Evening star., 1934-10-07

BILE reason for his prolonged exile was
his state Of health. His physician
prescribed four months of absolute Sc
clusion and freedom from the cares of
Office as essential to his recovery from
the nervous strain to which he had
been subjected, and to make this
prescription effective it was held to be
necessary that the Atlantic should be
put between him and Downing street
But the fulfillment Of this condition,
however urgent did not require that
the British public should be left in
total darkness about the well-being
of the head Of the government and
encouraged to forget his existence. If
the object had been to show how neg
ligible a figure the prime minister had
become. it could not have been more
effectively achieved.
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For nothing is more significant than
the popular unconcern in practically
all sections Of the community as to
the personal position Of Mr.. Mac
Donald. Every one, Of course, hopes
that he has returned with completely
recovered health; but it would be af
fectation to ignore the fact that his
political prestige has gone. 1t has
been declining for a long time, and
the blank of the past four months
only emphasizes fact which has been
increasingly apparent since Lord
Snowden deserted and denounced him
and still more since the orthodox Lib
erals under Sir Herbert Samuel left
his government.
With the most formidable Of his
Labor colleagues in revolt and with
only a fragment of the Liberals still
with him, he Is little more than a
phantom prime minister.
With the enormous preponderance
Of Conservatives in the House of Com
mons, his position was always unreal
and unstable His few traditional
friends in the House were in front of
him, fiercely hostile: his traditional
foes crowded the benches behind him.
only accepting and tolerating his
leadership so long as that leadership
suited their convenience and served
their purposes.
1t was an impossible and, in the
end, humiliating situation, and with
the secession Of Snowden and the
Samuel group Mr.. Macdonald be-
came merely the figure-head of a
conservative dministration-the lone
liest figure in the House, perched up
in the most resplendent office, but
without following in Parliament and
without any personal backing in the
country.
X +
It was the unreality Of his position
that his prolonged absence accentu-
ated. 1t accentuated it by showing
that the machine of government has
passed out ef his control ard that the
real power functions whether he hap
pens to be in Downing street or in
seclusion across the Atlantic. This
does not mean that his premiership
is in immediate danger. The hotter
spirits among the conservatives would
gladly see him cashiered and the ad-
ministration converted into an undis-
guised Tory instrument. But Stanley
Baldwin stands in the way. He Is still
the leader of the Conservatives and
the only visible successor to Mr.. Mac
Donald. He has no desire to displace
him, and there Is no one else who can
Jump the claim over his head.
The substance of the national gov
ernment has gone, but so long as Mr..
Macdonald remains, the shadow re-
mains, and 1t is as q symbol Of na-
tional unity that Mr.. Baldwin is de-
termined to keep Mr.. Macdonald as
the nominal, if not the effective, head
of the government.
fancy, too, that the vast issue Of
India plays an important part in Mr..
Baldwin's calculations. He is deeply
and sincerely committed to carrying
through the white paper policy, and
he knows that such a disrupture of
the government as would be involved
by the fall of Mr.. Macdonald would
gravely imperil that great issue. The
same consideration weighs with MIR.
Macdonald himself. He is as de-
voted to the cause Of Indian self
government as Mr.. Baldwin is, and
so long as his premiership serves that
cause he is not likely to force Q
rupture. ..--.-..