Evening Post. THURSDAY, APRIL 10. 1924. "WOUNDED IN THE HOUSE OF HIS FRIENDS"

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 86, 10 April 1924, Page 4

Evening Post. THURSDAY, APRIL 10. 1924. "WOUNDED IN THE HOUSE OF HIS FRIENDS"

. From tne Panic that'was excited immediately ' after the General Election by the prospect of a Labour Government, public opinion in Great Britain was i calmed ■by the counsels of "The Times "' and" the Observer'] and other, level-headecl organs of opinion. When ft'! .names ct Mr. Ramsay MacDonald's..Ministry were ■ announced,' resignation and tolerance gave Wl a y to'relief and approval, and the nation was assured by Mr. Garvin in the "Observer " that " at nearly all points the Government is as safe as Threadneedle ; Street," Even the ' Morning Post," .though it could not imitate Mr. Garvin's exuberance, confessed to a sense of relief, i. he .colour of the Red Flag which had been flaunted so^ furiously at ! the General-Election seemed to have been toned down to quite a mild pink . When the members of' the new team/began to speak and showed that they actually recognised some of the fundamental obligations of British statesmanship, the eulogies became as remarkable as, the jeremiads had been before. Amid this monotony of panegyric even a well-wisher to the great experiment could derive some satisfaction from the refusal of one representative at least of the Old Guard, of Conservatism to bow the knee to the new BaaL Members of the new Government, said_ the. ''Saturday- Review," are receiving • compliments enough on their detmt to make it unnecessary for us further ■ s^ll_ the chorus of praised When any Minister!makes a' pronouncement that is short of revolutionary, or uses a phrase implying .the .barest loyalty to or regard for the Crown, the Press bursts onto a ,chprus of, warm congratulation. We qmte understand Socialists hailin^ tnese v gentlemen as messengers ■ from Heaven cpme to announce the righting of all human wrongs.. But how can" Conservative, or for'that. matter Liberal; writers and speakers join in the fatuous chorus? -Let .us keep our heads. , These gentlemen are not messengers' from '.Heaven. ■' " . "Not messengers from Heaven," but -even this. unrepentant champion of the old order which, lias recently revived iijs'• tradition of plain-speaking did \not venture to add that they really, derived their commission.from the other place.' What the' "-Saturday-. Review-" actually' did say was'milder but sufficient: ': ■„ ' ' '••'■.• '' They are the same men -".who have fomented Labour troubles and' preached revolution and class war,, and lovingly aiiisd themselves with an international orga-msation sworn .to ■ ''enmity:, ''among other things, against England's Im-' penal position; and directed from .Germany.. - - ! ''The mellifluous 'cooing that proceeds from, the neighbourhood of Downing Street and 'Whitehall is simply," . the . article proceeded, " the result of a first- and rather sobering contact with those great' and smooth-working' Departments which.are N the real government of England."' Add to the sobering effects of this contact, the 'general responsibilities -of office and the' ■special responsibilities' of! office held at the will of an/adverse majority, and you get the reason why a Labour regime with ' a sensible man like Mr'. Ramsay Mac Donald at its head is hot- proving either so red or so black as it had been painted. It,is not the'real'pi- ■pretended' abandonment of principle but the submission, to the inevitable and recognition of- the practicable that has.; dictated the change. •. .. j . ■.. . If the whole of the .Labour Party .were as reasonable.as their leader, his task would be a fairly easy one._ He could proceed with the' administrative reforms,, which are already under way ;ihe'could carry social reform to the full limit of theLiberal programme; and occasionally he could even rely on Conservative support when his loyalty Ito the Empire brought him into conflict with the Liberals' -passion for economy at the expense of its defences. But, ..unfortunately for Mr. Mac Donald, many of his fol-lowers-are not prepared to bow as he does-, to the tyranny of fact, or to recognise as,he does the difference, between carrying resolutions nem.con. in a Clydesdale i rade Union and' submitting legislation to a House iof Commons in which the party holds a third of the seats.' Before Mr.' Mac Donald can compromise with the Opposition he must compromise with his own party, and the/dual process involves doubt- and difficulty and danger at, almost every, turn. Though, as'we have said, the pink tmt of his Ministry went far to disarm the hostility of its • opponents, the necessities of compromise within the party demanded that there should be at least one unmistakable red spot in- it, and that is represented by ; the Minister of Health. . • i ■ ■ A similar consideration required that the Evictions, Bill of which this Minister, has 'charge " should also have at least one "bright red spot. Clause 1 was accordingly inserted to add the necessary splash ct colour to a measure which apPears to be otherwise mild enough to command the general approval or the House. The defeat of the Government by a narrow majority on this clause would not under existlag ParHamontary conditions

amount to very much, but the weakness displayed' by Mr. MacDonald. in the face of this crisis was a much more serious.matter. His speech is described by the " Daily Express " as " prosy, indefinite, and entirely non-commit-tal," and the impatience of a confused House was displayed in a constant fire of interruptions. According to " The Times," which has been very generous in its friendliness to the ■ Government, the Premier's speech was " the most ineffectual since he took office, and bitterly disappointed his : .°™ i party."; Dissensions in the Cabinet are suggested as the explanation of its faltering tone. Having been hva minority all his life, Mr. Mac Donald is riot afraid of a beating, but the stoutest of fighters may be unmanned if, " in the forefront of' the hottest battles' ' and facing heavy odds,'"'he has also to fight a rearguard action tvith many of bis own men!' Mr. Mac Donald has fought a good fight, and he may yet pull through. He has certainly been badly '•'.wounded in the house * of his friends," but perhaps, not fatally.