Labor's First Night ?
By FRANK H. SIMONDS
Copyright, 1024 by McCiurt* Ncmxiwimt Syndicate
London, March 8. ? In British public life, vastly more than
i 1 our own ? although even in Washington it plays a part ? the
social aspect of politics has always been important.
i'olitieai salons^Tr^i^traaCT
ion and dinners and routs pro
:ar back of Thackeray and his
Georgians.
Thus it was that, when Labor won I
its amazing, its astounding, victorv I
iitKj th?- first hours of astonishment I
haw bussed over, the question, tie*
I dominant interrogation in certain I
quarters mas: Will Labor have Its
social phase. and if t-o how and I
w iv?
I The question had immediate perti- I
i :ice \\f . -n. art. r the brief recess
I ? -I lowing the fall or the BaldwLi
ministry, the moment approached I
when a Labor Prime Minister would
i: ' t Parliament. Torlis and Liber
I a!>, following immemorial custom. I
Planned thel- dinners and their re
ceptions?what Would Labor do?
[ And then .Mrs. Noel Buxton, wife I
of the famous Balkan champion and
historian who is Minister of Agri
culture in the new Cabinet, stepped
into the breach and bade Labor wel
come at a reception at a West-end
hotel in London. Thanks to her hos
I pita lity and thanks to the interven- '
lion on my benalf of Henry W. Nev
inson. known and admired In Amer-i
! ica since the Washington Confer- 1
once. the most chivalrous champion:
of lost causes and forlorn hopes in !
three continents and Innumerable
?Islands, it was my privilege to see
Labor on this Its first night.
The impressions which I shall try
to set down here can only have a
jalue if at all as they very imper
fectly serve lo present ttte lrtcture-of
something which had never before
happened in Br'tlsh politics and will
never certalnl> happen again in 1
quite the same way? the spectacle j
of the men and the women of a new
party freshly cc me to power un-'
dreamed of. a mingling of Labor
leaders, intellectuals, miners. Cabi
net Ministers, one Prime Minister
one Lord Chancellor, a thin sprinkl
ing ol Lords, old and new, poets,
historians, editors, essayists, social
workers and social authorities, all
the elite, ail the brains, not a few
of the hands and *ome of the stout
est hearts of an authentic revolu
tion, suddenly brought together un
der the spell of victory, still under
the thrall of a triumph so unfore- '
seen as to impose a certain silence,
lest the fatal wrong word should 1
break the spell ani dissolve the real
ity which seemed the mirage.
It was perhaps ten o'clock, when
Neylnson and I made our way into
the hotel through the thin wall of
bystanders waiting patiently against
the assured coming of the Prime
Minister, not yet arrived. As -we
checked our coats at the bottom' of
the staircase. I noted that my slip
was numbered 760 and since we
were among the latest comers it is
fair to calculate that the whole par
ty numbered alout 800.
Climbing the twisted staircase we
came ^Immediately Into an outer hall
crowded with groups of people1
formed in little circles. Pausing for
a moment at the staircase we paid
our formal respects to our hostess
and then were presented to the hap
piest person T have yet seen in Eur
Mnlster daUBhter of the Prime1
S'T"n* . |>e?lde her h oat ess,
gravel) receiving and returning the
ah e is older. but in her Bin, pip <jr(.ss
... ..T0"* *1 nmny e'<lerly, she
?eemed no moVe than sixteen? with
shy and startled manner and vet
Idon t ""d. W|U| ,ltn'o*t aelf-posses
?Ion, looked out upon n world that
nad com., to greet hpr fnI|1(>r tomor_
\?| I ? y and completely Prime
hJr 1hr I* ",rl,aln- There was about
1 r. of >'outh Which sug
gested that for her it wan all almost
?onJh*"i '^nd. ,her<> wa" beside* the
touch of dignity that made her after
*U ''7 ,er a daughter as unmls
takabl> an the resemblance in her
face to his. Patently it wan her
first party and what a party, and to
It she added lomethlng Indefinable
but at once charmlnK and unmlstak
able.
Pausing this harrier of formal In
troduction I followed closely upon
ray gallant guide, now like a small
boat attacl *d to a vigorous steam
launch-; then losing ray hawser and
fee ring as Henry of Navarre bade
Ills followers, by the white oriflami ,
this time of Nevlnaon's locks, I be
van the amazing circle of Introcuc
tions.
