Reticence has never been a strong point of Mr. Churchill,
but he has never carried his indiscretion or lack of considera- tion for his colleagues further than in this extraordinary letter. What he describes as stupid, vicious, and monstrous errors can be justified in every instance out of the mouths of Mr. Asquith, Mr. McKenna, and Sir Edward Grey. Even the Daily Chronicle, one of the staunchest of the Government organs, is aghast at tactics which " seem to play quite unneces- sarily into the hands of the Opposition," and comments with some asperity on Mr. Churchill's attitude towards the Premier. "Poor Vb.% Asquith I He has scene reputation for clear thinking and lucid expression; but here is his young colleague dismissing his 'workable formula' as one devoid of meaning I And that is not the unkindest cut. The acceptance of the two-Power standard formula is enumerated as one of four cardinal errors, each more stupid and vicious than the other,' and this particular error is No. 3 on the cumulative list." The Daily Chronicle deprecates such language as "likely to cause entirely needless confusion in the public mind." Such public advertising of Cabinet differences by one of the Cabinet is generally called by a harsher name.
Previous page
