Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-18
POLITICS IN ENGLAND
Prime Minister is Expected to
Remain in Town.
Special cablegram to The star.

Special Cablegram to The Star.
LONDON, February 1.-THE prime min
lister is expected to remain in tow;1 until
the opening of parliament. He will have
his hands exceptionally full during the
next few days, for the short interval that
has elapsed since his call to office and the
fact that over one-half of 1t has been de-
voted to the general election have natural
ly handicapped him to considerable de-
gree in preparing the government business
for the coming session. Ordinarily, in the
natural order of things, this work extends
over several months, the different measures
proposed for Introduction being considered
at numerous cabinet councils during the
early months of winter. This year. how
ever, the circumstances have been quite
abnormal, midwnter campaign being a
novelty in England. Hence It is necessary
to crush everything into the space of a
few weeks. AS soon as possible frequent
sessions of the cabinet will be held at
which the outlines of the various measures
to be submitted will be decided upon.
The necessity for getting the different
government bills into shape is the more
urgent this year as 1t is believed the de-
bate on the address from the throne will
be unusually short. In view of the ire
mendous smashing which the idea of pro-
lection has just received at the polls 1t is
not thought likely that the opposition will
court further defeat upon it by making
IL the subject of amendment even though
MI Chamberlain comes to the front more
than is anticipated at present In fact
the opposition appears to be willing to
adopt a glad-to-be- alive, waiting-f for some
thlng-to-turn-up attitude. 1t is not sur
prlsing that in the present trend of events
after their recent Misunderstanding gruelling
that the members of the opposition have
about decided that they have little stomach
lof nghC on any queStion-certainly they
are not In position to spring the high pro-
tectye tariff issue on an unsuspecting
parliament. Even if they had the inclina-
ton they have not the men CAPABLE of
maintaining q sustained debate With the
exception of Mr. Chamberlain himself and
possibly Mr.. Wyndham, they have not q
man who is able to seriously tackle the
men on the liberal side. 1t is quite as bad
with the rank and file, for there are not
more than dozen men of real talent in
the lot. Some important amendments it
Is understood, will come from the labor
members, who are determined to take the
earliest opportunity OF making their power
felt as a parliamentary force
Disposition to Quarrel.
Meanwhile. the liberal leader Sir H.
Campbell Zimmerman, will have his hands.
full. Though it is of no special sgniti-
canoe, save as it indicates a disposition be-
tween the more radical wing of the radi-
calls to quarrel with the liberals, Robert
Blatchford is out in the Clarion with the
declaration that liberalism is dying or
dead He reasons it out along these
lines.
"Our first and greatest duty is to fight
the liberal party. There can be no social
ism while any pretence of alliance or
friendship exists between the liberal party
and the socialists. Today the liberal party
is full of triumph. 1t is once more a great
party, with great majority. But 1t no
longer has meaning. The great liberal
party stands for nothing-is nothing"
He refers to prominent members Of the
cabinet by name and continues:
Edward Hartley, Phillip Snowden, Fred
Jowett and many more, whose names are
unknown TO the world, are of more con-
sequence to this country than all the AS
quiths, Bannermans ana MorIeys on earth"
Mr.. Blatchford speculates on the life of
the government. 1t would hold together,
he says, for perhaps four or five years
perhaps less. But he is hopeful of the fu-
ture OF the socialist party
AT the next election We ought to put
in at least one hundred socialists" contin-
ued Mr.. Blatchford. IF we all do our
best have no doubt that with four years
preparation we can do that, or even more
than that
Meanwhile, John Bruins has succeeded
In stirring up a hornets nest, and he is
having quite a lively time with Mr. Cham
berlain. 1t appears that Mr.. Chamberlain
during the recent campaign spoke as fol-
lows:
Mr.. Burns received a deputa ton of the
unemployed the other day-he who when
he first came into office, with his fresh
honors upon him in full bloom, confident
that the millennium would come of itself
now that he was president of the local
government board, has already developed
into hack official of the most ordinary
kind. When he received this deputation L
think they must have failed to recognize
the mob orator OF Hyde Park in the SNUG
and respectable gentleman who read them
a lecture upon thrift and sobriety, and
begged them TO have confidence in him and
to be assured that he would look after
their interests
Mr.. Burns now says that this wanton de-
scription by Mr.. Chamberlain of what did
not occur is best answered and refuted by
what he really did say. He says that he
stated that the deputation might rest as
sured that he had approached the act with
sympathy and with practical desire TO
put promptly in motion what admnistra-
tive agencies were already In existence
and were under the control of the local
government board
Mr.. Burns says that there was not a
word to the deputation about thrift and
sobriety, and he could not therefore, as
Mr.. Chamberlain said, have read the depu-
tatlon lecture upon thrift and sobriety,
neither did he beg them TO have confidence
In himself Here is what Mr.. Burns claims
that he really did say upon that point:
THE deputarion may rest assured that
Whatever Is pOSSlDle, HdNlHS EeSdiu 70 liiS
limited powers OF the local government
board, will be sympathetically and promptly
carried out" Mr.. Burns adds that he
simply said that he would administer the
unemployed act promptly and fairly.
The bitterness Incorporated IN the reply
of John Burns may be seen in the follow
ing:
Il only wish to add that Mr. Chamber
lain must not incorporate In his opponents
utterances what they never said, and upon
that gross and seif-created travesty "a
shorter name could moro properly be APP
Piled build up further misrepresentation
to hide his own shortcomings or to a"oid
his responsibility for creating the unem-
ployed whose difficulty he now exploits"
An agitation has been commenced for
reform in the ballot laws. Even the Lon
don Times, extremely conservative in mat
tiers of this character, says that the new
house of commons is emphatically of the
twentieth century, but that its methods
are still largely those of the middle ages.
One of the first inquiries by parliament
in considering election reforms will be In
the matter of canvassing. The question is
already being asked why canvassing is still
tolerated The ballot itself assumes that
L..