Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-07-24
I|ER HAND, AIM
DfLLOYD GEORGE
emier Will Make Appeal
y Country, Says London
Times
)UT TO WIN THE WAR
Higher Ranks of Army Need
Strengthening, Declares
Editorial
.pocial Gable to Evening Public Ledger

&H London, July "a.
kR The Times in an editorial on The
;5cfime Minister'S Position" takes for
l&fanted that there will he a general
Gaection In the late autumn. The un-
Representative and apathetic character
F6f the present House of Commons. it de-
Nlares, is admitted. and the Government
needs Strengthening and consolidating.
h says:
Lloyd George has certainly had
ABUNDANT evidence lately that no Prime
Minister in these momentous days can
E(xert his proper authority without COM
ssylete independence of party bargains or
Lei any other hampering personal tie.
EWe assume. at any rate, that he has, in
{ net decided to make his appeal to the
ieouitry whenever the circumstances of
f4Ae hour permit the fullest possible rep
Eifesentatlon of the new electorate.
w Pointing out that the next Parliament
iSsy have In its hands the completion Of
EVfctory or. at any rate. may have control
~ the war at the moment of supreme and
S6Ritical Importance. and that all efforts
4[D00 S4CflnCeS OF tne ltui IplE StaIS VIII
tIspend upon its character. the article
+ Irfoceeds:
ks kks,s ~Alreadv there are signs Of feverish
Eactivity on the part of that little sec
efon--most unrepresentative of the real
Eeemper of the country-whCh suggests
that peace can be won without lighting
x0r 1t or that the noble ideal Of the
League of Nations can be made to do
duty for victory.
{ ''Frankly. 'pacfist journals are ap-
bpealing week by week for candidates
md funds A great proportion of the
Brospective candidates of the newly
constituted Labor party are themselves
Drawn from that type of Liberal doc
trinaire which has the least in common
With the British workingman and has
never faced as he has the hard reaii
ties of the war.
If Sees Weakness in the Cabinet
|sS an other parties there are sympa-
S1ixers more or less disguised Even in
/ ne Government itself to Judge by the
1Dcredible difficulties Of securing a free
66nd from enemy influence. there are
men whose zeal for the national cause.
kSfith all that it involves of further sac
k4lhce. In half-hearted and rresolute.
/ mfr Lloyd George. as we have never
Ri9 his first and greatest claim to his
ITfoud position. The troublS Is that.
tp4rtly through the Inherited handicaps.
~ coalition and partly through his own
temperament, he has never vet made the
s4ullest use of it. He has often seemed
tNaore anxious to cajole dangerous tend
f1ncies than to defeat them. The choice.
s<Ren OF his minor colleagues. has been a
snetter Of conciliating the opposition OF
xu-k> -hN
SSojleagues at all.
t.sI "fJis old program Of social reform
(which was made infinitely more urgen.
ffy the circumstances OF the time. ha.
b4en thwarted and whitfield down by
TQaction. He himself would like we be-
Ave. to move further and faster in a
NJ tier where reaction comes from a
1fnerent quarter-namely. the final
of enemy influence from our
o6cial and economic life.
Our System "More Effective"
E"In both cases far too much of his
i time has been spent in looking over his
shoulder for political difficulties inside or
outside of his Government He has never
heen the master in his own house in the
sense, for instance. in which President
Wilson is undsputed master: and
though the circumstances and traditions
s 2f0 WHOLLY uuleTeNl, tnOugn the Stnerf-
can system is plainly more effective than
I ears as a solution of the problem of a
5 z0emocracy at war, he has scarcely
treaiized how much power the British
hrfme Minister may constitutionallv
s-Wield
Lloyd Georges reorganization of the
lCAbinet was a formal step in the right
direction. The next step must be to
todlminate the handicap of compromise,
~ party bargain, and to secure Tor
"a Government of unimpeaChable deter
<laination the backing OF an equally
f&esolute Parliament.
IF Lloyd George is to lead such
lQovernment, as we believe that he can il
fhe will, he has two immediate tasks be-
fore him; The first is to set out in un-
E1nistakabe language the objects for
(which ne claims a mandate. He must
staii US precisely the policy for whcn
- stands in the war and reconstruction.
f"lt need be no extensive program, but
n must be definite and thorough There
fxnust be no loophole in it for compromise
&phth any half-hearted element in the
Heommunity, no room for a backstairs
fbArgain with defeatism and reaction.