Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-10-19
PARTY LINEUP MAKING
BRITISH VOTE DOUBTFUL
Tories Alone Have Chance to Capture
Majority and Win Election, But
.- This Is Unlikely.


refused to let the Liberals escape
from the pathway they had entered
upon, defied the Liberals and Tories
both and went out with flags flying
on an issue which was bound to rally
to his support precisely that extreme
wing which has been most critical OF
all his supporters. holding him to
have been too conservative. Loyalty
to them brought about his downfall
and their support must he his now.
The real strategy of Macdonald,
however. was much deeper. He
quite correctly estimated his situation
as hopeless in the long run. since his
was minority government. and he
concluded that the present moment
was probably the most favora BILE he
could hope for. In forcing an imme
date election. he would go to the
voters while the memory of his recent
successes abroad was still fresh. He
could face accusations of failure in
the domestic field with the explana-
ton that his had been a minority gov
eminent always held in strict re-
Strafnt by the ma jority. and at the
same time he could point to foreign
affairs. where he had enjoyed a free
hand and made effective contrast be-
tween the situation which he inner
tied and that which he now leaves.
not now come back to power. it is
hard to escape the conclusion that
1T is a good thing for il to go now.
1t has held Office long enough to
meet all of the forecasts of failure
and worse which attended it's COM
ing. 1t has made good budget. en-
HANGED, not diminished, British pres
tige abroad and above all. it has fol-
lowed strictly the traditions of con-
nj IT.
been no red flag or bolshevism in it's
conduct of national and imperial af-
fairs. And once and for all the panic
issue against Labor is laid
Party VIII Come Back.
When at this election or at some
future trial, Labor again gets a
chance to hold office. its accession to
power will be Il matter of course.
There is not one single solid argu-
ment to be derived from its record
in power which might supply founda-
ton for keeping it out of office here
after: it has behaved like any other
political party. And just as it has
done nothing to arouse national ap-
prehension. it has not. as many OBJ
servers forecast. fallen to pieces it
self. on the contrary, Macdonald has
held his quite diverse and difficult
following together admirably and he
had all of their votes at the end as
he had them at the start.
Labor then has established its place
as a permanent political party in
Great Britain. Whether there are
now to be two or three parties de-
ponds upon the course of the Liberals: :
it they can remain united and hold !
a sufficient number of seats of course |
they Will continue, but no one ex-
poets this Labor has supplanted !
them as the opposite number to the |
Conservatives and they will have to
choose after this election as after /!
the last whether to support Labor or
the Tories, with the possibility that
the Tories may not need them and
with the certainty that their support
of Labor will be without remunera-
tive recognition. Thus after cleo
ton they are likely to scatter. Mr..
Asquith is old and tired: Lloyd
George has long been waiting a
chance to jump and Labor has al
ways declined to offer him a land
ing place.
May Change Lineup.
Thus as a consequence of Labor's
brief tenure of office, there is every
that there will be a quick
change in the political situation in
Britain and that the Liberal party will
over to the other two parties. This
would restore the old two-party sys-
tenn in Great Britain and the change
would be welcome to country whose
traditions and institutions lend them
selves as little to the continental bloc |
system as our own.
Abroad the fall of the Macdonald
government, particularly if it is fol- |
lowed by failure to carry the present
81
sequences. Herriot in France had no
greater asset than his friendship with
and with the Labor leader |
gone, France is almost certain to look |
for another man to carry on discus
sions with the new premier. In addi- |
ton, the election pretty certainly
postpones, if it does not cancel, the |
debt conference which was to take |
place in November and from which |
France hoped a generous and definite !
settlement of her Indebtedness to
Britain.
Some other man may have brief |
but it would appear that /
Brands new moment is close at |
hand and that he is likely to have a |
chance to form his ninth cabinet be- |
fore long. His recent prominence at
Geneva gives a fair line on the direc- |
ton he is likely to take. But, unfor-
into question much that was done at |
Geneva, some of which is far from |
pleasing to the Tories.
Dawes Report Is Issue.
Even worse for general adjustment
is the certainty that the Dawes re- |
port will be an issue in the cam
paign and the British electorate will
be called upon to indicate its dis |
approval Some of the Tory politi- |
clans and several of the important
party journals have been carrying on |
a campaign against this plan, and If.
the agitation has had no definite sue
cess it has served to arouse popular /
since all classes in Britain
have been told the Dawes report is
to British interests and to
their own particular interests.
That there must be some repercus-
sion Of this in Germany is plain.
The spectacle of France and Britain
agreed upon the Dawes plan. with
America giving pretty clear official
evidence of its approval alone per-
suaded the German Reichstag to ac-
cept it, after d crisis which was not
over until the last vote was counted.
Not even the appearance of a change
of mind in Britain would give new
strength to the Nationalists opposi-
ton, which has never been abandoned.
Will Breed Uncertainty.
Unquestionably.l then, for Europe,
speaking generally, the Macdonald
upset if not disaster is bound to
be cause for much uncertainty and
no little delay in getting down to
business just at Il moment when the
skies seemed clearer than at any time
during the last 10 years. This is
probably accentuated by the facts
that the Tories, who are most likely
to win in the election, have absolute
ly no one to replace Macdonald as
&. Stn 70 for. fora