First by a Hidden right turn
abrupt and unheralded I arrived al
most in the arms of C. I'. Trevelyan
President of the Board of Education,'
and bearer of n name4 many times
distlnmilsheo In British letters A
left tun. and with equal abruptness
1 was cast upon the charity alwavs
vracious of Pcthick Laurence and
htisan Laurence, his wife, who to
gether had won the final victory In
the fircat war of "votes for women
and are potent factors In the new
I^abor group. And from their pres
ence diagonally tJ) rough groups of
Labor M. P.s thick as the loaves In
the valombrosa, I came to a halt be
fore Masslngham. perhaps the *reat
r est of British editors and surelv one
<>f the intellectual giants of the Rad
ical cause In England.
J **" eaught up In the
W.. n vainly struggling after,
was presented hreathlem to a keen
va^uelv* ?*' eyebrowed gentleman.
?agt tly very vaguely perhaps, sug
kf. ling the late I.ord Ilryce My
name Nevlnson announced and then
*eek coffee f?r some
?trlcken lady, the knightly soul he
?am"lv ?'fhI d7"rted me. A little
lamely. I fear. I asked a name and
was met with the smiling rejoinder
'?n!! r T > 'winkling eye.,'
Oli. 1 m Lord Klmberley," nnd so
eaught in a narrow l?|e of safety
nH>i*K*B?l" ,m* "n(l m? the
nrltlah Revolution flowed ceaselessly
and the tide ef socialism rose high*
er and higher a vagrant American
encountered his first Earl.
As Nevlnson returned, there was
a new stirring toward the center
without immediately apparent reas
on. A closely drawn group began to
open ranks and presently ther.?
emerged a compact, smilini:, k?H'U
faced. tittle woman, whoso emerg
ence brought from right and loft im
mediate pleased murmurs of "On.
it's Margaret.'* Again my faithful
master, came into action and in an
other moment nbash? d I stood
fore tiie shrewd and uncomfortably
appraising glance of Britain's first
Cabinet woman. Miss Margaret
Bondfhld.
Next. while N? -vinson did an in
cantation ov. r my head at another
figure towering above me, 1 found
myself !a the .presence of Gooch, th"
historian whose recent book on the
Nineteenth Century enlists the en
thusiasm of all competent reviewers.
Over my head still ho boomed a
thunderous declaration that "Isola
tion was impossible and America
could not stay out." thus concentrat
ing on me. poor cockleshell, that
volley which I could wish might
have fallen upon those battleships of
isolation, Borah and Brandegee.
From Gooch by devious turnings '
and twistings. by several poets. Just
ly incredulous when Nevlnson gal- '
lantly and mendaciously affirmed
my knowledge of their verse, gently 1
caroming off E. D. Morel, fiercest
critic of France, of the Allies, of all >
things. King Leopold's enemy of the
Congo days. I was cast up like drift
wood at the feet of Sydney Webb,
President of the Board of Trade,
father of the Fabian movement, at
whose feet so tnanv have sat and
still sit, the Cabinet Minister who
in learning and in scientific prepar
ation Is perhaps the best qualified
Minister Britain has ever known.
Then ensued an interlude in the
course of which I encountered Miss
Evelyn Sharp, whom last I saw new
ly back from Russia, where she had
performed marvelous and devoted
service in the hideous famine time
two years ago! Then Josiah Wedg
wood, who sits for Arnold Bennett's
"Five Towns." is in the new. Cabi
net and never has been out of any
debate for many years.
Then came tangency to another
lion, the target of many gentle jabs
and of much amused banter, Colonel
Thomson, when I last saw him. Then
he was equally famous In Paris as
the man who blew up the oil wells
in Rou mania when the Germans
broke through in 1917 and as Len
in's frankest admirer in the Pari:?
Peace Conference. Now he was Gen
eral Thomson, tomorrow he would
I be Baron Thomson. Labor's flr^t
created peer, sent with two other
| conscripts to represent revolution in
the last citadel of feudalism. He,
too. Is a Cabinut Minister, Secretary
.for the Air, I Think, not wholly in
appropriately.
Beyond the staircase where T had
mounted, there was a new stir and
presently there came, wearing a
cape coat, a square almost squat fig
ure. Labor's greatest captive from
the Liberal party. Lord Haldane,
? Lord Chancellor and Minister of War
| in other Liberal Cabinets and now
Lord Chancellor again. This was the
I man who carried the messages to
| Berlin, whose conversations with
Tlrpitz did not prevent naval com
i petition or avert the World War. the
man whose famous and unfortunate
phrase "Germany is myi spiritual
home" cost him seven full years of
national execration. Thanks to Nev
lnson lie pave me a passing word
with just a sly almost chuckling
felnnce tinged with gentle malice
hardly to be expected In an orator
who once introduced "Sltt'.ichkelt"
t to an amazed America.
