UNITED IN OBJECTS

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 38, 8 November 1933, Page 9

UNITED IN OBJECTS

National Government SPEECHES BY LEADERS Britain Spared Dictatorship GENERAL ELECTION ISSUE (British Official Wireless.! Rugby, November 6. The Prime Minister, Mr. J. K. MacDonald. Mr. Stanley Baldwin, and Sir John Simon, leaders of the three parties united in maintaining the National Government, were the guests at a luneheon given to-day by the National Labour Committee. Each of the leaders in turn spoke of the value to the country of the National Government in overcoming the crisis which led to its formation, and in tackling the difficulties which still bad to be overcome. The Prime Minister said that the three of them, separated in their political ideals, were united in their objects, and formed a combination which not one of them would break so long as there was a national need for its continuance. He believed that since the National Government was formed two years ago, it had been the greatest steadying force in the whole world. They were united in the movement for progress, national recovery, and international peace, goodwill, and co-opera-tion. Guardians of Democracy. « Mr. Baldwin said that Britain was in an incomparably better position than she was two years ago, but there was much still to be done, both nationally and internationally, which required that they should continue to maintain the closest collaboration. Above all. they had to make people realise the real need for the preservation of democracy in Great Britain, and the Na tional Government, he maintained, wore the guardians of real social democracy. • Venturing on prophecy, the Conservative leader said that in whatever form the next election came, unquest.onaii’y tlie great issue would be: "Are we going to tread in the path of constitutional democracy or are we going to scrap it?” There could be only one answer to that question, if all who believed in constitutional democracy stood together and fought out the issue. Sir John Simon declared that the old controversies that divided the parties were dead, because each party had made its contribution to what was now a common national possession. “I was brought up in the strictest school of Liberalism,” he said, “and T claim that the contribution of Liberalism in the last generation was immense and beneficent. We fought for the extension of the franchise, for complete religious liberty, for .the extension of self-government in the Empire, for bringing the resources of the State to the help of those who needed help most. Now I say, in the presence of Mr. Baldwin and with the greatest confidence, that these things which were gained in the face of opposition have become part of tlie established fabric of British policy and belong just as much, to Conservatism as to any other British political creed. And in the same way in the past generation the immense contribution of enlightened Conservatism which at the time was belittled and criticised from the Opposition quarter is to-day recognised and acknowledged with pride by us all.” Great Work to be Done. , Referring to old Free Trade versus Protection controversies, Sir John Simon said that both sides now realised that in this complicated modern world ’there was no single and simple formula which would get them through their troubles. Past party controversies were dead. He said: “Let the dead bury their dead. There is great work to be done, but it will only be done if we work together.” Sir John Simon pointed out that Britain was one of the few ancient countries in which Parliamentary institutions were actively and successfully operating. The threat to these institutions by whatever name it sought to disguise itself was the threat of di”tatbrship. That was the danger fr,.-m which a national combination of paities had to save Britain. NEW NATIONAL PARTY Plans Said to be in Full Swing NEWSPAPER COMMENT (Received November 7, 7.30 p.m.) London, November 7. Does Mr. MacDonald’s speech imply the pending or eventual formation of a distinctive national party? is th? question discussed by most journals from their own political angle. Tlie “Daily Telegraph’s” political correspondent says the Government’s present intention is to tight the next general election as a National Government. There is no truth in the suggestion that the Conservative Party will be asked to sink its separate identity. Closer co-operation between the Conservatives, National Liberals, and National Labourites will be the slogan. Any suggestion of the Conservative Party following some kind of merger acquiring a new label would be opposed in the Westminster constituencies. The “Daily Express” political correspondent declares that plans for the formation of a National Party are in full swing. Mr. MacDonald. Mr. Baldwin. and Sir John Simon do not consider the time is ripe for a bold announcement. ami are content at present to say there must be no return to party government. They, prefer to wait for a new party to “happen.” just as the National Government "happened.” They will continue working to ensure that that happens as soon as possible. 'I h<' National Government is a co-ordinating committee with the object of reorganising its political activities. That committee should be watched.