The Washington herald., 1921-03-26
Declares Loss of Bonar
Law Liable to Put End
To Premier's Power.
LOSES BACKING OF
2 MAJOR PARTIES
Churchill Thought Rival
! For British Leader
ship.
by PRANK n. sIMoNDs.

" hho 64Oyo ocofbo mas 81 SUI
eessfuliy defied all attack for many
months that it is hazardous In the
extreme to forecast a fall now, 1t
is not less clear that the resigna-
ton of Bonar Law, coming at a
critical moment, may prove the irst
step in the decline of the prime
ministers fortunes At all events.
at no time in his dizzy career has
George faced more stupendous diff
iculties.
A great man Mr.. Law has never
proven himself to be- Few leaders
in the range of contemporary Brit
1sh history have been more useful.
more industrious, more consistently
valuable. He belongs to the type
Of our own Senators. more frequent
two decades ago than now, who
knew the business OF Legislation far
better than that Of speechmaking+
who were the wheelhorses Of actual
legislative affairs. indispensable,
immensely influential. but not con-
spicuously able debaters or speak
ers-
Not Bright Light, But-safe.
IN pOAhL VI ldCls dS q lcdQSE o.
the Tories, succeeding Mr.. Balfour.
Bonar Law was on the whole a
disappointment. He did not shine
where Balfour was without equal.
nor could he compare with Asquith,
with Winston Churchill. much less
with Lloyd George. He was a re-
spectacle speaker. a safe" man,
adequate as head of a party which
had undergone disaster and had not
actually rallied completely at the
moment when the world war came
TO upset all political combinations.
In the coalition government of
Asqufth, in the later coalition min
tstry of George. Law was a potent
factor and familiar and impor-
tant ngure. His presence insured to
the government the support of a
majority of the Tories. Little by
little. as the Liberals disinte grated,
Tory influence mounted in the Cos
alition and II became a question
7cademic. to be sure-whether the
Tories had annexed Georg. or
George had absorbed the Tories. On
the whole the latter seemed to be
the case.
George's Regret Thoaght Genuine.
But in the process. Of absorption
Sonar Law became less and less an
individuality and more and more a
lieutenant of the more brilliant
leader Of the coalition. In fact.
the majority of the house of COM
mons became rather>Georgian than
Tory. much less Liberal or Radical.
But. accepting this fact, It Is prob
able that there was complete sin
certify in Lloyd Georges emotion in
announcing Bonar Laws retirement.
Tor. beyond question, he has lost
his ablest lieutenant, who had
added value due to the fact he WAS
never a dangerous rival.
g Tooay George stands on dangerous
ground. although this Is no new ex-
perfence- He has affronted the
Tories by his consent to the COM
pletion of a treaty of trade with
Bolshevist Russia This is no more
nor less than a direct and unfor-
gfveable breach of principle. so far
as the conservatives are concerned,
and in the present House they have
the upper hand But he has not
less afronted the other side by his
stand with France in the matter of
Germany. Thus he is execrated at
one moment by the Right and by
the Left. while he has so far gained
nothing in political strength by the
successive concessions.
ChurchiII Seen a. q Riv.u.
Meantime Lord Robert Cecil, per-
haps the most conspicuous of re-
cent figures in the House Of Com
mons. since his real rise to promi-
nenee hardly antedates the world
war, has passed over to the oppo-
sition, taking with him q few Tor
les. but inficting q moral rather
than q material reverse upon the
Welshman. Winston Churchill is
beginning to loom as q real rival
and possible successor, while three
or four recent bye-elections have
seen Labor victories and q fourth
disaster was only narrowly avoided.
Georges chief assets now are
two: The reluctance Of the British
nation to make a change at such q
moment. when there Is no man of
commanding personality available,
and the even more compelling fact
that the present House of Commons
does not represent contemporary
public sentiment. was, In fact, the
expression of the moment when the
war ended in victory. and at least
half of the members would prob
ably be defeated were there q dis
solution
And a new election would auto
matically follow the defeat of
George.
Party Pswer Behind Is Lost.
Conceding all of Lloyd Georges
skill. genius, supreme agility, It 10
not less plain that his sands are
running out. He has no party be-
hind him and he is bitterly hated
by the old Asquith Liberals. while
the Tories have never really for
given their old grudgss. He has
been lately forced to make conces-
sions which have still further
alienated both sides of the house.
Finally, he has become more or less
committed to the French policy
with respect to Germany, which,
despite brief assent. Is terribly un-
popular.
II IL far from unlikely that IN
saving BRAND. George may have
sealed his own fate. Certainly II
the present German situation con-
finues and even becomes worsey a.
seems now probable. there is real
reason for believing that the Brit
ish will escape from the Georgian
policy Of supporting France. BY
cosTNuED Oh PAoB rHRxn.
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