept . He is always talking upon ll sorts ” O f topics at all sorts Of times .

We also have a record of Mr . Lloyd George being present at this time at a garden party at ’ l Mr . Gladstone s residence , Dollis Hil . Here he % ” met numerous big guns , but was far from awed or dismayed . He moved with ease and composure from cottage to palace , and mixed ” with all sorts and conditions of men . i l He st l observed Strictly the Day of Rest , and touching a certain Sunday morning we ﬁnd him recording that he heard Dr . Clifford preach , and found the se rmon capital from an intellectual standpoint . The point that chieﬂy impressed him was that , although brain , disposition , bias , a ma n must u l u his c a racter are hereditary , b i d p h . Having now gained ac quaintance with the ways and methods of the House , Mr . Lloyd

George made a display as a debater , particularly against his long lost hero and leader , Mr . Joseph

. a nd Chamberlain The opportunity came, was 1 1 8 0 ea erly seized upon , on June 3 th , 9 , deﬁat e relating to the Local Taxation Bill and its compensation . Mr . Chamberlain and Lord

Randolph Churchill , he declared , are political contortionists who can perform the great trick of planting their feet in one direction and setting ” w their faces in another. This as the ﬁrst of to sa e ta a d it many strong , not y bitt r at cks, n had the remarkable effect of inducing the House M WEST INSTER . to listen to a young and comparatively unknown ”

was . Member . There , Mr Lloyd George wrote home later, a very good audience , and although at ﬁrst they appeared to be indifferent , as they l general y are when insigniﬁcant Members speak , — — ” they soon both Sides listened attentively .

muc . Mr . Gladstone , it transpired , was h gratiﬁed 1 On August the 3 th in the same year , Mr . Lloyd George delivered his second important

Speech in the House . This took the form of s O f trong criticism on some items expenditure , which included a sum paid for the installation of Prince Henry of Prussia as a Knight of‘ the ” Garter . What service , Mr . Lloyd George asked , has Prince Henry of Prussia ever ” rendered to this country % The ques tion is of peculiar interest in view of recent events affordn (it may be thought) another early i t - gl mpse of h e so called new Lloyd George.

STORMY SE SSIONS .

CHAPTE R X .

STORMY SESSIONS .

Beautiful talk is by no means the most pressing want i n P ael la.

C LYL L atter -Da P am hlets AR . E y p .

T En l sh an th ree I t i s onl dur n the elect ons he g i f cy ey are f . y i g i o h f M embers of P arliament that t ey are so . RO SS EA U U .

8 2 STORMY sessions followed . In 1 9 came a h saw General Election , w ich the return of the

Liberals with a majority of forty only. The Gladsto nians i - Welsh now numbered th rty one , and were sufﬁciently numerous to dictate to the

Administration . Mr . Gladstone saw the danger and took measures to avoid it . But after the r Gran Old M an reti ement of the d in March , 1 8 94, Mr . Lloyd George , together with three of his colleagues , broke into Open revolt . Writing to a corresLo ndent in defence of his course of action , Mr . loyd George pointed out that the Government had refused to give any Speciﬁc pledge to pass the Welsh B ill that

Session , or even to give it precedence over other ”

l s . Bi l If the Government , he said , persists in its policy of putting other measures before ” Disestablishment its blood be on its own head .

Lord Rosebery was now Premier , and Mr . 3 5 % ” 86 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR GE .

’ is Lloyd George , it said , resented His Lordship s whole attitude toward Wales . Indeed , he com gaine d that Lord Rosebery had referred to pl elsh members as the natives of a principality, as though they were the Wallabee s of Central ” Africa . Stanley, he pointed out , had cheated the native tribes with empty jampots , and that was the policy of the Liberal Government toward t ff Wales . Em y jampots were O ered To such treatment ales would not submit . If the j am pots were not ﬁlled the Liberal Government ” must face the hostility of the Welsh Members . ” Our aspiration , Mr . Lloyd George pointed % out , on another occasion , is a Young Welsh ” t Party wi h National motives . You will ﬁnd it , he continued , an accomplished fact after the next General Election . The idea of Nationality is a vigorous and growing one , and as a compact band we shall get our wants promptly attended to by the Liberal Party in addition to being able fi ” to squeez e the Tories when in Of ce . ” But the Prodigals , as Lord Rosebery called them , fell later upon disheartening days , and for reasons—the best of reasons—returned to

. nev erthe the Liberal fold The Government , - less , was short lived , chieﬂy owing to the fact that the Prodigals were not so repentant as was at ﬁrst supposed . Indeed , it was whilst a number of them were at Llandrindod , arranging further action , that a snatch division in the House placed the Government in a minority of seven . Whereupon , Lord Rosebery, weary of

ﬁghting under such conditions , resigned . In an interview published in the Westm inster

% ” 8 8 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR G E .

in the same series b etween Mr . Chamberlain and % ” Mr . Balfour . Mr . Chamberlain , he wrote , is by nature much more aggressive and Stubborn than Mr . Balfour . The Tory leader lacks energy

‘ im be t and application . Those who know h s a think him rather indolent . He was never hard worker . When he was Irish Secretary he worked harder than he ever has before or since , but even then he accepted without hesitation any explanation which was offered him by the Irish Constabulary in reply to complaints of injustice . It is much less troublesome to do that than to make a personal investigation into ’ the matter . That is not Mr . Chamberlain s way . He is mercurial, always on the move , l ” and fu l of life and vigour . There were other articles in the series but we need only give a brief comparison be tween Michael Davitt and Mr . Chamberlain . % ” % The ﬁrst , Mr . Lloyd George wrote , is i magniﬁcently large minded in speech , wh lst ” is the latter given to Spiteful innuendoes .

Writing further of Mr . Asquith the conviction was expressed that it became more apparent day by day that he would occupy, with more dignity and usefulness , the position which Mr . Chamberlain held in the Liberal Party prior to 1 88 5 . The next session ( 1 897) was also marked by stormy scenes . Old tactics were revived Mr . Lloyd George and his confederates ﬂooded the ” - order paper from day to day . Later the rebel leader found himself in collision with the Irish Members . 8 STORMY S E S S ION S . 9

n Why , he asked a certai group , do you s support the Torie , your enemies , in imposing fetters upon us in Wales who ha ve been your friends i % ” % s Oh an Irishman replied thoughtle sly ,

we in Ireland take care of ours elves . % % ” % Ah said Lloyd George , that is your

is l two . game it We l, can play at it We shall see what you say when British Members unite ” to talk of their own interests . - Later , when Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman succeeded Sir William Harcourt as leader of t he h Opposition , there were furt er scenes of an

excitin g nature . Contrary to the desire of Sir - Henry Campbell Bannerman , Mr . Lloyd George insisted upon dividing the House against the Government on a question concerning the privi An d di c leges of th e House . to the great s o m

ﬁture Of . Sir Henry, Mr Lloyd George carried with hi m into the division lobby the bulk of the

Liberal Members . 1 0 i e In 9 4, wh lst the House was in Committe and the % Irish Coercion Bill ” was under dis

cussio n . o him , Mr Lloyd Ge rge again asserted l in se f, this time connection with a question hi Of - touc ng the health school children . The Chairman having accepted the motion of the c l o sure , Mr . Lloyd George ﬂatly refused to leave - i h s seat for the division . Forthwith an appeal hi was made from the Chair , to w ch Mr . Lloyd George replied I se e no Obj ect in taking part in a farce of this kind to suit the exigencies of

the Cecil family . It is a perfect farce that we should not be allowed to discuss questions % ” 0 N EW G 9 THE LLOYD GEOR E .

ff a ecting the health of the children in the scho ols . ” I t is m onstrous %

Mr . Lowther , who was acting at the time as D eputy Speaker , was called upon to pronounce sentence u on the unruly Member . This was done with ue solemnity . But Mr . Lloyd George was not to be moved . We must make a most ” emphatic protest , he said , against the action whi ch the Chairman has taken at the insti atio n g of the Prime Minister . We consider the Chairman ruled out questions of vital import ance to our constituents and we cannot , con sistentl y with our sense of duty, take any ” further part in this Parliamentary Session . o Then f llowed a remarkable scene . Mr . was Asquith , who leading the opposition , sided m with the rebellious Welsh an , and the upshot was that Mr . Asquith linked his strong arm with the arm of Mr . Lloyd George , and led the whole party of Liberals out of the House FRE E CHURCH FOR A FRE E

PEOPLE .

R CHAPTE XI .

A FREE CHURCH FOR A FREE

PEOPLE.

Un ortunate ew eo e who eel a as s on th n o team in f ly, f p pl f p i i k f g an th n rom i t y i g f . M ARN L . O D . Enthusi as m i s the eni us o s ncer t and truth accom shes g f i i y, pli no v cto ries wi thou t i t i . L O RD YT ON L T .

THE storm s were followed by a Spell of ﬁne weather . To the joy of the Welsh Party the Welsh Disestablishment Bill now occupied a place upon the order paper immediately after 1 8 d the Budget , and in April , 95 , the Bill passe its second reading with a majority of 44. But e Wales was doomed to disa pointment . Whil the i B ll was in Committee t e Government fell , % ”

l . and the Bi l was buried But buried , Mr . e and e a Lloyd G orge declared , in the sure c rt in ” ho e of a glorious resurrection . O Th e aims f the Bill possessed his soul . To free his c o - religionists from bondage to a Church co Hierarchy foreign in its inception , his peasants from the Oppression of a Landed Squire in archy foreign its conceI tion , and his compa trio t s from the bonds of a Po litical Party to him ” m i - foreign in its ideals and sy path es these , Be rial writes Mr . Evans , were the obj ects he his set himself out to attain . All 9 3 % ” EW 94 THE N LLOYD GEOR GE .

his associations , and consequently all sympathies , were with those whom he had ever been taught to believe were the oppressed , and these oppressed c o - were his compatriots and religionists . From earliest chi ldho od he had been Obsessed by the sense of danger to public liberties he believed to be involved in the immoral union of Church and his State . In own little world he had seen how the alliance between Parson and Squire ever told to the detriment of things and of persons dear and sacred to him . ’ e Out of Mr . Evans clos acquaintance with Mr Lloyd George and the Welsh Nationalists we have many interesting observations . It is fi ” % dif cult , he writes , for those not born of them , or who have not lived with them and been accorded free entry into the sanctuary of their n Disestab i most thoughts , to appreciate what lishm ent means to Welsh Nationalists . To the Episcopalian Nationalist— and there is a strong ublic body of them in p , and many more in private- Disestablishment implies enabling the Church he loves with a devotion which can scarcely be measured by ordinary human stan dards , to develop on National lines , freed from - the restricting trammels of an alien , anti national authority, it would appeal as it has done for long centuries , to the still fervent patriotism of this people , and enjoy at least the opportunity of becoming again what it once was—the real n National Church of Wales , instead of bei g the nominal National Church in Wales , and thus render possible the realisation of the fondest h see dream of every true Churc man , to the day

6 % 9 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE . — to the Councils to administer the law and keep within the letter of the law without levyin g a rate for sectarian institutions that refused ff popular control , and imposed o ensive tests on teachers . We have staked our repu i t at o n upon the result . By our demeanour in the contest shall we be j udged for all ages i And when the contest is over , Wales w ll have the proud satisfaction of knowing that sh e has been in the forefront o f the battle that has established for ever in the British constitution the principle that no man on British soil shall suffer any ro scriptio n at the hands of the State for any helie f he honestly holds as to matters that per tain to his own soul . There are many passages in his speeches ”

hi . breat ng the same air We draw the sword , % inﬂam e . s he cried , for religious liberty That our enthusiasm % ” In this Spirit we ﬁnd him declaring that the Squire and the Parson have broken into the poor box and divided its con ” tents between them . On another occasion he % reminded the House Oi the great Anglican illage at the time O f the reformation of the % E . co m e nglish Church Now they here , he % continued , when we are trying to recover l o some part of this pil aged property for the p or , us for whom it was originally given , and accuse ” of robbing God .

Strong words , and there were many words % the considerably stronger . The ﬁght was to ” no death . There was little or thought of minor personal Injuries . Yet at the back of the fray there were better relations than might be A FREE CHURCH FOR A FREE PEOPLE . 97

i supposed . Many a Parliamentar an , as we know , has abused a political Opponent in the Strongest possible terms and dines with him in seeming good fellowship on the very same evening . And indeed , in this contest , seemingly so ﬁerce and bitter , there were many humorous touches . To give one instance , at one of Mr . ’ Lloyd George s reply meetings in Flintshire , the Chairman , a Welsh Deacon with extremely strong convictions , introduced Mr . Lloyd George - I in the following manner Gentlemen , haff to introduce to you to-night the Member for the

Carnarvon Boroughs . He has come to reply to what the Bishop of St . Asaph said the other night about Welsh Disestablishment

In my opinion , gentlemen , the Bishop of St . As aph is one of the biggest liars in c reasho n ; but thank God we haff in Mr . Lloyd George a ” - match for him to night . ’ AS for Mr . Lloyd George s own opinion of the i as B shop , he described him in an interview a foeman in every way worthy of their steel the most doughty champion the Church in Wales ” possesses . S eaking further in support of the principles i bl ses ta ishm ent . of , Mr Lloyd George main tained that the nation will never lose its religion so long as it maintains its reverence for things spiritual . If a nation c eases to take an interest in religion , the maintenance by law of an Official connection with religion in the form O f an es tab ” lished Church is a piece of hypocrisy . This view , though firmly and clearly expressed , is in c s softer tone than many earlier utteran e . With W THE N E LLOYD GEOR G E . — the drawing nigh of victory, the sword though Still quick and sharp—lost some of its first dead ine s l s . To the end , however, the battle was

. so hot and strong The old wounds , sore and angry, are not yet entirely healed . It is well that we should now forget old feuds . It is ,

~ surely , sufﬁcient to know that the Disestablish ment Act has been placed o n the Statute Book .

CHAPTE R XII .

THE COLD SHADE S OF OPPOSITION .

