Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-06-26
By Frederic J. Haskin.

LONDON, June 1.-THE same house of
commons that wrestles with the Irish
question. the labor problem and the num-
Der of hours cook in London hospi-
tai may have off Sunday afternoons also
has to deal with the affairs of the Brit
ish empire-a far flung dominion that is
greater than any empire ever marshaled
under one flag since time began.
The empire is a very real thing to the
Englishman, and a very real thing in
quite different senses to Canada and In
dia. Australia and Egypt When domes-
tic politics in the United Kingdom are
deeply stirred. as they are now. the whole
fabric of the empire is affected. This
fact causes statesmen to pause on the
verge of doing things that would be at
tempted forthwith If England were all of
England.
OF the two parties, the unionists, of
course. care most for the empire One
reason is that they are well content with
things as they are at home. and, Know
ing that politics must have some bone to
gnaw. they would prefer to keep the
folks talking about things beyond the
seas. The liberals are very careful, for
obvious reasons. to talk respectfully of
the glories OF the empire, but as thy are
trying to get a whole lot of things done
at home. they do their best to keep i'm
perial affairs out of the home folks
minds
A quarrel among the Anglican bishops
of eastern Africa Is a pretty enough
quarrel for your tory, but the radical in
sists upon talking about disestablishing
the church in Wales.
~
As king and church are the foundation
of the tory faith. good tory never is
quite convinced
Tory Believes that a radical
Radical Is Disloyal. A liberal states
man is under the same suspicion, az far
as the opposition is concerned, that once
enveloped in those Confederate brigadiers
that made up the nucleus of the demo-
cratic party in the American Congress
after the civil war.
On the other hand. a thoroughgoing
radical never quite believes that any
tory has any but a selfish interest in
politics. and that all the talk of empire
and the like is but red herring drawn
cleverly across the path of social and
industrial reform at home
Between these two extremes are to be
found the wings. For long. long time
Britain was dominated entirely by the
aristocracy, and the split of that aris-
tocracy into two factions gave rise to the
WING and tory parties. and also to the
party system itself. With the widening
of the franchise and the increasing in
telligence of the people, the radicals
seized the power of what had once been
the wing organization. and year by year
it becomes more democratic.
But still the wings are its captains.
Mr.. Asquith. Sir Edward Grey, Lord
| Haldane the great and powerful men of
| the liberal party. are wing in instinct
| They are as radical as they have to be-
and no more. They are the most efec-
| tive men in British politics and the most
successful, in many ways, because they
| see both the aristocratc ard the demo-
| cratic points of view. They have there
| fore attempted the impossible-to be
| radicals at home and wings beyond the
| seas, and they have almost succeeded.
+
The little Englanders" who opposed
the Boer war. men of the stamp of Lloyd
| George, are
Men to Be Trusted good enough
| With Sweeping Power. work hv, ).
IS oniy men IKE Sir EDWARD 1rey ana
others of the old Liberal Imperial League
that supported the Boer war who are to
be trusted with international and intra-
imperial power. In this compromise lies
the secret of Asauith's long success.
| Leaning toward the radicals. this gov
eminent in its nine years has given self
government to the very Beers whom its
predecessor fought: has recognized the
unrest in India by some concessions of
doubtful value, but Of undDubted good
intent. and has talked much Of universal
peace among nations
Leaning toward the tories, the same
government has brought the self-gov-
erning nations OF the empire into Its
naval entity and has sought to
strengthen in every way the ALFRED
as being quite too Yankeefied for polite
girdle that Is the only zone on the globe
really approved by John Bull. It has
sternly depressed the disorders in In
dia created byl its own concessions, and