COALITION COLLAPSE

Evening Star, Issue 18158, 26 December 1922, Page 5

COALITION COLLAPSE

A BOLT TROM THE BLUE. DRAMATIC CLIMAX. The most striking thing about the political crisis ■which brought about the collapse of tho Coalition and tho resignation of Mr Lloyd George as Prime Minister was the dramatic quickness with which events moved to tho climax. It was predicted' (says tho Melbourne 4 Age’s ’ London correspondent) by thoso who were in a position to know what was taking place behind) the scenes that Mr Austen Chamberlain would secure a substantial majority at the meeting of the Unionist .members of the House of Commons, held on Thursday, October 19, to decide whether they would accept the advice of Mr Chamberlain, Lord Balfour, Lord Birkenhead, and other prominent members of the parly, to continue to support Mr Lloyd George and the Coalition, Every day for a week before the meeting took place tho London newspapers declared that Mr Chamberlain was certain to obtain a substantial majority —even the ‘Morning Post’ and the ‘ Daily Express,’ which were anxious that Mir Chamberlain should not secure a majority, saw no hope of his proposal being defeated. But late on the night before the meeting Mr Bonar Law, who on his own confession had been considering tho advisableness of resign: his seat as a member of the House of mmons and retiring from politics, because lie could no longer support the Coalition, yielded to the pressure of his friends, and decided to attend tho meeting - of Unionist members and speak against the proposal of_ the leaders of the party that it should continue to support Mr Lloyd George. Mr Bonar Law, who has the reputation of being sincere and honest—qualities which have proved a handicap to him in the political sphere—had to choose between remaining inactive and allowing Mr Chamberlain to split the Unionist Party in the interests of Mr Lloydi George, or to use his influence to keep the party intact by stabbing Mr Chamberlain in the hack—tho _ man who had succeeded Mr Bonar Law in 1921 as the leader of the party, when the latter retired on the ground of ill-health from that position and from his post in Mr Lloyd George's Coalition Government. Mr Bonar Law’s brief speech at the Unionist meeting resulted in a big majority _for the proposal that the parly should withdraw from the Coalition. This meeting began at 11 a.m. on Thursday, October 10. It lasted more than two hours. The result of tlie vote came as a surprise to Mir Lloyd George, who had been assured that Mr Chamberlain visa certain to receive the support of the major!tv of the Unionists at the meeting. By S pm. Mr Chamberlain, Lord Balfour, Lord Birkenhead, and other Unionist Cabinet Ministers hud resigned from the Government because they .no longer retained the confidence of their party. A number of subordinate Unionist Ministers in tho Government who did not hold Cabinet rank, and had l voted against Mr Chamberlain at the Unionist meeting, also resigned became they could no longer support the Coalition. By 4.15 p.m. Mr Lloyd George had an audience of the King at Buckingham _ Palace. and. had handed him his resignation as Prime Minister.

Mr Bonar Law, in his policy speech to his constituents at Glasgow on October 26, pointed out that he had wrecked' the last three British Governments, and thereby might bo accused of having earned the reputation of “the greatest wrecker of Governments in our political history—a curious fact for a man of my temperament. He explained' that, “after very long patience,” he became convinced that hlr Asquith’s Liberal Government, which was in office when the war broke out, was not capable of conducting the war with energy, and therefore he had waited on Mr Asquith, and said a Coalition Government must be formed or else the Unionist Party, of which he was the head, would publicly criticise in severe terms the Liberal Government’s inefficient conduct of Dio war As a result, Mr Asquith formed! a Coalition Government in May, 1915, with Mr Bonar Law and) other prominent men of the Unionist Party as members of it. Toward the end of 1916 Mr Bonar Law “deliberately came to the conclusion that the Government must be clianged,” and, by threatening to resign from the Government and take his Unionist colleagues with him, he helped to precipitate the political crisis of December, 1916, which resulted in the downfall of Mr Asquith and the accession Mr Lloyd George to the post of Prime Minister. On both these occasions when he wrecked a Government Mr Bonar Law was leadter of the Unionist Party, but he wrecked Mr Lloyd George’s Government while a private member. A feature of tho election campaign was the loyalty and admiration expressed for Mr Lloyd George by some of the most i prominent Unionists, who . had been bis Ministerial colleagues. Lord Balfour, who at different times filled several important posts in Mr Lloyd George's Government, paid a high tribute to the ex-Prime Minister at a dinner given to Mr Austen Chamberlain after be had resigned from the Government anti from tho position of leader of the Unionist Parly. Mr Lloyd George has been somewhat sparing o! tributes of admiration to former colleagues in hia Government, who helped to bring about his downfall by frustrating his efforts to split the Unionist Parly, as he split the Liberal Parly in 1918. Some of the London newspapers gave prominence in big headlines to a statement from Mr Lloyd George that Mr fionar Law was “honest to the verge of simplicity.’’ This tribute was supposed to have been paid in the course of a speech delivered by Mr Lloyd George at Leeds, but it was subsequently ascertained that, owing to an error on the part of a, news agency which reported tho speech for some of the London papers, tho tribute had not been paid by Mr Lloyd Georg© to his successor in the Premiership, but to an unsophisticated member’ ot the Die-hard section of the Conservative Party, who had admitted that Dio political group to which lie belonged did not possess one man of outstanding ability. Mr Lloyd George’s public references to Marquis Curzon, who was Minister for Foreign Affairs in Mr Lloyd George’s Government, but bad used his influence against Mr Lloyd George and the Coalition in tho final phase of the political ensia which preceded the downfall of both, are a kind that_ are likely to please those who are irritated’ by Lord Curzoris pomposity. “Lord Curzon says there is no danger of reaction on Die part of tho Conservatives,” said Mr Lloyd George, in the course of a recent speech. “ Lord Curzon has very groat qualities, but I have never regarded him as a bulwark against reaction—or, as a matter of fact, against anything else.” Politically, Mr Winston Churchill has had extremely bad luck. Ho revels in the excitement of a political crisis and an election campaign, but ho lias been deprived bt participation in recent events. Before tho crisis had been in existence more than a couple of days ho was laid up, and was compelled to undergo an operation for appendicitis. He had to conduct hia electoral campaign in his constituency Of Dundee from a sick bed in London, Last year also he had a stroke of had! hick. While he was away in Egypt on a poliDcal mission as Secretary of State for the Colonies, the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, which in normal Dines comes next to that of Prime Minister, fell vacant. It was considered that Mr Churchill had claim on the position, But in his absence from London there was no on© to push his Claims, and Sir Robert Horne got the post. Before tho war Mr Churchill was regarded aa having an equal chance with Mr Lloyd George in succeeding to Die leadership of the Liberal Party whenever Mr Asquith retired. Mr Lloyd George feared him as a rival, and did not in elude him in his first Coalition Government, formed in December, 1916. But in a few months Mr Churchill’s damaging criticism in Parliament of the Government’s conduct of the war convinced Mr Lloyd George that he bad made a mistake in leaving Mr Churchill out of his Ministry. Mr Lloyd George lost no time in correcting this mistake. Mr Churchill is both able and ambitious, but he made some bad blunders during the war which have not yet been forgotten. He baa so few friends in politics that it is doubtful if he wild ever realise Lis ambition to be Minister of. Great Britain*