The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-04

 a majority of 249 in house of TOT mem- bers
 This is power such as no British pre- mier has ever held before, and since the house is elected for a period of five years, there is no reason why he should retain it for that period, provided that he can prevent any split among hls followers in the house, and also pro- vided that there is no clear indication that he has lost the confidence of the people.
 There is at present only one way in which the English people can show that ministry has lost their confidence, and it is typical of the haphazard manner in which England is governed that that way is only open to sections of the commu- nifty residing in certain specified dis tricts as the result of an accident Con- stitutionally there is no remedy; for the referendum finds no place in Britain government organization, and the only person who possesses the power of ad- vising the King to dissolve Parliament is the prime minister himself, and he is unlikely to exercise it at the bidding of his opponents. Public meetings, peti- tions, demonstrations, and the' like carry but little weight since any decently or ganized political party can without diff ficulty produce manifestations of this kind, and so the only genuine channel available for a display of altered feel ing occurs when a member of Parlia- ment resigns or dies It is then neces- sary for another member to be chosen in his place, and the "by-eection held for this purpose affords the voters of the district concerned an opportunity of pro- nouncing their verdict on the manner in which the government have conducted their affairs.
 As rule in the first few months of new Parliament there are very few by elections and those that occur usually show little difference from the results obtained at the general election. In this respect Lloyd George has been unlucky, for before the Parliament has been Tn existence for three months, deaths ana resignations have made half a dozen gaps in his coalition ranks. Two Of these va cancies are in Ulster and, therefore, do not directly affect the course of British politics, two more are still undecided, but in the two cases where the poll has been declared the results have been such as to cause the prime minister serious perturbation. In Liverpool constituent cy vacant owing to the promotion or Sir F. E. Smith now Lord Birkerhead' to the lord chancellorship, the coalition had an excellent candidate in Admiral
 Hall. who during the war was director of naval intelligence and was well known to American newspaper men. Neverthe- less he received little more than nall the number of votes accorded to his prede- cessor, and but for the fact that his labor opponents poll also showed falling otf of a thousand he would have mad olll- culty in retaining the seat.
 This result caused Lloyd George some alarm, but worse shock was to follow. In December a coalition unlonlst nau been returned for West Leyton, London suburban constituency, by majority or over 1000, receiving 10,956 votes against 5,28S given to his opponent, an Asqulth- ian liberal Before the meeting of Far liament he died and by-election became necessary At this by-election the Ep- eral. A. E. Newbould Ca well known fg- ure in the cinematograph world), Was able to effect a striking alteration III the December figures. Instead Of ma jority of over five thousand against nm, he materially increased his poll and de- feated his new opponent by more than two thousand votes. If this result, one of the most sensational ever recorded 1 in British politics, were to pc taken oii | it's face value as a verdict Of dlssatls- | faction with the general policy ot the government, Lloyd George might well be ! terrified, but there are, as Tn most oy- elections, some local factors to be taken | into account.
 | West Leyton is one of Londons dorml- tories and nearly 80 per cent of it's voters are commuters. This class mas su11ereu much owing to war exigencles: the dally l journey to the city has been mcreolply crowded and uncomfortable, While the | fares have been raised by 50 per cent.
 During the war the discomfort and eA- pense were endured cheerfully, but after l the armistice the commuter hoped TOT l some relief. Partly owing to the neces- sites of demoblization this has not
 been forthcoming, and as result the I,eyton voter desired to record his dls- pleasure with the government for Iali- | ing to deal with this problem.
 Tn some quarters, too, fault was found with the personality of the coalition can | didate. James Mason. He is an elderly, wealthy and popular man; director oI | a big railway and of several lndustriai
 concerns, but he had had no previous | connection with the constituency ana before the war had in Parliament (he sat for Windsor a parliamentary borough which has now ceased to exist, been a strong opponent of Lloyd George ana all his works. Probably the outcry against him has been exaggerated, put ne would have been more popular With ah electorate of different type. The coai- ition caucus has not yet realized tne lneed for young candidates, preferably
 soldiers or sailors, if an impression IS 10 he made on large industrial or supurpan
 areas The women's vote makes the
 uersonality of the candidate matter or primary importance. .
 Lloyd George has received shock III : West Leyton, but he is man wno Ilearns from shocks, and the mlstake made there is not likely to oe repeateo. vacancy has arisen in Aberdeensnire'
 where a coalition unionist defeated Liberal by a narrow majority at the gen.
 eraI election. The liberal is almost cer-
 tain to win the by-election, and 1T ne lis opposed at all his opponent will not fight under coalition colors or receive
 government support. The result or this
 election will, therefore, prove little: that
 in Central Hull where a coalition union ist is opposed by liberal, who in ad- dition to other titles to political emlnence is heavyweight boxing champion Of the
 British navy may provide another shock similar to West Leyton.
 In any case, Lloyd George, who Is or
 a sanguine temperament, is probably not gravely perturbed. He still occupies the field without a serious rival, and though at by-elections voters may prove
 willing to remind him that he, too, IS mortal, yet unless an enormous revul- sion in feeling takes place he may conn- Idently expect that the next general elec-
 tion will confirm him in power, even