davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
+ lloyd George
IL The Issue

inevitably the issue is Lloyd George.
He became Prime Minister exactly two
years ago, in December, 1916. He ere
ated victory governmental person
mel and procedure an entirely new ex-
pertinent. Mr.. George transformed the
old British Cabinet system. He created
fresh type of Executive. Realizing
that the constitution was in great part
myth, tradition or an idea, he refash-
ioned it's instruments as the occasion
seemed to demand. His government,
from March to midsummer, passed
through the acutest crisis of the war
And, thanks mainly to the weight Of the
American stroke at the crucial moment,
Mr.. George remains at the head of af-
fairs at the coming of peace. Victory
having been attained, he demands, as he
has a right to demand a mandate for
the settlement.
His personal position is without a
parallel For a century and half, since
the elder Pitt, no English statesman has
been head Of the nation without being at
the same time leader of a party. Mr..
George has no party. He is backed by
no party machine; he commands no rec
ognized party funds. He has not for
mally separated himself from the Lib
erals. At the recent assembly of Liberal
chiefs and delegates, there was a move
ment toward the restoration of unity.
Mr.. Asquith, however, remains the off
cial Liberal leader; Mr. Bonar Law is
both titular and actual leader of the
Conservatives. The Labor party, led by
Arthur Henderson, is in direct opposi-
tion to the government Mr.. George,
therefore, stands outside the party
ranks; but he is, and has been for three
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

true. Last week Mr.. II. C. Wells in "Tbe
New Republic let himself so, and declared
that our Foreign Office "is by It's nature and
by its original purpose secretve, schen-
ing, advantage snatching instrument, sly,
deep, silent and deceptive" and he adds.
ut is very like having suddenly to shake
hands with some one when you are hiding
d knife up the sleeve of ono hand and CON
ceahng bludgeon behind your back with
the other
Mr. Wells Is not anti-British. Quite the
contrary. He is simply the typical Eng
lishman-rsther dull, with curious spses
from humor, and quite unable to appreciate
how his words affect other communities
than his own. He is out for system, and
If England does not fit the system so much
the worse for England. The best answer TO
HIM is Prince Lichnowsky's memorandum,
and the great personal prestige of yiscount
Grey and Lord Bryce, who will survive even
these attacks
For the British Empire is an anomaly.
If we try to put it into writing it will
simply break up, and that will probably
cost some million human lives The only
reason why mankind toerates such an al
lance is that We give people a fair deal.
If England degenerates and adopts q
colonial policy such as SPANS the world
viii rise against her, and rightly The
best antdote TO such downward tendency
would be the influence OF Americans, with
their unrivalled experience of the nterns-
tional point Of view.
There is not one little nation the wide
world over whose integrity and safety do
not depend upon Washington understanding
London. And what have we to say Of
France? 1t is the French who have brought
US together. 1t is the French flag which
chaperones the British flag in every state Of
the Union. IF France has no misgivings
about Englsnd-and she knows England
too well to dstrust her--is that not suf-
fcent evidence of good faith?
Politics are important, but there are car
tain issues which we in England remove en-
tirely from the arena of domestic strife,
and one OF them is our affection for the
United States. We will not have this sacred
thing banded about between party and
party. We would consider that TO be desc
Grafton. We have our differences among
ourselves. We wish to have differences
with YOU We would share with you every
thought, every hope. every plan. And IN
these dark ycars-darkest before the dawn
your comradeship shone forth in our SKY
like the morning stan
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
iSterh0od OF Columbia and Britannia

