Evening star., 1922-10-15
CRITICS EXCOR|ATED
E.. BY LLOYD GEORGE
Premier in Fiery Speech De-
fends Policy in Near
E: East Affair.
OPEN DARDANELLES VITAL
No Hint of Future Program Given
Eager Nation, How
ever.
OPEN DARDANELLES VITAL
~ thr As.n,.iufrd rress

nier Lloyd George dealt with the
crisis which near eastern events have
forced upon the government IN
characteristic and powerful speech
in the city of his birth this after
noon. While ne spoke as liberal to
liberal, and chose a city remote from
the capital Tor staging his Grafton
according TO the long custom OF Brit
ish statesmen. he was not speaking
primarily to Manchester. but to
Great Britain and the empire.
The prime ministers speech was
evidently more carefully prepared
than is usual with him. 1t was
principally a defense of the govern.
ment'S policy. but it was the sort OF
defense MIR Lloyd George likes. be-
cause il gave him plenty OF oppor.
tunity for his tavorit@ strategy or
offensive defense" which with him
means dealing hard blows at MS
critics and going into personalities
so SharJ. that tnVy shock the old
fashioned conventional statesmen.
No Li:hI on Future.
What th,. country awaited most
curicusiy was information about the
future: il wanted TO know which OF
the various policies open before the
:, prime m!nlSter--resiSnatio gen.
eral election or sitting tiSht-he plans
TO follow. But no light was thrown
upon that point. he left himself free
to take whatever direction events
may dictate. tie declared that no one
could Welcorne his retirement more
than himself, but followed this with
the dramatic passage:
Il east ElySelf ui'"n the people. ne
cause | have never betrayed them.
The hall runs; with approving
shouts. and Ec al led that he would
support Loyalty any alternative gov
ernmcnt tIat would work for the best
interests Of the nation.
\ Lloyd George speech Of the sort
which has come to he known as his
back to the wall" is seldom a mere
speech. 1t is generally a thrilling
entertainment. Today's was no ex-
ception; all the atmosphere was
friendly and congenial; the small au-
dience in the dining room of the Re-
form Club responded swiftly to every
point.
Before the premier rose a small
pulpitlike structure was placed on
the table in from; of him, and on this
he spread stack of notes. But once
on his feet he seldom bothered with
these, so his sentences had all the
effect of spontaneity. Considerably
stouter than when he took control OF
the government seven years ago, and
his hair much whittier, the Welsh
statesman'S manner seems to have
grown more serious with the years OF
responsibility, but all the old hre was
there.
Ridicule for Gladstone.
In the hail where Gladstone had
often spoken he poured ridicule on
the great commonerS son. Lord Glad
stone, who is one of the leaders OF the
liberal revolt against the coalition
OF him he said:
81 know the difficulty of any man
without adequate gifts who has to
60 n
has actually excommunicated US from
the liberal party. Well, the papacy
is not hereditary office. What serv-
ice has he rendered liberalism?
know of none. except one-he IS the
best living embodiment of the liberal
doctrine that ability is not heredi-
tary.'
Some of his strongest points in de-
fenSe of the governments near east
ern dealings were that the Turks had
slaughtered since 1914 million ana
a half Armenians and half a million
Greeks: that to give way TO them
now would be to sacrific the greater
part of the victory won over turkey
in the great war: that an Am l my
brothers keeper" attitude has never
been a doctrine of the liberal party.
The premier also had reproach FOR
France "A few weeks ago." he SAID,
"the French government sent US
message that If the Turks or Greeks
entered the neutral zone they "ou1o n
have to be resisted by force. we
thought they meant it. How were
We to believe it was only intended
for one side?"
Situation Inherited.
Dealing with the charges that his
edminist tration had muddled near
east affairs, Mr.. Lloyd George as
! serted that they had inherited the
situation from their predecessors
e Il
cisms that he should have employed
the sort of diplomacy Sir Edward
Grey exercised before the world war,
he retorted that that had been the
most >calamitous diplomatic failure
the world has ever known.
The impression made on most OF
his audience was that the premier
does rot propose to have an early
general election. part of the press
charging that an election before tne
conservative party convention In NO
vember would be political trick.
The inference. which may be wrong.
was that Mr.. Lloyd George Will wait
to see whether that convention COM
nnitS the conservatives to dropping
the coalition. in which event he might
try to return as leader of the liberal
party. He spoke throughout as q
liberal, making appeals to liberal
principles and traditions.
Manchester was only part Of the
Club he motored to the adjoining
municipality of Stafford. which is a
kind of rival of Manchester. and
placated it's civic pride with another
speech. Then he journeyed to Black
pool. fifty miles away, to receive the
freedom of the city before an as
semblage of 1000.
From today's display of form 1t is
safe to predict that II a general cleo
tfon comes the Welsh giant. despite
his seven years of overwhelming
labors. will be ready to carry on a
whirlwind campaign.
Open Dardanelles Vital.
Prime Minister Lloyd George laid
stress on the need of keeping open
the straits of Dardanelles.
'It is not necessary" said Mr.. Lloyd
George, ito point out the importance
of securing the straits against
repetition of what happened in 1914
That prolonged the war for two years,
and it very nearly brought upon the
cause Of the allies. irrepairable dis
aster. But aside from that 1t is the
sea, where you've got the raw ma
terials you need, surplus food in times
of peace-in normal times. such as no
other part of Europe could supply,
and of the commerce of that part Of
the world one-third had always been
in British ships.
vital to you, vital to humanity, we
could not have these straits barred
without giving away the biggest i'm
portant prize we had won by the VIC
tory over Turkey in the great war, and
which had cost US so much In life and
treasure.
"As to spreading tho war into Eu-
rope. you have only got to think what
would have happened. II the Turk.
had Nyiof mi nn q In