The Washington herald., 1918-09-22
CBy JOHN L. BALDERsToN.,' y

my JohN IL. BALDERSTON.D
Copyright lsIs by tn. Mcclure Newspape
Syndcste.)
London, Sept. 2.-There will be 4
! general election In Great Britain thi,
autumn or early winter. Nobodl
knows what 1t will be about. The
country Is sound Oh the war, saC
there are no issues except the I.sli,
OF peace or war. But that the couu'
try will go to the polls is certain. One
OF the leaders of the opposition &c
Lloyd George. perhaps the principa
leader. will be the blue-blooded aris.
tocrat, Lord Jamestown. and, in tht
alliance between the pacitist marquis
former Tory Foreign Minister. an,
the rastag and bobtail Bolsheylk ele
ments is rich material for conit
opera.
One day recently the British Bolshe'
viks. regarding Lansdowne as theil
leader because of his pacifist letters
decided to present him with an ad'
dress conveying the admiration arc
respect in which they held him. Loi /
Lansdowne could not but receive then
In his palatial London seat, Lans
! dowue House, an ancient building
which stands apart surrounded by q
, private park in the busiest part OF
London. There is only one way bS
which visitors can get into Lans
downe House. unless the great gates
of the estate are thrown open, and
they were not thrown open for tht
Bolshevik delegation. The way into
the presence OF the Marquis lead;
through a little door opening into q
porter's lodge Inside the door was q
policeman, who took down the name
Of every visitor. On going out the
delegate again signed his name, ant
was narrowly eyed by persons VINO
appeared to be detectives as he madt
his exit.
Selfish with Property.
Lord Lansdowne, the great land
owner. is a great lover of property
and has all he old Tory attitude
toward what is his own. He owns
a lake in Ireland with many wonder
full FISH in it. and he will not allow
anyone but himself to FISH in thai
, lake. not even members of his owl
family. He was not taking any
chances that his new adherents-fa
nous as they are in labor circles. ht
had never heard of most OF them
would get ont of Lansdowne Hous'
with any OF the Lansdowne heir
looms.
This story is not so trivial as q
sounds. 1t is very symptomatic o
political conditions in this country
Lord Lansdowne is the natural heaC
Of the opposition to Lloyd George
! because he is the only person OF gooC
social standing and aristocratic con
nections who wants peace with Ger
many on compromise terms. He thu
! becomes the inevitable leader of tn,
! internationalist or pscifist wing .
| the labor party and of the eXtren
| radicals who are inclined 10 peaC'
( before victory, and who therefor
want TO overthrow Lloyd George.
| AS will be seen from the policeman
| and the detectives, Lord Lansdown
| is not on the closest personal term
with his motley crew OF ill-assortet
/ supporters. He does not read tn
| newspapers. He lives in complet
! isolation from every popular inlu
ence. His motives in coming ote
to the paciist side and making him
self the natural leader of the peac
movement were thus explained TO m
by a member OF the last Cabinet VII
'NA'S"S AcAAls'tO ltlNillIdl ltlN.
Two Reasons for Pence.
There are two main reasons VIII
the noble marquis wants peace an
wants it quickly. in spite OF the fac
I that he presided at a meeting a
Lansdowne House two days bcfor
| England came into the war an
framed a manifesto from the Tor
party. intended 10 stiffen the back
OF the wavering Liberal Cabinet an
make them fight. The first is tha
though Lord Lansdowne wants t
heat Germany like every othe
/ Englishman. he is more interested i
the continued domination OF his ow
class than in foreign politics. war o
no war. He is astute enough to Sc
that the great land owners of Eng
land, whom he once compared in thei
mighty oaks. so famous in Englis
tradition. will he practically swep
I out OF existence by the gigantic take
that will make the holding OF enoT
nous estates impossible.
''In the mind of a true Tory Of tn
old school such a contingency is ia
worse than the losing of any wal
Rather than beat Germany. and ru
the risk of a social revolution. i
which. however peacefully. politica
power will pass from the aristocrac
to the middle classes or even tn
labor element. Lord Lansdowne per
fers n patched up peace. He is a
honest man and he probably feels
as he saws. that the honor OF Eng
land is pledged to the restoration Q
Belgium and France; but, that homo
once satisfied, he thinks we must sto
/ fighting on any terms We can &c
! to save the social order which, 70
him. represents all that makes lif
worth living.
Fears American influence.
THE second consideration tha
weighs with Lord Lansdowno an
| those who think with him is fear c
! the democratic influence welded b
| the United States. He realizes tha
the longer the war lasts the NOR
considerable will be the military an
naval effort of America. aIi conse
! quently the greater will be her voic
in the settlement. He hates demoC
racy, and feels at homo with TN
London editor who wrote What
all this trumpery about democracy
and with the other prominent Enc
| lishman who said shortly afte
America came into the war. IL y
flag OF the order Dr NJ r CrolI n