were admitted into British ports either
free of duty or ON the same terms as Brit
ish goods that German shipping had fun
use of all our coaing stations, and that
German capital was welcome in London.
where German banks were among the mos,
powerful i'll the city? May remind them
further that when war broke out British
diplomacy was seeking an outlet for Ger
man energy in the Portuguese colonies and
IN Mesopotama Nor Will they forget that
the ink on the armisticc was scarcely dry
and the murdered victims of the Lc1rstcr
were scarcely buried when YOU had Mr.
Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister
pleading, if you please, for fair treatment
of Germany. On my own table lie two
documents. In one my wife tells me tha'
on their new ration cards in London they
have had to sign their names seventy
times, which shows what pryations even
now are suffered in England In the other,
which is a newspaper cutting, read of Mr.
Lloyd George and NJ. Clcmenceau agreeing
with President Wilson that food be sent to
Germany. In face of these facts is Brit
ain really ungcncrous? A great authority
once said:
"lf thine enemy hunger, feed him." he
levng apparently that there is no greater
danger than our enemy when he is hungry
It is hard saying, but Britain is ondcavor-
ing to live up to it.
Irish-Americans have also shown me in
finite kindness, The postman who brings
ones letters the elevator men in hotel
the waiter who serves dnner-onc and ALL
they say a pleasant word apparently be-
cause | am English. shall never forget
how in Baptist church an Irish Catholic
girl from q Sim Fein family, with a
Land of Hope and Glory in honor of
England. and sung them with her whole
heart That was a fine triumph over pre- ju-
dice, Another memory which Will never be
efaced was my first reception by an Irish
community in Catholic institute in New
England, where IN the very teeth of the
trouble over conscription three or four hum
dred people shook hands with mo because |
was English. This Home Rule business is
diificult-let us admit it. Bohemia has
precisely the same porphxity~n namely, the
presence within her borders of a minority
Of two and half million people who hap
pen to be of alien blood; that is, German
How to safeguard minorities is row the
chief worry for those who want the self
determination Of small peoples. The Irish
solved as part Of the world settlement.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
Gorge Before the Bar of the British Electorate

The later declarations by Lloyd George
and Bonar Law have furnished Mr.. AS
quith with opportunity FOR a rctort; al
though, since he is most of all anxious not
to widen the disagreements in the Liberal
ranks, it cannot be described rs a fighting
rctort In the first place he dcplores The
election itself. 1t is, he says, at once
blunder and n calamity. The nation is as
closely united upon the principles of the
peace now being made it was upon the
waging of the war. He contends that the
majority of the men who have the highest
claim to register their judgme
the soldiers-wll be absent from the polls.
This latter statement is contradcted by
Mr. Bonar Law, who asserts that the cleo
toral machinery will enable about IS per
cent of the men in the service to vote.
For the rest, Mr.. Asquith comes out
strongly for what have come to be called
the three freedomsfreedom Of person,
of opinion and of trade Conscrption, he
declares, must go. The full rights of free
discussion and action must be restored.
And with as little delay as possible, the
bureaucratic control of business must be
relaxed and the national life be restored
to what, in the orthodox liberal view, is
the normal and proper condition of man in
society Here, naturally he is on his
frmest ground, for the people as whole
are profoundly hostile to a continuance of
the wartime system, which has placed al
most the whole range of social and eco
nomic activity at the mercy of a vast and
complicated bureaucratic machine, largely
directed by a miscellaneous and uncooordi-
mated body of controllers. And of course
the Liberal leader insists upon his party's
hostility to protective tariffs and the
urgent necessity of reaching a settlement
in Ireland
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
\ Vast New
a Electorate

Before coming to the fight, the leaders
and the issues, let us look for a moment
at the startlingly new conditions of this
election. The House of Commons that
has just been dissolved was chosen eight
years ago Britain has not had ma
tional election since December, 1910
four years before the Deluge. At that
time, when Asquith and Lloyd George
were leading the assault upon the House
of Lords, the electoral system of Eng
land had suffered no change since the
Gladstonian epoch. Manhood suffrage
was still phase. Electoral districts
were amazingly dlssimilar. The man of
property could, and did, vote in many
separate constituencies. The polling was
spread over a month or more. And Of
course, no women might cast vote
On December IA d new Britain will
though not without many surviving dis
Abilities go to the ballot In the spring
of this year Parliament carried through
the most drastic Of reform acts. The
principle of manhood suffrage has been
accepted. Practically all male civilians
arc now enfranchised from the age of
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

