BRITISH POLITICS

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 102, 30 April 1921, Page 5

BRITISH POLITICS

CABINET CHANGES

LORD ROBERT CECIL'S NEW MOVE

(FKOU CUR OWH COSBISKWOIKT.)

LONDON, 27th February.

Lord Robert Cecil has crossed the floor of the House of Commons and taken his seaVon the front Opposition bench. He has felt for some time that increasing divergence of opinion between the Government and himself on a number of public questions made his continuance in the seat he has occupied in the House of Commons quite unsuitable. Going over to the Opposition' bench, he cays, implies no change in his opinions, but rather that from that position he •will be able to express them with more freedom and seemliness. His broad principles he outlined to his constituents recently, thus: -"At home the great things are confidence and security, freedom and justice, the supremacy of the law, whether against reprisals in Ireland! or direct action in England; the union of all classes at home and co-operation between all nations abroad." These, he added, were the principles by which we had the greatest chance of restoring prosperity and peace not only to this country,, but to the world. Lord Hugh Cecil has made no secret of his intention, to accompany his brother, but where he will find a seat is not so clear. As an ex-Minister his elder brother can claim one pa the front Opposition bench. ; IMPORTANT LIBERAL REINFORCEMENT. Lord Robert Cecil will remain a Conservative, but party names do not matter very much in these days (writes "Political Onlooker" in the Sunday Times). It is quite evident that he proposes to co-operate with the Liberals, and though there will be> subjects on. which they will differ, there will be many more on which they wijl agree. He will be a more important reinforcement to the Liberals than Mr. Asquith was, for criticise his indecision and his tactics as we may, he is everywhere recognised as a man of great sincerity, and his following, though .not numerous; includes, a-great deal of. the ability of the young Tories. Indeed, it, is not too much to say that these men formed the solid core of ideas round which it was thought the new coalition would form. They are good on Ireland, they talk well on foreign affairs, and they are almost viciously antibureaucratic. Lord Robert Cecil is not known to be taking any of them over with him, but he. is and will remain their counsellor, and the force of the ideas behind the Coalition will be correspondingly reduced. A NEW COALITION. : | , But there is a great deal more than this in the new movement. Lord! Bobert Cecil has some ideas about the League* of Nations, and the cure for the evils that afflict Europe that may not be very general in,his party, but on very many questions he is quite an orthodox Conservative, and if he can co-operate- with Liberals, so can/ many other Conservativefc So the trial is to be made, and if it succeeds others will follow his example. "Is there the basis of a common policy in which, they carl co-operate ?" it is asked. "Surely there is. The Liberals evidently propose to concentrate on t*he* anti-bureaucratic feeling and the discontent with high taxation which are the 1 strongest political passions of "the d&y. There Lord Robert Cecil is with them. They will be with him/too, in his new internationalism of the League of Nations, and he will supply them with the I ideas that thoy lack."

LORD GREY AS LEADER. There is still more behind. The Cecils are, at any rate, cautious; and if they take what looks like a djeciaiv^ step, they have, we may bo sure, thoroughly explored the ground. Except that their minds work in much the same way, th«re is no sympathy between the Cecil's and Mi. Asquith. But with Lordi Grey—that is another matter. There is hardily a perWptible difference either in. temperament or policy, and Lord Grey in a leader whom most Liberals wouldl now accept in preference to Mt. Aequitb,. His remoteness is father am advantage than, a drawback, and if the experiment of co-operation between Lord Robert Cecil and the liberals works well, it will be with Lord Grey a* the back of their councils. This is a combination which will be very dangerous for Mr. Lloyd George, because it intercepts his natural line of retreat towards the left: Tine front of the Coalition may hold against attack, but if its flank 6 are rolledl up it must retreat. LORD LEE AT THE ADMIRALTY. Lord Lee of Farebam, who succeeds Mr. Long as First Lord of the Admiralty, has already Tield', office at the Admiralty, and; possesses ftiilitary experience and military knowledge. He enters upon his new duties at a critical moment, when the naval policy of this country is being formulated, and when, for the first time since the War, the Navy Estimates are being framed in ac-' cordanoo with the needs of the future. Tile new First Lord was an artillery officer. He was also, for some years, Professor of Strategy and' Tactics at the Royal- Military College, Canada; and he served on the staff during the late war.

