hip in Mr. Lloyd George's plans and orations, and
prophesy a short-lived tenure of office. Radical supporters hail him as a
saviour of society, and are confident that under his leadership democracy
will enter the promised land of peace and prosperity for all. Neutral minds
doubt whether Mr. Lloyd George is sufficiently well-balanced for the
responsibilities of high office, and express misgivings lest the era of
social reform be inaugurated too rapidly. The obvious danger of a fall
always confronts ambition in politics, but the danger is only obvious to
the onlooker. Pressing forward the legislative measures he has set his
heart upon, and impatient to carry out the policy that seems to him of
first importance to the State, Mr. Lloyd George pays little heed to the
criticism of friends or foes. A supreme self-confidence carries him along,
and the spur of ambition is constantly pricking. Political co-operation is
difficult for such a man, and an indifference to reforms that are not of
his initiation, and a willingness to wreck legislation that cannot bear his
name, are a weakness in Mr. Lloyd George that may easily produce a fall.
Only a very strong man can afford to say that a reform shall be carried in
his way, or not at all, in cheerful disregard of the wishes of colleagues
and followers. Mr. Lloyd George's attitude on the question of Women's
Suffrage is characteristic. Professing a strong belief in the justice of
women's enfranchisement, he assumes that he can safely oppose all Women's
Suffrage Bills that are not of his framing, even when these Bills are the
work of ardent Liberals. He would have the measure postponed until he
himself can bring in a Reform Bill, to the end that the enfranchisement of
women may be associated with his name for all time.

It is dangerous to the statesman, the ambition that finds satisfaction less
in the success of a party or the triumph of a cause, than in the personal
victory. Dangerous, because it brings with it an isolation from friends and
colleagues. These come to stand coldly aloof, and then, if a slip occurs or
a mistake is made, and there comes a fall, no hands are stretched out to
repair the damage or restore the fallen. The statesman who is suspected of
"playing for his own hand" may laugh at the murmurs of discontent amongst
his followers while all goes well for him, but when he falls he falls
beyond recovery. No one can foretell the end of Mr. Lloyd George's career,
but his popul