Evening star., 1927-05-01
BRITAIN NEEDS LEADER.
SAY POLITICAL EXPERTS
Neither Baldwin Nor Macdonald Re-
garded as Strong Man-Parties
Said to Need Refrigeration.


crates and Die Hards. Labor il split
between moderates Of the Macdonald
type and extremists who are never
wholly out Of touch with Moscow aud
never completely willing 10 accept
the principle of reform by cOnstjtu-
tiOual methods.
Macdonald is a trained and expert
enCed parliamentarian He has, 900.
the knowledge and temperament
which enabled him to become at once
a great foreign minister. But he lacks
many Of the qualifications Of an act
ual leader.
The situation Of the Liberal Par
" i'm the British political field is as
tonishing. Its handful of members
within the House of Commons are di-
vided into two groups the more con-
sidera BILE of which follows Lloyd
George. But the fact that the former
prime minister based his leadership
on a vast political fund collected
through the sale of peerages i'm the
DAYS of power makes the man and
the party alike vulnerable.
Fallen as ne is from power and
from any larger influence LLOYD
George still retains much Of the ahll-
ity which has always marked him.
And on the whole there is no substi-
Liberal Party remain suspicious OF
him.
Still Numbers Millions.
Thus while the Liberal Party stlll
numbers it's nominal adherents by the
millions. the prospects Of relntesf9
tjon do not improve There is a steady
drift of Liberals both to Labor and
10 the Tories And what is even more
disturbing the young men and women
who are coming on do not turn 10
T,fhers lism. but enlist either Win
Labor or the Tories.
At the bottom one must recognize
that the political situation I'm Great
Britain conforms TO the physical. no
country suffered so severely from the
war as Britain. This suffering was.
to he sure, greater in the postwar
wears than during the actual cohillct'
No country has been as slow In re-
covering because it suffered acutely
NOT merely from domestic conSe-
ouences OF the struggle but as a sredl
trading and exporting people lroIh
the destruction of world markets
Great Britain carries tn" huShest
h,,rden of debt. BY imitation the
French debt has been reduced from
sac 600 600 900 to SO 1000, 100000. Inc
German has been wiped out by com
plete reputation. The American mas
been reduced by payments from $-o'
600 600 900 to $4,000 00,000OOO, ana oL
these billions at least third represent
foreign loans which are now belns re-
Maid. on the other hand, by restorlh5
the mound sterling to par the Brush
exnanded the value of their debt Whlch
NOW exceeds S36 900 000 900. Thus Tor
/ less than As. 900 900 Britons the ma
/ tional debt is three times the net
/ national debt of 100 900 900 Americans
Burden Is Large.
| And the fact of this tremendous
/ debt burden has almost ineVltaoiY
| precipitated a class struggle as 20
| who shall bear it. Capital Would
/ throw it on labor. labor on capltai.
1 But the battle paralyzes recovery ana
/ aholishes that spirit of cooperation
( which alone could make 1t possinie
/ for the British nation to recover lost
I ground.
Thus fs is patent that as a cOnse-
ouence Of the gravity of the situation
| and the extreme bitterness of sentl-
ments, both the Troy and Labor par
| ties are divided between mOderates
are extremists, while something OF
the same situation paralyzes the
Liberals.
And, naturally. no political party
can appeal to the British people rep
resenting a clear and united front
and a firmly established program.
Baldwin and Macdonald are hampered
and even driven at times by their
extremists. These two men were in
substantial agreement in the critical
hours before the general strike. They
could and would have prevented it. for
& L. Fl7.fE
But each was suddenly thrust aside
bv those who We're resolved upon
battle and opposed to all compromise.
Has Recovered Ground.
Today Macdonald has recovered a
certain measure Of ground. The eX-
tremists in his own party have lost
influence and prestige in the face OF
the disaster which they inflicted
upon labor Yet the policy OF
the Tory extremists in seeking re-
praisal by legislation is again arousing
Labor resentment and while the for
mer prime minister was still on the
sea the Independent Labor Party
reDudiated his leadership Thus.
while Ramsay Macdonald would prob
ably succeed Stanley Baldwin, in case
of Tory defeat. he would take office
as the head OF divided party and
govern through a cabinet shaken with
dissentions.
In 1924 Macdonald showed the way
to peace in Europe. His service then
was perhaps the greatest of any
statesman in postwar Europe. 1t
will insure his place in history. Never
theless he failed as prime minister in
the domestic field just as Stanley
Baldwin has similarly failed in the
home field while continuing Mac
Donald's achievement abroad. And.
in fact the outstanding circumstance
in British political life Is that there
is today no greater leader. no united
party no national political man or
party which offers any clearer pro-
gram for national refrigeration.
Thirteen years after the onset of the
World War the British people are
Enthusiastically victims Of a lost war.
in which military and naval triumph
only momentarily obscured the reality
of economic and financial disaster.
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