New-York tribune., 1922-05-17
British Government De.
feated, Isl to l48, on
Move to End Debate on
Teachers Pension Bill
kesi gnations Are
Not Looked For
Lloyd George Absent and
Meeting Called for To.
day to Outline Policy
From The 7'riDune's Europeon Bu,cou

from Fhe 7ribnhe's Europeo,. R,trcnu
Copyright 1922, New York Tribune Inc.
LONDON, May 16.-The government,
vas defeated in the House of Commons
tonight on snap vote. Less thar
ia'' me members were in attendance
during the debate, in which the GOV.
ernment was proposing, in line with
OR Eric Goddess economy report. that
british school teachers contribute X
per cent or their annual salaries tc
the teachers superannuation fund
thereby reducing the national budpc,
about s2,5OO,Oo0.
over the opposition Of Austen
chamberlain, government leader and
acting Premier in the absence of Llovd
George, Lord Robert Cecil moved Ia
end the debate. The motion passed
loi to l4s, and cries of "Resign.,
arose from all parts of the House
chamberlain Immediately offered mo-
tion TO adjourn the sitting, as is GUS
tomary when the government finds
'tself III the minority, and the motion
carried unanimously.
Resignation Not Looked ,Eor
The Cabinet will meet to-morrow
morning to consider its position, bu,
the belief was expressed in Parlia
mentary circles that the ministr,
would not resign. 1t was pointed ou,
that the vote was not on a ouestios
OF policy, as the only issue was wheth.
er the debate should continue. The
question Of whether the government,
proposed levy on the teachers should be
approved was not concerned in an,
way. AS matter of fact, the teach
ers' superannuation bill itself gave ne
signs of being controversial
measure.
After comforting with Premier Lloye
George by telegraph it is expected
that the Cabinet at tomorrow's meet
'ns will decide either to withdraw the
teachers bill or accept the opposition
proposal that it be referred to a com
mittee.
The vote came most unexpectedly
Ihe House Of Commons has 7o7 mem
bers, but only 299 were on the floor
When the issue of ending the debate
was raised the "die hard" Unionists
saw chance to beat the government
on point, and they were joined by
the independent Liberals and the La.
borites. When the session adjourned
and the members had excitedlv gone
into the lobbies to take stock of the
situation, no satisfactory explanation
could be obtained of why Chamberlain
lad pushed his point when there was
plainly possibility of defeat, fore.
warning Of which was given by some
independent Liberals.
Force Opposition Showdown
There seemed to be no question that
the government was trying TO force it's
own defeat, but the suggestion was Of
fered that possibly Chamberlain wanted
to see how many votes the opposition
could rally in showdown. With no
likelihood that the government could
be forced to resign when it's policies
were not at stake, it was suggested that
by forcing such a vote as to-day's the
government leaders could get fairly
clear indication of how strong the op-
position was.
This is not the only time that the
present government has been defeated
in the House Of Commons. A similar
situation has arisen two or three tim q
before, the most notable coming last
year in the defeat Of a government
amendment to a finance bill. On these
occasions the Ministry did not re TN.
The vote to-day served to revive Talk
Of general election. The failure OF
the Genoa conference has helped this
gossip along, although it is not ex-
be decided on until Lloyd George re-
tnrns ia I.nndnn