The Holly chieftain., 1924-01-31
NEWS REVIEW OF
CURRENT EVENTS
Socialist Government Is In
stalled in Britain and Has
Strike to Settle.
BY EDWARD W. PIckARo

= REAT BRITAIN is now ruled by
~ the first Socialist government In
her history. Before the great war
such Il condition would have been al
most unthinkable. Today the British
people contemplate it without fear, al
most with complete equanimity. The
program of change went through swift
ly and smoothly. The Labor party's
resolution Of mo confidence" In the
Tory government was adopted Mon
day night by II vote Of 1928 to 1885, the
Liberals tlocking with the LaborItes
OH the division and being greeted with
loud cheers by the latter. In the gal
lery the prince Of Wales and the duke
of York watched the proceedings with
intense interest. Next day Prime Min
lister Baldwin and his cabinet pre-
sented their designations to the king
Ramsay Macdonald was summoned to
buckingham palace and asked to form
new ministry. and promptly accepted.
His cabinet, as announced and ap-
proved by the king, was about as had
been forecast, the only surprise being
the appointment of VIscount Chelms-
ford, Tory peer and former yiceroy
of India, as first lord of the admiral
ty. Macdonald, In addition to the
premiership. holds the post of minister
for foreign affairs; Philip Snowden Is
chancellor of the exchequer; Arthur
Henderson is home secretary; ]. H.
Thomas Is secretary for the colonies;
Thomas Shaw is minister of labor;
Viscount Haldine is lord chancellor;
Sydney Webb is president of the board
of trade, and j. r. Clynes Is lord of
the privy seal and deputy leader OF
the house of commons. Two of Mac.
Donald's ministers who probably will
be made peers are Sir Sydney Olivier,
secretary for India, and Brig. Gen. G.
B. Thompson. secretary for air.
There was little or no adverse
criticism of the new prime minister's
selections for government positions,
even the rabid Tory press commencing
them. The ministers got busy with
their Jobs at once, and parliament was
adjourned for few weeks to permit
them to familiarize themselves with
their duties. The first serious matter
that confronts the Labor government
Is the strike of railway engineers and
fremen, which began at midnight Sun
day. despite the efforts OF the party
leaders to stop 1t. Within few days
the strike had reduced the railway
efficiency Of the United Kingdom 60
per cent and industry was gravely
affected. The trades union congress,
whose president is Margaret Bondfield,
who also is undersecretary for labor,
appointed an emergency committee to
intervene when the moment is consid-
cred opportune. Foodstuffs for Lon
don and the other large cities are be-
ing brought in by motor trucks, and
many manufacturers organized fleets
of trucks to carry their employees
NJ ICOLAI LENIN, creator Of the
y Russian soviet government, died
on Monday after an illness that had
kept him frou his official work for
many months. The Red followers of
the premier mourned him deeply.
pusSeu DS TENS OIL lnUushnuS DeloTe
his body where 1t lay in state in the
House of Unions In Moscow. and laid
him to rest in the Kremlin. At this
writing 1t is not known who will sue
ceed the arch Communist who was
abandoning Communist principles in
his rule Of Russia because, as he blunt
ly admitted, they woNld not work
Probably the new premier will be
Stallin, minister Of nationalities, bu,
the place may go to Zinoviev or KAN
anev. However, there is said to be n
serious split in the ranks Of the Dol
shevists, one group wishing to con.
tinue the modified policies Of Lenin
and the other favoring return to the
old plan Of Communist propaganda
abroad and efforts TO bring about q
world revolution. 1t is noted, too
that the peasants are steadily moving
toward democracy as opposed II
sovietism. Leon Trotzky, Lenin's con
frere In establishing the Communist
regime. is supposed to be In the eau