Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-26

- its greatest political battle Of a
generation and the liberal victory
is conceded TO be complete.
The policy of Mr.. Asquith and Lloyd
George the subject Of the budget has
been carried through in triumph. England
has also shown that she is loyal TO the
traditional policy OF free trade, and the
Irish members in the house Of commons
will now have more powerful standing
than ever before. because the unionist
and the liberal vote is SO close that the
Irish members will really WELD the bal
ance of power.
These are the high spots in the remark
able campaign just ended and reports o;
which have had such a puzzling effect
on Americans unfa milar with the Eng
lsh system of elections.
The peers and the Irishmen will be
the dominating forces of the next parlia-
ment Mr.. Asquith has two battles 10
fight-to reform the lords and TO pass the
budget which failed and the budget for
the coming year. The prospect is that
both the peers and the nationalsts will
vote for the budgets.
The house of lords can be reformed only
by a bill which the lords must swallow.
They may deny that the country has
given a mandate for this. The unionists
insist that the elections have not proven
historic status Of the upper house. They
argue that a bare ma jority is not enough
No country with a written constitution
such as the United States, they point out,
can make such changes by mere ma
jorty.
The position Of the nationaists is
UNIQUE With them all questions are sub
servient to home rule. The tariff reform
ers hold that the Irish are all protec-
tionists if they could vote that issue
wit
i'm the last parliament declared against
the budget principally because they were
opposed to increased whisky taxes. but
they would probably help it through the
next house as measure of political
strategy.
Mr.. John Redmond. leader of the ma
tionalists, will he a figure almost as inn
portant as the premier. because MIR.
Asouith can do nothing without him.
The conservatives believe that the
elder wing of the liberal party, repre-
scented by Mr.. Asquith, Mr., Haldane. the
war secretary, and Sir Edward Grey. the
foreign secretary, now repents of having
permitted radicals like Mr.. David Lloyd
George and Mr.. Winston Spencer
Churchill to commit the party to budget
which is SO far on the road TO what their
opponents term socialism. The liberals
declare that their enemies are trembling
in their boots lest they find the govern
ment on their hands, with the necessity
of raising revenues for old-age pensions
and larger navy and at the same time
attempting to adopt protection.
The surprise of the campaign has been
that the manufacturing centers, with a
few exceptions, have gone for free trade,
while the sauirearchies shifted to the pro-
lection party.
American campaigns are supposed by
visitors from the continent to go to pretty
near the final limit in spleen, but the
hardest of our fights. would almost look
mild by comparison with the battle that
has only ended.
This fight took the old chiyalrous idea
out of British politics. So many charges
of lying and intimidation have been I'M
liberals make wholesale charges that
workmen in the factories. the farm labor
ers and tenants have been dismissed and
threatened with eviction for supporting
their party.
Picturesque features of the campaign
have been furnished by carts going about
the streets loaded with dumped" foreign
goods, and posters by the best cartoonists
on the walls, caricaturing the lords and
depicting the misery Of free trade 10 the
wOrkmen.
paign occurred at Grimsby, where a
menacing crowd threatened David Lloyd
George, chancellor of the eXchequer. COM
polling him to flee from hall, where
he had been speaking. under police pro-
lection, much he was driven from A
pro-Boer meeting at Birmingham during
the South African war, when he made his
escape disguised in a poiceman's uniform.
Part of the provocation for the hostility
shown toward him was caused by the
chanceIlors unusual course in addressing
the voters polling LAY. which has
never obtained before in England. and
which is considered by many 10 be I'M
constitutional The chancellor's speech
included prediction of disaster 10 the
German meet If ii fought the British.
Referring 10 the invincibility of the
British navy, he declared:
If the German fleet. in a moment of
madness, ever attacked Great Britain, IL
would be at the bottom of the German
ocean in a very few hours.
A big crowd waited outside the hail.