New-York tribune., 1912-04-22
EXHAUSTED REPUTATION
The Chancellor with a Surplus
And No Reputation.
London, April 3.

nersonage. Mr.. Lloyd George, both as
fnancier and as a politician. has been
discredited. Radical partisans con-
Time to shout for him in the Commons
and in the press, but he has ceased TO be
either a power in the Cabinet or vote
winner among the constituencies His
insurance act, in the Prime Minister'S
own words, has become liability rather
than an asset. One by-election after an.
other has been lost through the unpopu.
larity of this measure. and the govern
ment cannot appeal to the country with
any expectation Of success until a new
issue like a reform bill, with or without
woman suffrage, is presented. What
could the Chancellor do with a surplus
which, by the best practice Of his Office,
should be applied automatically for the
cancellation Of national debt and the i'm.
provement Of Consols? There could bs
no relief for income taxpayers, the sugar
duties could not be repealed, as uncom-
promising Free Traders had suggested.
and with estimated expenditures over
f5,0OO,000 in excess of the last fiscal
years there could be no budgeting for
another surplus as large as the present
one. In the place Of "the rare and re-.
freshing fruit" promised for the relief Of
the working world there was a costly
bureaucracy for tho regulation Of social
reforms repudiated by the electors.
Even q clever Welshman with a jaunty
air and witty tongue could not do
much with SO hopeless a situation. He
could plume himself upon the triumph Of
his famous budget and pass lightly over
the barrenness Of the land value duties.
and he could talk about the marvels OF
prosperity shown in the enormous COM
merce under Free Trade and In the elas.
ticity Of the excise returns during bot
summer, but he could not deny that the
country was rapidly approaching a
budget of f2O0OOO,OO0 in annual eY.
penditures and that the burdens OF
direct taxation had become tntolerabls
and were paralyzing industry and drtv-
ing capital out Of the kingdom. Ap-
plause he did not lack from his own
side, and yet it had hollow sound as
though his faithful admirers were no
longer convinced that there was practi.
cal capacity behind the amiable smile
and the piquant manner. II his fourth
budget speech seemed dull and spiritless
that he had lost his grip upon the Cab.
met, the Liberal party and the working
masses. The irrepressible Gracious Of
Limehouse and Newcastle was a spent
force. Popular faith IN him az the Radi.
cal-Labor Prime Minister Of the early
future had waned. Old Tories were al
ready speaking OF him contemptuously
as a political adventurer and Jacobin
marauder. who had been found out and
utterly discredited.
| Mr.. Lloyd George reached the lowest
ebb Of his political fortunes during the
coal strike. Although he had won the
confidence Of the railway managers By
his adroitness IN a similar crisis, the coal
owners distrusted him when he was
Offering financial guarantees and would
have nothing to do with him. The
miners support he was ready to secure
at any cost, and both favored the definite
minimum Of five shillings for men and
two shillings for boys. and encouraged
| the Labor members to believe that the
concession could be wrung from the Cab
met. When the crisis came he virtually
| oil rr-ith oI
cept Mr.. Buxton arrayed solidly against
him, and some Of them threatening to
resign their Offices II he were allowed 10
have his way. He had once been little
less than a dictator within the Cabinet,
and so seriously had his influence de-
clined that his own resignation would
have been welcomed, and Mr.. Churchill
could have been appointed his successor
without the breaking up Of the coalition
forces. He had either to go out or TO go
under, and he discreetly accepted the
ruling Of the majority, retaining his
Office and making clustering speeches
against the Unionist leader and Mr.
Ramsay Macdonald. II was after this
immense shrinkage OF his political re-
sources that he pulled himself together
and made preparations for his budget
speech. II It had been possible for the
hard pressed Chancellor to devise an In
genious coup for the restoration Of bis
political fortunes, how gladly would he
have welcomed II!
| Apparently there was no opportunity
for a great stroke; or else there was
complete failure of creative powers
There were no fresh expedients; there
were no surprises. The Chancellor rat
tied on complacently about the expan-
siveness Of the new taxes. the equitable
| distribution OF the burdens and the
amazing productiveness of the revenus'
but when the last pean over bis own
work had been sounded there was tne
frank confession that the huge surplus
could not be applied Immediately 10 tno
reduction Of the national debt or useo
for the relief Of taxpayers. but must 90
kept we'll in hand for exchequer balances
to meet the enormous increase OF eNpeh-
ditures for social reform ana delenc0
against Germany. Consols were ieit 70
shift for themselves and possibly to take
another long plunge downward Tne na-
bilities OF the new insurance scheme
| must be faced, and the oenents mus
begin in advance of the actuarial cA'cu-
lations, and there must be a good mar
gin for the settlement Of the outstaha-
ing dispute with the doctors. Prosperous
as the country was under the famous