Evening star., 1928-11-18
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS.

all its pomp and splendor, actu-
ally marks the start of the
4 British political campaign which
some time during the next year
must culninate in general election.
Since the power to fix the time rests
with the prime minister, it Is hence
forth possible that the battle may be
precipitated at any moment. Forced to
face a general election some time dur
ing the year, the party in power will
certainly seize upon any moment which
may seem favorable. But, on the
other hand, lacking any such moment,
it may prefer to hold on as long as
possible.
At the present hour it is plain that
the Tory outlook is far from favorable.
The recent local elections showed de-
cided drift to Labor. which has SIM
ilarly been marked in all recent by
elections. On the other hand, although
the Tories came in with a landslide
four years ago, carrying two-thirds of
the seats in the House of Commons,
they have lost relatively few seats in
the special elections to fill vacancies in
recent years, their casualty list hardly
amounting to dozen seats.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the ver-
dict of the British public and press is
!
not succeeded in accomplishing any,
thing of Importance in the direction of
| prosperity. British trade has not i'm
! proved materially. The great key in
| dustrieS, coal, iron, textiles and Ship
| building, remain Stagnant. Unemploy-
ment has mounted by more than a
quarter of million in the current year.
Taxation has not been reduced to any
appreciable extent.
Foreign Affairs Cited.
But at the moment the failure in for
| eign affairs even exceeds that in do
meStic administration. Until this year
the Tories have been able to point with
| pride" to Locarno and to claim for
| themselves the honor and glory of hav-
| ing contributed the most signal bit of
| progress since the close of the war. But
/ the achievement of Locarno has been
| latterly tarnished by the failure of all
attempts to reach an understanding
| with the United States over the naval
question. And, in addition, the recent
Anglo-French naval agreement is now
recognized generally to have been a
| blunder of the first magnitude.
This blunder, in British eyes, is two
| fold. AS far as the United States is
concerned the British public is now
| fully aware that all the handling Of
the party issue since the opening of
the Coolidge conference in Geneva,
Summer before last, has been so awk-
ward and stupid as to insure the one
thing which all Englishmen desire to
avoid, an actual Anglo American naval
rivalry. Today the British press clearly
| reveals the fact that on the other side
of the Atlantic it is understood that the
/ American people are generally indignant
over British policy and determined to
support their own Government in the
necessary expenditure to insure equality
between the British and American
fleets.
Lord Grey's recent public statement
with respect to the naval question and
his forecast that the Anglo-French
agreement would result in a period of
| distrust and resentment on our part
shows we'll enough how at last there
is arriving some appreciation in Eng
land of American feelings. 1t would be
a mistake, of course, to believe that
the British have any real understand
| ing of the American case. The quarrel
between the public and the government
| is not based upon a conviction that
| they have adopted a wrong policy in
diSputing our claims for parity as we
understand parity, but simply upon the
| belief that the Baldwin cabinet has
| gone about the business in a clumsy
| fashion.
French Aspect Is Factor.
| Having paraded the Locarno achieve
ment as a proof of supreme Tory ability
\ to administer foreign affairs, the Con-
| Servatives are now bound to accept the
| responsibility for failure in the Arneri-
4 T.,k Se %rok kfaNa
| to say that a considerable portion of
| the British public are quite as angry
over the Anglo-French agreement be-
| cause of the French detail as because
| of the American consequences.
After all, although France was the
| recent ally of Great Britain in the
| World War, she still continues, for the
| bulk of the Liberals and the Laborites.
| the hereditary enemy. The suspicious
| born of three centuries of rivalry have
survived the latest phase of co-opera-
! tion. Moreover, along with this distrust
| of France goes an Unborn dislike OF
conscript armies. The British feeling
| in this matter was successfully ex-
| plotted by Lloyd George in his long
struggle with the French after the
armistice and it remains vital today.
In many British minds the Anglo
French agreement amounts to British
acceptance of French military hege-
mony on the continent. It insures to
France and her Slav allies. Poland and
Jugoslavia - and, for that matter,
Czechoslovakia and Rumania as we'll
absolute military supremacy. In prac-
tice the actual control will rest in
French hands. And this French power
is not to be reconciled with British
tradition or with the Liberal and Labor
conception of correct British policy.
Liberal Press Attack.
Thus one meets in all the British
Liberal press the charge that the Tories
have become little more than rubber
stamps for French policy. The Liberals
and Laborites, by contrast. would seek
to restore Germany to position sufti-
GENTLY strong to insure the re-estab-
lishment of the balance of power on the
continent. They favor prompt evacu-
alton of the Rhineland and a rapid
extension of disarmament to all con-
script countries.
To have quarreled with the United
States and bargained with France. at
the cost of sacrificing British independ-
ence in action in European issues, con-
stitutes for the opposition, Liberal and
Labor alike, an admirable basis for
attack upon the Tory government
And there is good reason for believing
that foreign affairs will provide one of
the main bases of dispute when the
inevitable election comes.
That the Tories are bound to lose
many seats in any election goes with
out saying. Although they do not con-
troll majority of the votes, they hold
more than 400 seats In a House of
Commons of little more than 600
members. Actually the problem of the
next election lies in the question as to
whether they can get a bare majority.
Failing in this, the situation will revert
To fha .nnnndifinr,c of 1904 Nr,lnnNa Yak knnr.