Next appeared Arthur Henderson,
member of many past Cabinets. La
bor's representative In coalition, now
chief strategist of the whole army.
Home Secretary in the new Cabinet,
candidate in an pppro.ichlng byo
electlon. holding In his party the po
sition comparable to national clinir
i.ian in -our own party system and
held the greatest political organizer
In British politics.
Last to cotne. expected, awaited
| that thi evening mluht be complete,
was the Prime Minister himself.
First there was a faint far ofT sound
ing of cheers below, then a nol*e of
feet on the staircase, a certain elec
trical thrill In the air and Labor's
first Prime Minister arrived clad like
all of us In morning clothes, in the
dress in which most, If not all. of
these wonderful peonlo had done
battl" for ldens and dream* against
hard and grim realities. Mr. Mc
Donald took his place beside his lit
tle daughter In the receiving line
nnd suddenly her face blossomed
like that of a child when the Christ-,
mas tree loi.jr admired in darkness
comes alight with all Its many can
dles.
Of any formal demonstration
there was nothing, neither was there
any sudden rush: the leader had
patently conic to his army but not
with any manner of nuthorlty; and
so In little groups without haste his
captains and his private soldiers,
women as well as men, rather more
women than men. moved across to
say good evening to "Ramsay" and
pass tin.
So In my turn Nevlnson compel
ling and fortune favoring 1 was
brought before Mr. MacDonald and
Introduced, decorated with I know
not what titles of journalistic emin
ence. which I am relieved to believe'
he did not hear. As he faced me1
the wap a tall, .striking figure, a far
sober. sombre almost to the point of
sadness, high cheek-bones, deep-net
and piercing eyes, a rather narrow
forehead, crowned with a wonderful
mane of whitening hair, the one dis
tinguishing detail. A little hard and
grim the face was. just as the figure.
broad, loosely hung, suggested the
' laborer ? although I belive he haa
1 never worked with his hands ? until
suddenly the face lighted with a
swift flash of his eyes, which seemed
to break as an electric light when
you press the button and what was
dark becomes instantaneously Illum
inated. A vigorous hand-shake, a
kindly personal word of greeting,
and I save way to others.
Drifting away and watching at a
distance the face seemed to me still
more ruggea. witn a uf weari
ness and yet ,of surviving reservoirs
of strength. Looking thus at th's
man who on the morrow would face
Parliament as Prliue Minister It was
impossible not ,to recall the vicissi
tudes of ten years. Less than that
space of time had paj'sed since he
alone, in Parliament stood squarely
avainst the declaration of war. The
weight of a whole national, disap
proval had fr.llen uppii him as it had
In- Hi" Boer War time, yet he ha 1
never recanted, never modified his
position. The press had lashed him; 1
?iid even more painful circumstance,
perhaps, his ?olf club In his "own
corner ??f Scotland had east lilm out.
Ev n his constituents had rtnnllv v?
him |n Lloyd Georcc's khaki
eh cUon. Yet now. himself unchang
ing. nil about him had changed, and
tomorrow he would be in fact Prltue
Minister. Certainly rarely in politi
cal history In England or out of it
has there ever been such 'a transfor
mation in the personal fortunes of
one man.
And now having perhaps with far
too great detail described the out
ward circumstances of this. Labor's
flrst night. I would Justify myself by
a few words of comment. There
was in the very atmosphere some
thing: which was in Itself almost Im
possible to describe and quite be
yond all forgetting. Here were gath
ered in two relatively small rooms
more than half of the new British
Cabinet, upwards of a hundred mem
bers of a new Parliament, ranging
from dockers "and miners to Lords
and at least one Earl. Here were
men and women whose names are
familiar from one end to the other
of the English speaking world, men
and women of letters, of scientific
achievement, of social service, and.
I think, save for myself and perhaps
a Hindoo girl In native costume,
there were no strangers. Here were
men and women who over years in
widely separated fields only slowly
drawn together, had foeeji fightlnt:
for a common cause. They had. If
I may use the figure, been scattered
in all sorts of outposts, unconscious
of supporting troops, knowing only
of the strength of the opposition. j
And suddenly by the magic of a vic
tory totally undreamed of they had
been brought together here.
Most, probably all of these people
, were Radicals in the American sense,
many of them extreme Radicals.