Th s art o two rem nds me o the S co tch Ter r er wh ch was i p y f i f i , i so co vered with ha i r that yo u co uld n o t tell which was the head and i t whi ch was the ta il of . N IG S eech J O H BR H T. ( p

Th s is not the cause o act o n or o a rt o r o an ndi i f f i , f p y . f y i dual but the m t m an i ri ta i v co mon nteres o ever n n . i , i f y B

etters . JUNIUS . (L )

A born ﬁghter , ﬁerce in attack , Stubborn and exceedingly troublesome to his enemies when acting on the defensive , at all times courageous thus ran at the time now in mind the common estimate of David Lloyd George . The cold shades O f opposition had u on him an enlivening

f . ef ect He delighted in rassing the enemy , s and , when Opportunity arose , of making surpri e a — a att cks master of trench warfare . ” his The Wave of Toryism , he said to constituents , has dashed itself in vain against ” r the rocks of E yri . He was very far from downhearted . The ﬁght at the election of 1 895 may have gone against his party , but that , far from being a cause for despair , called for a stout was and cheerful heart . Never he in better

fighting form . When the Agricultural Land Rating Bill was under discussion a writer in the Western M a il asked in imitation o f various 1 02 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE . friends Has Lloyd George been speaking all the morning % Lloyd George speaking Lloyd George still speaking Has anyone else but Lloyd George spoken his He gloried in the fight , and j udging by correspondence at this time his life was thoroughly enjoyable . He wrote that Herbert Lewis and himself had a great time whilst speaking on questions concerning th e naval dockyard at Pembroke I am told on all hands that I never spoke better in my life . The Liberals cheered frantically . For a short time there was great excitement . After that I kept the thing going , and whereas they expected to get their Naval Works Bill before dinner they didn ’ t get it till nearly midnight . Lowther , the Chair O f man Committee , said he would not go to dinner without first getting through with it , even if he had to sit in the chair until the dawn .

Very well , he was jolly glad to adjourn at a quarter to nine without making much progress . They thought they might get a Bill called the Military Man ce uv res Bill through before mid night , but I soon developed a keen interest in soldiering . I moved an amendment on the spur l O f . the moment Lowther would not al ow it , because it was not strictly in order . Very well .

I altered it at once . He had then to take it .

I divided , and their Bill was talked out .

That is the way to play the game . My blood ’ t a i t is no w up . I hadn w rmed to before . It is abundantly clear that he revelled in

was z . political warfare , and ama ingly successful ” His rising in the House , says Mr . Beriah

% ” 1 0 4 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR G E .

Difﬁculties with regard to leadership found him wonderfully hopeful and buoyant . I ” de re s should Liberals , he asked , be p because O f difﬁ culties about leadership

Conservatives , he pursued , have been no more fortunate in the past . Upon the death Of Lord Beaco nsfield the Tory Party first O f all selected Sir Stafford Northcote . He did not satisfy them so they appointed Sir Michael - a . O f Hicks Be ch They got rid him in six months , and then Lord Randolph Churchill was made O f leader . He got sick them in sick months , and then came Mr . Balfour . Five Tory leaders in five years . The Tories ought not to taunt ” us with the fact that we have lost two leaders . % will ” We follow any man , he said later , who can bring us specimens of the grapes Of ’ hi s Ascalon , and we don t care what name is o Joshua , if Moses g es , and if Joshua goes , any body else who can lead us into the promised land .

One is almost led to wonder why, even at this early date , Mr . Lloyd George was not chosen as

. hi s leader Clearly, he had hand upon the sword , and he knew well its nature and the keenness O f its edge . How bravely he would have used it % But he had still to prove the solid worth which rested behind the ﬁery manner and alert tongue . THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR .

% ” 1 0 EW 8 THE N LLOYD GEOR GE . against what I consider to be an infamy I shall deem myself a recreant before God and man . He made no effort to veil the fact that to his mind Mr . Chamberlain was largely responsible . % ’ ” One of Mr . Chamberlain s speeches , he de % clared z , does more to j eopardi e the Empire ’ ” than a score of Nicholson s Neks . On another occasion he said , This war has been forced upon us by a Government which has divided three a millions of money mongst its own supporters , by a measure carried by a Chamber composed of landlords who benefited to the tune of hundreds — of thousands of pounds a Chamber for whi ch no native- born British subj ect has the right to ” vote . l - When cal ed a Pro Boer , he reminded his Opponents of the folly of the pot calling the kettle black . Mr . Chamberlain , he pointed out , had opposed the Zulu War . Was Mr . Chamber lain a nigger because he did so % Far from being a Pro—Boer he and his few supporters were , he claimed , the only true Britons . ” is The real test of Liberalism , he said , not its in readiness to fight , but the obj ect for which ” it fights . If it is simply a question , he pursued , of defending such possessions as we have already got , and which , I believe , we administer well, or some great question of prin i c cip , some question of the protection of the all weak and oppressed , then we should unite O f z in regard to it . In the days Eli abeth the

Puritans were the best ﬁghters , but they fought — for a noble and just caus e the cause of religious

c . and ivil freedom , whether in England or abroad W THE SOUTH AFRICAN AR . 1 09

And as long as there is some great cause of that i k nd to fight for, we ought to be as ready to fight ” for it now as we were three hundred years ago . Recent events have brought an echo of his i a h s . words . Now we accl im sentiments With ” years have come counsels more profound , and few men stand higher in the estimate O f their fellow countrymen than David Lloyd George . But at this point we are concerned with the — Llo yd George of other days with the man who faced for convictions now acclaimed th e jibes and missiles of infuriated mobs . One of the first public outbreaks was at Glas o w g , where a meeting had been arranged to take place in the City Hall . Students marched in large numbers to the Hall , but found to their extreme annoyance that it was already full .

Not to be outdone , they joined forces with other rebellious characters who were rioting on the stairway . A great crowd had by now gathered in the street below . Indeed, the whole loca lity was in an uproar . But inside the Hall , ﬁrmly e in plac d their sea ts , were round numbers of faithful followers of the princi al speaker . There were fu rther ﬁerce efforts to grcak up the meet in g, but the police were now in strong force , and aided by a body of stewards they repulsed the rioters and cleared the staircase .

i nin . This skirm sh , far from dishearte g Mr o hi s Lloyd Ge rge , deepened determination to exercise the rights of free speech . He set his i mind on go ng to Bangor, in spite of strong and

os itio n . am inﬂuential op I going to Bangor, % e ﬁant l o he declar d e y. I mean to insist up n % ” 1 0 N EW 1 THE LLOYD GEOR G E .

a r O it . I he the bulk f leading Liberals are strongly opposed to a meeting at this juncture , and they entreat me not to go . I will not ” listen . And to Bangor he went , but at the cost of bodily harm . Whilst leaving the meeting he was struck a heavy blow with a bludgeon . e Later , at Birmingham , he narrowly escap d death . A meeting was arranged to take place in the Town Hall right in the camp of the enemy . Threats and warnings arose, but again Mr . Lloyd George was not to be moved th from his purpose . On the day ﬁxed for e meeting sandwichm en paraded the main streets of Birmingham calling upon loyal citizens to

DEFEND THE KING, THE GOVE RNMENT

AND MR . CHAMBE RLAIN . The ﬁrst attack was made upon the train which was expected to carry Mr . Lloyd George into the Town . But that particular train—for very good reasons did not carry Mr . Lloyd George . He had already arrived . The scene which followed is still fresh in the d memory . Many can recall the mob , compose of all sorts and conditions of men -from the z highly respected citi en to the paid rowdy. all Indeed , it is said that in no less than people must have collected around the Hall %

But again Mr . Lloyd George was quicker than rtl his enemies . He reached the Hall s ho after k o n six , some while before the crowd had ta en a dangerous c haracter . The opening of the ordinary doors of the Hall brought about the ﬁrst bursting of the storm .

The entrances were rushed , and in the meantime

% ” THE EW G 1 1 2 N LLOYD GEOR E .

position and power without merit , but loyalty, the loyalty of the people to the man whom they have chosen from among themselves to lead ” them . Little wonder if many persons still hold that

Mr . Lloyd George at this time was deplorably is t misunderstood . How refreshing it o recall the loyalty O f the majority of his constituents Through the whole trouble—the campaign of ” it— h e hate , some have termed retained his seat

% in the House of Commons . In fact . at the Khaki Election he was returned by the largest majority recorded thus far in his favour . Hap pily, at no time did he entirely lack friends .

The feeling against him , however , was so so strong , and came from many quarters that the man in the street came to think of him % as the outcast enemy O f England . How different now % Little wonder if men deem it necessary to Speak of a n ew Lloyd George % LITTLE B ROTHER OF THE POOR .

% ” 1 1 6 TH E NEW LLOYD GEORGE . starved by unreasonable demands with regard to the land . Agriculture is depressed owing to the wa land conditions . The land of this country s not created and given as an endowment to main tain the dignity and delights of a small class . I t was given for the beneﬁt of the children of the soil. There are abundant resources in this im country to feed , clothe , and shelter our o v erishe d — hus p millions yea , and if properly anded and managed , to do the same for millions ” more . a As for the leasehold system , he declared th t % it was nothing short of vicious . Now what ” s happens , he asked , when a man take a piece of land to build upon 3 It may be land at the time for which the owner may be only getting

i . a few shill ngs A man builds upon it , and rent immediately goes up by leaps and bounds to as ﬁv e much as four , , ten , and ﬁfty times , and — — sometimes I can give you cases a hundred times the previous value of the land— purely h as e because he built a hom for himself upon it . What better purpose can you put land to than that He gets a lease for sixty, seventy, or eighty years . Year by year the value of that land passes out of the hands of the man who built on it , who sweated for it , who raised money for it, into the hands o f the man who never spent a ” penny in erecting that house . f ‘ The greatest asset of a country, Mr . Lloyd % Geo r t e said later , is a virile and conten ed

' et - Opu tion . This you will never g until the nd in the neighbourhood of our great towns is m easured out on a more generous scale for LITTLE BROTHER OF THE POOR .

e . nec the homes of our p ople They want , as a c essit O f air y of life , plenty light , plenty of , o f plenty garden space , which provides the healthiest and most productive form of recrea tion which any man can enj oy . I am not against sport ; I only want to extend the area of its enjoyment . A small number of people like to take their sport in the form of destroying some thing ; the vast majority prefer cultivation to t destruc ion . Some like bloo d ; others prefer r bloom . The fo mer is considered a more high class taste but so few of us can afford to belong to that exalted order— they must be content with such humble pleasures as flower-gardens and vegetable-patches and fruit-bushes c an afford them . In the old days there might have been some excuse for this congestion of housing space — the means of locomotion were s o inadequate that men had to crowd together within the s mallest compass and now , with electric trams and a general development of our transport s s ystem , there is no excuse for it . A perniciou system whi ch had its excuse in the e xigencies l of industrial ife , is now perpetuated through e pure gre d . The people of this country ought not to allow avarice and selﬁsh niggardliness any longer to stand between them and their ” hi hest interests . he tendency to quote from and dwell upon ’ Mr . Lloyd George s speeches is irresistible . No words can describe so forcibly our Old social diseases and the cure as the words which have sprung at white heat from his heart and brain .

Even in cold print , the man the agitator % 1 1 8 N EW THE LLOYD GEORG E .

i is present , throbbing with l fe and sympathy . hi s e his abso The lack of ﬁnish in utteranc s , l tel n t e u . y natural man er , add to h illusion He

‘ fl blo o d a stands before us in esh and , man like unto those with whom and for whom he pleads . His sincerity cannot b e questioned % ” What is poverty he asks . Have you % ever felt it yourselves If not , you ought to thank God for having been S pared from its sufferings and its temptations . Have you ever seen others e ndurin it Then pray God to forgive you if you have not done your b est to alleviate it % By poverty I mean real poverty not the cutting down of your establish ments not the limitation of your luxuries . I mean the poverty of the man who does not know how long he can keep a roof over his head , and where he will turn to ﬁnd a meal for the pinched and hungry little children who look to m hi for sustenance and protection . That is

. c what poverty means The day will ome , and that day is not far distant , when this country will shudder at its toleration of that state of things sa when it was rolling in wealth . I y again that , apart from its inhumanity and essential in it j ustice , is robbery ; it is conﬁscation of what ’ ” is the workman s share of the riches of the land . His has predominant desire , as we have seen , been to better the conditions of life for the poor .

Old Age Pensions , The Health and Unemploy D ~ ment A—ct , evelopment Grants , Labour Ex changes the aim in each case is the sam e . S eakin i p in support of Old Age Pens ons , he e said , want to drive hunger from the

% ” 1 2 E G 0 THE N W LLOYD GEOR E .

—h i hundred thousand pounds e failed . A th rd ’ man came along ; he got the coal . What was the landlord doing in the meantime The

l . ﬁrst man fai ed , but the landlord got his royalties

And I said , When the cash failed what did the landlord put in He simply put in the ff % l baili s The capita ist risks , at any rate , the hi s whole of his money, the engineer puts in brains , the miner risks his life . And yet , when the Prim e Minister and I knock at the doors of sa these great landlords and y to them , Here , do you know those poor fellows who have been digging up royalties at the risk of their lives — some O f them are old they have survived the peril of their trade , but they are broken , they ’ can earn no more . Won t you give them some thing towards keepin g them out of the work sa house They scowl at us . We y Only a An d sa halfpenny, just a copper they y, You thieves % ’ And they turn their dogs on to us , and you can hear their bark every morn ing . If this is an indication of the view taken by these great landlords of their responsibility to the people , who , at the risk of their lives , sa create the wealth , then I y their day of reckon ” ing is at hand .

Who ordained , he asked on another occas ion , that a few should have the land of Britain as a perquisite Who made ten thou sand people owners of the soil , and the rest trespassers in the land of our birth Who is’ it who is responsible for the scheme of things whereby one man is engaged through life in grinding labour to win a bare and precarious LITTLE BROTHER OF THE POOR .

existence for himself, and when at the end of his days he claims at the hands of the community he served , a poor pension of eightpence a day, r he can only get it th ough a revolution , and another man who does not toil receives every hour of the day, every hour of the night , more than his poor neighbour receives in a whole year of toil Where did the table of that law come from Whose ﬁngers inscribed it P The answers are charged with peril for the order of things the Peers represent but they are fraught with rare and refreshing fruit for the parched lips of the multitude who have been treading the dusty roads along which the people have marched through the dark ages which are now ” merging into light .

