The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-08
PROVES |. ID BE GOOD FIGHTER Will He Be Able to Over
 throw Asquith? ACTIVE Viscount Curzon Is Ancestor of Dis tinguished Jack How" One of
CANDIDATES ACTIVE

London, March 7-(Special.)--That
 Bonar- Law, the new unionist leader, has succeeded in some measure in in- stiling the fighting spirit into the op-
 position is not to be denied Whether or
 not he can weld the minto force snf- ficently powerful to turn the Asquith government out of office before the present parliament expires by limita- | tion or has carried out the programme | 1t has outlined. is another question. l Recent bye elections have shown a steady trend against the liberals, it is
 true, but an analysis of the vote shows
 that this is rather due to the failure
 of liberals to go to the polls than to
 any gain in unionist votes.
 The government majority Is suffici-
 ently large to stand a considerably
 larger drain on its strength through
 bye elections than it has had to face
 up to this time and there is no reason
 to believe that it cannot hold It's forces together until the three prime features
 of the government programme have been I enacted into law. even if the house of lords hold them up for the limit These three measures are Irish home rule, the l1isestablishment of the Welsh church
 and the reform of the franchise If there Is any idea. that MT. Asquith land his lieutendnts do not understand
 the game of practical politics they may as well dismiss the idea. The grouping Of these measures show the smartest kind of politics. The promise Of Welsh ldisestablishment, which foreshadows Intimate disestablishment in England and Scotland, holds the non -comformist element which might respond to the wild appeal of the Ulster now Conform | ists. against home rule and who might easily make it impossible to pass the | Irish measure.
 | Electoral reform will establish the principle of one man. one vote, doing
 away with plural voting and will com pei redistribution of parliamentary | seats This is bound 10 strengthen the | liberal position in the next general election and makes 1t probable that they will have the task of reforming the house of lords into a representative up per chamber.
 Much depends on how the Lloyd | George insurance scheme works out. | There is no doubt 1t is source of ! weak ness just now. If it fails to work 1 in practice, it will possibly force a gen eral election and result in the defeat of tnc hbeTais DtIore tney can cOfnplele l thor programme. If 1t does give sat
 isfaction 1t means an indefinite pro
 longation of indefinite power to its au- thofs.
 l Mir. Lloyd George is confident it will
 work out all right. He points to the old age pension law. wh;cn was sub ject- l etd to the same vicious criticism that | has met tho insurance law, and which
 absolutely disappointed all it's critics. | He is sure the insurance law will do 1 the same thing.
 | Whether or not another general elec- | tion is potentiality of the next few
 months, activity in the selection of can
 didates goes forward with no small sig- nificance: and there vii be no pret.ier l fight when an election does come than
 that in Battersea, where the redoubtable
 John Burns is to be opposed by vigor- | ous young scion of the aristocracy in .,fe 1 person of Viscount Curzon.
 l Lord Curzon. like so many of his an cestors, has a connection with the royal navy. and is q commander in the naval l reserve with which he has been asso- ] ciated for eight years. In the sea forces
 of Britain the Howes have won the high