Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

6 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

THE PROPOSED LAND BILL FOR…

ST. ASAPH.

[No title]

MEN OF HARK. --

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

yrtom a ry .-I I F MEN OF HARK. RT nON. JCSEPII CIIAJIBERLAJN, M.P. f rxTB his comparatively recent first appearRncc in the arena of national politics, j\lr- Joseph Chamberlain has boon conspicuously a man of —a foremost factor of 1 ho party of progress. It. was or.lv in 1^ that he, then forty years okl, made his debut at St. Stephen's, with t-ho roti'it.iii'.n of hein;r a Kadicai <'f the Kadic-ds. IV..iir years lat< r no was a (.<abi,j6t Minister. .HH string,' personality and high ability WI-eel hut at once over the headsof many who had .ji-ms-ti £ ivy at. Wostudoslrr: and quickly he a. leader ot Lib. r;i; sm second only in i :uence to Mr. Gladstone himself. One of' the Mo.-t forcible public speakers of his day, he has a 0 >L'i'.riauding and withal singularly youthful presence, His earnest look, ch ar-cut features, > :vf>r-present eye-ght^s, and the costly or- chid which generally graces his button hole, are familiar to a'l who have sort of pretension to acquaintance with the celebrities of the land. sub j.ir.ttioti to the caricaturists of the comic press eiiito as often as Mr. Gladstone and the hitn Lrd !>aconsfield in corresponding periods ot their public cart ers, ^och a man, no nia'ter what the opinion*' be h«»h.<, must of necessity bo I I i f tf-, d. 183(5 will be a memorable one in P.ii'ish political history because of the Irish Ho;ne Rule agitation, and no name will figure in the ro -ord more prominently than that, of Air. Joseph Chamberlain. His stnrdv inde| i ndi tieo ih maintaining his Own cr,tivictil)ll" i- success as signal as remarW.!«» tho immense weight of his v.. erati |. :• r':i personal power will long be remember, o fro diiiered in important particulars from th. i.nid taken by the Liberal chief, and hettin.if asioo *11 the exigencies of party, offered a most uncom- promising opposition to pto; •< which he could not. accept. At irreconeilablo variance with the Whig wing of Libera lisrn on many important points, he yet wa- found stand- ing shoulder to shoulder with h1;e Lord Jlartington and Mr. Goschen in r .sito a :v ilii-v which he adjudged unvisi., fvill no one doubted Mr. Chamberlain's fidelity t.o tho Iladi- :l i ,in he preached and professed." The Conser- who saw with f-atiaiaction his attitude )•• ..nee agreeing wit. < their own, c.juld not hope Iii,it in any other matter. The more the Liberals this fe-,i,ricss r«-l'<'? >ni'i' wbo was refusing t,<> follow wlii- her iii!tcr woiil(l all(i exert, ID9 hims. If to th" utmost to overthrow the scheme 0 eni(i championed by the Ministry from whose ranks he hml hr.ila u away. It was a strange sh'ht to seo a [lion 1111 'cd Ra.oica.l of t::e calibre of Mr. O.iamb. 1 iio fumWnng the most deadly oppo- sition^) a hill introduced into Parliament bv a Tyhi-rnJ Goverumpnt, 1 he Tli'l for the v'tter Gov riimeiit "f Ireland was hotly resisted hv Collar,-tutiorialnts and VVhigs, but the most damaging speech against it came from Mr. Cham :>ei lain, and then it was that the Commons rang with Conservative cheers, given to one who had tho reputation of being the most dangerous of all the antagonists of Conser- vatism, Mr. Chamberlain, anomalous thou»h his position in this matter seemed, wert unhesitatingly along what. he deemed the path of duty: and subsequent events showed that the course he took had the approval of Inany more of his countrymen than Mr. GILd- stone imagined when he appealed to no con- stitneneies to condemn the action of while lieutenant. v- All this is matter of such recent occurrence that it needs no further dwelling on. Some picturesque words by a light pon-sketcher of Parliamentary proceedings give a good idea of what manner of man Mr. Chamberlain was re- puted to be when he first figured in the Com- mons. Mr. Lucy wrote thus in his Diary of Two Parliaments"—a most entertaining work—of the member for Birmingham's introduction to the H ouse. It would be interesting to know exactly what impression Sir Walter Barttelot formed of Mr. Chamberlain's probable appearance and manner before he had the pleasure of meeting him faee to face in the House of Commons. H ¡"d evidently evolved some fancy picture, for his surprise to-night at seeing the junior memb, for Birmingham in a coat, and even a waistcoat, and on hearing him speak very good English il; a qui::t and undemonstrative manner « «.s undis- guised. It is reported that Sir Walter expected that this fearsome. would