The sun., 1919-09-28

cal antagonists, Unionists, Liberals
Labor men, were working together
AT the Paris Peace Conference the
British representatives were Lloyd
George, risen from a lawyers clerk:
Mr.. Balfour, an aristocrat; Bonar
Law, an iron merchant and George
Barnes. a workingman.
The British practice of never allow
ing political differences to interfere
with personal friendships often strikes
the foreigner as evidence that the Brit
ism are insincere. or how would 1t be
possible for titled Tories. extreme
radicals, people of all phases of polit-
ical opinion to stay over the week end
at the same country house without
quarrelling? They do not avoid poll
tics; they talk them in the freest man
ner. but there is an unwritten though
stern rule in England that no gentle
man repeats in public what he has
been told In private conversation.
The private lives of men are sacred,
This Is not hypocrisy, as I have &C.
casionally heard foreigners say. !
think 1t is respect for the opinions OF
others.
A great contrast between America
and Britain is that while the United
states has written Constitution the
Constitution of England is unwritten.
The man chosen By the citizens OF the
United States may, in Congress, give
expression to the view of the democ-
racy and then the bill be declared void
by the Supreme Court on the ground
that 1t Is contrary to the Constitution,
even IL, before then, 1t has not been
vetoed by the President. There is
nothing like that In Great Britain.
The King does not veto bills. The
House OF Lords may hold them UP for
time but cannot defeat them. The
House of Commons, the elected as
sembly. has all the power.
Parliament is supreme. While the
British high courts of justice may
interpret the law. no judges are al
lowed to slay a law once It has been
passed by Parliament. The British Con-
stitution, being unwritten. is elastic,
accommodating and while the influence
OF precedent plays a part 1t is the
opinion OF the people Of to-day and not
what was decreed by our forefathers
100 years ago which stands good.
Careful students OF political institu-
lions have noted that British women
have had a place in national admins
tration, elected to public bodies much
longer than have American women.
In British Industrial laws there is out
OF employment pay provided by the
State. old age pensions. arbitration
boards to settle labor disputes and
workmen's compensation for accident
far wider In range than anything yet
decided upon In the United States.
Let no one assume for a moment
that am suggesting there is not
plenty OF room for improvement In
British conditions or that l am en-
deavoring to make out a case that
things are better in England than in
America. All am trying to do is to
wipe away the prevalent impression
that Britain has not as much freedom
in democratic government as any
other country.
But the curious thing is that while
in Great Britain there has been a
widening of authority. there has been
, In recent years concentration OF au-
thority in the United States. so that
the President has to-day more per-
sonal power than any other one man
| on earth. In Yankee parlance Kins
George may be no more than a rubber
stamp. But Mr.. Wilson is an impe-
rlalist OF the stun OF which Caesars
are made.