Most of them had suffered .socially, '
, some even more directly for their
faiths. Yet they were, swing them
together, impressively British, Brit
ish by race, by manner, by everv
thing. That imponderable and mag-[
niflcent myth, the British Constltu-.
tlon, might have given Its benedic
tion without a qualm. Between all
j these people only newly divided by
Cabinet rank and official dignities
there was something of the feeling
you miiiht find in a company of sol
diers who had together made a long
campaign, not of weeks but of years,
faced enemies and privations, tested
each other in the long hours which
weed out those of little faith and
i weaker nerves. Now they had come
through at last to victory and a sort
?f curiously Indescribable but uplift- j
Ing sense not so much of the value
of triumph as of that of comrade
ship.
I have been all my active life a
political reporter. I have seen every;
form of Americnn politics from the'
election district on the East Side of I
New York to the national conven-i
tlon. I have seen party uatherings
J In battle. In defeat and in vlptory.
'the nationally great under practical-,
j ly every circumstance, *yet there was
; in this Labor gathering a spirit, a
| something which J cannot better de
scribe than say it was different from
all else in my experience. It was
I frankly a high water mark; thosr'
I who were living it said With Just a
j touch of that sadness which com
plete success brlnus "It never can'
happen again." Yet It had a qual
Ity which you think of when you j
| read of other creat and signifieant
( 'Movements In human history, high
? ndeavors carried forward by peo
ple big and little, wise and even fool
, Mi. move'd by the curious. Impelling
Influence of n common cause and the
, force of an Intercommunicated en
thusiasm by which people are lifted
out of themselves for the moment
and do Impossible things ? alas, only
for the moment, too. ?
There was also In this amazing
gathering a sense of essential dem
ocracy. hardly to be quite paralleled
in any American experience; Democ
racy and that infinitely rarer thin-4
that the French demand, too. name
ly. fraternity. 1 thiuk everyone was
more or less conscious that the mo
ment was transitory and that tomor
row politics, the ordinary sordid
compromising party politics, would
supervene, that the hour would no*
and could not he recaptured, yet it
?as the hour for which so r^.any in
the groups had worked so long and
lived so hard and would never al
together forget even in. ultimate
failure.
Itefore 1 l?-ft America Mr. Hoover;
told*, me that for him th?' odd. the
ast'inisMng thin*, about the l.nulish
men lu* paw and met and. heard of
In c iid pari:! of t1?- wvrlii. men of
ss. 'trade and commerce. wr r;
thnj tl-ev wer? yoiu^ ev.t ever many
lailda i?u.<in?.rs with the de
[termination to avert menacing evils
I at home In something; of the Eliza- i
I bethan spirit of high adventure and
daring. Now the strange thing In
England today for at least one Am
erican is also precisely that curious,
sense of an Elizabethan England. ;
Not the feeling of an old country
weary and staggered by burdens of,
which there are an endless number,
but of a young, country or. better, of
a spirit of youth in an old country,
springing up unexpectedly, answer- ;
inc *.he challenge of adversity, of
national perils, sordid and material
many of them, with a defiance coin
ing from the very depths of the race
Itself; and if Mr. Hoover could fln?l
In business men travelling for trade
this romantic spirit perhaps it will
not seem fantastic that I should tih?t
it here In London in labor's Ilr:;t
ev< ning at Home.
I'nder th? strain "f war faS^u'"
i?u*sii "V i nt" Hols':. \ f- 1 . lunl' i' i'. -
stress of post war tH*a;>potn*.M-'nM. I
Italy nubrac- ?! Fasci-* 1-Mxt in ISr.t - -
tain I .a bo r Itself repulsed Lenin and
middle and upper-class Britain re
jected Mussolini. Deep down In the
race there was and is a conscious
nesa that much is wrong and many
things must be changed, but alont;
with this goes the unconquerable
coi. vlctlon that all that Is to be done
must be done in the British way.
No party, no group, no leaders,
have a monopoly on this new na
tional sentiment. If Labor fails, it
will promptly be relieved of power.
It is not Labor's revolution, it i.s
Britain's revolution. But it Is. ?
believe it more strongly every Jay.
a r ::l revolution destined oerhap?
to chnnee everything but the sur
face of British national existence
and to have consequences far be
yond tlw e\t<4lsive frontiers of the
British Kmplro."
\rul iK-rluips in ;i fnshlon which 1
]' n li.-en quite unable to phrase
? ?\:u*:ly. nllliMtiuh I felt il strongly,
ibis spirit vi'as tb? dominating fact'
in Labor's first nijJit.
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