With the knowledge of sound) strategical and tactical principles which Lordi Lee must possess, by reason of the appointments he has held, it can be assumed (saya the naval correspondent of the Morning Post) that he will be able to appreciate readily the strategical situation t with which the Board of Admiralty is faced. Strategical principles are the same on sea as on land; tactical principles are very similar, especially as regards the composition of a force to maintain a given object. Having also been a staff officer, he should be abl,o to further the endeavour of the Bea Lords in developing a sound' staff system. The naval staff is, comparatively., a new growth, and as such requires careful nursing if it is to reach a hardy manhood. THE NEW MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE. Lieutenant-Colonel Sir A. Griffith-Bos-cawen, the new Minister of Agriculture, has always been a keen politician, and had, dreams of entering Parliament some time before lie was elected for Tonbridge when • he was twenty-seven years of age. His keenness and his pleasure at being able to tack the letters M.P. after his namemay be judged by a little incident which occurred at his wedding soon after he appeared at the top of the poll. It is related that on that occasion the bridesmaids wore gold brooches composed of figures on a bar, the figures being the majority by which he had been returned. In that way he perpetuated the memory of two notable events in his life, his marriage and his first political victory. MR. WILJL CROOKS' RETIREMENT. The retirement of Mr. Will Crooks through ill-health deprives Labour of one of the most popular representatives that it ever sent to Parliament, and publfe life of a Very noble figure. "He went into politips,'! s*y« .Th«

Times, "for the best and least common' of reasons, that he loved bis fellow-men and wanted to help them and to save them from trials such as he had to undergo in his young days. This simple charity begets love in "others, and Mr.] Crooks had not a single enemy, man, child, or dog, wherever he went. He had the mother-wit that is often quicker to detect a fallacy than book-learning, a big heart, first-hand knowledge of the subjects that he spoke about, honesty and strength of character, and a broad Dickensian humour. He was never, unlike bo many Labour leaders, lost to the class from which he sprang. He had few theories, but he believed in loyalty and helpfulness between all classes as the condition of progress, and his career shows how much more character counts than mere theory. Would fhat more were like him." / MR. CROOKS'S BLESSING FOR MR. MACDONALD. Both candidates for East Woolwich are in a whirl of eloquence, addressing meetings indoors and out, from noon to night. Mr. Will Crooks, whose regrettable illness caused the vacancy, is too prostrate to send a written message, but it is reported that he has. cent thia counsel by word of mouth I:—".Ask Woolwich to stand 1 straight for Labour, and back Macdonald for all it is worth." Captain Gee (Coalition) is not dismayed by the forces against him. .He claims to be as good a Labour man as anybody else, ana also to repeat;the distinction o£ Mr. Crooks as being a workhouse boy. He fought in the war. He won the M.C., and .then the V.C. Mr. Macdonald did not go out, " and my main plank," says Captain Gee, "is to fight his war record." Mr. Macdonald made an ingenious appeal to the workers of Woolwich Arsenal. While (ho said) the Government could spen/i hundreds of millions in order to put down the Nationalist movement in Ireland, the Arsenal worker could not have a few i thousands spent on ' him, and was turned off one week in six. For hia own part, ,he wanted to turn the Arsenal into a civil workshop, so that every machine, now making swords would be making pruning forkß. WARNING TO COALITION MEMBERS. Captain F. E. Guest, M.T., Chief Whip of the Coalition Liberals, told thg Manchester Reform Club that since the General Election all attempts at unity made by Coalition Liberals had been spurned by Mr. Asquith's party, for an obvious and sinister reason. His-'duty, was to warn Coalition Liberal members that they must either fight' or fall. It was undignified to rest^solely upon thei support of local, Conservative. Associations, and Coalition Liberals in Unionist seats should help those memberr wh<S had been, loyal in adherence to the Premier's and Mr. Bonar Law's progressivo programme. . "Why," he asked, "do we distract our* selves by pre-war thoughts? Labour's challenge is not a bogey or a myth. In the Yorkshire area of 57 seate there ara already over thirty Labour candidates iit the field. . In the Lancashire aiidl Cheshire area, out of 83 seats, there arci already 42 Labour candidates. Bothi pre-war Unionism and pre*war Liberalism are dead letters." Let them wake up and pull themselves together.-befbre it Was too late. The name of < the Coalition Party could be left to take care of itself.