Turning to the Churches , he declared that upon them rested a very large measure of % responsibility % I say to the Churches of the land that unless they can prove that they have ff res o n spared no sacriﬁce , no e ort , then the p sibilit y must be on the altars of their faith , and upon the bared heads of those who bow before ” them . Thus spoke the little brother of the poor - s ff the man whose ideal have been sco ed at , and dubbed the impossible dreams of a % % Utopian . Are they impossible Nay, in - a nd some far away distant hour , says the % ” % Un to t s L ast Author of hi , I can imagine that England will cast all thoughts of possessive wealth back to the barbaric nations among whom they ﬁrst arose and that whi le the sands of the Indus and adamant Golconda may yet % ” 2 N EW G 1 2 THE LLOYD GEOR E .

e fl s stiffen the housings of the charg r , and a h she from the turban of the slave , , as a Christian mother, may at last attain to the virtues and the treasures of a Heathen one , and be able to lead forth her sons saying The se are my ’ wels J e . % Luxury is indeed possible in the future innocent and exquisite ; luxury for all , and by the help of all . Raise the veil boldly ; face the light ; and if yet the light of the eye can only be through tears , and the light of the r body th ough sackcloth , go thou forth weep ing , bearing precious seed until the time come , ’ O f and the Kingdom , when Christ s gift bread and b equest of peace shall be unto this la st as ” unto thee .

CHAPTER XV .

HOME LIFE .

The wor d had a m io n roa ts but o n o ne s t s ne . l ill , ly W HO L uto cr t t O . M . A a o he re t T a as ab e . . ES f B kf l The house o ever one i s to hi m as his cast e and ortress as f y l f , we or his de ence a a nst n ur a nd v o en ce as r i s re ose o h . ll f f g i i j y i l , f p ’ CO K S m a C e ne s ase . E . y

WE have been reminded recently that political % marriages are usually happy . Take the great Prime Ministers of the past hundred and ﬁfty l years Chatham , the younger Pitt , Pee , l i Pa merston , Gladstone , Disraeli , Lord Sal s bury . All , with one exception , made marriages which were something more than happy which approached the ideal of marriage—and of each one it can be said that without his wife it is doubtful whether he would have been the man he was . Who knows all that Peel and Palmerston owed to their wives % And there — are two great political love- stories those of Gladstone and Disraeli— not the less remarkable im because they were poles asunder . It is po ssible to read unmoved the story of Gladstone

hi s . and wife , summed up so pathetically by Mrs im Gladstone after his death . I never thought h ’ old . . , he never thought m e old Stories of Mrs ’ Gladstone s devotion to her husband are pro v erbial a , but beside ny of them can be put one she of Lady Beaco nsfield. One day when was 1 2 5 % 1 26 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR G E . driving her husband down to the House her hand was crushed in the door of the carriage just as they were starting . She was in intense sh e she agony, but never gave a sign of it until ‘ ’ had parted from her Dizzy for fear of dis tracting his mind from the speech h e was going to make . And those two great political mar ria e g s were not exceptions . Glance back at recent political history, and one after another will occur instances of husbands and wives ” remarkably happy . Take the marriage of Mr . and Mrs . Lloyd George . Again , history has ad repeated itself . They also have had v en tures which have drawn them closer together . 1 8 2 At the time of the Election of 9 , whilst driving together through the streets of Bangor , fi a blazing fire ball of tow , dipped in paraf n , was thrown at them . The blazing ball fell on ’ his Mr . Lloyd George s head , knocking off hat , then fell on to Mrs . Lloyd George . Only Mr . ’ Lloyd George s quick action in seiz ing the ball and throwing it out of the carriage saved her. 8 Mr 1 s . Again , at the election of 95 , Lloyd George was only saved from inj ury by a prompt course of action . After the declaration of the poll, she accompanied her husband to the station , to see him o ff to Flint Boroughs . After he had hi s departed , the Conservative candidate , on

t . Mrs way to Criccieth , arrived by a down rain Lloyd George and a number of friends were s tandin in the station when he arrived , aecom anie d fr O f p y a crowd disappointed supporters , who rushed angrily at Mrs . Lloyd George

Fortunately, however, the danger was realised

% 1 28 N EW THE LLOYD GEORGE . secured in the Members ’ ballot a couple Of of tickets fo r the great r eview to- morrow at D Wimbledon , and Maggie and I will take ick there to see the bands and red- coats and gee m a s . p He talks excitedly about it even now . We too k him to see the procession t o day He was very pleased with the soldiers , especially saw the cavalry, but he nothing for special admiration in the Emperor . He took a much greater fancy to the horses . It is interesting to note that the Emperor referred to in the letter is the present Emperor of sa Ge rmany . Dick w nothing Special to admire in him . He took a much greater fancy - so to the horses . The far seeing n of a far seeing parent

The letters show that Mr . Lloyd George has in his nature the best characteristics of . the home loving man % In the midst of a mult iplicity of public duties he retains a simple and loving m hi s heart . Letters written by hi at the time of Mother ’ s death are of a particularly touchi ng nature . The loss came in the midst of a busy ll Session , and he te s of the sympathy of various

Members, mentioning in particular Sir William

Harcourt , and Mr . John Burns . We would pass

silent sympathy the bereavement , still pain in fully fresh the memory, which came on

r 1 0 . Novembe 3 oth , 9 7

It need scarcely be said that Mr . Lloyd George has continued to correspond with Mr . Richard i w . 8 1 8 6 t Lloyd On June th, 9 , we f nd him s to tha nk his uncle for bein so good a . to ea ch morning a budget of Criccieth news If M 1 HO E LIFE . 29

you saw the eagerness with whi ch it is read you ” would be amply repaid for your trouble . He

writes . In other letters to his uncle he tells of % r matters Parliamenta y For instance, I - —in have been at it once or twice to day fact , ” Spoke repeatedly . Later he writes , We hope - to keep the Finance Bill over until to morrow . il am There w l be nothing much after this , and I glad of it . ’ Now , what of Mr . Lloyd George s home life % Few politicians have been subj ected

to stronger rays of searchlight than he . None

have withstood the ordeal better . Journalists , u with q ick eyes for copy, have besieged every

phase of his life , both public and private, and

not a few , enjoying privileges of friendship , have penetrated the sacred precincts of hi s hearth and home . We have had pictures of o Mr . Lloyd Ge rge at breakfast , and have been told that he is one of the few men who are cheer ful and talkative ﬁrst thing in the morning . He arrives at the breakfast table with a merry

twinkle in his eyes , and has a happy word for

everybody . A politician carrying a heavy load of care , he shows (though it may seem incredible) o the buoyancy of a sch olboy . Before him stands a pile of letters , some of the nature that — has been all too common letters of abuse . h Opening the envelopes , he ﬁnds imself accused far of the darkest deeds , but from being moved o s to wrath or indignati n , he to ses the letters a a cross the t ble for hi s guest to see . Are they ” a % not musing he enquires .

The happy truth is , it is worse than futile to % ” 1 0 3 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE . storm with mud the citadel of a man of the stamp of David Lloyd George . Whether in the privacy of his home or in public , he is proof against all such attacks . He stands before the

eople with a heart bare , yet escapes uninjured . pictures of his home life do not , in fact , throw i i any special light upon h s personality . He s a lways at home . There never was a more o natural public man . His Speeches are a m del o ke nne ss of outs and have , indeed , led men to write 0 him as thinking aloud on the public platform . ffi Let that su ce . There is a better part tha n peeping and prying . We w ould be content with the simple fact that the man of whom we think has the golden heart of a good father and a good husband . The passing years with their innumerable calls upon his time and strength have not robbed him of his best gifts . In many respects the present year is the same as the year in which were written the letters from whi ch we have quoted . His sons have now grown to manhood , but there is the same tender concern - for their happiness and well being . A worthy father of worthy sons . Richard Lloyd George (now Captain) and Gwilym Lloyd George (now Lieutenant) were amongst the first to come forward when a call was made for men to fight The true in the cause of Justice and Liberty . bloo i n t e v d s i h ir eins .

A % V I CH PTE R .

WIDE AUTHORITY .

Tho se who would treat politics and m orali ty apart will never un d stand the e o r the other er on , . MO L Y R ss a u ou e . J OHN R E . A m an u o ener ns red the ervi d en us o the f ll f gy, i pi by f g i f Ce t who m a ant i tt e Wa es has sen t to an o i ce o w de antho l , g ll l l l ﬁ f i ri t y . T Pu a T Ox wh e d c O A O ord n Mr . lo HE R R , f , L y r ade an r D C L ge was m ho no ra y . . .

When in 1 90 5 came the fall Of the Con i e se rv at v . Government , Mr Lloyd George had become so valuable a member of the Opposition tha t his inclusion in the new Ministry was taken for granted . Few anticipated , however , that he would be selected for the Board of Trade . o as Indeed , the app intment came a general surprise . But it was soon realised that he was e ﬁtt d in a marked d egree for the post . In due course , he brought about greater legislative and administrative changes than can be placed to the credit of any previous President of the t Board of Trade . It was hought in many quarters that the Board of Trade was a sort of ” t i cut and dried Departmen , affording l ttle e x scop for the e ercise of new ideas . Lloyd a George dispelled the popul r notion . He not only removed obst ructio ns to the commercial l a r c t we f e of the oun ry , but was instrumental in placing on t he St atu t e Book th ree highly % 1 . HE 34 T NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

important m easures , namely , the Merchant

Shipping Act , the Port of London Act , and the

Patents Act . Even his opponents began to recognise openly his sterling qualities . In one Conservative news paper we find him r eferred to at this time as the M asc t o the G ver m nt o o n e . o ce f Clearly, high fi was in store for him . The expected honour was not long in coming . When Mr . As quith 1 0 8 became Prime Minister in 9 , he was appointed with the general approval of the Nation to the ffi responsible o ce of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and it is noteworthy that The Times news % paper remarked at the time that no better ” man could have been chosen for the post . The mes its True , Ti changed tune later , but the com pliment had been set down No better ” man could have been chosen for the post . Co ncerning the Budget of 1 9 1 0 and the Insurance 2 he Act of 1 9 1 T Times had much to say . Still fresh in the mind are the efforts made l to destroy the Insurance Bill . A revo ution was threatened . But Mr . Lloyd George boldly faced his Opponents , and finally defeated their ” opposition . The Act was passed , and stands , % sa as y those who favour the measure , a ” benefice nt factor in our daily life . Of other measures of social reform—Old Age Pensions and the Land Question mention has been made elsewhere in these pages . Here we m ay allow ourselves the privilege of dwelling again briefl y upon the manner and style o f th e man who caused the breath of t he Welsh mountains to blow over the musty

% 1 6 G 3 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR E .

Concerning this measure also , leading Con serv ativ es spoke favourably, but now with a s second motive . They thought they aw in the Bill steps favourable to the principles of Pro i n t ect o . But they were soon disillusioned . Mr .

Lloyd George protested that the Bill , far from being of a protectionist nature , was distinctly l and essentia ly a measure favouring Free Trade . Later on came the ﬁght between the Lords and the people . Thus far there had been some progress , but vested interests were now threa tened , and the House of Lords rose up in arms . ’ r l c M . L oyd George s s athing remarks when the Government Education Bill was thrown out by the Lords are still fresh in the memory . The aim of the Bill was to settle by mutual consent the aspirations of both the Established and the Free Churches . Lord Lansdowne called a conﬁdential meeting of the Unionist Peers , with the result that the Bill was killed before it came ” before the Upper House . Lord Lansdowne ,

Mr . Lloyd George said , arrogated to himself a position which no King claimed since the ominous days of Charles I . Decrees are issued from Lansdowne House that Bucking ” ham Palace would not dream of sending forth .

Matters went from bad to worse , when , in ’ 1 0 9 9, the People s Budget was thrown out by the Lords . To interfere in matters of r Finance was a fresh piece of da ing . A storm immediately arose . The Lords had gone too far % I have them now Mr . Lloyd George % cried triumphantly . Their greed has over ” r borne their craft . It remained , howeve . with H WIDE AUT ORITY . 1 37

Mr . Asquith to open a deﬁnite campaign .

Speaking at the Albert Hall, Mr . Asquith said

Neither I nor any other Liberal Minister , supported by a majority of the House of Com ff mons , is going to submit again to the rebu s and humiliations of the past four years . We shall not resume office unless we can secure the safeguards which experience shows us to b e necessary for the legislative utility and honour ” of the party of progress .

As for Mr . Lloyd George , the ground suited his admirably spirit and manner of ﬁghting . It was futile for men high up the social ladder to throw missiles upon his head . He threw back with such force that his opponents were l a most invariably brought to earth . The Duke r of B eaufo t , addressing a meeting of his % se e tenantry , said he would like to Lloyd George in the middle of twenty couple of ” hounds . Robber , others called the Chan ” r ce llo . And not a few dubbed him a thief . Replies made by the thief were distinctly disconcerting . Lord Milner advised the Lords (in language only too familiar) to throw out the l a . % Bil Fat l advice Indeed , it was not long before the Lords dug a hole for the burying of their own power %

Later , as the result of an appeal to the country, the Liberals were returned to power with a 1 2 majority of 5 , and the suspended Budget was d de f at e . . we re e duly passed The Lords , At the instance of the Cabinet the House of Com mons now passed a series of resolutions % That the House of Lords be abs olutely ex % ” EW G 1 3 8 THE N LLOYD GEOR E . cluded from the domain of Finance ; that its power of veto over measures passed by the Commons should be restricted that the consti tutio n of the House of Lords should be modiﬁed as to make it an elective instead of an hereditary ” chamber . In due course the resolutions were embodied ” a in the Parliament Bill , and after the appe l 1 1 0 to the country in December, 9 , the Lords were compelled to sign their own death 1 1 1 warrant The Bill passed in August , 9 , and the placing upon the Statute Book of the Irish

Home Rule Bill , and the Welsh Disestablish ment Bill followed as a natural course . With the exception of the bitter enmity which ’ arose out of Mr . Lloyd George s attitude at the time of the South African War , never was o feeling s strong against him . The Conser v ativ e papers rained abuse upon him in a manner that might well have damped the ardour f r t r O Bu M . a weake man . Lloyd George w thrived on the treatment . Receiving the sho er in the proverbial manner of the duck , he pro c e e ded to counter attack in full and steady manner . He seemed to revel in the storms .

The Democracy favoured his measures . He neither asked nor desired more . As for his opponents ’ attitude toward the People’ s Bud ” get , how natural they should resent having % their pockets touched Conservative papers , famous for their readiness to protect vested interests , declared in wordy leaders that the country wa s on the verge of How di fferent in the present dark year of real

THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR .

% 1 44 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR G E . some question of the protection of the weak and oppressed , then we should all unite in regard to it . In the days of Elizabeth the Puritans were the best fighters , but they fought for a noble and just cause— the cause of religious and civil freedom , whether in England or abroad . And as long as there is some great cause of that kind to fight for, we ought to be ready to fight for it now as we were three hundred years ” a o . It is well that we should keep the words in mind , for they Show , as nothing else could , that the sword wielded b y Mr . Lloyd George early — in life is the sword he wields still the Sword of m d t conv ct on Freedo an J ustice . By raining and i i r he is a pacifist . There is , howeve , a sense in which he is militant , and we have seen that few men can wage war with a stronger hand . He has ever been the champion of small nations . The violation of the neutrality of

Belgium moved the deepest roots of his being . ” ’ There is no man , he said at the Queen s Hall % 1 1 1 on September 9th , 9 4, who has always regarded the prospect of engaging in a great war with a greater reluctance and repugnance than I have done throughout the whole of my political life . There is no man more convinced that we could not have avoided war with Germany u a without national dishonour . I am f lly live to the fact that every nation who has ever engaged in any wa r has a lways inv o ked the a a sacred name of honour . M ny crime has been committed in its name ; there are some being A WAR THE GRE T EUROPEAN .

committed now . All the same , national honour is it a reality, and any nation that disregards is _ i doomed . Why s our honour as a country involved in this War % Because in the ﬁrst instance we are bound by honourable obligations to defend the independence, the liberty, the integrity of a small neighbour who has always lived eace ably. She could not have compelled us ; slie was weak ; but the man who declines to discharge hi s duty because his creditor is too i oor to enforce it s a blackguard . We entered p — — Into a treaty a solemn treaty to defend

Belgium and her integrity . Our signatures are attached to the documents . Our signatures do not stand there alone ; this country was not the only country who undertook to defend the integrity of Belgium . Russia , France , Austria , — Prussia they are all there . Why are Austria and Prussia not performing the obligations of their bond % It is suggested that when we quote this treaty it is purely an excuse on our — part it is our low craft and cunning to cloak our jealousy of a superior civilisation that we are attempting to destroy . Our answer is the

1 8 0 . 3 action we took in 7 What was that Mr . i Gla ds tone was then Prime M nister . Lord

Granville, I think , was then Foreign Secretary . I have never heard it laid to their charge that

’ they were ever jingoes . That treaty bound us then . We called upon the belligerent powers to respect it . We called upon France and we called upon Germany . At that time, bear in a mind , the greatest d nger to Belgium came from r an France and not from Ge m y . We intervened % ” 1 46 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR G E .

to protect Belgium against France, exactly as we are now doing to protect her against Germany .

We proceeded in exactly the same way . We invited both the belligerent Powers to State that they had no intention of violating Belgian was territory . What the answer given by Bismarck He said it was superfluous to ask Prussia such a question in view of the treaties in force . France gave a similar answer . We received at that time the thanks of the Belgian people for our intervention in a very remarkable document . It is a document addressed by the m unicipality of Brussels to Queen Victoria after that intervention , and it reads The great and n oble people over whose destin ies you pres ide has j ust given a further proof of its benevolent a ur ntr The v ce sentim ents to w rds o cou y . o i of the En l s n at on has een ear a ove the din o arms g i h i b h d b f , a d has asserte the r nc les ust ce and t Next n it d p i ip ofj i r igh . to the nnalterable attachm ent of the Belgian people to th e ir n e en en ce the stron est sent m ent w c lls t e r i d p d , g i hi h ﬁ h i a r le rat u hearts is that of n impe ishab g it de . % 8 1 0 . That was in 7 Mark what followed .

Three or four days after that document of thanks , a French army was wedged up against the r Belgian f ontier , every means of escape shut n out by a ri g of ﬂame from Prussian cannon .

There was one way of escape . What was that i Violating the neutral ty of Belgium . What did they do % The French on that occasion pre ferred ruin and humiliation to the breaking of their bond . The French Emperor , The French a Marsh ls , a hundred thousand gallant French

‘ in carrie d ca tiv e men arms , preferred to be p

% ” 8 H N EW OY 14 T E L L D GEORGE .

S has is not true . he deliberately broken this treat y, and we were in honour bound to stand t l) y I .

Belgium has been treated brutally . How b rutally we shall not yet know . We already know sh too much . But what had e done Had she sent an ultimatum to Germany Had she challenged Germany % Was she preparing to make war on Germany Had she inﬂicted any wrong upon Germany which the Kaiser was bound to redress % She was one of the most unoffending little countries in Europe . There she — was peaceable , industrious , thrifty, hard d ff . An working , giving o ence to no one her co rnﬁelds l have been tramp ed , her villages have been burnt , her art treasures have been destroyed , - her men have been slaughtered yea , and her women and children too . Hundreds and thousands of her people , their neat , comfortable little homes burnt to the dust , are wandering homeless in their own land . What was their worst crime Their crime was that they trusted I to the word of a Prussian King . do not know what the Kaiser hopes to achieve by this war . I have a shrewd idea of what he will get ; but one thing he has made certain , and that is that no nation will ever commit that crime again . As re ards the three years preceding the War, l 1 1 1 it wil e remembered that in July, 9 , the coast of Morocco became a sore point in inter

. ul 1 1 1 national affairs On the ﬁrst day of J y, 9 , the German Ambassador in London informed Sir Edward Grey that the Imperial Government had decided that to support German interests THE GREAT EUR OPEAN WAR . it was necessary to send a cruiser to the Port

of Agadir . It is said that the announcement ’ implied that Germany, who , in the Emperor s wo ul not be eni e he r la ce i n the sun words , d d d p , had determined that she must be consulted in regard to the situation which had arisen from the French expedition to Fez and the Spanish ’ occupation of Ports in the interior .

At the same time , Sir Edward Grey was advised that the Imperial Government t e arded a return to the status % uo in Mo rocco as doubtful , if not impossible , and that what they contemplated was a deﬁnite solution of the

Moroccan question between Germany , France ’ and Spain . There was , it seems , the feeling that there was no disposition on the art of

Germany to consult Grea t Britain . t was claimed at the time that Great Britain had no desire to acquire territory in Morocco , but the fact remained that she was bound by treaty a obligations to Fr nce .

Now as regards the part played by Mr . Lloyd George % on the day of a highly important interview between the English Foreign Secretary l and the German Ambassador , Mr . L oyd George was announced to speak at the Mansion House . After consultation with Sir Edward Grey and

Mr . Asquith it was decided that he should speak of foreign affairs , b ut within certain limits . r i t Sir Edward G ey sa d la er , We were anxious as to the way in which things were developing , and we all the n felt that for a Cabinet Minister of ﬁrst-rate importance to make a speech on a and ' u formal occasion , to say no word abo t % ” 1 0 5 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

. foreign affairs would be misleading to public ” opinion here and everywhere . ‘ ’ It is essential , Mr . Lloyd George said in hi his speech , to the ghest interest not merely t r a of his country, but of the wo ld , that Brit in should at all haz ards maintain her place and prestige amongst the Great Powers . Her potent l inf uence has many a time in the past , and may l yet in the future, be va uable in the cause of human liberty . It has more than once in the past redeemed Continental nations— who are sometimes too apt to forget that service—from overwhelming disaster and national ex tinction .

I would make great sacriﬁces to preserve peace . I can conceive of nothing that could justify disturbance of international goodwill , except questions of the greatest national moment , but if a situation were forced upon us in which peace could only be preserved by the surrender of the great and beneﬁc ent position which Britain has won by centuries of heroism and achievement , by allowing Britain to be treated , where her are f interests vitally af ected , as if she were of no I sa account in a Cabinet of nations , then y emphatic a lly that peace at that price would be a humili ation intolera ble for a great country ’ like ours to endure . ‘ ’ The speech , Sir Edward Grey said later , a - cl imed no pre eminence , no predominance for us in interna tional affairs . It contained no menace . It did not say that there was any particular demand or c laim on the part of Ger many that was inconsistent with B ritish ih tere sts. Its purpose and its poin t wa s tha t

% ” 2 1 5 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR G E .

would have undergone another transformation . The anx iety about the German ﬂeet ’ would have been removed .

As a matter of fact , there was strong public opinion in this country a s to exactly h o w the

British ﬂeet was to be used . The German a Government was aw re of this . Nevertheless , it decided to have a ﬂeet so powerful in gun and swift in speed that England would find it ” diffi cult to keep pace with it . In thi s connection it is interesting to recall the fact that Mr . Lloyd George , who in time % ” N av it e past has been accused of being a Little y , % 1 0 said in his Budget speech in April , 9 9 , that we all value too highly the immunity which this country has long enj oyed from the horrors of an invaded land to e ndanger it for lack of timely provision . That immunity is a great national asset . It is an essential part of that great national wealth which security h as enabled us to build up . It means an inviolable guarantee for our national freedom and independence . Many a time it has been a citadel and sole guarantee which has saved the menaced liberties of Europe from an impending doom . We do not intend to put in j eopardy the Naval sup rem acy which is not only essential to our national existence , but to the vital interests of Western ” civilization . It is true that against this must be placed various public utterances by Mr . Lloyd George which took the form of a protest against in creased naval expenditure . For example f to Rich nation as we are , we cannot af ord WA R THE GREAT EUROPEAN .

build navies against nightmares . It is much ” too expensive an operation . In this attitude he wa s not without supporters . Indeed , it is said that both parties in the House were blind to the f i actual trend of af a rs . Out of the breadth of i l his sympath es Mr . L oyd George believed , and ll sti believes , in the great masses of the German % people . I will not say a single word in dis ” ara e m ent p g of them , he said in the famous ’ % speech delivered at the Queen s Hall . They l are a great people , and have great qua ities of I head and hand and heart . believe , in Spite e is as of recent ev nts , that there great a store of kindliness in the German peasant as in any peasant in the world ; but he has been d rilled e fli cient into a false idea of civilisation . It is , it is capable ; but it is a hard civilisation it is a selfish civilisation it is a material civilisation . They cannot comprehend the action of Britain at the present moment . They say , France we can understand ; sh e is out for vengeance ; — she is out for territory Alsace and Lorraine . They say they can understand Russia ; she is — fighting for mastery she wants Galicia . They can understand you fighting for vengeance they can understand you fighting for mastery they can understand you fighting for of territory ; but they cannot understan(graeegdreat its Empire pledging resources , pledging its might , pledging the lives of its children , pledging its very existence , to protect a little nation that ” seeks to defend herself . Now as regards the pa rt played b y % The Land of My Fathers . Mr . Lloyd George saw Lord % 1 N EW E 54 THE LLOYD GEOR G .

Kitchener and urged the raising of a Welsh

ffi . Army with Welsh speaking o cers Indeed , Colonel Owen Thomas left the War Offi ce that same day as the first Brigadier- General of the first Welsh Army the world has seen since Sir Rhys ap Thomas led the men of Carmarthen hi hi i Bo s s re , Brecons re, and Cardigansh re to hi s worth Field , and with own hands placed the crown of England on the Welsh prince , Henry ’ Tudor . Mr . Lloyd George s appeal to hi s fellow countrymen was as readily responded to as had been the war- torch which Owen Glyndwr sent flaming through the length and breadth of the

Principality . Lord Kitchener now has at his command a larger Welsh Army than Wellington had of combined British forces in the battle of

x . Waterloo , e actly a hundred years ago And the record of the Welsh Fusiliers and the South

Wales Borderers in this War , up to the time of i writing, w ll compare with the proudest and most daring feats of arms by any nation in thi s or any previous campaign .

These are the j ust claims of a Welshm an (Mr . Beriah Evans) who continues % It must be to the credit of Mr . Lloyd George, too, that His

Maj esty King George V . created a body of Welsh Guards— that envied aristocracy of the British Army— His Majesty himself becoming

- - its Colonel in Chief . and thus placing the Prin c ipality in a military sense on a footing of equali ty with the three sister nations in the

United Kingdom . Lord Kitchener placed the ﬁnishing touch upon the recognition of that separate Welsh nationality for which Mr. Lloyd

” 1 6 5 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE . again ; but as long as the men and women of this generation last , they will carry in their hearts the image of those mighty peaks whose foundations are not shaken , though Europe rock and sway in the convulsions of a great war . MINISTER OF MUNITIONS .

1 60 THE G NEW LLOYD GEOR E . factur e d and sent to the front . The cal ” culat io ns ail , wrote the late Editor of the D y t zen C i i were hopelessly wrong, and deliveries were not made to anything like the degree required . In view of all that came after , it is important to emphasise the fact that the Com m itt e e had no power . It is pretty certain that fo Mr . Lloyd George fought strongly r drastic improvements and extensions , but neither he nor any other member of the committees was in a position to do anything . The e xecutive

ower was only created at a later date , when the inistr y of Munitions came into existence . Well- meaning officialdom enveloped him on all l sides . It wi l be on record in the future that his vision pierced a good dea l o f muddle-h eadedness and that he went o n strenuously making arrange ” ments for a new state of things . The result was the creation of a new post , with Mr . Lloyd

George at the head . He now became Minister of Munitions .

Previous to accepting the post , Mr . Lloyd George in his wisdom had obtained from the House of Commons power for the Government to take over any works suitable for the making of munitions . All were alive now to the urgent needs of our armies in the field, and it was felt that a direct appeal to manufacturers and work men would be sufficient to bring a bout the desired results . To this appeal there was in many quarters a ready response . It was , how ever , soon realised that the actual and most urgent need was a complete reorganisation of ’ ac the country s resources . The f t , once grasped , S 1 1 MINI S TER OF MUNITION . 6 was immediately acted upon . Mr . Lloyd George introduced a plan to mobilise the engineering r resources of the country . Counties we e mapped out and ever y available factory and workshop brought into a co - ordinated scheme for the pro ’ duction of munitions of war . It is good to record that the new minister l was not wanting in loya and willing support . Influential men flocked in increasing numbers to his help great engineers , famous managers , men who had made fortunes by their ingenuity and power of organisation . They were prepared to work for nothing in the emergency of the nation , and they placed themselves unreservedly ’ at Mr . Lloyd George s disposal . With their aid and that of the local committees who had e n thusiast icall y devoted themselves to the work , the big munition scheme grew swiftly . A thous and difficulties had to be encountered on s the way . Labour was suspicious of the profit made by the manufacturers ; manufacturers ” condemned the restrictions of the Trade Unions . The Minister of Munitions lost no time in bringing his peculiar gifts to play upon the situation . Again , his knowledge of men and powers of persuasion came to the fore . But now to persuasiveness he added strong words . his s So strong , indeed , were some of observation touching certain sections of labour that not a few people declared that Lloyd George had at last found out the working man

But the truth is , the whole system of the pro duction of m unitions was at fault . A fresh and still more vigorous awakening was now the 1 62 G THE NEW LLOYD GEOR E .

crying need , and again Without hesitation Mr .

Lloyd George applied the necessary measures . n rd 1 1 Speaki g at Manchester on j une 3 , 9 5 , he said It depends more upon the masters and men who are occupied in running the workshops of the country, than upon almost any section l of the community , whether Britain wi l emerge from this colossal struggle beaten , humiliated , stripped of power and honour and influence , the mere bond slave of a cruel military tyranny, or sh e whether will come out triumphant , free, more powerful for good than ever in the affairs — of men . You have read and so have I I appeals from the front to the workshop . would almost say that at the present moment everything depends on the workshops of Britain . Have you read that anxious tale of the struggle which is going on now in Galicia Read it , read it well , read it intelligently, and you will find how much the workshops count in this war . ur ent The need was most g , and Mr . Lloyd George set out the case in the pla inest possible ” language When the house is on fire , he said later , questions of procedure , of precedence, of etiquette , of time, and division of labour sa disappear . You cannot y that you are not ’ liable to service at three o clock in the morning , ’ if the fire is proceeding . You don t choose the hour ; you cannot argue as to whose duty it is to carry the water bucket and whose duty it is to tip it into the crackling furnace . You must put the fire out . There is only one way to do

- that . That is , everything must give way to

1 W G 64 THE N E LLOYD GEOR E.

l n appeal that we make , that you wi l be able i the years to come to hear this war disc ussed on your hearthstones without colouring or cower ing with shame for any deed that you have per r I pet ate d . That is my appeal . ask you to help us . You can do it . You can help this country to win the greatest triumph in its hi story . It is not a triumph for this country merely . Britain has simply gone in to uphold the standard of right , justice , and fair dealing — among nations as well as among men she has gone in for liberty in Europe . That is the battle I a cry . am here to ask you to pl nt the ﬂag on

. s your workshops Every lathe you posses , recruit it , enlist it . Convert your lathes and you r machinery into battalions which will drive the foe from the land which he has tortured and devastated and trampled upon and dis~ graced , and liberty will be once more enthroned . war e It is a grea t , it is a terrible war , but b eliev n it me that Britain , havi g entered upon , cannot go back without wiping her name from the map of the world as a great power . There was a famous historic personage who onc e turned back and was converted into a pillar of salt , and tradition in the district says that that fact is responsible for the Dead Sea . Whether that is true or not , believe me , if Britain turns back on this journey and on this task she will become ’ I nothing but a dead sea among nations . therefore ask every man in this room and every man outside the room , who has the power and a t resource , to place both the disposal of the State in this great hou r of peril MrN s i TER o r MUNITIONS . 1 65

We ought to have no party barriers at the s h pre ent time . T is is not the time to talk of convictions which divide us . We have one — is conviction in common our country right , and our country, being right , ought to win , and l we wi l do our best to secure the victory . Con se rv ativ es s S ndi — , Unionist , Liberals , Socialists , y c alists we are one peo ple so long as this war s I a la ts . And appeal to the l bour leaders of h i t is d strict to do their best . It depe nds more I upon them , am told , in this district , than in any other district , because the word rests with o rganised labour here whether you are going to turn out double the supply of shells or simply l I I e to halve your possibi ities . think am n titled, Speaking not merely on behalf of the

Ministry , but on behalf of a united nation , to appeal to everybody to relax every rule and regulation in order to make it possible for us to a win a victory for justice and for right . A gre t

Army has been organised , millions have placed themselves freely under a rigid and stern military h discipline , and the ac ievement of Lord Kit chener in that resp ect is one of the most brilliant in military organisation . Where there are millions of men who have rea dily of their own o accord , without compulsi n , merely by an a a pe l to their instinct of patriotism , placed s I t eir live at the disposal of their country, think we who are at home , who are facing no dangers , who are not going to confront the a horrors of the battleﬁeld , the le st we can do s t i o ur is with all our treng h , all our sk ll , all ” r s r a win . e e ve , to help these br ve lads to 66 1 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

The appeal made by Mr . Lloyd George was , as we have seen , to love of Country , to the sense of duty, and , in particular , to loyalty and fair ness to the men who were fa cing the perils and bearing the hardships of the fight . Only by hard self-sac rificing labour could the working man win for hi mself the honour and glory of the heroic soldier . Every pit was a trench in the was war , a labyrinth of trenches , every workshop W a rampart , every yard hich could turn out munitions of war was a fortress picks , shovels , lathes , hammers they were as much the weapons of the great war of European liberty as the - the bayonet , the rifle , and machine gun . The man who did not handle them with all his strength was failing a s much in his duty as the soldier who ran away from the battle at the front . e Ever M an a In a sent nce , the ideal was , y i ter i n the a use o ree om and u t F gh C f F d j s ice .

An American journalist , who sought an inter view with Mr . Lloyd George at this time , writes % I s ecured a fund of data in the Ministry of —ii Munitions , which the pursuit had not been given up in despair in the meantime—would have consumed anywhere from two days to two weeks of waiting and wandering in the gloomy precincts of the other Ministries of

Whitehall . The ﬁlling out of a simple blank

- form took me direct to a clear eyed , clear

thinking young secretary, who promptly told I was me all he knew himself of what after , and h who , the w ile he talked , made appointments over the ’ phone at his elbow with the several

1 68 N EW THE LLOYD GEORGE . who had been accepting a running ﬁre of felici tatio ns without rising , was on his feet in an ’ instant . You re C of the B E

Company . I know . You came from South Africa at your own expense and have been working in the Munitions Department at a fraction of your regular salary . You have been d sentr in the hospital for a month with chronic y y, and have only been back at your desk for a week . ’ ’ ’ hav e n t se nt It s a shame I word to tell you , and the other chaps with you that have come us from the ends of the earth to help , how deeply we ap reciate your sacriﬁces and services . I don ’ t pnow what we should have done Without ’ you all . By the way, isn t there a young American ex plosive expert from Johannesburg — working with you a chemical engineer named Q I think it is % Please tell him how especially ﬁne I think it is that he should have ’ j oined us to do his bit . I m going to get round ’ to see you all before long . was There , of course , still much smoothing to be done , much grit to be removed . But already great progress had been made . Woman labour was now being employed , and unskilled labour was being used as it was never used before .

Trade Union rights had been partly given , and many sections were lending willing hanup5 . h as Indeed , seldom , if ever , England been the scene of such a transformation in labour as the munitions work caused . Cotton factories , - carpet factories , motor car workshops , tramcar depots , bicycle shops , technical schools and in numer able workshops of the kind were drawn N i ER 1 Mr sT OF MU N m O N s . 69

” n into the ri g of activity. All this was in addition to the establishment of large Government s u i factorie to t rn out noth ng but war material , n directly organised from the Mi istry of Munitions . l n in Capita ists , hesitati g the ﬁrst instance , now heartily embraced the new Minister . Labour , n feari g at one time injury to their rights , took on a more friendly attitude . Indeed , Labour was said at this t irn e to have taken to itself a new dignity . Praising his helpers in the House

2 8th 1 1 . of Commons on July , 9 5 , Mr Lloyd George said All the men who are engaged in thi s task are now working hard . They are working very hard , and I can assure all those whom it may concern that they have neither the time nor the inclination to engage in the sorry and squalid intrigues which seem to ﬁll - ) the minds of evil disposed erso ns . They are and engaged upon their wok , all we ask is that — both plotters and plot-mongers I am not sure i is s wh ch t—he more mi chievous in a time of e mergency s hall just keep their hands and their ” tongues o ff the Ministry of Mun itions . t The warning was scarcely needed . O her departments were subj ected to adverse criticism , ’ but Mr . Lloyd George s de partm ent was widely

. A s nal v ct r i n a a rk o u acclaimed ig o/ i o y d h r . % ” There are some people , he said at the % 2 th 1 1 London Opera House , une 9 , 9 5 , who can see nothing but the lack menace in the sky , and they imagine it shows a lack of foresight to look at the wide stretches of blue still smiling the in a . r the he vens The e are some, on other band ﬁx ir e r o n the c ea , who the gaz igidly l r 1 70 THE N EW LLOYD GEOR G E .

e azure above the seas . Th y deem it disloyal to take any note of the dark thunder-clouds that are rolling up in the East and the grey sky which is hanging so heavily over the plains of Flanders and of France . The new parties are the Blue

Sky school and the Grey Sky school . Let me sk sk tell you what I think about the y. The y ﬁrm am e nt is . us mottled Let look boldly at the , ignoring nothing , being partisans of no fact , taking them all in , preparing for the worst and rejoicing in the best , being ready for the thunder showers when they come , but in the full know ledge that the sun is shining behi nd the darkest storm - clouds and in the full faith that its illuminating rays will soon break through and scatter the gloom which hangs on the horizon ” of European democracy .

CHAPTE R XIX .

S THE HIGHE T INTERESTS OF LABOUR .

A aith i l ri en d is the m edi c ne o i e f ﬁ f i f l f . EGCL Es rAsn u V I c s . 1 , 6.

% ” OU R i chief want in l fe , says Emerson , is us somebody who shall make do what we can . ” th e That is service of a friend . And that is the service the Minister of Munitions has sought to ” render to Labour . War , he has said , creates a new outlook , demands a fresh order ; you i cannot haggle with an earthquake . All th s chaffering about relaxn a rule here and sus a I b pending custom there is out of place . eg the skilled workmen of this country in whose e i ke ping are the destinies of labour, to l ft up their eyes above the mists of distrust and sus icio n e p , and ascend to the heights of the great st opportunity that ever Open ed before their ” class . He was impatient with the labour leaders who m expected the privileges of peace in ti e of war . i ’ I tell you qu te frankly, he said at Manchester , ‘ it may be dangerous to depend upon the con i tin ua t o n of our resent conditions . You must remember this . he voluntary army you have at the front consists of men who have pla c ed th eir movements under the complete dir ection i of those who represent the State . Their t me, ir m e r c n er the ovem nts , their di e tio , the v y 1 N EW O 74 THE LL YD GEORGE .

o ffi locality they are in , are ch sen by the o cers of the State ; their very lives are at the disposal of the State . That enables those who represent t t o the State to concentra e them , to order them a position where they can render th e greatest service to the State . That is what a Voluntary army in a military sense means . I am sorry to sa y it does not mean that industrially . The a regul tions , the customs and practices which may t t be of great service in imes of peace , are u terly inapplicable and out of place in the terrible ’ a r urgency of w .

Greatly daring , he hinted , nay, more than l ” hinted at compu sion . Some people , he said ’ r l the co m ul at Mancheste , don t ike idea of p o no t sion . C mpulsion is meant for the maj ority r x of people . You e perience and mine must be that most people never come up against com l pulsion at all , because they not mere y do as a matter of cou rse what the law asks them they do a gre a t deal more without the law ever co near them and asking them to do it . But la are a few who just g behind , and it is very useful to have something that will jog them along . It is the elementary duty of every citiz en to pla ce the whole of his strength and resources at the disposal of his native land in r N o x x its hou of need . State can e ist e cept on the basis of a full reco gnition of that duty on the r a nd r part of eve y man eve y woman in the land . To what ex tent and in What direction the moral duty o f ea c h citiz en to give his best to the State r should be conve ted into a legal duty, a question

‘ i be de c ide d not of pr nciple but of necessity, is to

” 1 6 W 7 THE N E LLOYD GEOR G E .

c make any impression for some time . What an make an immediate impression is that the men should ﬂing the whole of their strength and energy, without any regard to these practices , I . canno t into turning out munitions of war , without giving ﬁgures , which I ought not to l give , make my hon . friends rea ise how vitally important it is to the interests of the country a nd to the protection of the men in the trenches - — the comrades of the workers their sons , their relatives , that they should , during the next few months , at any rate , do their very best and give all that is in them to increase the output in these yards . The trade union representativ es know per fe ctly well to what I am referring . It is a sort r of unwritten ule , a practice whereby pro duction is limited almost by the amount which m an an average could produce . No man is to go beyond a certain limit of output , in fact , it is regarded as an act of disloyalty by his comrades l - to do so . That is a very wel known fact , and no unionist denies it . During a period of peace a there are reasons for it s well as against it .

It is done to conserve the energies of the men , and undoubtedly the employers have been responsible , because in the past the moment men began to put forth the whole of their strength the employers . m m ediately reduced the piece rates . It takes a long time to get an Gxperience of that kind out of the minds of the men . The fact of their abandoning these ractices now will not prevent them from restor I n g them at the end of the war , but it is vital 1 THE HIGHEST I NTERE S TS OF LABOUR . 77 that they should be abandoned during the war .

e t . in Again and y again , Mr Lloyd George sisted upon the vital necessity of abandoning during the period of the war the customs and ” practices of peace . War , he said , once more

is i r . l hi l ke feve , a deadly fever The ru es w ch are applicable in health are utterly unsuited to hi a fever . Restraints w ch would be irksome , s tupid and unnecessary when a man is hea lthy are essential to save his life in . a fever . What is the use of the patient saying I must have m as in eat as usual, drink usual, fact more than

hi . usual , b ecause I am t rstier than usual I hi so have a gh temperature , I am more parched than usual ; there is a grea ter strain on m y so l strength , I rea ly ought to have m ore than - I u a . su l If I want to go out , why should be conﬁned to that b ed % Fre edom above all % ’ ‘ is But you will die Ah , he says , it more glorious to die a free man than to live in bond ’ age . Let Britain be beaten and discredited sa and dishonoured , but let no man y that any Briton during the war was ever forced to do anything for hi s country except that which was

leasing in his own sight . Ah victory p ” 18 no t on that road . He insisted upon strict living and self-sacrifice in all quarters . During the debate on the I O os als 1 2th 1 1 Budget p p , May , 9 5 , he said a One thing is perfectly clear . The st ndard of living in this country for all classes will per force be reduced in one way or another . Any one who has studied the standard of living i t 1 8 N EW 7 THE LLOYD GEORGE . during the last thirty or forty years must see hi how it has been rus ng up at a prodigious rate . With the increasing wealth and prosperity of the country year by year , up has gone the standard of living . We shall find that the community will have to return to its old and l simpler level of expenditure . It wil be a good thi ng in itself . Had we better not face it at once % Men can make sacrifices of luxuries and comforts in a great war when they make so sacrifice of life , that this is the time when people will be prepared to bring themselves down to that level . There is the heat and there is the passion that will enable you to mould and remould a country and a society to some better form and fashion . You can do it in a ” great war , and this is the time for us to do it . He held that a war such as Great Britain was — — waging a war in a righteous cause called for reformation of character . Far from affording an excuse for any form of indulgence , the War demanded restraints hitherto unknown to the eO le hi masses of the p . He hammered at t s n cksm ith - poi t , as the b hammers the red hot % ” % iron . There is , he said, too much dis position to cling to the amenities of peace . i Business as usual, enjoyment as usual, fash ons ,

- — . s lock outs , strikes , Sprees all as usual Wage o must g up , proﬁts must also improve ; but prices must at all costs be kept down . No man must be called upOn to serve the State unless he wants to ; even then he has only to be called upon to do exactly what he woul d — like to do not what he is ﬁt for, not what

” 1 80 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

a aid them . The wagons are w iting outside the ﬁll yard gates to be ﬁlled . Let us them ; let

us . send them along Then , when that is done , there will be written in letters of flame the greatest chapter in the history of these islands , in which it will be told how when the flag of freedom drooped for a moment under the o n slau hts o f g a ruthless foe , the men and the women of Britain came to the rescue and planted it firmly on high whence no tyranny can pluck it down . His sorrow and anxiety at the time of the coal % ” strike affected him like a fever . Coal, he % declared , is everything for us , and we want more o f it to win victory . Coal is the most o terrible of enemies , and it is the m st potent of friends . Read that terrible casualty list given out by the Prime Minister the other day. Three hundred and fifty thousand British soldiers %

They were casualties inﬂicted by German coal, r n c o by the Westphalian mine , worki g in operation with the Prussian engineer— without stint , without reserve , without regulation , putting their strength at the disposal of their

Fatherland . In poignant terms he appealed to the miners to rise above their own ” petty interests . Coal , he said , is our inter national coinage . We buy goods abroad , food and raw material . We pay, not in gold , but in coal . In war it is life for us and death for fo r o ur foes . It not merely fetche s and carries us ; it makes the material and the machinery

i . wh ch it transports It bends , it moulds , it

ﬁlls the weapons of war . Steam means coal . G S T B 1 1 THE HI HE T I NTERES S OF LA OUR . 8

- Riﬂes mean coal . Machine guns mean coal .

. l Cannons mean coal She ls are made with coal .

Shells are filled with coal . The very explosives inside them are coal , and then coal carries them ” t t on right into the ba lefield to help our men . At the conclusion of the South Wales coal strike his heart warmed towards the miner like the heart of a kindly and indulgent parent . % I congratulate all those who are interested ” % co alfleld in the , he said , I congratulate the r r community, and I cong atulate the Empi e upon the fact that we have arrived at a satisfactory settlement of this terrible dispute . Person — ally I hate a quarrel at least I can say I enter o u l int quarrels very rel ctantly, a though you appear hardly to believe it . But at any rate , — of this I am cert a in tha t of all quarrels that would be distasteful would be a quarrel with my own flesh and blood , because I have so many o f friends in the minefield South Wales , and throughout what is a fairly long political career r I never had better , Sturdie , or more reliable friends than those who live and labour in these r valleys of South Wales . To me it was a g ief I can say more to you to me the mere thought — was a horror that I should have to take part in a st ruggle with my best friends and with men who have the same blood cou rsing through t o their heart s as I have . It is a source of joy me , a joy beyond all words which I can give o u t y , hat I am going back having shaken hands with my fellow-workmen in the South Wales minefield . w Having. forgiven and embraced the way ard 1 8 2 N EW G THE LLOYD GEOR E .

- miners , he went on , father like , to plead with them to follow a nobler course of conduct in the future as is Do your best , much as in you , to make up for lost time , and Show the demo cracy of France at any rate , that you are pre pared to assist them in the common struggle for the freedom of the world . I want you to do this , too , for the sake of the British Navy which defends our shores—the Navy that makes it impossible for the ruthl ess German to trample our co alfi elds and co rnfields as they are tram l n ff ling those in France . Fil the bu kers . means defence ; it mea ns protection ; it means an inviolable Britain , it means that Britain , through your help , can still defy the most potent enemy in the world . And it depends upon you to help the British Navy to defend our shores . o Up n the coal you turn out depends the steel , the explosive, the material that helps our men to meet the enemy on fairly equal terms . You need no certificate of patriotism in the Welsh

Valleys . Major Lucas told me this morning that men had already been enrolled in

Glamorganshire . And how well they have ’ fought % Did you r ead in yesterday s paper that tale of doughty deeds by the Welsh Fusi Gwell chwil dd liers whose motto , angau na y (Better death than dishonour) has been written in blood on the battleﬁelds of France I envy the nerve , but not the heart , of the man who can read t hat story without a so b of pride . I t is a great story, but do . not forget they are asking you and me and everybody at home to hel ' the m ha p to ﬁght with a fair chance. T t

” 1 8 4 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

blessed with the noblest ideals . This attitude n spri gs from the deepest roots of his being , and is devoid of vainglory . His beloved Princi alit not p y may be lacking in many things , but - a in valour and self s crifice . a 2 8 th 1 1 re Spe king at Bangor (Feb . , 9 5) he called the legend o f the Welshman who wa s given a series of what appeared to be impossible tasks to perform ere he could reach the desires of % his heart . Amongst other things he had to do was to recover every grain - o f seed that had been sown in a large field and bring it all in without one missing by sunset . He came to an anthill and won all the hearts and enlisted the sympathies of the industrious little people . They spread over the field and before sundown the seed was all in except one grain , and as the sun was setting over the western skies a lame ” ant hobbled along with that grain also . Some of us have youth and vigour and ” suppleness of limb , he continued , some of us infirm ities are crippled with years or with , and we are at best but lame ants . But we can all limp along with some share of our country ’ s burden , and thus help her in this terrible hour ” to win the desire of her heart . THROUGH TE RROR TO TRIUMPH .

1 8 8 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

tate to praise Where praise was due . Even for the erring miner he had further gentle and ” ﬂattering words . The Government , he said 2 th 1 1 at the London Opera House , July 9 , 9 5 ,

- appeal to the miner to day as a friend , as their ’ r friend , as the count y s friend , as the friends of liberty in all lands and in every clime . And was not the liberty of the world threatened % % ” The privileges of peace , he again insisted ,

must be sacrificed temporarily, to the universal ’ go o dfi In an introduction to the volume published under the title given at the head of this chapter , he says , The untoward incidents of the war have not weakened my faith in ultimate victory — always provided that the allied nations put forth the whole of their strength ere it is too late . Anything less must lead to defeat . The allied countries have an overwhelming pre ponderance in the raw material that goes to the making and equipment of armies , whether in men , money, or accessible metals and mac t a hinc y . But this m terial has to be mobilised and utilised . It would be idle to pretend that the first twelve months of the war has seen m this task acco plished satisfactorily . Had the Allies realised in time the ' full strength of their — redoubtable and resourceful foes nay, what is more , had they realised their own strength r and resources , and taken p ompt action to - s organise them , to day we should have witnes ed the triumphant spectacle of their guns pouring out a Stream of shot and Shell which would -have the deluged German trenches with fire , and G M 1 8 THROU H TERROR TO TRIU PH . 9 scorched the German legions back across their own frontiers . ” % % What , he asks , is the actua l position

It is thoroughly well known to the Germans , and anyone in any land , belligerent or neutral, who reads intelligently the military news , must by now have a comprehension of it . c With the resour es of Great Britain , France , — l l — at Russia yea , of the who e industria world l i the dis osal of the A l es , it is obvious that the Centralp Powers have still an overwhelming superiority in all the materia l and equipment of war . The result of this deplorable fact is exactly what might have been foreseen . The iron heel of Germany has sunk deeper than ever into French and Belgian soil . Poland is en t a ti ely German , Lithu nia is rapidly following .

Russian fortresses , deemed impregnable , are falling like sand castles before the resistless tide of Teutonic invasion . When will that tide recede When will it be stemmed As soon as the Al lies are supplied with a bundance of war material . That is why I am recalling these unpleasant t facts , because I wish to S ir my countrymen to

ut forth their strength to amend the situation . To dwell on such events is the most disagreeable c task that can fall to the lot of a publi man .

For all that , the public man who either Shirks s these fact himself, or does not do his best to force others to face them until they are t e dressed , is guilty of high treason to the State ” which he has sworn to serve . The seriousness of the position cut like a knife 1 0 EW 9 THE N LLOYD GEOR GE .

into his soul . He did not doubt that ultimate l victory rested with the A lies , given certain e conditions . But he was haunted by the f ar that those all- important conditions might not % ” be realised . If we are not allowed , he said , % to equip our factories and workshops with adequate labour to supply our armies , because we must not transgress regulations applic able to normal conditions , if practices are maintained which res trict the output of essential war material if the nation hesitates , when the need is clear , to take the necessary steps to call forth its manhood and defend honour and existence if vital decisions are postponed until to o late ; if we neglect to make ready for all probable eventualities if, in fact , we give ground for the accusation that we are slouching into disaster as if we were walking along the ordinary l aths of peace without an enemy in sight theu fcan see no hope ; but if we sacriﬁce all we own for our native land ; if our preparations are

characterised by grip , resolution , and a prompt readiness in every sphere then victory is ” assured . The Munitions Bill was the natural outcome

of the grave position . When introducing the Bill m 2 rd 1 1 in the House of Co mons on June 3 , 9 5 ,

Mr . Lloyd George pointed out that the ﬁrst step

to increase the output , before sources of supply

could be expanded , was to secure the necessary skilled labour to ﬁll up the workshops which had

plenty of machinery . The next step , he % labo un as continued , is that such skilled we — have it is quite inadequate in numbers

” 1 9 2 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE on some sort of necessity for the protection of labour against undue claims upon its stre ngth in normal cases . % But the most devastating regulations are those which are not written , those which limit the output by making it impossible for a man to put forth the whole of his strength without bringing upon himself the displeasure of his fi fellows . It is very di f cult to talk about such cases . If you are asked to put forward the l cases , the men who supp ied that information do not care to make themselves unpopular . But un I have a letter , a very able letter , from an skilled but educated man , who felt that it was his duty to do something for the State in this great crisis , and who applied for a job in a work shop where Shells are turned out . The letter he writes me is rather a distressing one . He tells me that there is nothing in shell making that a fairly intelligent f man cannot learn in a very

hl . Short time . It is not hig y skilled work He applied himself to learning some particular branch of the work , and he asked one of the workmen to teach him . The workman very readily placed his services at his disposal, but was instantly ordered o ff . He was not allowed

to learn that trade , and at last he took some sort of employment in the works where he did not come into contravention with the regu

latio ns .

at The worst thing of all , he tells me , is th there is un do ubtedlyam o ngst a section of the men in a piecework establishment a deliberate discour age m ent of what they regard% as turning out t oo To M 1 THROUGH TERROR TRIU PH . 93

r m much wo k , which ight have the effect of fo r r r calling a evision of prices . The e is no doubt at all as to the meaning of it . The meaning of — it is this and employers are , I think , very largely — to blame for it that if a man works his utmost in turning out this work , then the employer says , ’ 1 0 a is You earn £ a week , th t monstrous . If all the men did the same , they would revise the

- % scale of wages , and cut down piece work so the men , for their own protection , say, We cannot do that , because the more we work the ’ less our wages are . There are two sides to this question . We have a guarantee from the em plo yers that no advantage will be taken of any relaxation of trade union practice in this respect , h and t at if the men , by putting the whole of l their Strength into their work , earn arge wages there shall be no revision of the rate of piece work . On the other hand we must appeal to the men , for the sake of their country in a time i ut of dire necessity, d re peril , to the whole of their strength into their workto help their fellows in the ﬁeld and to give them a good chance . We ask them to put forth the whole of their strength without any regard to the practices of the past , relying upon the honour of a great nation that it will se e fai r play for ” them at the end of the war . In the same Speech he drew the reins still

l . tighter , and , it is said , app ied the whip The ” % next step , he said , is one in which trade r unions are concerned . We had a very f ank discussion between the lea ders of t he t rade unions and myself, and I was bound to point N 1 N E w 94 THE LLOYD GEORGE . out that if there was an inadequate supply of labour for the purpose of turning out the muni tions of war which are necessary for the safety u of the country , compulsion wo ld be inevitable . % r If the e are honourable friends of mine , he said later , who are Opposed to compulsion , the most effective service they can render to voluntaryism is to make this army a success .

If we succeed by these means , if within seven days we secure the labour , then the need for industrial compulsion will to that extent have been taken away . I sincerely hope we shall r succeed . If you have a volunta y army there must be a means of enforcing contracts . It is of sa no use having or men who y, ’ w the We will go any here we are told , if, when time comes , they refuse and you cannot compel hi them . They volunteer to enter into t s con tract , but once they enter into it , it is a contract and it must be enforceable, and we take power ” in the Bill to enforce the contract .

So far as Mr . Lloyd George was concerned the case was perfectly clear . Men must work to their uttermost of their own freewill , or submit to other measures . Few , however , could believe that the acknowledged champion of Freedom and friend of the Democracy would ever sacri ﬁce the principles for which he had fought since early boyhood . But this , it should be % ” remembered , was a time of terror .

H C APTER XXI .

A STORY OF PROGRESS .

