Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-16
BY A. @. GARDINER


Special Cable to The Great Fails frinune
Copyright, 1872. by The Great Fails Tribune-
London, Oct. 15.-The future of
Lloyd George is the chief subject en-
crossing all England. With the passing
of the Near East menace the plans OF
the premier are discussed everywhere.
Will he resign? When will the general
election come? What will be the polit-
ical alignment when it does conner
Matters cannot go on as at present.
The premier's astonishing diplomatic
methods in relation to the Turk have
left him In an extraordinary position.
He is m~istrusted by all parties about
equally but the new factor in the stu
alton is his loss of the support OF the
newspapers. Heretofore his chief
power came from that source.
Near panic prevades the financial
and commercial world at the revela-
ton of his political levity. City opinion
may be summarized thus:
HE landed US in the position where
we had the choice of fighting the Turk
without other European support or OF
kowtowing to him. We have kowtowed
and suffered a humiliation no great
nation should accept"
The assaults of James Louis Garvin
on him show how low his prestige
has fallen, because Garvin's former
enthusiasm for the premier approached
idolatry.
Premier Once IdoIzed
He was the heaven sent minister,
hardly human, almost god-hke. He was
Hit. Cromwell, Lincoln, all IN one
miraculous body. Now he is more black
thar /. who have been exposing ms
iugglery for seven years, ever nave
nainted lin. He is the chief author or
| all of Europe's misfortunes and must
be cleared out, bag and baggage.
All England is laughing at his I'M
| p~recedented somersault, but the sig
nificance of the comedy is great IL IN
dicates the complete pricking. OF the
bubble OF the greatest reputation ever
blown IN in English politics. Lloyd
Georpe. with his back to the wall, Will
fight desperately.
Speculation c%enters on the queston
whether be will make the plunge to
tho right or the left. His recent ef-
forts have been directed toward making
naace with the liberals but mo thor
pnugbfare" is inscribed In his path.
ANY compact with labor is out OF the
question. His own personal following
"a small and will vanish if he is unable
to provide troughs for their hungry
There remain the tories. But the
tory rank and file is as hostile to
Lloyd George as is the rank and file OF
the liberals and laborites. lie does,
however, retain a powerful hold on the
leaders of the tory faction, whom he
has skilfully involved in his failures
and who see no chance Of retaining
office excepting through his strategy.
II seems probable, therefore, that he
will raise the cry of bolshevism to
discredit labor and seek to capture
stray liberals on the ground OF the
success of his Irish policy and pursuit
of the Gladstone traditions IN the Near
East.
One thing generally is agreed. He
will not resign. He knows that the
source of power is possession of office
and that. once he is ROBBED of this, his
mower of recovery would be problem
atical. His aim, therefore, would be
to keep the shadow of the coalition,
even though the substance has gone
and decide the date and issue of the
general election rather than leave that
advantage to others.
The strength Of his position is the
absence of tory leadership. Chamber,
lain, Churchill and Birkenhead all have
failed, and there is no outstanding
figure to lead any revolt there against
Lloyd Georges dictatorship. The pres.
ent impression is that he will force
the election before Christmas.
What will be the result 1t is most
problematical. There is an yer.
whelming feeling against coalition ant
there may be a landslide against til
continuance by the tory voters. II
that case the liberal and labor parties
will be enormously strengthened. Il
now is estimated that labor may secure
one-third of the house, the tory rather
more and the liberals less.
Would labor take office with tn
liberals? 1t is more than doubtful
Meanwhile, we await the declaration
of the election and an outburst of anti
bolshevism, with Lloyd George playint
the role Of st. George Staying thu
%suppositious dragon.