enter tho House making a 4 cart-\vhe.J like ragged little boys do adown the pavement when a drag or omnibus passes. The good baronet's acquaint- ance with the forms of the Rouse c mviuced him that there would be no nse in Mr. Chamberlain's presenting himself in his shirt-sleeves and with a. short clay pipe in his mouth. But on the score of waistcoats there is no Standing Order, and the lladical might, if he please, have paid the necessary homage to respectability by buttoning hi-i coat across his chest, while he gratified his natural instincts by dispensing with the super- fluity o( a waistcoat. When, therefore, there an so from a bench below the gangway opposite an so from a bench below the gangway opposite a slightlv-rnade, youthful, almost boyish prison, with a black coat fearlessly unbuttoned to display tiie waistcoat, and disclose the shirt-collar and necktie, Sir Walter began to stare, and ca-At side I glances to that other great legislator, Colonel Coibett, in the startled endeavour to know what lie ihoiHit of thin! Moreover, the Radical wore, not spectacles with tin or brass rims, as Poire Holt woinet have inevitably done had .is bt,.t ari ev( Posi- tive iv an eyeglass, framed in precisely the same st y), that which Colonel Coibett himself wears when his good-humoured face is turned towards a distant object. Surprise dee|incd "hen the Radical, in a low, dear, and admirably pitched voice, and in a manner self-possessed' without being self-assertive, t r >- (S'Q'ied to discuss the Prisons" Bill, opposing -zl the X err liees uhich Sir Walter himself had made liis Tov V'edms when he besieged the bill la t xvas voi-y tIlk-l-H was oi.lv one thing for an English gentleman to V and ht Sir W lter promptly did. lie rose ¡¡;j,.o; ;i jc. I vhen Mr. Chamberlain fat down, ann awi..ivtt,u,j •onscious of (iisgtjisiug his cart-whual-and no- ivn:steoat theory, publicly •ibanr|o|}cd it. and ■leid "lit ie er the heads of Mr i and Mr. !>rr.-sfo .i Hope the right hand oi iwlljvs 'in tc CIIH 1:■.11i• -d uiuinber for- iJirmingham." luidi.-id as he is, Mr. Chamberlain is also a olutoen-j.. ~Jie happy possessor of a prim-el) fortune made in business. His place at Hi:>Sibury. outside tho smoke line which surrounds t he mid- land metropolis, is a palatial one. There in 187 J. 11e heing thtn Mayor of Birmingham, Mr.Chamber lain entertained the Prince of Wales right myally. In the beautiful garden grounds may be seen what is perhaps the finest and mostc olete range of orchid-houses in existence, tilled with priceless specimens of these curious products of the plant world. Chamberlain was born in London in 1 ,1 In, and educated at I niversity College with a view :t ec)rnlile-I;l I -iir(Tr. When he was 18 acci- dent took his father to Birmingham, where he 'ined thu now famous Nettlefold screw-maid ng house. Young Joseph had a stool assigned to Iiiiii iii the of'nc(, *,Li cl his great biisiti(,s al)il;ty in due course carried him to the head of the concern, [n Is71 he was able to retire, a re- pue.il millionaire. In Birmingham he made his mark as a local reformer, and was associated with Mr. Jesse Coihnus and others in many matters of muni- cipal, educational, and social progress. He assisted materially in the shaping of the political organisation which !ater became so well known and feared as the "Caucus." He declared for a political faith of otit-and )iit Radicalism, including in his programme drastic land reforms, State-provided education, and Ilan- hood suffrage. School Board chairmanships and provincial •rav'a alties did not, however, bound the horizon of Mr. Chamberlain's ambition. He resolved on launching into the larger sphere of Parliament. Afrer contesting Sheffield against the veteran Roebuck in vain, he in due cour-e was selected lw Birmingham as one of its representatives. In 1 H) he was President of the Board of Trade, and his Bankruptcy and Patent Bills will always i auk as masterly commercial measures. In Mr. Gladstone's Third Administration Mr. Chamber- lain refused the First Lord-dijo of tiie Admiralty because of his ;a dieai dislike of the great spending departments. necepte(I t'ie siiiallei- (,i President of theLocalGovernrnent Board,leaving it later in consequence of his antagonism to the Premier's Trish dans. which lie declared unjust and impracticable. Hansard has recorded many a telling speech from his lips, and if his life is spared to his country's service will, doubtless, record many more. His sympathies with the agricultural population are strong, and to his championship of Hodge" he owes much of his popularitY,

Advertising

I -eeting at Denbigh1 OF THE…