A s so o n as we have seen o ur plai n duty in each thi ng tha t rese nts itse let u s co n ne o urse ves to that a nd w thdraw o ur p lf , ﬁ l , i s e ves ro m ever thi n e se l f y g l , FENELO N . % n t a t E PECTANTLY, a xiously , the Na ion wai ed an account of the work accomplished . What had the Minister of Munitions actually achieved % What was the st ate and scope of his Department at the time What did the future hold Commenting on the memorable S eech made in b 20 th 1 1 the House of Commons on Decem er , 9 5 , ’ h me a T e Ti s s id that Mr . Lloyd George s long promised st atement on the work o f his Depa r t ment would be unpleasant reading for certai n se t people at home . It out the truth about our shortcomings in supplying the Army with the indispensable means fo r doing work it was sent l the r to do , and unfo ded g eat scheme inaugurated last May fo r m aking good the defects . The ﬁrst was o f t a part a story discredi able , but char c t e rist ic failu re to recognise the need the second a record of the equally characterist ic effort made ” to meet it when once it was recognised . In keeping with its attitude throughout the imes war , the T rendered carefully and at their the full depth Shadows in the picture , but allowed s hopeful rays of lights . Other newspaper saw - in the Speech a picture rich in high lights . All , 1 8 N EW G 9 THE LLOYD GEOR E .

however, were mindful of the shadows . Mr .

Lloyd George , it was pointed out , had taken n fi over a task of i estimable dif culty . The long and vivid account of work of the Ministry of ” a l ron cle Munitions , said the D i y Ch i , must impress everybody with the enormous scale and ”

. sen complexity of the work The task , in a as l tence , was recognised cal ing for gifts of an t order almost superhuman . To o late % had e eatedl p y dogged the steps of the Allies . The work of the Minister of Munitions was to over come a heavy handicap , and race godlike , to the fore . ’ Mr . Lloyd George s account of the progress made was of a hopeful character . The racer , whilst mindful of his handicap , did not doubt his ability, with the aid of labour , to press well to the fore in the last lap . The main ’ point of hi s speech was that the Central Powers superiority in mechanical resources m ust be ” brought to an end . What we stint in material ,

l . he said , we squander in ife Machi

. Ma nery saves lives In y, when the enemy was t urning out shells a day, we were turning o ut only The footsteps of the Allies have been clogged with the mocking spectre ’ of Too late . I beg employers and workmen not to le t Too late be inscribed on the portals of their workshops .

He dealt extensively with facts and ﬁgures .

This , indeed , was what the people looked for

l . so id facts , indisputable ﬁgures A speech , however, without glow and warmth would not be a Speec h by David Lloyd George as we know

200 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE . temporary and shall be brought to an end at the ” earliest possible moment . He then went on to describe in detail how the Ministry of Munitions was staffed and organised and how it set to work to make good the lack ” of shells . In May, he said , before the

Department was created , the deliveries of high explosive Shells were only 1 6 per cent . of the promises . The ﬁrst duty of the Department was to see that contracts already entered into were executed , and the second was to seek fresh sources of supply by utilising the untapped engineering reserves of the country . The n trouble , they found , arose from lack of machi ery, of labour , of the steady supply of material, and sometimes from transport difficulties . A census was made of all the machinery in the country , the whole of the machine- tool trade was placed under Government control , and measures were taken (including the purchase of machinery in America) to provide adequate plant properly distributed to secure an increased output . ” The next step we took , he continued , was — in regard to raw material metal . At the time of the formation of the Ministry one of the chi ef diffi culties was the lack of a regular and sufficient supply of the necessary raw material . Under the system of competition in the open market the prices of material were rising to an extent wholly unwarranted by the situation . So we formed a separate metal department to deal with that situation , and steps were immediately taken to place the Ministry in control of the supply of materials of all classes and arrange o r 20 1 A STORY PROGRES S . ments were made for providing the contractors with all the raw materials they required , and for making good any shortages by tapping fresh sources . The result of these efforts has been to effect a considerable reduction in the prices ha of raw materials . There s been a saving in the aggregate of something like 1 5 or 20 mil lions on the orders , due entirely to the action taken by the metal department in securing hi control of the whole metal market of t s country . It enabled us to secure a supply adequate not nl o y for the immediate future , but for many months to come , and to meet all the demands of the various contractors , and also to provide large supplies for our Allies . Indeed , it was only by these efforts that a crisis in the market was prevented and that manufacturers have been able to eff ect the substantial increase in ” the output that has actually taken place .

Describing the next step , he pointed out that measures were taken to increase the number of % Skilled workmen in the various trades . We ” also supplied , he continued , technical advice by experts to helI manufacturers to get over That ff . their di iculties was a very useful step , especially in the case of firms that had not been in the habit of turning out thi s class of work . We appointed a number of hustlers to visit the was works and find out what wrong , and to ff press contracts forward . The e ect in itself of calling upon the industries to supply weekly reports was to improve the output . Con tractors often were not aware of their own difli c ultie s , until they were forced to face them 202 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

and give an account of them . The net result has been to increase the deliveries on old orders from 1 6 per cent . on the promises as they were

80 . then to over per cent , a very considerable ” a increase on the promises s they are now . Dealing with the manufacture of the com ponent part of shells Mr . Lloyd George said This is the most troubleso me part of our work , because you are always finding that some component or other is falling short . There was too much reliance placed on Woolwich and too little on seeking fresh sources of supply . We approached this problem in the same way as I have sketched out in regard to shell bodies . We sought out fresh firms with the faculty to undertake the manufacture of the various components , and the next step was to erect new buildings for the purpose of supplementing private firms , and to hurry up the erection of buildings in course of construction . Our census of machinery enabled us to discover rapidly and without loss of time the new sources of supply, and the local boards of management assisted very considerably. Sometimes we have had to adapt components to the kind of machinery that was available in order to increase the supply . There were two emergency factories erected for filling purposes and completed in Six weeks . I think that was a very fine piece of hustling . The large filling factories have been put up in various parts of the country in order to cope with the rapidly increasing demand owing to the rapidly in creased delivery o i shells .

” 2 04 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

” the output but upon the cost of the output . In dealing later with the ue stio n of new

. G sources of supply, Mr Lloyd eorge reminded the House that soon after he was appointed Minister of Munitions he made an appeal to private firms not engaged hitherto in the manu facture of munitions to place their works at the was disposal of the Government . There a ready response . The country was divided into twelve areas , and forty local Munition Com m itt e e s were set up in the most important i engi neer ng centres . In dealing further with the increase in the l shel supply, and referring again in particular to the output at Woolwich , Mr . Lloyd George made % a point of great interest % The problem of relieving congestion at Woolwich , he said , % h as been dealt with by an elaborate system of well- distributed storage and the railway congestion there has been decreased . What is the net result of the steps we have taken to increase the output and delivery of gun am m uni o % ti n I have given the figures for May . I cannot give the figures for November as yet .

The House will be entitled later on to get them . All I can say is that the quantity of shells ﬁred in the recent operations in September was l enormous . The battle lasted for days and a most ran into weeks , but there was no shortage . On r the contra y , the Chief of the Staff assured me that they were perfec tly satisﬁed with the quantity of shells . This was the result of four ’ re months careful husbanding , but it will be assuring for the House to know that the whole 20 A STORY OF PROGRESS . 5

of it was replaced in a month , and we shall soon ” a be in a position to repl ce it in a single week . Referring later in his speech to the urgent call fo r r big guns , Mr . Lloyd Geo ge said that up to 1 1 the Midsummer , 9 5 , big guns on a large scale % ”

n o t . had been ordered We came , he con fessed , rather late to the conclusion that big guns were essentia l to the successful prosecution o f of the war . The kind gun that was regarded as a prodigy in the Boer War was just a poor miserable medium gun . Now the soldiers are doubtful whether it counts in the least in trench warfare . The heavy siege gun which we had at the beginning of the war is now the lightest . Facts have forced the conclusion on us that is it only the very heaviest guns that will enable us i to demol sh trenches , which are getting deeper — and deeper, with trench behind trench trenches of every conceivable angle . There are laby rinth s of trenches with concrete casemates , and nothing but the most powerful and shattering artillery will enable our men to advance agains t x them , e cept along a road which is a road to certain death . Therefore the War Oﬂi c e came to the conclusion that it was essential to success and victory, and to the protection of the lives of our soldiers , that we should have an adequate equi ment of the heaviest artillery . fV e are erecting great works in this country which a re mostly associated with the programme for the production of those guns and the supply of adequate proj ectiles . We are making rapid progress with these structures . We have placed at our disposal the services of one of the ablest 2 06 THE NEW LLOYD GEOR G E . contractors in this country - the manager to ’ — Sir William Arro l s ﬁrm and the help which he has given us is one of very conspicuous charac ter .

Later , the Minister of Munitions told how the

Prime Minister , after his visit to the front , impressed upon him , in grave language, the importance of supplying machine guns on a large i scale , and how steps were taken for multiply ng manifold and as uickly as possible the output d ” of the guns require . We immediately placed , % he explained , large orders at home and abroad .

We assisted firms with machinery, labour , and a material , and completely equipped a new l rge factory for the manufacture of the Vickers gun . All the machine tools and equipment have been delivered , but production is delayed for want of skilled labour . In another part of the country an existing machi ne-gun factory has been extended in order to increase the output - of machine guns . Two new factories have been erected elsewhere to turn out other types of i machinery . At two other works extens on of plant has been made for the production of machine-gun plants which are to increase the - machine gun production . The net result since we began these Operations has been to increase the production fiv e - fold we turn out five times the number we were turning out at that date . In the New Year there will be a production l greater stil , and , in short , our requirements are well in sight of being fulfilled

The production of small arms , certain designs and methods of manufacture, and various steps

20 8 N EW THE LLOYD GEOR G E .

ll got nothing like what we want . It a depends a upon organised l bour . Unless they allow us to place unskilled men and women at work which hitherto perhaps has been the monopoly of skilled men in order that we may take the highly skilled men away and put them into other work , we cannot do what we want . You may l ask why it has not been done , and I wil tell the

House why, frankly . We found exactly the same difficulties as we found in the release of men from the colours . There is an action to be e fought in every area , every workshop , ev ry lodge . % There is only one appeal , he continued .

It is the appeal to patriotism . The employer must take steps , though he is loth to do it .

They must really face the local trade unions , and put forward the demand , because until they do so the State cannot come in . We have had an Act of Parliament , but the law must be put into operation by somebody, and unless the employer begins by putting on um skilled men and women to the lathes we cannot enforce that Act of Parliament . The ﬁrst step , therefore , is that the employer must challenge a decision upon the matter , and he is not doing so because of the trouble which a few other

ﬁrms have had . But let us do it . Victory depends upon it . Hundreds of thousands of precious lives depend upon it . It is a question of whether you are going to bring this war to an end in a year Victoriously or whether it is going to linger on in bloodstained p aths for years . Labour has got the answer . The con 2 A STORY OF PRO GRE S S . 09

ﬂic t was entered into with labour ; we are carrying it out . It can be done . ” % hi in T s , he concluded , is a moment of I t tense preparation . is the moment for putting the whole of our energies at home into preparing for the blow to be struck abroad . Our Fleet and the gallantry of the troops of the Alli es ha ve given us time to muster our reserves . Let us utilize that time without the loss of a moment . Let us cast aside the fond illusion that you can win victory by an elaborate pretence that you

so . are doing Let us ﬂing to one side rivalries ,

t . us professional, political , every hing Let be aim one people . One in , one in action , one in so resolution , to win the most sacred cause ever ” entrusted to a great nation .

CHAPTER XXII .

ADVE RSE CRITICISM .

I sa id the Gr ea t Ma n was a wa s i htn i n o ut o Hea ve n , l y l g g f th re o m wa ted o r h i m l ik u e n h to u d a m e e st en e a d t e o wo . f i f f l , y l fl i CARLYLE o n Her oes a nd Hero Wor sh p .

LET us ﬂing to one side rivalries , trade jealous ies , professional , political , everything . Let us ” be one people . The Minister of Munitions could not have given better advice . But there were certain qua rters in which hi s ardour was o resented . Lab ur was suspicious . Had not m ore t Lloyd George hinted , nay, han hinted at industrial compulsion . He was treading , it r was decla ed , upon extremely dangerous ground , and as though to prove their words , certain i rebell ous spirits proceeded to set mines . Mean o t he t o f while , peri dicals devoted to interes s

Mr . Labour made repeated frontal attacks . ’ Lloyd Geo rge s name was coupled with Lord ’ N o rthcliffe s l , and it was dec ared that they sought to fo rce the iron Shackles of Prussian ” ism on the necks of the workers . Even news papers o f a temperate Liberal order showed ’ was signs of distrust . What Mr . Lloyd George s attitude % In what direction was he tending % Had he really any intention of lending his gr eat ad a im inﬂuence to any measure . which h s its mediate o r ult imate aim compulsio n fo r the 2 1 THE N EW 4 LLOYD GEOR GE . working man % Compulsio n was an ugly word % One might have supposed that the Minister of

Munitions had not made his purpose clear . Yet time after time , he insisted upon sacriﬁces being

all . so as made on sides Indeed , far the people was concerned , that was his chief message . The customs and practices which are applic ” able in times of peace , he said , are utterly inapplicable in the terrible urgency of war . u m Every man in the nation must do his t o st. — 412 utm ost r the Hi lzest That was the ideal 6 fo g . sa Certainly Mr . Lloyd George w at one time the remote po ssiblity of som e form of industrial saw o ssibil compulsion , just as he the remote p ity of the German hordes overrunning our fair country . But at no time did he Speak of com pulsion as a thing to be desired for its own sake . On the contrary, it was held up as a ff state of a airs to be avoided at all costs . He simply urged Labour to realise its great re Spo n ibilit s y.

There were , however , many rumours to the effect that the Minister of Munitions was an ardent advocate of compulsion . The chief and most pernicious of these rumours was exposed by the Prime Minister during the second reading of the Military Service Bill . The Prime Minister not stated deﬁnitely that Mr . Lloyd George had threatened resignation in the event of any failure to keep the much discussed pledge as regards compulsory military service for young unmarried men . Moreover , Mr . Asquith upset the chief part of the case made by Labour against the Minister of Munitions by making a

2 1 6 G THE NEW LLOYD GEOR E .

either as Dictator or as Prime Minister . The

l . A choice , wou d be in our view , a crazy one very li ttle thought will serve to show that the sin idea of Mr . Lloyd George as Dictator is ” r gula ly absurd . The writer in the Saturday Review went on to sa . y that Mr Lloyd George is , when critically ar examined , found to be quite wanting in the h d quality of Chamberlain . Chamberlain , though he had large emotions and aroused them in others , was never luscious he never , we think , approached clamour . To make Mr .

