Evening star., 1926-01-24


sve or Herriot. is never for moment
ure where ne is TO get the votes I"
vi through any pieca Of legislation.
owever necessary.
In the preceding governments pow
+ rested in the combination Of tn"
otes Of The several moderate EeplIh-
can parties called radical. and the
oCialists. Before the premier could
% anything ne had to be sure that
lis project was supported by the
adicals and the Socialists. But on
1any questions these two elements
re widely divergent. Not only are
hey divergent. but any compromise
rhich satisfies the Socialists can hard
Y have the support of the moderate
adiCaIs
There il always. therefore. a shift
ng and twisting and turning The
Conservative and nationalist groups
re against anything which remotely
avors of socialism But they will
DIN the Socialists in overturning the
moderate groups at any moment, as
tactical maneuver
Bria nd, who is premier nj The mo
nent | write. belongs ia Il small
moderate Republican n crnup which has
'erhapS 80 members in - house of
Ver 500. lie has therefore Substan-
Tally to construct his governments
rom members of other groups
On one side stand the conservatives.
he PoinCare Nlllera nd group which
ill have norhinC To do with the cap
al levy and other doctrines and pro
'Osals Of the Socia lists. on the other
ide is n curious combination of rad
Gals and Socialists who can a gree
My on negatives. for the moderate
aIiC1 lS
svy. Thus You have never ending
onfusion and paralysis. 1t is never
ffficult to get 4 ma joritv against any
iren project. il is practically imp"s-
1ble To find any basis Of common af-
agreement in the present
'hamber.
The government can exist. there
ore. but it cannot function. The man
n the street. business biz and little,
all the people Of the
suffer and suffer increa sing
from the situation. The unrest. the
istrust, the apprehension. increases
rom day TO day. But in the face ot
II the gigantic problems nothing
elpful emerses from Parliament.
md as consequence confidence di-
capital takes fight and the
ranC steadily falls. notwithstan ndiuC
n enormous economic recovery. an
bsence of unemployment and an I'm
,reCedented excess Of exports over
IMPORTS
What would happen. then If some
lay some man. some -gnup " mon,
should suddenly see in tho situation
What Napoleon saw at the latter er5
# the Revolution: should. perceive hat
he Will Of the country was beginnir-
q he expressed in the demand that
he machine should function I sup
'Ose that in France there is a grea' or
ear of dictator than in America.
'ecau France has suffered from sew
raj. Yet there remains the ine~c4r-
BILE fact that government not only i
lot funCtioring, hut that :he paralysis
: becoming more fatally evident fr"jo
lay to day.
No Party Has Power.
Under party system-a two-par',-
ystem like ours-no party in power
an afford to run the risk of popular
wrath provoked by failure to act. It
;ta nds directly in relation to the
'oters and its doom is sealed Mt the
next election If il fails To make the
machine work. But in Europe on
he Continent. there is no party in
omorrow in Germany. for instance,
,r in France. there might he some
title cha ange in the size Of the several
groups. but ii would not he very
arge. and in the main. all the same
people would come hack and Just the
me situa ton would recur.
At the bottom of all the trouble lies
he inescapahle fact that through the
ballot box there is no escape from the
present evil in France or in Germa ny.
In Italy escape has only come by
which has. in fact sIS-
pended the operation Of the ballot
box in any sense that we think Of i
Italy has not chosen between one
form of government and another: it
has accepted a dictatorship only he
,ause the only other known alteTna-
i've has failed: failed completely.
Moreover. the simple solution
simple to the American way of think
ng-is not simple in Europe. Take
Germany, for example millions Of
Germans are and will remain Social
sts: other millions will vote as Catho-
les: other millions will vote for the
party which represents industry. hig
business. There are 80. 900 900 voters.
'oughly speaking. and no party can
Doll much more than 10000. 900 votes.
and only one that number. But there
IAN be no complete and final fusins
IF smaller parties. because each is
divided from the others by political
which are held with n firm
ness undreamed of in America.
Two Parties Here
With all its ohvious limitations. the
American system Of government is Ht
he moment working with the great
est relative efficiency. because it is
oased upon a twoparty system. If the
party in power fails to do the job there
s another party available, and there
will he no dividing Of the opposition.
Our system works because we have
a remedy for any failure But the
parlia mentary system In France. Italy
and Germany emphatically does not
work. because there is no way by
which the people can deal with those
who fail A whole series of elections
In Germany would do nothing. because
here is no one party responsible and
no way of getting out of the Relchs-
lag the individuals who are respons-
BILE for the failure. If HindenburG and
Luther should order a new election in
Germany tomorrow. when the votes
were cast there would still he the
same old necessity of finding way by
which Nationalists. Socialists. Demo
Gratis. Catholics or Peoples party. aid
I'd by smaller groups and always ha-
rassed by the Communist permanent
opposition, could find a ma jority. But
only on given issue could a majority
be found at best. for tomorrow those
who agreed upon Locarno would dis
agree about hours of labor
The system existed in France and
Italy before the war. Tho party di-
visions existed in Germany. hut with
the control still vested in monarchial
hands to a greater extent. But before
he war no nation was facing problems
which in reality represented life and
ieat tn. The government ran and the
politicians went on making their com
binations and ovnrturning ministry
after ministry. but II there was an