The Washington herald., 1922-10-26
Simonds Likens Lloyd George
To Late Colonel Roosevelt
Fallen Premier May Meet Same Political Fate
of Strenuous President, Says Writer.


meeting which had been carefully
picked to bring about an indorse-
ment Of the coalition government.
A two-thirds vote aagtnst Lloyd
George in this conference demon
strated that In any larger gather
ing his defeat would be overwhelm-
ing
Always the key to this situation
must be found in the fact that the
rank and file of the party believed.
probably Justly. that the real OBJ
jective of the Georgian policy was
to split the Tory. party and build
a personal organization out Of the
ruins of both the Tory and Liberal
parties. As have said. Il was the
resolution OF the Conservatives to
continue, which upset the prime
minister.
Faces Hard Chsace.
As to what 10 to come next
speculation Is rather idle. Un-
questionably Lloyd George will
now be driven to choose between
an attempt to create a. personal
party and entrance into the labor
party. But the latter course may
not be possible or IL possible of
little personal advantage. for labor
is suspicious and the labor leaders
have no desire to be forced to yield
power and prominence to George.
Certainly the ex-prime minister
can be assured of a following in the
next house of commons, after the
general election. which must come
promptly. but he cannot have con-
troll of either the Liberal or the
Tory machinery or party funds.
What he must hope for and what Is
by no means impossible 10 that at
the next election no one Of the three
parties-Tory. Liberal and Labor
Will get a majority. In such a case
some sort of a coalition government
will again become necessary and
his personal following may hold the
balance of power.
stih In the Ring.
But while It is idle to imagine
that a man OF Lloyd Georges abil-
ity and resource has been perma-
nently disposed of. there are many
reasons why 1t is unlikely that he
will come back without delay. His
recent foreign adventures have
reused public sentiment in all quar-
ters against him. for a year every
major undertaking of his had ended
in failure. and his last failure has
brought present humiliation and fu-
ture danger of the whole empire
The single argument for the re-
tention by the Tories of a prime
minister of an opposing political
faith was that he was indispens sable
and that national interest demanded
the subordination Of all political
considerations. But such an areu-
ment had to be sustained by strong
evidence and such evidence no
longer exists. Moreover. in recent
days there have been unmistakable
signs of apprehension even among
his friends and the des.rtions have
been many.
Outside Of England Lloyd Georges
fall Will be welcomed by avery
continental country with the pos
sible exception Of Germany, for
whether Bonar Laws statement as
to the loss OF the confid snce of
Lloyd Georges own countrymen be
exact or not. there is no question
that he has lost that of European
countries. not alone France, but
Italy and the little entente as well.
Still, the fall Of Lloyd George at
this precise moment will involve
many vexatious delays in many di-
rections. In the Near East. In the
Brussels conference TO deal with
reparations. in the funding Of the
British debt to the United States.
Until the world knows what British
policy 10 to be in the future moth
ing can be settled Moreover. since
Lloyd Georges policy was purely
personal. many changes of a sweep
ing character are well night newt
able. In q sense his fall closes q
period. the period which began
with the Paris conference. More
over, not only has Lloyd George
dominated this period but with his
departure we are certain Of dullsr
political world.
Copyright. 1sz7)