Evening star., 1950-02-12

eminent now IN once ana the Con
are the same that divide the Tru-
man Fair Deal" and the Taft
Republicans, the liberal" Republi-
cans and the Henry Wallace
ProgresSiveS.
There is, however, a great diff
ference of degree. For decades
Great Britain has gone faster than
this country toward the welfare
state" and during the past four
and a half years a Labor govern
ment has nationalized about &c
per cent of British industry.
AS to the welfare state" the
Conservatives under the leadership
of former Prime Minister Winston
Churchill and Lord Woolton are
telling the British voters. just as
Gov. Dewey did in 1914 and 1948,
that the Conservatives could do it
better and cheaper. This me
tooism" has ranked the British
reactionaries as much as the
Willkie and Dewey campaigns
vexed the American die-hards who
were able last week to make
liberty against socialism" the
official Republican slogan for the
1850 and 1852 campaigns.
TORY KEYNOTE
AS to state ownership and man
agement Of several major British
industries, the Conservatives and
National Liberals promise to keep
almost all of the present arrange
ments. The Tories, however, add:
I'VE shall bring naturalization
to a full stop here and now
Thereby we shall save all those
industries, such as cement, sugar
meat distribution, chemicals, water
and insurance which are now
under threat by the Socialists.
1--WE shall repeal the Iron and
Steel (nationalization) Act before
it can come into force. Steel will
remain under free enterprise, but
its policy on prices and develop
ment will be supervised as in re-
cent years by a board representa-
tive of government, management,
labor and consumers"
The Conservative Party mani
festo, titled, This Is the Road"
gives the keynote of the Tory
promises in the words, "A complete
change in the spirit of administra-
tion is needed"
The Parliament that was dis
solved February 3 by King George
was composed of 382 Laborites, 2O2
Tories, 13 National Liberals, 10
Liberals, 18 Independents, Ma
tionals, 2 Communists and 2 Irish
Nationalists.
The betting odds slightly favor
the return of a Labor government
by a reduced majority. Until a
few weeks ago, the Conservatives
had great hopes of winning ar
outright majority. These were
based on the reduced margins by
which the Laborites won by-elec.
tions vacated by the death or res.
ignation of Labor members. The
Attlee administration did not lose
a single seat-a record unmatched
by any government for more thar
a century-but the average loss
in popular Labor votes was
slightly more than 6 per cent
Another basis of hope wasted
away as election day approached
That was the informal polls which
in England as in the United States
showed a great swing to the op-
position until the sampled voters
began to think seriously about
the party they actually would vote
for. The latest polls give the La
borites slight edge.
REDS SEEK PRESTIGE
This election Is further compli-
Gated by a redistricting of the
United Kingdom to make the con-
stituencies represent about $4,000
voters and the reduction of the
number of seats from $40 to 625
This reapportionment by the Gov
eminent is expect to cost it severaI
seats because it cut down urbar
districts where Labor is strongest
On the other hand, the reduction
of constituencies, particularly
elimination of the university seats
works against the Conservatives
Liberals and Independents. The
university representation in effect
gave college graduates two votes
one in the university and an
other in his home or business
constituency. The Conservatives
have pledged restoration of the