direct questions to me. The truth is, of
course that for years past Ireland has
been heavily subsidized by England. If she
became independent she would have to raise
millions for her old age pensions, her
schools, her land purchase and other ser
vices. She is the ono part of the British
Empire which is dcmonstrably enriched by
the
The latest charge against England is
that with Germany beaten she is too power,
full. especially on the sea. Columbia the
Gem of the Ocean. they would have it, is
not quite happy about Britannia ruling
the waves. In certain newspapers the
slogan has gone forth that America must
have the biggest navy. do not know what
your intentions may be, but | may remark
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

conference prepared to declare that the
league is aud must be a reality.
Turning to domestic affairs, Mr..
George affirmed that the policy of the
government would include bold pro
grammc of social reconstruction, a great
project for the rehousing of the people,
the reform of the land, national mini
mum wage in all industries, the settle
mcnt of the Irish question upon ma
tionalist basis and without the coercion
of the Protestant minority in Ulster.
Such a policy, he declared, could not be
initiated without the support of the Lib
eral forces in Britain, and therefore he
appealed for national vote on behalf
of the coalition.
70 the more radical elements of the
nation it would doubtless seem that on
the domestic side such programme was
anything but radical; but it was plain
from Mr.. Georges later utterances that
it went good way beyond what his Con-
servative and imperialist colleagues were
prepared to sanction. A day or two
later the evidence of this was seen in a
revised programme which implied that
land and Ireland would have to wait for
a more convenient opportunity, and that
Mr.. George had at last fully accepted
the imperialist doctrine of Colonial pref
erence, the British way of stating
scheme for an imperial customs union.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
BY P. w. Wilson

w Rl1AIN'S days begin next Friday,
x and I am asked to restate Britan's
k case. do this with full heart
because the one paramount desire
Of I1taiu is cordial friendship with all
Americans. Between Republicans and Dem
ocrats We draw no distinctions. Let man
be honestly loyal to the United States let
his loyalty be 100 per cent-and VIC wish
him we'll Given such loyalty to the Stars
and Stripes and it matters nothing to us
whether the American citizen be OF Anglo
Saxon, German or Irish descent. American
nationality is the one passport to our un-
shakable confidence.
We have definite reasons for wishing to
be friends with America We arc not out
for mere compliments VIC want some
thing deeper than fattcry. Nor arc VIC
thinking about commercial advantages Al
this solemn moment, when we arc CON
scous Of 100000 British dead. our feelings
VIII he outraged by proposal to exploit
this great victory over despotism at the OK
persc Of mankind. A great army Of I'M
mortal spirits, which will never be demo
hllized, stands IN serried array as dc
fence against such Observation-Disclosures No
Will suggest that Dr. Albert Shaw, the
editor Of "The American Review Of Re
views" is a frc-cater or hurrah patriot
He has been visiting England and this is
his impression, cabled to his journal:
at is not true that the British people
arc seeking any selfish benefit from a
war which has cost them such terrible
sacrifice of the lives Of their young men
rhcir sons are as dear to them as our
own. Their desire is TO live and work
harmoniously with the American people
for the best interests of mankind, and
IT has background OF dangerous i'm
perialism. Nothing has more strongly
impressed than the essential reason
ablcness, at this time, of British lead
ers of thought and action"
With that verdict every Englishman will
be content The one British interest and
the one American interest is the peace and
happiness of the whole world Whatever
we get for ourselves will be worthless if
other less fortunate nations plunged IN
disorder and m sery.
Many German Americans have set aside
their ancestral predictions and shown me
much kindness. I should like 20 thank
them And / appeal to their fairness of
mind rs Americans. Do they always re-
member that before tha wsY German goods
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
/ dealists Who
Iurn Into Cynics

Here word of warning is needed No
man is so dangerous as the ideaist who
gets disappointed and then turns cynic. In
England we have several people of that
kind, and as cynicism is more interesting
than common sense their writings arc popu-
lar IN your press. There is Mr.. Arnold Ben
nett, who in his latest novel, The Pretty
Lady" gives the impression that the Scv-
enth Commandment is in England scrap
OF paper" 1t is very clever--and very un-
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
Shall the Red Flag Wave?

