Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-12
BY A. G. GARDINER
Special Dispatch to The Tribune.

1ptNAai DiSpnNh +" A"S AAibea
Copyright. 1922. by The Great Fails Tribune
London, Nov. 1.-The fourth ami
~versary Of the armistice finds England
on the eve of the most singular gen
eral election in her history. 1t is not
| SO much a straight fight as a street
fight in which everybody hits anybody.
But the main interest centers in grow
ing a~ntagonism among the leaders of
the late coalition government. The at
tempt to maintain civil relations Is
breaking down under the stress Of the
battle and recrininations become hotter
as the polling day nears.
AS Lady Bonham Carter wittily says,
'1The choice is between the sleeping
sickness of Bonar Law and the st.
Vitus dance of Lloyd George
Law throws responsibility for the
condition on Lloyd George. The latter
claims Law equally responsible with him
for the coalition policies or lack of
them. He SCOTS at the new ministry
as ~greenhorns. Birkenhead, hitting
right and left, suggests that Lord Derby
is no statesman. Derby retaliates by
suggesting that B~irkenhead is no gem
tleman. Perhaps both are right.
Meanwhile Churchill, last Of the three
musketeers of politics, still is out of the
battle line. owing to an operation for
appendicitis. He has written denounc-
ing the government and renewing ale
politely suggests his establishment that
Churchill was himself only a short time
ago favorable to the overthrow of
Lloyd George.
Deserted by Curzon
The stock of the latter is still falling
as the result Of the public washing of
dirty linen. Curzon has turned on him.
declaring that Lloyd George did not
consult him as foreign minister before
issuing his Near East colonial empire
manifesto on September 16. 1t is now
clear that his only confederates in that
amazing performance were Birkenhead
and Churchill, who are accused of hay
ing been the war party in the old coali-
ton cabinet.
Nevertheless, Lloyd George continues
to command great popular enthusiasm.
but without a political machine he can
not cash that enthusiasm at the polls.
Meanwhile as the civil war RACES among
the fragments of the machine of the
late coalition, the liberals under Asquith
are making progress. They now antici-
pate they will win something in the
neighborhood of 100 seats. Labor, on
the other hand. finds its cause declin-
Ing. Inc party HAS committed 1tSelI 10
the principle of a levy on capital i'll
order to reduce the national debt. This
has aroused a great hue and cry among
the tories and the liberals, where it is
| denounced as a policy of confiscation
and a part of an organized war on pri-
vate enterprise. Labor is staggering
under the fury of the assault. which
was quite unexpected, al until very
lately many liberals, and even Bonar
Law himself, had treated the capital
levy as an arguable alternative to the
present excessive income tax. In the
circumstances. it is improbable that la
Dor will carry more than $50 seats.
Lloyd George will have so personal
followers.
Expect BoHar Law Victory
There is a growing belief that the
conservatives will get a clear majority
and Bonar Law will be in a position
to organize any alliances.
Lloyd Georges power will be ON
pletely shorn. He cannot attack Iiber-
ais. as he stands nominally as a liberal
and may yet have to seek shelter under
the old umbrella. 1t is most significant
that he does not attack labor. He
used to praise the bolsheyiki most
vo~ciferously. Now not a word of criti-
cism of labor policy. There is %specula-