Asquith Resigns

COMMONWEALTH (British Commonwealth of Nations)

A white-haired earl sat down at his desk last week and wrote finis to one of the longest and most momentous careers of any living Englishman. He was Herbert Henry Asquith, First Earl of Oxford and Asquith.*By a scratch of the pen he resigned as leader of the once great Liberal party. Lord Oxford and Asquith's resignation has loomed as inevitable since he and Mr. Lloyd George quarreled openly last May as to the attitude of their party (Liberal) toward the general strike (TIME, May 10 et seq). Asquithians insisted that the general strike must be crushed as a viper attacking the Constitution. Georgians were for a settlement by compromise. It remained only to see in what manner the aged Earl of Oxford and Asquith would lay aside the weary cares of Liberalism. Last week he wrote in explanation of his resignation:

"The outbreak of the organized general strike was the gravest domestic event in my lifetime. If it had succeeded Parliamentary Government would have been at an end. It was an action of mine which made this a ground of controversy in the Liberal ranks and it was with as much distress as surprise that I found that my public declarations were met with a challenge from a quarter [the Lloyd Georgians] which it was impossible for me to disregard.

"I am now in my 75th year. I have been for the best part of half a century in public life. I was Prime Minister for a longer consecutive term and had to face graver responsibilities than any of my predecessors during the last hundred years. For a still longer time I have been leader of the Liberal Party.

"Though my health is now restored, I feel that the anxieties and responsibilities of leadership ought not to be undertaken or continued by anyone who can not be reasonably certain that he can stand the strain.

"I do not contemplate retirement from public life and hope that I may still be of some service to the State and to Liberalism. But I have come to the conclusion that it is my duty to lay down the leadership, and this decision, arrived at after much consideration and with many regrets, must be regarded as irrevocable."

Tearful Valediction. That he might say a personal farewell to his followers Lord Oxford and Asquith journeyed to address a throng of Liberals at Greenock, Scotland. Before he spoke, the audience sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," and cheered throughout his dignified address.

Bent and careworn, the Earl said with quiet fervor:

"The fortunes of the Liberal Party may fluctuate. It may at one moment (as was the case in 1906) seem to be so strong as to be able to defy any conceivable hostile combination. At another moment, as after the 'coupon' election* in 1918, it may seem to be so battered and mutilated as to be on the verge of annihilation. But there is only one way in which it can ever be killed, and that is by suicide."

The Earl sat down and the audience rose to sing an old Scotch song: "Will Ye No' Come Back Again?" The first verse rose clear and lilting, but at the refrain Lord Oxford and Asquith was seen to be in tears. Soon he was weeping heavily. He managed to say brokenly: "I thank you . . . I thank you from the bottom of my heart. . . ."

The Earl's wife, Margot Asquith, she of the sharp features and biting tongue, could not control her emotions, sobbed. At last, as numerous members of the audience began to weep, that iron-hearted Liberal, Viscount Grey of Fallodon drew forth his handkerchief and wiped his eyes.

Sprightly Invitation. Though the rift between Asquithians and Georgians is too wide for Mr. Lloyd George to step automatically into the leadership of the party he did not neglect to bid for that post last week in a speech at Barnstaple. After referring to "that great Liberal leader, Lord Oxford, one of the most illustrious of the party's brilliant array of leaders," Mr. Lloyd George continued: "It is a crime to waste energy and enthusiasm on personal feuds."

*Lord Oxford and Asquith succeeded Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Liberal Premier (1908) ; abolished the veto power of the House of Lords (1911) ; forced through home rule for Ireland (1914) causing such fury in Ulster that Britain was saved from civil war only by the distraction provided by the World War. He was unhorsed as Premier (1916) by Lloyd George who cleverly made it appear that Britain's early defeats in the World War were due to Asquithian blundering. He lost his seat in the Commons (1918) as Premier Lloyd George swept the country with his "Hang the Kaiser" campaign, but resumed his seat in the House (1920) and leadership of the Liberal Party. Later he made peace with Mr. Lloyd George in the year following the letter's fall from the Premiership (1922). The two uniting against the tariff proposals of Premier Stanley Baldwin threw the Liberal party behind the first and only Labor Government of Britain (1924) and caused the fall of this cabinet by withdrawing Liberal support later in the same year. He was created Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1925) thus becoming leader of the Liberals in the House of Peers and leaving Mr. Lloyd George undisputed Liberal leader in the House of Commons.

*During the election Mr. Lloyd George issued what was called a "coupon" in a letter signed by himself urging all constituencies to vote against Liberals.