thronement of one class above all other
classes. 1t Is so in Russia and it is SO
IN every country in which it has been
allowed TO raise its head. 1t would operate
after the conventional fashion in this
country if the |. W. W. could hoodwink
the American people or could employ the
force which they would gladly invoke if
they could
The reason for "the lure of Boshev
ISM is discussed by "Thc San Fran
cisco Bullctin':
what is there about Bolshevism to
make SO many regard it as political cure
all? Wherein lies its appeal? What does
the creed of 1rotsky and his fellows offer,
Why, for instance, should thousands of
people suddenly jump to the conclusion that
the abolition of all national boundaries
VIII make races respect one anothers
nights? Whence comes the conviction that
free love is bound to insure the well-bcinc
of families?
"ln times of distress mankind often has
shown strong tendency to seek quscks
for quick remedies and to hearken 70
charlatans who maintain that thev have
discovered short cut to Utopia The
tendency has brought about some of the
most ridiculous situations in history. but
IN no case has it produced a more remark
able spectacle than the ono aoordod +o-d.,
in Europe
"of course, Bolshevism will pass, as such
movements always have, and future gener-
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

IN passing that after reducing current
navy expenditures by about S120O,OOO,-
600 Mr.. Daniels will still spend Six
billion dollars OH new construction in three
years, which is as much as we spent OF
new construction in generation. We do
not mind. We admit that we cannot afford
these uxurics. While American bankers
tell me thai this country is richer now
than in August 1919, and probably richer
than when she entered the war, we have
spent out of loans about forty billions, and
this is at least third of our total re-
sources. Let America have the predom-
inant navy; let hcr devote it to the lber
ties of mankind. But may be permitted,
as an tnglishman, to ask in what way dur
ing the last four years the British navv
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

4 DoLSIIEVIsM, that strange dis
case of Russia, is rivalcd in its
spread only by Spanish iunu-
cnza But both seem to be getting
under control now.
"Thc Kansas City Journal" shares in
this view:
"The great tidal wave of Bosbevism
which for time threatened to overwhelm
not only Germany but several neutral
countries and which caused very serious
disturbances in some of the Allied coun-
tries i'll Europe, appears to be cbbing. 1t
was inevitable that some sort of reaction
would take place when the frightful strain
of the past four years was even measur-
ably relieved and it was also inevitable
that this reaction would be expressed
most eXtravagantly by the less restrained
and less restrainable clements in the nopu-
laton OF the countries affected The same
attitude of mind that is to say, which
mad Bolsheyism in Russia transform q
nation freed from centuries of dcspotism
into a nominal nation hurdencd with a
bloodier despotsm of proletarians, pro-
duced similar effects in other countries
the effects being modified only by the cx-
tent to which the saner elements were
able to curb the vicious impulses of the
popular tyrants For Bolshevism is funda-
mentally a tyranny, a ruthless disregard
Of the rights of all the people, ~the en-
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

ations will smile while reading history's
account OF this freak of popular fancy.
But the mystery viii remain and students
VIII puzzle over the psychological quirk,
winch led people to destroy. under the
roma deluslon that by so doing they we're
creating"
The Daily Eastern Argus" of Port
land, Me, views with alarm the spread
OF the rcd flag:
he red flag waves everywhere, and
there Is danger OF it's being carried to
other countries until Europe is a seethinc
mass of revolutionary disorder And with
THIS condition growing, what will be the
result?
The spread OF Bolshevlsm is very real
contingency, however, and the fallacy must
be combatted with energy by all thoughtful
people We of this country have too much
taith in the humanity and honesty of our
laws, administered by just and humane
officials, to entertain any Bolshevik de-
'usIons. Every patriot is as loyal to his
government as he was to the flag and con-
Sututlon IN this great war; just ended, for
human liberty"
AS regards conditions in Russia The
Tribune thinks that:
The seemingly supine submission of the
Russian public to handful of visionarie.
and mercenaries has alienated a symnathv
which might otherwise be active and
warm"
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
Mailing d
1 Y Few Lies

