The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1905-03-02
ENGLAND ON EVE OF
MOMENT0US ELECTION

schemes. Spencer was viceroy of
Ireland under Gladstone, as far
back as 1868. He would be a dig
nified figure in office, but not one
to really command enthusiasm or
carry the party along on progress
sive lines.
The strongest fighter in the Lib
eral ranks is Lloyd George, the
leader of the Welsh contingent in
parliament. He is red-haired, pas
sionate and eloquent, and is said to
be the only man in England who
can make Chamberlain squirm
Whenever he speaks in public he
is received with tremendous en-
thusiasm. There is nothing soft
about him or his views. He was
a pro-Boer at time when to be
one meant to have stones thrown
at you in the streets. He has bit
terly opposed the government ed
ucatiOn measures and in Wales led
a movement to protest by non
payment of taxes. The rank and
file would be delighted to see him
prime minister, but the old hands
in the Liberal party would be
afraid of him because of his youth
and radical views.
A perhaps more possible man is
| Winston Churchill, who is now
older than the younger Pitt was
when he was prime minister, dur
ing the Napoleonic wars. Up to re-
Gently he has been a Conservative,
though a stanch free trader. When
| Chamberlain came out for protec-
| ton he opposed him, and when
Balfoud wavered and leaned in the
Chamberlain direction, Churchill
BoIted His Party
and went over, bag and baggage,
to the Liberals.
Many Conservative free traders
have followed him, and it might be
that he could succeed at the head
of coalition free trade cabinet.
Churchill's father, Lord Randolph
] Churchill, was one of the most
brilliant and meteoric figures of
modern England. He was called
"the darling of democracy" and
there seemed nothing to prevent
his ruling the British empire. Sud-
denly, as every one remembers,
he abandoned his parliamentary
career, retired from public life and
shortly died. His son has inner
tied many of his fathers qualities.
He is said also to possess common
sense and persistence, which he
inherited from his American
mother.
Winston Churchill is also some
thing of an advertiser, which may
likewise be an American trait. One
of his friends recently said of him:
winston Churchill advertises
himself as simply and unconscious
ly as he breathes." When he went
to the Boer war as a newspaper
correspondent he promptly was
captured, and a few days later fig
ured in a spectacular escape. He
has been doing something spectac
ular ever since. To become prime
minister before he is 80 would be
more sensational than other events
of his career, though very much in
the same line.
The new parliament will probab-
| ly be elected in March, and if the
Liberals can secure a clear major
ity over both Irish and Conserva-
tives, they will have plain sailing
for at least a few months. Should
they not have this clear majority
and be obliged to depend upon the
Irish Nationalists, there will be a
three-ring circus, with John Red
mond as Ringmaster. Redmond is
the most powerful parliamentary
free lance the old halls of West
minister have seen in many a day.
When he gets on the subject of
English rule of Ireland he calls a
spade spade, and if anyone con-
tradicts him he bounces up and
calls it a manure shovel. By the
time the SlOwer-witted English
members have thought of retort,
it is time to adjourn.