Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-05-18
WARS EFFECT
ON CONGRESS
Europe, Confronted by Great
Parliamentary Changes, Is
Wondering What Will
Happen Here
By GILBERT VIVIAN SELDES
Special Correspondence Evening Ledger

gress had 70 make good. He asked me be-
cause I had asked him, before, TO tell me
something about the House Of Commons.
Parliament Is generally referred to as the
Mother OF Parliaments tho prototype the
promise, Of representative government No
one could seriously dispute the claim. But
what may b. questioned is whether the OF
! spring of this noble parent could recognize
| her now And, At the same time, whether
sho would recognize her child in the French
| Chambre des Deputies. Behind the front
vast changes are coming over the spirit Of
the nations at war And Of these one Of the
most striking ia the transformation Of par
| liamontary governments.
| II is tho habit Of critics Of the present
| Ministry to charge Mr. Lloyd George with
/ abusing his powers and breaking the
! strength Of the House ~ Commons. His
defenders assert that the change was taking
! place before Mr. Lloyd George took office,
| ana If the charge be true it Is because the
! House has proved itself worthy Of such
| treatment. But, personalities aside, the
| waning Of the House Of Commons is a pho
| nomonon not 10 be passed over. At the
| moment it Is not nearly so important as the
| waning power Of German resistance But
| after the war the results may be trc-
mcndous
Mr Lloyd George broke traditions first.
| lie divided the two functions Of the Prime
| Minlster--head Of the Government and
| leader CT the House. lie appointed men
TO his Cabinet, which was like no other
| Cabinet in history who were not even MEM
| hers Of the House For some Of them he
! did not even try to get seats. Rumor has
| 1t that he may presently appoint an out
| slider to be a government whip, the mCst
| purely political Office in England. But that
is not all.
Parliamentary Revolution
BY his system Of secretariates Mr. Lloyd
George has tried to bring about CO-ordna-
tion of the different departments of his
general Cabinet That coordination is usu-
ally achieved through meeting together and
Is usually based on the idea that when the
Cabinet takes responsibility for what one
Minister does IT must stand or fail by the
outcome in the House Of Commons. In Mr..
LLOYD Georges scheme the co-OpCratiCn Is
merely internal. Tho Food Controller or the
Director Of Shipping might be voted down
over and over again without causing the
Lloyd George Ministry tC fall.
Tho temper of the House under these
encroaChments Is, to a spectator admirable.
There Is criticism occasionally an uncOm-
promising member, such as Mr.. Ginne!l, Of
the Irish Sim Fein persuasion, will remcm-
Der tho indlgnites he suffers and will call
the Government to account But the ma
jOrity of the members apart from calling
for "A secret session, do not resent what has
happened to them. The course Of parla-
mentary business proceeds much as usual.
on big questions the Prime Minister is
heard. Otherwise Mr. Bonar Law does his
work.
What the House of Commons realizes
most deeply is that there isn't even a fiction
aB to its control Of the war. If It chooses
to overthrow Mr.. Lloyd George, which it can
do legally, II has to face the chance of a
general election, in which Mr. Lloyd
Georges chances are very bright Short of
that, the actual control of the war cannot
even come in sight of the House. A mem-
Der VIII ask question concerning the type
of aeroplanes new in use. Tho proper under
secretary will reply suavely that it Is OBJ
viously impossible to tell the details because
It is not deemed proper to give information
which mightTeach the enemy. VIII there be
a secret session at which this matter will
be discussed. and will tho honorable gentle
man inform tho House whether tho Germans
are not now superior in the air? The an
swer to the first part Of the question is that
IL the leader of the House secs fit there
z
the second part is in the negative
The Nation Likes 1t
So It goes And the country seems hugely
pleased The war is going we'll And
when there is trouble-whcn food con-
trolling begins to look either serious or
sllly-then Minister is blamed and every
thing is well again,
There has been some agitation recently
fEy. h,. tai aaVaN. H..
mttees, similar to those of the French
Chamber, to have at least tho power of
survey Of the war-makers. Nothing has
come Of it yet and Cto return to tho gentle
man who was quizzical about the United
States) ] am told that the French are not
howlingly enthusiastic about their results
NJ. Clemenceau would no doubt like to be
on all the committees, and would like to
see the committees empowered to overr,lle
the high command. But tho Frenchman i'm
ordinary has not too much trust in these
committees In wartime. Normally he is
fanatic for this sort Of thing. At pres.
ent he is comparatively Indifferent to the
activities of his parliamentarians.
What the French want now is a. change
from Il cir group system and a change to
the party system on the British model II
is barely possible that the two bodies NAV
each adopt n characteristic OF the other
The group system in France simply means
a Wablelul bCdlleIluB OF IOTCeS. II means
that in order to get a measure through vou
have to conclliate not one party but sew
eral little parties. each of which has a par.
ticularly special soft point. There is a ,ull
In these log-roling activities Just now, and
the leaders of French politics are keen to
take advantage of It. After the war il
will be necessary TO frame an elaborate
program of reconstruction. The upholders
Of NJ. Ribot are already trying TO form a
coalition of several friendly smaller parties,
In the great hope of forming a real central
party. Their advantage In thrs would be
| that the heckling tactics which so hampered
NJ. BRAND. who was being continually
| called into special secret sessions to give
explanations, will be at an end.
Observers who ought to know tell me
| that there will be a change in British politi-
| cal life also, and 1t will not be far from
that of the French. That is to say, the
present splitting up Of parties will not re-
main, and strong central party will be
formed. Some solution Of the Irish problem
must be found to take away from the Irish
members their paralyzlng power. Then the
| groups will really divide of In accordance
| with their political and economic beliefs
and according to their particular ideal Of
| what Britain and the British Commonwealth
| should be. The Liberals are Temporarily dis
| credited but they are a power and viii re-
main a power-it is not for nothing that
they have carried the burden of RoVernnnant