Lloyd George Prime Minister would , we are adv en absolutely certain , be a most disastrous ture . We hope Conservatives at any rate , and people detached from party will not do more than play with the thought , and the less they play with it the better . It would not be so disastrous to Conservatism that is not What we are thinking of at all ; for we grant that Mr . Lloyd George is fo r not out party gain to day . It would be r disast ous to the nation generally . The country wants a far steadier and more steadying man than Mr . Lloyd George has ever shown himself . He is quicksilver ; it wants at this grave time a very different metal from that . The Conser v at iv e s . must not , cannot , and will not have Mr ” Lloyd Geo rge as leader . T he ecta to r Sp , touching the same theme , allowed that Mr . Lloyd George envisages a problem O f enormous siz e and complexity at one sweep he can describe its magnitude and ’ a signiﬁc nce in glowing words , which make men s hearts beat faster and their resolution ha rden V M 2 1 AD ERSE CRITICI S . 7

to accomplish things which once seemed im i . . s possible Mr Lloyd George , in ﬁne, the best - speeder up in the country . It is only to be expected that the qualities of a speeder -up should exist to the exclusion of some other

qualities which require a quieter habit of mind ,

more precision , and perhaps closer and narrower

views . Mr . Lloyd George is , in fact , the prophet , Old r ad in the Heb aic sense , rather than the

ministrator . O server In contradiction to the foregoing , the b l said that everyone who has real y studied Mr .

Lloyd George knows , that with all his ﬁghting power the conciliatory instinct is strong in him . h as That , it been said , is his only danger . If he has suffi cient reason to think that too late ’ 1 1 6 may be our curse in 9 , as it has been our 1 1 bane in 9 5 , he has only got to take his courage

. a nd in both hands He will win , clean out . l Mr . Lloyd George is for grapp ing more vigorously a nd with the war , for the Speediest fullest r support of our men at the f ont . We can only r urge him to put his faith in the count y itself,

to seek his chief support , if necessary , where h Chat am found it , in that which is greater even

than Parliament , the Nation . In the last seven months he has inspired a prodigious and saving ” work . The Saturday Review may claim to have stated it s point of view in particularly strong terms . In t he article from which we have noted it was also said Had the Dartmoor % he phe rd himself been a ppoin t ed Munitioner- in- Chief we l l should have had mi lions of fresh she ls . Set 1 8 EW 2 THE N LLOYD GEORGE .

’ Lord Derby s feat by the side of Mr . Lloyd ’ George s , and consider them both coolly . Deci de dly one prefers Lord Derby as a business man ” to Mr . Lloyd George in that capacity . ’ Of such criticism , touching Mr . Lloyd George s various deeds and misdeeds very many volumes might be ﬁlled . The point of interest , so far as these pages are concerned , rests in the fact that the Minister of Munitions was now confronted r by an entirely fresh expe ience . Certain Liberal c o m ul newspapers , fearing that he favoured p o z sion , wr te in ama ingly strong terms . At the time of the debate in the House of Commons on t he l ta r Military Service Bi l, the S demanded to W h know y the Government , despite their pledges , were trying to get a verdict before they pro % ” d r duce . thei evidence The conscriptionists , ta r led by Mr . Lloyd George , the S leader con t inued , cannot afford to wait . The cam ai n p g is a purely political campaign . It is not ba sed upon military necessity . Mr . Asquith admitted that no case had been made out for ’ general compulsion . But the Conscriptionists by this Bill are driving in the thin end of the r wedge , and the Sledgehamme they are using is the power of the House of Lords to force a

General Election . The crucial date is January go th . If the Lords refuse to pass the Parlia ment Act Amending Bill , which prolongs the life of the present Parliament by eight months beyond that date , an immediate General Elec l tion will be compulsory . This Bil is the price which th e House o f Commons is asked to pay

the House of Lords for leave to exist . Not for

2 E 2 0 THE N W LLOYD GEORGE .

a be The rel tionship , so friendly in the past , tween Mr . Lloyd George and Labour , was , however , still strained , although the air was r distinctly clearer than at the time of M . Lloyd ’ l r George s visit to the C yde wo kers , and the suppression of the Scottish Labour paper , rwar l Fo d . Fol owing the suppression of this paper , there was a lively scene in the House .

Mr . Hogge asked the Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions whether he could state the results of the recent conferences at Glasgow and N ew castle of the Minister of Munitions , and what further alterations he suggested in the amending

Bill to the Munitions Act as a result . i Dr . Addison repl ed The visits of the Minister of Munitions to Glasgow and Newcastle were undertaken with a view to explaining the n ece s sity of the scheme for the dilution of skilled and unskilled labour promulgated by the Ministry of Munitions on the advice of the Central Muni tions Labour Supply Committee It is too soon to say what practical result has been achiev ed . The visits had no direct connection with the ” Bill for amending the Munitions of War Act . % Mr . J . H . Thomas then asked Can the right hon . gentleman explain why it is necessary to suppress the reports of the meeting % Dr . Addison I think there is another ” question on the Order Paper on that point . % it Mr . Outhwaite Is too soon to say that the Minister of Munitions had a hostile re c e ptio n at Glasgow

Dr . Addison The reason why my right hon . friend went was that there was co nsiderable ADVERSE CRITICIS M . 2 2 1 misconception in the area and hostility arising ” out of it . He went to try to meet it . % % Mr . Snowden Has he succeeded in t e moving those misconceptions

Dr . Addison I hope so .

Mr . Anderson subsequently asked the Lord Advocate upon whose authority and by whose orders the Scottish Labour paper Fo rward had z been sei ed , and what was the ground for such act i on . t Mr . Outhwaite also asked if he Fo rward z d newspaper had been sei e by the police , and if so could he state if this had been done because the pape r had published a report of the recent meeting of the Minister of Munitions , showing that he had received a hostile reception from organised labour on the Clyde

Mr . Tennant replied My right hon . friend , the Lord Advocate , has asked me to reply . I have not yet received the Offi cial report in detail of the action taken against the newspaper orwar F d , but I understand that the action was taken by t he competent military authority in Scotland under Regulation 5 1 of the Defence of the Realm Regulations at the instance of the ” Minister of Munitions . % n % % Mr . Pri gle What about free speech % % Mr . Tennant The ground for the action taken was an offence under Regulation 2 7 . It does not necessarily follow tha t there will be ” any trial . % ask w Mr . Anderson May I hether it has become an Offence and a crime in this country to give a truthful account of the reception % ” E 2 22 THE N W LLOYD GEORGE . accorded by organised labour in Glasgow to the

Minister of Munitions , and whether we are to look upon this as the ﬁrst fruits O f Co nscrip tion

sir. Mr . Tennant NO, I trust my hon . friend will draw no such conclusion . The order under whi ch this newspaper was proceeded against was submitted to the legal authorities in Scotland , and I have their assurance that they ” were perfectly legal and in order .

Mr . Pringle Is my right hon . friend aware that the Minister of Munitions went to Scotland as the champion of free speech and appealed to the working men there on that ground to hear him , and used the name of Mr . Ramsay Mac Donald for that purpose Does he think it is in accordance with the profession with which he went there that this should be the ﬁrst action after his visit

Later , Mr . Percy Alden said May I ask the Minister of Munitions whether as a sensible man he se e is will not that this whole business stopped , if he wants to stop the dissensions and discon tent that are going on in labour circles

Mr . Lloyd George replied My hon . friends did not give me any notice of this question being su raised . If they had , I should have plied myself with a copy of the paper , and coul have shown the House that this paper had been deliberately incitin the workers there not to carry out an Act O Parliament , which had been passed in this House in order to promote the ” output of munitions .

CHAPTER XXIII .

THE UNSEEN FUTURE .

Bear also i n m i nd th at the bee while m aki ng ho ney li ves upo n a bi tter food . CI D E L FRAN S S A ES . Bo ast not thyself of to - m o rro w f o r tho u k nowest no t what a da m a n orth y y bri g f . V xxv 1 1 O 1 . 1 PR ERES , . BOLD is th e man who ventures to predict the

. in future of any politician It is , however , t eresting and may possibly be instructive to speculate as to how time will deal with certain men , and how they, by their conduct , will deal has with time . In the past it been claimed in many quarters that Mr . Lloyd George must ever remain the sure friend and supporter of the

o . has Dem cracy Indeed , this been the cause of many bitter quarrels with him he has sought to better the conditions of the masses at the % ” expense of the superior classes . He su ported Old Age Pensions ; he favoured Land Grants ; he introduced and carried through

National Insurance . For the time being , how o f ever , the tongue Lloyd George , the party

is . ro m politician , Stilled We see only a man p — p ted by one all- important motive victory for the cause of Freedom and Justice . Smaller h interests ave passed , to return , no doubt , but lost for the present in the great issue at stake . 2 25 226 THE NEW LLOYD GEORGE .

Ye t it is claimed in many quarters that in

Mr . Lloyd George the Democracy still have a sure and strong friend . Indeed , it is asked , Is no t his love for nations and men of small pos sessions the cause o i his whole-hearted desire to bring victory to the Alli es % ” His out standing motive has ever been to defend small l - nations and the weak and poor y favoured .

It is said , however , that there are in Mr . Lloyd George’ s nature and conduct many seeming contradictions . Dr . Charles Saro le a in his intro ’ duction to Mr . Beriah Evans admirable volume ’ r says that both Mr . Lloyd George s Characte and life story are made up of bewildering contrasts % and contradictions . A man of the people , a and democrat to the core , he has the auto cratic instinct of the born leader of men . The spokesman of the oppressed nationality, he has yet become one of the rulers of the very race which for centuries suppressed the aspirations of his native country . Brought up in the has narrow dogma of a sect , his creed expanded into the comprehensive faith of a citizen of the world . Whilst his affections are centred in the

Welsh mountains , his heart is throbbing with a the passion of univers l humanity. A cham pion of peace , and for the sake of peace risking - his political existence , he ﬁnds himself to day directing the fortunes of the most gigantic war of all times . Once the most hated politician in the United Kingdom , he has lived to become r the most popular statesman of Eu ope . The humble solicitor who started his career in a little Welsh town may be before many months are

THE N EW 228 LLOYD GEORGE .

a so has decl red strongly, all recent criticism sprung . Labour, as we have said , has come to look with suspicion upon the old- time cham pion . But happily amongst the leaders of labour are men of keen j udgment . Mr . Frank Dil no t a l t zen , formerly Editor of the D i y Ci i , Dail r on cl e writing in the y Ch i , says , that although an ardent paciﬁst in peace time, Mr . Lloyd George has shown increasingly that he is by % - nature a man of war . He is swift minded , his intuitive , and quite ruthless when mind se t is on a certain course of action . He has a genius for improvising , and improvisation is part of the essence of war . Possessing gifts of imagination which Show him with unusual clear has ness the tragic immensity of the issues , he also the desperate ardour which counts all things well lost if we can but win the war and win it quickly . Conventions that stand in the way he leaps at like a tiger . An exaltation of m purpose surrounds hi . That is why I say he is essentially a man of war . Such a personality will often make big mistakes , but will also be responsible for very big achievements . The

future of Mr . Lloyd George is an enigma to his friends and to his enemies ; it is possibly an

enigma to himself. For the moment nothing ” matters to him but the winning of the war .

Let it be acknowledged , then , that Mr . Lloyd l George is a man of war . Let it be al owed that

an exaltation of purpose surrounds him . Let it be said that he h as the desperate ardour that counts all things well lost if we can but win the war and win it quickly . Still it may be Claimed THE UN S EEN FUTURE . 229

ro m ted that he is p by a righteous motive .

Still it may e said of him , as in his early days , ” that he wields a right Jerusalem blade . We all acknowledge and decla re sacredly the right eo usness I n S of the cause which the Allies trive .

Let credit , then , be given to the man who fights for the great cause with his whole soul and mind . In the veins of David Lloyd George flows the blood of the soldier who with a will lays down his life for the just cause of his a country . Condemnation cannot be l id upon the spirit of the man who cries , All our rights and all our liberties have been won by men who counted their lives as nothing so long as their country and their faith were free . In the days when we were winning the battles of religious freedom in this country , there were shirkers , but their cowardice did not save them from the tomb . It is appointed that men should die a once , and after th t the judgment . Brave men die , but they need not fear the judgment . I thi nk we are too ready to scoff at creeds which promise the glories of their paradise to those who die for the cause or for the country they are devoted to . It is but a crude expression of a truth which is the foundation of every great faith , that sacrifice is ever the surest road to ” redemption .

It is ﬁtting that Mr . Lloyd George should speak for himself. Where could be found a surer , clearer statement of his position and frame o f War is a mind , than in the Simple words % e and serv ce time of sacriﬁ c i . If Ger ” h many wins , he has warned us , we s all be % ” 2 0 THE N EW G 3 LLOYD GEOR E .

vassals , not to the best Germany, not to the Germany of sweet songs and inspiring noble — thought not to the Germany of science con se crate d Of to the service man , not to the Ger h many of a virile philosophy t at helped—to break the shackles of superstition in Euro e not to that l that Germany, but to a Germany ta ked ’ r l th ough the raucous voice of Krupp s arti lery, a Germany that has harnessed science to the

Chariot of destruction and of death , the Ger many of a philosophy of force, violence, and brutality, a Germany that would quench every spark of freedom either in its own land or any other in rivers of blood . I make no apology on a day consecrated to the greatest sacriﬁce for coming here to preach a holy war against ” that .

He preached a Holy War , and on the day of the Greatest Sacrifice called for the self-sacrifice - of his fellow men . Little wonder if certain men , who in time of war demand the privileges of % peace , find him wanting in sympathy % There is , however , another side freedom particularly freedom from military domination is dearer to the heart of the average Britisher than words can possibly tell . Because of their love for freedom and hatred for military o ppres ree r l sion , f men have arisen in thei mil ions , bravely, most willingly, to defeat the cruel aims of Prussian Militarism . To such men and very many of their kind militarism is abhorrent .

May it not , therefore, be claimed that to men who Oppose all forms of military compuls io n a is a good word is due Indeed , it said , th t they