Evening Post. FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 1925. A CANDID PROPOSAL

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 130, 5 June 1925, Page 6

Evening Post. FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 1925. A CANDID PROPOSAL

\vo huvti !i.p|')M,ronl,ly reached air i iinpas.s(s in ,■„■„. |;,,j|,|; t . Hluluinciits," Bays Mr. AVillWil in Urn remarkable loi.l.ur 1,0 |,h,i I'rinm Miiii H l,ur which wo pnl.lmlu-,1 ,vni!l,r«nln,v ; and so •'lie.V li.'id, IttilV.i'niiK in the first of hin ollir-ial nl.U.numi'H to l.lvi migJKiisLod .•iii.!i.| K , ll , l a|.i <(l i ...f I,'hc Uvo l>i-iiu:i|»il |in.rl,i,;«, Mr. o<ml.cjM mud Hull. Inn (,!i.vii|-iiinfMil. would "wol-' coino iv tlii,! (:iuini,(!l.ioii iiny pmposillw Ul.Ml, i1,,,. V )„•, fiHl.llliLtCll," •'Hid thill., Imw.U'nr niirli |,n,|,n!m.lß nn^lil; iiriMiiMil.O, "Ihi-.y >vill uMHlirodly roi.-CMvi.. unml. rwu'iirnl. eomudar.•ition ;i.(, „,,,. Jmndfi/' 11. lvaß ll()(j „ very oiu-.<nii')i K h, K imiUliiiii, if it, could 'Imi <'ii|l('i| no invilal/nin at nil. , WociifK I'liiil, |.)i!t :l!t-r<.nnorH are by Cm- l,ln, ijlmiikcil p.'irl.y a/id ai;o iiiTull-ji<.w.icwi|..ii'i i,( poticr, a, direct, iiivi|,ii : |,i,,u 1,.i f.li.j \AUtjvnh to share, in l,| u> i-(.>H| l( ,iißiliili(,ion and the privileges of pownr would have been an act <»f - K mw.. I'.ul. merely to iuvito l.lio .Libw'iil.M U ;t|>|)ly for ••in invitation uiih („, nsk l.lio'in to put themselves in l,ho invidious position of suing for a favour—a position which the assurance that the suit would receive "most earnest consideration" could not entirely deprive of its humiliating tendency. And so Mr. Wilford made matters worse by standing on. his dignity anil giving the Prime Minister a precise "tv quoquc." Adopting verbatim both, of the Prime Minister's phrases, Mr. Wilford said that his party would /'welcome in this connection any proposals that may be submitted," and that, however originating, such proposals "will assuredly receive the most earnest consideration at pur hands." Logically and dialectically the retort was complete, but from every other point of view it was unfortunate. The cold reserve of Mr. C'oates's offer gave Mr. Wilford an excellent opportunity to pour coals of fire on his head by adopting a more cordial and more positive tone, but the opportunity was missed. Instead of taking higher and broader ground than the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition electee' to lie down beside him. This unfortunate concurrence in a mutual policy of "wait and see" threatened the idea on which the country had set its heart with a complete stoppage, and it was no consolation that it was a case of "six of one and half-a--dozen of the other." The position bore a rough analogy to the tactics which brought dishonour upon the British arms in the disastrous Wakheron expedition:— Lord Chatham, with his sword undrawn. Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan; Sir Richard, eager to get at 'em, Stood waiting for "the Earl of Chatham ! Even so did Mr. Coates and Mr. Wilford join in coldly singing the praises of the olive branch and the buried hatchet, while each was nevertheless determined to stand on his dignity and wait for the other to take the initiative. | But a few days' consideration has enabled Mr. Wilford to make ample amends. It is certainly strange that the impasse which he himself admits to have been created by the lawyer-like dialectics of his original retort courteous should have been so speedily resolved by himself, but the contrast between the two utterances makes the second the more welcome and perhaps for that reason the more effective. Tactically, Mr. Wilford has derived this advantage from the procedure • adopted—viz., that he has given the Government the chance of making the move that somebody had to make, and that after waiting three days with nothing clone he has done the right thing himself. M'"c in-turn, says Mr. Wilfurd in his loiter to. tlio Prime Minister, have asked you. ;js the senior party both hi point, of numbers ,-nid .position,"to submit your proposals. Nothing lias been done. \Vitli a view to clarifying tlio position and, if possible, of briiitrhnr matters to a head I write you this letter. ■ As the session will have opened in three weeks' time, the three days' delay was quite loug enough, for the process of . negotiation will necessarily be a long one, and the more progress it has made before the parties face one'another once more in hostile array in Parliament, the better the chances of. success. If the course which the Leader of the Opposition lias taken in coming forward and putting all his cards on the table is tactically sound, it is also to be justified on higher grounds, and we give him credit for having these higher grounds in view. There is, indeed, absolutely nothing in Mr. Wilford's broad statement of policy from which the Reform Party can dissent. That the differences of the two parties are frilling in comparison with issues concerning the maintenance of the Empire, and that the Empire today is "seriously iv need of all the assistance possible," are propositions which the Reformers have repeatedly proclaimed and in which it, would be a libel on I heir patriotism to say that they do not. believe just, mr fervently as the Liberals. Mr. Wilford's assertion Unit "IIn: idoa of getting toi fiullicr for ihv avlv purpusu of iigiil-

mg Labour is simply suicide for both parties"' is also- common ground ; and he is right in assuming that Mr. Coates recognises the fact just as clearly as he does himself. A mere antagonism to Labour, or even to Red Labour, would be an insufficient basis for a permanent union of parties which have no fundamental differences of principle to divide them. ' Except for the temporary purposes of some crucial emergency a negative treed is in politics no creed, and the essential condition of a successful union is the adoption of a policy broad enough for both parties to stand on but not too vague to attract and convince. But hitherto it is not real differences of policy that have kept Reformers and Liberals apart. Artificial catchwords and personal rivalries and animosities have been the estranging, elements which . have defied previous attempts at union. The Liberal Leader's plea for the creation of a new party in which Reformers and Liberals will unite on a common platform, and his unequivocal declaration that in that new party he neither desires nor would accept office, provides an opportunity that never existed before. At the same time, his proposal that each party should appoint ,1 committee of negotiators to put the matter iv hand at once indicates the path to the goal. If other claimants on both sides imitate his self-abnega^ tion the goal can be reached.