1t is untrue that British soldiers shot
down Irish peasants who refused conscrip-
ton and afterward appropriated their farms
for wounded English Tommics 1t is untrue
that the English outrage Irish women and
slaughter Irish children. 1t is untrue that
England and japan are consprng to at
tack America Nor is it true that England
attacked Germany IN order to keep the
Gar on his throne. These ideas may seem
strange, but every ono of them has been
uttered in my hearing, and sometimes in
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

didates, 80 that the men standing on De-
cember IA Will, in many cases, be consider
ably below the level Of ability and CT.
perience sttainabe in normal times More.
over, despite accommodations between ths
parties there will be many three-cornersd
contests, and in such contests the ADVANTAGE
is nearly always with the Coalition cand;-
date. This advantage, needless to say, i,
increased in all cases where more thar
one Labor candidate happens to be in the
field; while in view of the various sae
tions opposed to the leadership of Arthur
Henderson, Ramsay Macdonald and their
associates, we may expect to see evidences
of strong factional spirit in not a few i'm
portant centres. Among the influences
fighting on the side of labor may be reck.
oned the results of the war governments
policy in regard to industry the many
forms of unrest arising from war condj
tions, the perils of rehabilitation, the ruin
Gus cost of living and the various obscure
grievances inseparable from a militasy sys-
TEN. Nor we fail to take note of the
widespread discomfort provoked by war
profiteering and the failures of the older
kind of politician. To-day in England
there Is far more readiness among the
middle classes to welcome a strong Labor
party than has ever been known before. II
would not surprise any observer of politi
cal forces if the Labor group in the new
House should be at least twice as LARGO
as the group in the Parliament which ba.
just been dissolved. But the influences
and issues are SO obscure and confused
that, equally no one would be greatly sur.
prised by an entirely different result And,
it need not be said, the general expectation
is that Mr.. George is sure of his majority.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
By S. X. Ratclife

Journalist, public speaker and q stout
promoter Of Anglo-A merican Good
Feeling.
6HE Lloyd George war government
will come up for judgment by the
IL British people on December IA.
At first sight it would seem that
the general election then to be held must
transcend in Importance all elections of
the past, and therefore that the fuure
of Britain, and Of Europe, must in an
overwhelming degree, depend upon what
happens at the polls a fortnight hence.
This, however, may not be so. AS po-
litical event, necessarily the election will
be immensely interesting. But it is not
unlikely that, as an indication of the
mind of England and the forces which
are to control the policy of the British
Commonwealth during the next ten
years, it may be quite inconclusive War
elections are always abnormal, whether
they occur just before or just after the
military decision has been reached. And
the victory election will be no exception
unless all the party experts are at
fault in their calculations. Of course, if
the lid were to fly off and the Lloyd
George coalition to be swept away, no
one would be able to deny that some
thing of tremendous moment had oc-
Cured.
AS matter of fact, most observers
who are in position to estimate the
probabilities take for granted that Mr..
George will win-athough it is recog-
nized the size of HIS majority and the
power and character of the opposition
are highly problematica
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
I abor-The Only Real
~ Opposition

Two contrasted enterprises within the
older parties have been attempted during
the campaign. First, section of the
younger Liberals made serious move tow
ard complete Liberal rcunion-that is,
toward the rccapture of Lloyd George as
a party leader. Secondly, moderates on
both sides sought to bring about regu-
lar Liberal Conservative alliance against
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

But IN the meantime let me put one or two
matters straight.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

3 : :: Fl: 81. :: {: Il: :::: +: i. '::: :::.
hpcai1ec he doc
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

Journalist. public speaker and a stout
promoter Of Auglo-A -American Good
Feeling.
The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1918-03-25

The first rehearsal of the commun-
ity chorus for the greatest musical
event Moscow has known, the cantata
to be given under the auspices Of the
department of music of the university,
will be held in the Methodist church
tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 1880.
A full attendance of every one inter-
ested is urged The cantata will be
"Gallia" by Gounod, into which the
composer put the strong feeling OF
the chastened hope of his nation, fol-
lowing the Franco-Prussian war. The
great soprano solo is universal IA
forte wherever oratorios are sung. No
such composition of equal beauty has
been more widely sung or is more
deservedly popular AS all of the pro-
ceeds are to go to the Red Cross and
in addition to the entire musical de-
partment of the university including
the glee clubs, and orchestras, there
will be soloists from other places, the
event will be the biggest of it's kind
ever held here. Professor Storer hopes
for full attendance of those who will
assist at the rehearsal.