POLITICS AND TITLES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3169, 21 August 1917, Page 8

POLITICS AND TITLES

_ $ AN INIQUITOUS SYSTEM SERVICE OK FUNDS TO PARTY \ — One of the bulwarks of the political party system in Great Britain is the distribution of titles to men who have given years of service to party, or have subscribed liberally to the secret party funds amassed for. the purpose of fighting elections (says the London correspondent of the Melbourne "Age"). Every list of honours, nominally bestowed by the King, contains the names of men who have done no service to the State which would entitle them to honour. For the most part they are men of whom tho public knows very little. They have nut sought the limelight of publicity, "but have been content-to do good by stealth. They owe tho distinctions conferred on them to party reasons, which it is in tho interests of the party should not be made public. In the bestowal of honours of this class each of the two great political parties of Great Britain has a bad record, but perhaps the Liberal Party can claim that its record is not quite as shameful as that of the Tory Party. 'Che fact that the bestowal of political honours is now boiuj attacked as an iniquitous and disgraceful development of the party system is indicative of the ware clarifying iniluenco on the political atmosphere. Although party ties are as strong as ever in the House of Commons, tho party spirit in the country is no longer tho binding force it was in the days before the war. A national spirit which refuses to be shackled by the old party ties is one of the new births of the war. Aid this national spirit is manifesting* itself in the determination' to sweep away old abuse.?.

Press Protests. It is significant of a healthy change in national life that the bestowal of party honours ha 6 been attacked by "Th'o Times" and the "Morning Post," which in tho past have given, their support to tho system. The iittack on political honours by theso papers has not been inado for party onds, as both of them are supporting tho Government in power; and it 13 the Government in power which is responsible- for tho honours which tho lung nominally bestows. Jn dealing with tho iionours Jiet issued on the King's birthday, "Tho Times" said;—"Tho usual birthday lionours list appears, this morning, and it is mndo thu occasion, aa is most fitting, for tho decoration and promotion of a large number of those gallant soldiers and sailors, who aro tho propor object of those distinctions in tho oourso of 11 titanic war. To them, and to tho oilier recipients of 'war-work* recognition tho public will offer appropriate congratulations. But this section of tho list is neither tho most prominent nor the most interesting, and wo may be allowed to woiidor,-.;not for (lie first time, whether our'political.system really requires a wholesale periodical output of peerages, baronetcies, and knighthoods .in return for tome heavy disbursement or for purely party services. Air. Lloyd George, after some hesitation, seems to have swallowed the system whole. For sheer bulk his recommendations will challenge,' comparison with thoso of any of his predecessors, nonn of whom can afford to east a stone at him. Three viscounlios. five baronies, twenty-five baronotcie=, aDd fifty knighthoods 'attest tho variety of his inclinations., \i& do not tniggest .for a moment lh.it nil of them, rs many have been in. the past, lire a mere exchange cither for 'cash down' or Mr Parliamentary docility. But (ho old atmosphere of parly bargaining hangs heavy over the list. One would say, at a. casual glance, that it was compounded in tho main from an ancient file of pledges in the Unionist Central Office, reinforced by certain special obligatious contracted under the present regime. These serried rows of political climbers are f-omothing of a, public joko in times of peace' Tn war time, when thousands of their countrymen aro making the supreme, sacrifico unrecognised, they are nothing less than a. public outrage. . . . There is si great future for tho statesman who has the. courago to get rid onco for all of a,, cynical traffic, and incidentally )o restore the— vajuo of decoration for real service to the State."

Tims is Ripe for Reform. Tho views of the "Morning Tost" on tho system of party honours ur& thus expressed:—"Tho system, by universal testimony, demands drastic investigation and reform. Wo do not say that political service's should never be rewarded by honours. The politician who' serves bis enuntryi honourably and well deserves recognition. Wβ have heard of .such men. But an honour should not bo given .'is a reward for a contribution to the party funds, or for skill and assiduity in the ignoble arts of lobbying. And" the authority to decide who is to be rewarded should not be a- party whip acting in secret, but some man or body of men whoso natno or names would "command respect and confidence. This is- a t'ino when the nation is stirred to Hβ depth's. ]t is looking with a. questioning and lowering eyo into those' institutions by which it feels itself betrayed. And it will not much longer tolerate those rank abuses which were protected by custom and familiarity in the comfortable times of peace."

What makes tho Birthday Honours list particularly interesting to-students of party political warfare in Great Britain is the plain indication between tho linea that- Jlr. Lloyd George has set about the. task of creating a new treasure chest with which to extend his political following and fight.the old Liberals at tho next general election. When he formed his Ministry in December last it'-was maliciously said that he acted ou the personal conviction that every member of Parliament who has an income of more than ,-£50,000 a year ought to havo a place in his Government. It is certainly true that tho Liberals .in his Ministry include some very wealthy men who previously had not been regarded as in the running for Ministerial office. In this way the old Liberal organisation, of which Mr. Asquith is the head, has been deprived of iome of its most generous financial supporters. And the most astonishing thing about the Birthday Honours list is the number of bank directors and wealthy business men included in it—men who, apart from their wealth, hare done no service to tho State or to party. It is whispered'in the House of Commons that the prices paid for these new titles in the form of contributions to. the new party, treasure chest are the highest on record. This is explained by the fact that many of the persons who bought their titles in this way are connected with - businesses which liavo participated in the prosperous conditions brought about by the war.