The Washington herald., 1919-10-12

preSuSe OF the prime minister will
again triumph when he chooses to
go to the country and light Few
Tories, however. trust Lloyd George.
They have not forgotten his Lime
house days and his early fights
against privilege, and they strongly
suspect that he will turn against
them when he thinks the time is
ripe. The Tory accordingly must
face the question whether he will
seek victory behind a leader he
thinks will later knife him in THE
back or discard the suspected chief
and go down to certain defeat.
Tories answer this problem accord
ing to temperament. and two wings
are growing up within the party. One
would sack Lloyd George and fight
openly for the maintenance Of the
old social order and the imposition
upon the working classes Of var bur-
dens which now press crushfngly upon
the rich. The other group. with more
regard for ONCE than eincerity, desires
to follow the prime minister anywhere
on the ground that any other course
means defeat.
The third main political party Is
made up Of ministerial Liberals. These
are the men who backed Lloyd George
against Asquith in the crisis of 1915
They form the most devoted followers
the prime minister has. for they know
their former chiefs will never forgive
their desertion of the "old man." as
Asquith Is affectionately called by his
followers. and that IL George falls they
win be cast into outer darkness.
Next come the old Liberals. Ap-
parently Asquith, McKenna, Haldane,
and the -old gang" who were In power
when war came and for two years
thereafter. had been showed under
permanently in the 1918 election. All
the leaders were defeated at the polls.
a rump of a dozen members repre-
senting the remains OF the orthodox
Liberal party in the present house.
Have sCome Back
But the old Liberals have staged a
sensational comeback" They have
won many elections, and while not
strong enough themselves to form
new government the old leaders will
have much to say aboA its compost
ton. Lord Grey has long retired from
politics because OF semi-blindness, and
is now in America; Winston Churchill
has cast in his lot with Lloyd George
and is running the War ONCE, but
with these two exceptions the Liberal
chieftains of the early war periods
are united in bitter hostility towards
the prime minister and are working
day and night to overthrow him.
Then there is the Labor party,
which despite its disappointment IN
the 1glS election is now growing rapid
~ IN strength and boasts that IL will
form the next government itself
Arthur Henderson. its old chief, was
badly beaten last year by a George
candidate, but has Just been returned
In triumph from a constituency that
had voted Tory for many yeafs. ].
H Thomas, leader of the striking
railwaynen. has a seat In the House;
and II he succeeds In leading his fol-
lowers to victory in the present strug-
gle his admirers predict that a Thorn
as-Henderson ministry will control
the country within a year.
FIVE political groups have been
enumerated. all having representa-
tion IN Parliament Besides this
mere is sixth group. To the ex-
treme labor men, Russia Offer an Az
ample worth initiating Soviet gov
ernment they say, must sunersede
the present out -of-date and hnneIssss
~ bourgeois'' Parliament. After tot
terlng along for 100 years. the House
Oh commons is effete, and should be
olssorVed In favor OF organizations
modeied on those OF Lenine and
Trotsky. i'
Lloyd George overstated 1t.
Durfng the continuance Of tn. strike
tne revolutionary party will seek in
every way to take ADVANTAGE NJ tbs
embarrassment of the comrnn,it,
But when Lloyd George said that tba
ends behind the strike were .no,i,io
caL by which he meant to ennvsv
the idea that the British Bolshev,k,
controlled the railway workers he
oVerstated his case for effect on the