The Prime Minister, in a letter to th« Chairman, said: "We are gradually pulling through, and are showing an example to the World of how British grit faces difficulties. If we stand together against all factionists we will win through." LABOUR PARTY'S NEW LEADER..

The Parliamentary Labour Party unanimously elected Mr. 3. B. dynes as Chairman, in succession to Mr. Adamson, who ha 6 held the office for four years* Mr. Adamson wanted to retire last see-, sion; but the rivalries inside the Labour, Party resemble the diplomatic and pet-. sonal intrigues which attend the selection of a Pope at Rome, and he was then: persuaded to "be put again in nomination. Mr, Clynes is head and shoulders above I the other Labour leaders, alike in debatv ing qualities and in knowledge of men! outside the Labour Party. For that': reason lie will haVe a much harder task than had Mr. Adamson. Mr. Stephen Walsh and Mr. J. H. Thomas Were elecised Vice-Chairmen, and Mr. Arthur Henderson was appointed Chief Whip. His assistants are Messrs. T. Shaw, F. HaJi, N. Mac Lean, and T.- Griffiths. The story is being told of a curioua experience Mr. Clynes had when he was first returned in 19t)6. He is not of imposing physique, and was then quite juvenile in appearance. He was not at the actual counting of the votes, but. hs learned early that he was sure of a majority, and h« went to the countihgroom to gain admittance. A burly Irish policeman barred' the way. "And what do ye want, my little man?" he asked. "I want to get to know what my majority is," was the answer. But the policeman would not believe he was the new member until confirmation established the identity. . . .."..- LABOUR AND UNEMPLOYMENT. Mr. Clynes made his first appearance in debate as the party leader in moving, the Labour amendment attributing the distress arising from unemployment to " the lack of preparedness of the Government to deal with the situation." HeX supported this contention in a speech, distinguished by great courage, moderation, and skill. "What is your remedy ?"• demanded Mr. Ben wick and Mr. Wiison: I Fox. But Mr. Clynes' was not. to bd drawn: It was the Government's business to find the remedy for the present distress. His own demand: for the unemployed was crystallised into the alternative: Maintenance or work, but preferably work. Doles ho repudiated with' scorn, as demoralising and useless; and he' put ib to tho Minister of Labour to tell the House what the Government prtjposed to do about it.

Dr. Macnamara repliedl to the atttcfe without a moment's delaj' and with characteristic energy. He was Kalletf by the unger; •,» denial by Mr. ClyneS of any serious attempt by tHe Government 01' by the Ministry of Labour Jo anticipate the present situation. " I challenge that statement at once. It is not fair, and it is not consistent with the facts," he said; and he showed why. The preparations of .the Cabinet last August, carried to fruition since, Were described in terms that are already familiar; the works of road construction, clearing of building sites, and so on; the provision for unemployment insurance, and the introduction of short time in Government! establishments. Challenged to say howhe knew there were 60,000 ex-service men willing to come into the building trade, the Minister explained that thesa men had apnlied to the employment exchanges, and " if you don't believe they, want to come into th© building trade, you give them the chance."

Dr. Macnamara impressively declared, "Speaking on behalf of the Government," that it was their intention to carry out their pledge to these ex-service men, willing to work', but refused tha opportunity. Asked to explain hew, the Minister replied that the procedure was, under consideration, but ho made it quite dear that the Government meant business. .