Hughes, William Morris, 1864-1952; Lloyd George, David, 1863-1945; World War, 1914-1918 -- Economic aspects
Though we spoke of Politics, Presidents and the Great Social Forces that
so far as England was concerned acknowledged him as leader, the current
of speech always swept back to war and its significance for us.
"Since the war means so much to us," I said, "have you no message for
America?"
Throughout our talk he had sat in a low chair sometimes tilting it
backward as he swayed with the vehemency of his words. Suddenly he
became still. He turned his head and looked dreamily out the window at
his left where he could see the throng of Whitehall as it swept back
and forth along London's Great Military Way.
Then rising slowly and with eloquent gesture and trembling voice (he
might have been speaking to thousands instead of one person), he said:
"The hope of the world is that America will realise the call that
Destiny is making to her in tones that are getting louder and more
insistent as the terrible months go by. That Destiny lies in the
enforcement of respect for International Law and International Rights."
It was a pregnant and unforgettable moment. From the Throne Room of a
Mighty Conflict England's War Lord was sounding the note of a distant
process of peace.
If you had probed behind this kindling utterance you would have seen
with Lloyd George himself that beyond the flaming battle-lines and past
the tumult of a World at War was the hope of some far-away Tribunal that
would judge nations and keep them, just as individuals are kept, in the
path of Right and Humanity.
But before any such bloodless antidote can be applied to International
Dispute, to quote Lloyd George again: "This war must be fought to a
finish."
These final words, snapped like a whip-lash and emphasised with a
fist-beat on the table, meant that England would see her Titan Task
through and if for no other reason because the man who drives the war
gods wills it so. What sort of man is this who goes from post to post
with inspired faith and unfailing execution? What are the qualities that
have lifted him from obscure provincial solicitor to be the Prop of a
People?
"Let George do it," has become the chronic plea of all Britain in her
time of trial. How does he do it?
To understand any man you must get at his beginnings. Thus to appreciate
Lloyd George you must first know that he is Welsh and this means that he
was cradled in revolt. He must have come into the world crying protest.
He was reared in a land of frowning crags and lovely dales, of mingled
snow and sunshine, of poetry and passion. About him love of liberty
clashed with vested tyranny. These conflicting things shaped his
character, entered into his very being and made him temperamentally a
creature of magnificent ironies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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