Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-01-24
Commons Membership So Evenly
Divided That it Results
Practically in a Tie.
NEITHER WANTS OFFICE.
J,Is,, Nationallsts VIII Hold Balance
or Power and Their Leaders
Sec Trouble Ahead.

london. Jan. 2S.-Never, in the recoi-
,oc,,on of the oldest politician have the
British parties been In such perP'e
inc position as they are today "'
evenly divided will be the membership
~ the next house OF commons, ana SO
close Ia the popular vote, that the re-
su,t OF the. elections for all pracucai
nurnoses may be considered a tic.
No human mind can divine which VI
The questions before the electors h"0
the most influence at the poIis' Vi
whether the results mean that the peo-
rlo demand tariff reform. are loyal 10
tho lords. anxious to reject Chancoiior
Lloyd Georges budget. or whetheF All
three of these had an equal erect on-
der these circumstances. neither party
wants the responsibility of attempt
Ing to legislate. and. since DIVISION
must he close, the Unionists are pet
fer satisfied to be in opposition thah
to haye won by small majority,
Mr. Balfour's speeches show plainly
that with existing conditions, ne ~
Glad not to have control OF the GOV
ernment Premier Asquitn wouio oS
equally pleased TO escape tho periis Oh
plotting the party through the troupiea
waters. There arc precedents Tor MIN
To ask the king to summon another
leader TO form the cabinet, but no one
expects him to haul down his flag All
prophets predict that the new oaplnet
will find Itself In the minority Wlthn
the year, and that the country VIII
plunge into another general election.
The remarkable figures recorded at
this stage of the ballotlng foreshadow
clearly how nearly equal poth tne
popular vote and the membership oil
the house of commons Will be divlded
between the two great factiohs- iho
popular vote stands:
Unionists, 2,565.627 Liberals. 2.324.Sl5'
Ilaborites, 1906. 115. This gives the Unit
cd Liberal-Labor party majority OF
163, SOB In a total vote OF 5.2s5,l57.
COMMONS A TIE.
Today the membership of the house
of commons is a tie, the Uniomsts ana
the combined Liberal and Labor party
each having elected 21S representatives.
One hundred and sixty-seven seats
remain to be filed. of which 102 are
English. In the last parliament these
were:
Unionists. 36, Liberals, lis; National
lists, 16 Should the present trend of
voting continue, neither the Unionists
nor the Liberals can muster a major
lty of more than a dozen, and the Irish
Nationallsts, with So votes, Will be mas
ters OF the situation.
The peers and the Irish will be the
dominating forces of the next parlia-
ment Premier Asqulth has two bat
ties to 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
NatIonalists 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 mandate for this.
The Unionists insist that the elections
have not proved that the country de-
sires change in the historic status of
the upper house. They argue that
bare majority Is not enough,
The position OF the Nationalists Is
unique With them all questions are
subservient to home-rule. Tariff re-
formers claim that the Irish are all
protectionists. IL they could vote that
issue without complications. Nation
alsts in the last parliament declared
against the budget principally becuase
they were opposed to increased whisky
taxes. but they would probably help 1t
through the next house as a measure
of political strategy.
Home-rule is not likely to get far
next session. according to wcll-versed
politicians, because the reform of the
house of lords. which the prime min
lister has written at the head of his
program, promises a great struggle
John Redmond, leader of the National
lists, will be almost as important as the
premier, because Mr.. AsQuith can do
nothing without him.
The Conservatives believe the older
wing of the Liberal party, represented
by Premier Ahquith, War Secy. Hal
dane and Foreign Secy. Sir Edward
Grey. now repent having permitted
Winston Spencer Churchill to commit
the party to a budget that Is so far
on the road to what their opponents
term Socialism. Liberals claim that
their enemies are trembling in their
boots lest they find the government on
their hands with the necessity of rai9-
ing revenues for old-age pensions and
a larger navy, and at the same time
attempting to adopt protection.
SURPRISE OF THE CAMPAIGN.
The surprise of the campaign has
been that the manufacturing centers,
with a few exceptions, havo gone for
Tree trade, Wnllo the SQulrearchleS
shifted to the protection party. Tho
Conservatives are convinced that this
campaign Is the first milestone in
bitter struggle In which history will
repeat itself. and in which their party
viii return to power by gradual steps,
as 1t has In tho past whenever dis
astrously overtbrown-a struggle that
will firmly establish Imperialism and
protection.
That the struggle is bitter even now
thore Is no question. The one-time
chiyalrous atmosphere of British poll
tics has been wonderfully changed. So
much personal feeling and SO many
charges of lying and intimidation have
been unknown since tho reform bill
days.
Liberals make wholesale charges that
factory workers, farm laborcrS and ten
ants have been dismissed and threaten
ed with eviction for supporting their
party.
Picturesque features OF the campaign
have been furnished by carts going
about the streets loaded with dump
| ed foreign goods. Posters, by the best
cartoonlsts. on the walls caricaturc the
lords and picture the misery caused
| by FREQ trade to the poor man.
| Ono element counted upon TO furnish
spice failed to como up to expecta-
tions. The suftragettes generally have
been quiet Mrs. Pankhurst explains
that the suffragettes know when to
| 1cmopStra re- and whom to kenn ouiaf II