Evening star., 1923-12-06
BR|TONS ELECT|NG
564 FOR COMMONS
Baldwin, Lloyd George and
Lady Astor Believed Safe
in Voting Today.
By the Associated Press.


LONDON, December 6.-The cleo
tors of $40 constituencies in Great
Britain and north ireland. returning
564 members Of parliament, are cast
ing their votes today to decide the
country's policy.
Should either Of the three parties
seeking the suffrage of the people OBJ
tain a substantial majority at the
polls. the ministry formed thereby
is expected to hold office for a full
term. but if the majority Is small, a
short life and not particularly
merry one will probably be the lot OF
the new administration.
When the last campaign speech
had been concluded last night and
the last canvass made, the electoral
experts still had to admit themselves
baffied In any attempt to forecast
the outcome of the voting; and. al
though the candidates in many con-
stituencies felt themselves in duty
bound to predict certain victory for
their own party. they were not in
clined to express confidence that they
would be entitled to write the let
ters M. P" after their names.
Churchill Is Dubious.
winston Spencer Churchill, speak
ing at Leicester. where he has been
engaged in three-cornered contest,
said: "Of all the ten elections I have
fought this has been the most in
calculable." He hoped to win, but
admitted it might be only by mar
row margin. although he said a ma
jority of three or four thousand
would not surprise him.
J. II. Thomas, we'll known labor
leader, &ho has been In parliament a
dozen years and Is an energetic po-
Ntician. predicted yesterday that the
election would end In a stalemate.
which would produce a constitutional
difficulty unprecedented in the his
tory of the country. compelling
another election within few
Popular opinion seems to be that
barring a landslide for one Of the
parties-a contingency which none
of the experts predicts-the con-
servatives are likely to lose several
seats and the laborites to gain sew
4
liberals are nebulous.
Baldwin Considered Safe.
AS regards individual contests,
Prime Minister Baldwin. who had a
majority of SAB in Bewdley at the
last election, is considered safe.
Herbert Asquith, former premier. has
had a hard fight in Paisley against
three opponents, and but for the fact
that there are two rival labor can
didates his prospects would be con-
sidered very poor. AS 1T Is, his
chances are regarded as doubtful.
Mr.. Lloyd George is expected easily
to retain his Carnarvon seat against
his conservative opponent. Ramsay
Macdonald. who at the last election
owed his success in the Aberavon di-
vision, Glamorganshire. to split
vote, seems reasonably secure, as he
Is now fighting only a conservative.
No one seems to doubt that Lady
Astor will retain her seat in Ply
mouth. Her social reform work is
likely to bring her many liberal
votes. especially as her only oppo-
nent is a laborite.
Mrs. Wintringham is believed to
have a good chance OF retaining her
seat in Louth against a conservative,
but the fate of about thirty other
woman candidates seems to rest en-
tirely with the gods.
Polls Open Mt 8 O'Clock.
Most of the polling stations open
at o'clock this morning and close
at s tonight but in some of the pop
ulous industrial centers the balloting
begins at this morning. closing at
this evening. The first results arc
expected about 10 o'clock tonight.
Between that hour and o'clock Fri
day morning 1t Is believed that the re.
turns from some 200 constituencies
will be In. Most Of the remainder
probably will be made known later or
Friday. but some, including the eight
university seats and those in Orkney
and Shetland, will not be declared until
next week.
Among the prominent men who will
know their fates tonight are Mr.. AS.
quith, Mr.. Churchill, Sir Alfred Mond
Thomas J. MacNamara. John r. Clynes
and Sir ns1H Siement Hsrssd ssTiow shor
today protests against what 1t calls the
"rowdyism stunt" alleging that many
Of the disorders in the campaign have
been unfairly laid at labor's door. The
newspaper recalls incidents In the 1872:
election, In which, it says, the con.
servatives and liberals were equally vic.
lent. The paper cites the testimony oi
an onlooker to the erect that one oi
the recent riots at Battersea, began with
an attack by conservatives. ending IL
q general fight.
1 d. DUza Y-I