BOOKS.
THE PRIME MINISTER.*
E cannot believe that this biography of Mr. A. J. Balfour is issued with his sanction. The author in his preface seems to suggest that this is the case, but we can hardly think so, as the great excess of detail and the extreme note of admiration sounded throughout the book, though, of course, introduced in good faith, are, to speak frankly, somewhat irritating, and certainly not less likely to prove so to Mr. Balfour than to any one else. We have the highest admiration for the Prime Minister as a scholar and a statesman, but instruments of torture could not make us express that admiration in quite the same way that Mr. Alderson has chosen ; and we cannot think what Lord Lansdowne or Lord Salisbury has been doing to deserve the painful appellation of "his Lordship." We are also assured that Mr. Balfour was a "courteous fag" to Lord Lansdowne at Eton, and that he is now a "courteous chief" to the same Peer. The inference at the present moment certainly seems to be that the " retalia tory " tendencies of these distinguished statesmen were learnt upon the playing fields of Eton. So much for criticism. On the other hand, Mr. Alderson's book, which purports to give an "impartial estimate" of Mr. Balfour's work as "a Statesman, Legislator, Leader, Politician, and Colleague, and in his private life as an Author and Landowner," contains a very full and careful collection of extracts from Mr. Balfour's speeches and writings, and it is useful to have at hand a book that traces on some subjects—not, however, including the subject of fiscal policy—the growth of the political and social views of the Prime Minister of the day. We think that for this, if for no other reason, Mr. A:derson's book deserves to be welcomed.
Mr. Balfour is, however, a somewhat different man, it seems to us, from the man drawn with such elaboration in this book. To those who have watched his brilliant Parliamentary career certain characteristics, certain qualities, stand out in very notable relief. The doggedness and the philosophic tempera- ment of the Scotsman are coupled with those peculiar characteristics of the Cecil family that made Lord Robert Cecil so admired and hated in the "sixties." A more admirable combination for the purposes of the Fourth party could hardly be imagined. Lord Randolph Churchill, Sir H. D. Wolff, and Mr. Gorst without Mr. Balfour would have been compara- tively inefficient. He gave the party a manner which was peculiarly its own, and a policy that was intended, not only to attack and destroy friends and enemies, but also to originate new and patriotic ideas. But if the combination of characteristics to which we have referred was useful in creating a political reputation, it was more than useful from the day in March, 1887, when Mr. Balfour succeeded Sir Michael Hicks Beach as Chief Secretary for Ireland. The appointment was received by the Irish Press with howls of derisive laughter, but it was rapidly justified. An iron policy of repression of disorder, coupled with continual efforts to secure the reform of abuses, steadily made their mark in Ireland, while the vile and scandalous attacks to which the Chief Secretary was subjected in and out of Parliament by members of the Irish party and the Irish Press only brought stubbornness and biting irony into play. Certainly in the days of the Irish Secretaryship Mr. Balfour only showed "indifference and lack of dynamic energy" — the sole
• Arthur James Balfour the Man and his Work. By Bernard Alderson. Illus- trated. London : Grant Richards. [10s. 6d.]
adverse criticism applied to the Premier in this book—with respect to his own personal comfort and the childish and vicious insolence of his opponents. In Ireland he never lacked either energy or interest in the carrying out of the double task of checkmating sedition and satisfying just Irish demands. To attribute indifference and lack of " dynamic " —whatever that may mean — energy to Mr. Balfour is to miss the salient characteristics of his work. Philo- sophic indifference to what he regards as an illogical position—the position, for instance, of people who, having paid taxes to support voluntary schools for thirty-two years, refuse to pay rates for the same purpose—and indifference to abuse are certainly qualities of the Prime Minister ; but with regard to issues that are arguable and require demonstra- tion there is no keener mind in the country. His interest and energy in the conduct of the Education Bill of last year; his determination that the true issues should be brought before the country, and should not remain clouded by misrepresentation and prejudice, are sufficient to demonstrate the fact that Mr. Balfour will never spare himself in a cause that is worth fighting. As Leader of the House of Commons in 1891-92, as Leader of the Opposition in the 1892-95 Parlia- ment, and again as Leader of the House from 1895, he showed to the full that power of grasping detail and of dealing judicially with great principles which is a necessary character- istic of any considerable statesman.
From time to time, however, Mr. Balfour's abilities as the leader of a party, as distinguished from the formulator of party principles, have been questioned, and it has been suggested that tact and courtesy have supplied the place of the strong controlling hand. Whether that is so or not still remains to be seen, for we are approaching a phase of political events which will bring into play all the strength and all the weakness of Mr. Balfour both as a politician and a statesman. He will be called upon to deal with the solution of a problem that will, on the one hand, require for its investigation all the finest qualities of a mind accustomed to think upon philosophic and economic questions, and, on the other hand, will threaten, through the very act of investigation, the solidarity of the Unionist party. It is not a question here of meeting illogical or insolent or ignorant opponents ; it is not a questrion of smoothing the rough ways of party life with courtesy and kindliness. It is a question of formu- lating principles of the (most abstruse kind in such a way that men will be able to express a considered opinion upon them ; and it is a question of preserving the existence of the party which Mr. Balfour has so long and ably led. On • his conduct of affairs depends the manner in which this great controversy will be discussed, and the methods that will be adopted in the controversy. If he is the strong statesman we believe him to be, he will retain a personal control over the t manner and the methods of the controversy, he will provide the public with the evidence upon which the issue must turn, and will at the earliest date that is possible formulate the position which he holds, and be perfectly frank about its necessary relationship to the future of the Unionist party. We are not dealing here with the question of the soundness of Mr. Balfour's views as to the correct fiscal policy for this country. We have a right to assume that Mr. Balfour has still an open mind, and will devote that mind, with all its great gifts, to the consideration of a problem the wrong solution of which may determine the fate of the Empire. What does concern us is the manner in which Mr. Balfour will control the con- troversy and the controversialists within his own ranks, in the House of Commons and in the country. Grasp of detail, grasp of principles, philosophic indifference to misrepresenta- tion, and unwearied diligence in elaborating a policy or con- ducting an investigation are all great qualities ; but unless there is associated with them at the present crisis a deter- mination that the Prime Minister shall be the Prime Minister, Mr. Balfour will scarcely have fulfilled the expectations formed of him by his own party and the country at large.
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