The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-11-05
The British Elections

The amazing victory of the Tories in England will
provoke much political speculation. No less than 47O
Tories were elected to II Liberals and IS Labortes
The Tories received nearly 100000 votes out of some
100000 cast
Many attempts will be made to draw some major
lesson or conclusion from this landslide It seems.
however, that the chief deduction to be made is the
inadequacy of contemporary representative govern
ment and party institutions amidst the complexity
and confusion of URBAN industrial world society
Certain specific points also seem to emerge from
the British situation:
Cd The party lineup reveals an utter lack of
political logic. The only party logically equipped to
handle British problems right now is the Liberal
party The Tories seem hopeless the Laborites help
less until they gain greater power and experience.
But the Liberals, in actuality constitute pitiful
minority party in the new house. This is the chief
political legacy of the World war in Great Britain
CD The one party in which there is the least hope
in the way of realistic and statesmanlike graphing
with contemporary problems is the Tory group. 1t
has bunged and banged from Lord North to Winston
Churchill. Tt has fathered war, empire, autocracy,
and social injustice The Tories hardly have adjusted
themselves to the facts of the nineteenth century, to
say nothing of the twentieth.
CD There is no consistent pursuit of any given
policy firm support of any particular party 1t
would be logical to back either the Tories Liberals or
Labortes until they proved their inability capacity
The existing seesaw prevents the bestowal of power
or responsibility on any party program Hence,
British politics offers little real test or opportunity
for any party
"a The elections indicate that in England, as
well in the United States, there is little popular
respect for expert economic opinion. The major issue
the establishment of a protective tariff. The
party advocating the tariff has been returned with the
greatest majority in century of British history Yet
the best economic judgment in England is as over
whelmingly against the tariff program as in our
country where 1000 economists advised against the
Smoot-Hawley act.
60 The elections illustrate definite reaction in
British politics with respect to the tariff The first
great campaign for protectionism made in Eng
land some twenty-five years ago by Joseph Chamber
lain In the election of 1906, the free-rade Liberals
buried the Tories and Unonists by the greatest land
slide since 1882 In 1881 the Tory tariff wins by an
even greater landslide. But reputable economic opn-
ion is decidedly opposed to protectionsm today
than it was back in 1906.
(6) The case Of Ramsay Macdonald indicates the
dangers of political ambition and opportunism With
out passing any judgment upon the ethics Of his
procedure, he has placed himself at the mercy of his
enemies They may be kind to him, but they do not
need to be- Many leading Laborites think that Mac
Donald made great mistake even to accept the
responsibility of forming Labor government at any
time They believe he better might have kept Labor
from responsibility until it possessed strength and
experience adequate to running the public affairs Of
Britain. MacDonald's present position and that Of
the Labor party lends confirmation to this con-
tention
Cd Paradoxical it may seem, it is probable that
the Tory landslide is of victory for British
Communism than for British conservatism. Tory in
competence only will speed the day of radical triumph
in Britain Only liberalism, intelligent and daring
enough to grapple realistically with issues, can
save the capitalstic order Radicals in England and
elsewhere are not illogical in hating the Liberals
than they do the BourbonS.