i.iiADiN(, Akiicl1':s 1i\ nil. Ri:\ ii^ws. 



3'9 



OUR CHIEF ORATORS. 



MR. F. E. SMITH UPON HIS CCniPEERS. 

 In the Oximd and Cainhrid^e Revieio Mr. F. E. Smith. 

 M.P., disrusses the Padiamentary oratory of to-day. 

 He dissent^ from the current talk about the decay of 

 Parliameniary eloquence. He thinks there are a certain 

 number of Nlemburs now who could have conformed 

 with strikini; and even brilliant success to the Parlia- 

 mentary standards of fifty years ago. 



MR. B.M.FOUR. 



would persuade Mr. Smith that there has 

 a time in the history of the House of 



Nothin;,' 

 ever been 



Commons in which Mr. Balfour would not have reached 

 his present ascendency : — 



Many people can speak belter. I have never liearil any one 

 aIio can think aloud so brilliantly, so spontaneously, and- so 

 1 inclusively. I have heard hicn rise to speak on vital occasions 

 where it was certain that every word, reported exactly as he 

 uttered it, would be read and re-read by hundreds of thousands, 

 with no notes except such as he had hurriedly scribbled on an 

 envelope during the progress of ' the debate. Often his speech 

 as delivered has produced a great impression, sometimes an 

 extraordinary impression, but I have-never heard Mr. lialfour 

 speak without reading his speech with a wonder iiifiiiitely 

 greater ; for its structure, its logical e%'olution, ami its pene- 

 tr.-iling subtlety of thought always supply elements which help 

 him very little at the moment just because, it is not- possible 

 instantly to appreciate, while listening to him, theii amazing 

 excellence. 



MR. ASQUITIl. 



Of the present Prime Minister Mr. F. E. Smitli 

 <ays : — 



He can confine his remarks within reasonable compass simply 

 ■cause he possesses the gift of never s.aying a word too much ; 

 ■ always has at his command not merely the appropriate but 

 e inevitable word ; and it is therefore never necessary for him 

 In u^c two words where one would express his meaning. 

 Whether he has prepared his speech or whether he is speaking 

 extempore, the one word is always swiftly available. lie 

 produces, wherever and whenever fie wants them, an endless 

 succc^>ion of perfectly coined sentences conceived with un- 

 matched felicity, an<l delivered without hesitation in .a parlia- 

 ment.ary styh; which is at once the envy and the despair of 

 imitators, lie never perhaps takes a point very subtle, very 

 recondite, very obviously out of the reach of the ordinary 

 ember of the House of Commons. 



MR. -no.NAR LAW. 



Mr. Smith's tribute to his present chief is certainly 

 not lacking in generosity : — 



Mr. Honar Law employs metho<ls of ptcpar.ation which are, 

 so far iw I know, unique. In his most carefully prepared 

 speeches he makes no notes, but formulates in his mind the 

 SKpience of hi-, argument in the very words in which it is to b- 

 cxprciued, ainl then by a scries of mental rehearsals makes him- 

 self as much master of Ihc whole s|x'cch .as if he read il from a 

 Manuscript on the table. It might have l>een suppo-ed that 

 uth a method of preparation would have imposed an almost 

 intolerable mental strain, but il appears tn cause Mr. Ilonar 

 I aw neither trouble nor anxiety. Mr. i'onar I^aw's style as a 

 '■r is peculiar to himself. Me is sinipte, perspicuous, and 

 nely cogent. Very few l.atiii worfU overloa»l his sentences. 

 liioicl, his style and iliclion resemble those of the late Mr. 

 Kiight. lie posscv>es a pungency and a degree of combative 

 britli-tit'V. 



MR. I.LDVD GEORCE. 



Of the Chancellor of the Exchequer Mr. Smith 

 spjaks with more reserve. Mr. Lloyd George, he says, 

 is undoubtedly a speaker of extraordinary variety, flair, 

 and plausibility. He has three wholly distinct styles of 

 speech. The first is that of Limehouse, the second that 

 of the House of Commons in an excited debate, the 

 third that of the House of Commons when he is con- 

 cerned in forwarding business and conciliating critics : — • 



Mis cleverness and address in the third method are beyond 

 all praise. He thanks his opponents for their assistance, he 

 compliments them upon their public spirit, he accepts their co- 

 operation with gratitude, an<l the whole proceeding is conducted 

 with an ingratiating hoithomic which, at its best, is extra- 

 ordinarily clever, if at its worst it recalls the emollient 

 properties of highly-scented soap. His second style, that 

 employed in the combative Party speech in a full-dress debate, 

 docs not impress me equally. He i.s, indeed, a very adroit 

 controversialist on these occasions, but the methods employed 

 arc a little crude. His speeches are wholly lacking in that 

 iiter.ary quality which marks all the best House of Commons 

 oratory, and when he trusts, as he sometimes docs, to the 

 eloquence of the moment, it is usually more that of the platform 

 or me pu!|)it than of the House of Commons. 



.MR. WlNSTliN CHURCHILL. 



Of the First Lord of the .\dmiralty Mr. Smith says 

 that he could not have made so great a reputation as a 

 speaker without extraordinary ability, or if his per- 

 severance and tenacity had been less dogged, for he 

 hardly belongs to the class of orators who are some- 

 times called " natural " : — 



He bestows upon his important speeches a degree of almost 

 meticulous preparation :" he elaborates and sometimes over- 

 elaborates. Latterly an excessive dependence upon his manu- 

 script has a little impaired the parliamentary success of some of 

 his most important speeches, but his hearers enjoy the com- 

 jicnsating qualities of these defects. His speeches are nnrked 

 by an arresting literary quality. 



Mr. Smith concludes with a reference to Lord Hugh 

 Cecil. Eight years ago Mr. Winston Churchill anil 

 \jiXi\ Hugh Cecil were intimates, confederates, and, in 

 a sense, rivals. Lord Hugh is a far more spontaneous 

 speaker than Mr. Churchill, and hus other qualities 

 which no one in the House of Commons but himselt 

 possesses. He unites to the inost tenacious combative- 

 ness an idealism ol view which even those who are 

 most affronted by his controversial bitterness admit 

 in their hearts. 



"MONEY-MAD FISHING." 

 In the British Columbia Magazine for July Mr. 

 Martin Monk draws attention to " money-mad fishing " 

 in ihtit province. He says that under present circum- 

 stances the " sockeyc " salmon, the most valuable 

 fish, will l)ecome extinct in ten years. 'I'he depletion 

 of the " sockeyc " run is due to excessive fishing and 

 lack of protection from predatory fish during the 

 spawning se.uson. lirilish Columbia needs a Fisheries 

 Board on the spot, 'i'he young salmon returning to 

 the sea are devoured by enormous swarms of trout 

 and chub. 



