Evening star., 1924-02-16

than at any moment since the close
of the Paris peace conference nearly
, five years ago. The message which
! Macdonald sent Poincare following
! the Lloyd George incident of a week
ego not only took the French premier
! pleasantly by surprise. but it in
! rectreSS which had interesting. if so
! fay only relatively superficial con-
! sequences.
! The. point is, 1 think, that Mac
donald means to work with France
! or at least to make a sincere effort
; to work with her rather than to
/ seek, by outside association with
! other nations, to coerce his former
! ally. He is seeking general liqui-
, dation of all Anglo French differ
! cnCcS. but seeking to arrive at this
end by frank, friendly conversations
and If, as London believes, there has
! been a change of French sentiment.
official or otherwise, Mr.. Macdonald
means to make it easy to translate
this change into action.
To Have Full Chance.
! Put for the moment the outstand-
ing fact is that Britain has settled
down with Characteristic deliberate
ucss to give labor full, free chance
tanning it's grip upon the new party
: through the fact that this govern
ment is always a minority. There is
a frank concession on all sides that
labor has begun we'll; there is equal
ly clear recognition that what is be-
ing tried IS one of the great expert
mentG of British history, but now
. there is universal appreciation of the
fact that the experiment will be tried
in traditional fashion.
At the moment the new prime min
tster's most obvious danger does not
come from a political enemy, but
/, from his own camp. He has in his
party group of extremists who, as
they are only moderately satisfied
with reliance upon constitutional
methods. are patiently impatient Of
delay. In political experience and tenn
fpe1 they suggest men like MagnuS
johnson.
The supreme decision which Mac
donald has presently to make is whether
he Will control the radical, the extreme
radical group, or give way under their
coercion. If he ressts and controls,
his ministry may endure for consid-
cradle time if he resists. it will still
remain for some months, but if he
yields he is not only doomed, but the
whole labor movement will be discred-
tied.
AIuEHS hiEHt 10 Trial.
But this is still in the future. Labor
hsa begun well; it has made it's cab
met, confronted it's parliament, without
any serious break or failure. 1t has
earned for itself. in the view of the
man in the street, the right to a full,
fair trial. In the foreign field 1t has
begun to express a policy which is not
only national but generally approved by
the country which has felt profound
humiliation over the manner in which
the preceding governments have failed
to maintain British prestige and infiu-
ence abroad. In doing this, however,
Macdonald has not angered or even
irritated France. Indeed, he has in a
measure placated suspicious Paris.
In the matter of recognition of
Russia. too, labor has unmistak ably
try; liberals and laborites advocated
1t. If there is tory disapprobation in
principle, in practice the opposition
recognized that it was not a matter
in which effective protest could be
made. Exactly in the same fashion
the new prime minister's purpose to
give full British strength to the
eHectlve extension of the scope and
value of the league of nations finds
nation-wide approval. Indeed, the
leaguefs to be the corner stone of the
new British foreign policy.
Most cautious observers now give
labor at least six months in power.
The most outspoken critics expect
little dangerous radicalism. Such
panic as there may have been at the
| outset has not only vanished. but is
! forgotten. England in d revolution
has once more adopted the old
formula, business as usual" The
| national sporting sense. the sense of
| fair play, has asserted itself Labor
is safe until it has had real chance
and has succeeded or failed by and
of itself
| Copyright, 1924. by the Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate,