[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—There is an obvious
reason why today "the country is being run by the old and middle-aged," as you- say in your article on "Youth and the Politicians." It was not so in the eight years before the War (1906-1914) when the Cabinets were probably stronger in personnel and achievement than any others in the last half-century. If we examine the Cabinet of 1909, we find that its most important members were comparatively young. Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, was then 47; Mr. Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, was 46; Mr. Winston Churchill, President of the Board of Trade, was 35; Mr. Runciman, President of the Board of Education, was 39; and Sir Herbert Samuel, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, also 39. There were also many very active, Ministers, not in the Cabinet, like Charles Masterman, who attained Cabinet rank in 1914, at the age of about 40. Lord Crewe was Lord President of the Council in 1909, but he was just 51, and therefore was among the elders of that comparatively youthful Cabinet.
The paucity of leaders in all parties suitable for Cabinet office is due to the fact that half, at least, of the right men, who would now be in early middle age, were killed in the War.
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