Evening star., 1924-11-09


and the leaders of both, the men of
cabinet rank, were with rare ex-
ceptions within limits men coming
from the same public schools and
universities and inherting much the
same traditions. Ramsay MacDonalds
cabinet was the first real break with
the tradition, for, although the old
order was not without representa-
ton in the first Labor government,
the conspicuous figures and the major
ity of members came from another
class, a class which had barely OBJ
tanned a single seat before the World
War.
Twenty-Five years ago there was
great debate in the British proletariat
as to whether Labor as a class should
so into politics or continue as re-
mains the case in America, seeking
to obtain its ends by eXerting pres
sure upon both parties. keir Hardie
and Ramsay Macdonald turned the
tide for direct political intervention
and the first years of the new century
saw the birth and first steps of
Labor. Ten years after it was born
the Labor party polled barely
half a million votes and lost more
than a hundred thousand of these
in a second election in that same
year.
Won Hold After War.
Not until the World War was fin
ished did Labor take its place as a
real power. Then it was the sole
opposition, since the Liberal party
had Joined the Tory in the coalition
which fought the war and won the
notorious khaki election of 1918.
But in the four years between 1918
and 1922 Labor almost doubled it's
strength, polling 2,245,000 votes in
1918 and 4.237.OO0 in 1922. And in
the latest election it has added nearly
a million to the 1922 total.
What has happened to Britain
obviously, has been the steady cap
ture by Labor of the vote of the
workingmen. AS the figures l have
quoted show, the process was strik-
ingly slow at first; it did not really
gather speed until the close of the
war, while it became unmistakable
only with the sudden arrival of hard
times and unemployment in 1922. Not
the least difficult of Labor's strug-
giles, too, has been its battle with the
extremists within its own ranks, who
have sought to ally it with the
Soviets of Russia and to transform
a party which was only conserva-
lively soCialiStic into real red Com
munist organization.
Perhaps the greatest service to the
Labor party, aside from that of kier
Hardie, who was really the founder,
was that rendered by Ramsay Mac
Donald in the years following the
war, when bolshevism was still a
real danger and not a few extrem-
lists within his own party strove to
identify British labor with Russian
revolution. Successful in this. utterly
successful. Macdonald has had, never
theless, to show a degree of consld-
Grafton for the SovietS, which eN-
plains the recent Russian treaty, the
true cause of the overthrow of the
Labor government.
Macdonald Conservative.
Both as party leader out Of
power and as prime minister, Mac
Donald has shown himself conServa-
tive, extremely Conservative. His
radicalism has been at once strongly
tinged with native Scotch cannineSs
and always consistent with his life
long struggle to keep Labor within
the limits of strict constitutional
practice. In very real sense Mac
Donald has tanned the British revo-
luton and broken it to the harness
of the somewhat mythical British
constitution. hat is why Moscow be-
rates him as tool of capital and not
few of his party associates find
him reactionary rather than progress
sive.
MacDonald's policy. however, has
been one Of utmost caution. He aims
to bring about the naturalization Of
the key industries, mines, railways,
water transportation: 1t Is a real
economic revolution which he seeks,
but he has recognized that the con-
quest of adequate power must be
slow. and his chief concern in this
brief occupation of limited power has
been to inspire confidence and avoid
too ambitious undertakings which
could only fail. given his lack of
majority of his own. First, get rid
of the notion that Labor is reVo-
lutionary and then proceed to the
business of revolution. but always
through constitutional methods. this
is the Macdonald policy in nutshell.
Because he is an able leader, De-
cause he has a better knowledge or
Europe than any Of his predecessors
for many years, because he is, I
think, a. great man as we'll, MacDon-
aid has been able to decorate his
brief reign with several conspicuous
triumphs in the foreign field. He has
restored British prestige in Europe;
he has not only got rid Of Poincare,
but has also brought about a restora-
ton of friendly relations between
Britain and France-and so far he
has paid nothing for these real gains,
save kind words: he has given
France no military guarantee, but
France is retiring from the Ruhr; he
has not even cancelled the French
debt, but France has accepted the
Dawes plan.
Success Undeniable.
Thus Macdonald has invaded the
field in which the Tories were held
to be supreme; he has succeeded
where Coalition and Conservative
ministers failed. And all in doing
this he has avoided doing in the do
mestic field, or more exactly, attempt
ing to do, those things which his op-
ponents expected he would attempt
to do and planned to defeat him for
undertaking. He has held office with
out power since he was a minority
premier, but in precisely those fields
in which he had a free hand his sue
cess has been undeniable.
Now, it seems to me the success of
Labor, not in wrestling brief power
from Tory hands and losing it back
inevitably, but in establishing itself
as the opposition, consolidating it's
ground and preparing to resume the
battle, this time for power on it's
own, must have very clear signifi-
canoe for the United Sattes-a sig
nificance which can easily be over
looked if one assumes that the re-
cent election was a great Labor de-
feat and sounded the doom Of the
Labor party.
Becoming one of the two major par
ties in Great Britain, disclosing great
and continuous gains, Labor must, by
it's example, exercise a profound inf
uence upon American radicalism and
not impossibly upon American labor.
It is too soon after our own election