The New York herald., 1920-01-29
Political Hash q In Lloyd George.

II was the late DR.. Samuel Johnson
who remarked that a ragout was gooo
enough dish, but it was not good enough
whom Won invited q man to dinner. 1t
will be interesting to see IL David lAoyo
Georges political hash in the shape OF a
programme-much more highly spiced ana
n;ouant than that concocted by Herbert
Fl. Asouith for the benefit of Paisley
nroves palatable to the Laborites on tne
one hand or the Tories on the other.
If the Tories in the Lloyd George Cab
met consider that everything else should
be sacrificed to one duty. to themselves
and the country, that of staying IN offlce
they must have admired the way in which
their chief rose to the occasion. lie was
once more the statesman who before the
war frightened the wits out Of property
owners by his leanirgs toward measures
which were distinctly socialistic IN
quality.
Thus he proposes to conciliate labor by
a profit-sharins system, half loaf in
stead of the full loaf Of the nationaliza-
ton of industry; to broaden the Old Age
Pension Act Of 1905, no doubt for the
benefit of those who call themselves the
new poor; to extend the scope of legis-
lation dealing with unemployment and to
broaden the system of government lnsur-
ance. Besides, and, as usual, AS an ex-
ira thought, there is to be satisfactory
solution of the Irish question"-though
this sounds like joke.
It is easy to see where Mr.. Lloyd George
has the advantage over Mr.. Asquith and
his Liberals. If the Prime Minister can
only keep his Tory friends together he
will be able to convince the Laborites
that there will be no danger for his bills
lurking in the House of Lords, whereas
if the Liberals were In office Mr.. Asquith' s
milder measures would be opposed at every
step.
British politics has seen many strange
and incongruous combinations. There
was Christian-Socialism in the mid-vic-
torian period. The late Lord Randolph
Churchill tried to dish the Liberals by
becoming a sort of ToryRadical. But it
remained for the present Premier to out
line a plan by which he may hold on to
office and power by using the extreme
Conservatives to help him to embody in
concrete form what looks like the princi-
pies OF the Socialist-Labor party.
No doubt the astutc Welshman will
argue triumphantly that those who con-
Quoted the war to a successful conclusion
that is 20 say, the very mixed coalition
headed by himself-should be allowed to
deal with the problems of reconstruction.
To those who object he is in a position to
say Very well, make your choice. 1t
is a case OF taking me or of taking a So
cialst in Arthur Henderson, You Con-
servatives would have no say with him
in Downing street With me there you
will be represented more than ade-
Quately!"
George y. Barnes, who was the only
Laborite in the Cabinet, has resigned--no
doubt to get Instructions. Mr.. Lloyd
George wants him to so back. The next
move is that Of the Labor party. 1t is
up to it to decide whether or not it is
strong enough to stick to its own platform
and hope for the best in the light of
recent gains. That it will have no deal
ings with the discredited Liberals is a
foregone conclusion.
AZ for the moderate men and women
Of Great Britain, they seem to be con-
fronted by nothing but choice of evils