Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-04-06
Mr.. Lloyd George Triumphs

7 7 is not easy To account for the over
whelming vindication given the policies
OF the Lloyd George ministry of Great
Britain in the vote Of confidence just cast
by the Commons 1t is all the more diff
cult III the light of the press comment which
has proceeded from the London writer's dur
ing the past six months. These prophets %
good or evil, as the case may be. have bca.i
busy morning. noon and night worrying the
world with alarm upon alarm.
1t has been pointed out over and over
again that the coalition must fail; that 1t
had served its purpose OF bringing the war
to n successful conclusion; was now held
together merely as sort of habit OF mind.
and the time had come for party spirit
to reassert itself and party strength to he
tclt III the highest councils Of the nation.
Then, too, the energetic writers have point
ed to the fact that there was no longer
danger of labor control of the government;
that the notion OF Bolshevism in the United
Kingdom was no longer entertained and,
with these menaces blotted out the coalI-
tonists had no excuse for holding together.
On top Of all this was the repeate cd decla-
rations that Mr. Lloyd George personally
was unpopular: that lie had lost support far
and wide; his adrotness had become
liability instead of an asset. and his policies
could not now be made to meet the views
OF any great body of the British people.
The special elections which had taken place
in various parts of England, il was added
showed conclusivcly that the Prime Minis
ter was about to be rcpudiatcd and his gov
eminent about to pass into history
This is no exagGeration Of the reports
which have found their way into American
and British newspapers for months past 1t
had seemed impossible to the average
reader, 1900 miles away, that all the fore
casters could go wrong 1t appeared that
Mr.. Lloyd George was skating on thinner
ice than any governmental head in the
world and only miracle could save him
from an immediate crash
But il has not happened. Instead he has
been given a vote of confidence by more than
three TO one in the House of Commons
The opposition has been utterly routed 4
few of the Asquith conservatives. and ii
few die hards, who have never been able
to abide the agile Welchman, held ont
against him. hut when the time came for
a showdown they were in hopeless mi
nority.
The Prime Minister not only finds him
self firmly re-es,ablished. but he is able
to proceed TO the Genoa conference with
fiat Endorsement Of his program given in
advance by his Parliament. He is in no
danger, it would seem. of being stabbed in
the back while absent from his post as
was NJ BRAND while the French Premier
was in attendance upon the Cannes confer
cnce.
The vote just cast inevitably must
strengthen the hand Of the Brtishcr in the
proceedings that are ahead. The Genoa
enterprise is largely a British proposition
!: was conceived by Mr.. Lloyd George and
his audacity in insisting that both Russia
and Germany be represented seemed to
forcc issues with France, Oh the one hand
and with America. on the other
European politics always bewiders the
average American mind, but never more so
than in the present situation