MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1922. BRITISH POLITICAL SITUATION.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 16 October 1922, Page 4

MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1922. BRITISH POLITICAL SITUATION.

—♦ It is quite clear that a general election will be held in the United Kingdom within a few months, though the term of the present Parliament has a little over a year of its life left. Eight months ago there were bickerings and turmoils in the parties, and it was thought then that Mr Lloyd George would seize a favourable moment to go to the people and seek a renewal of the mandate to lead the country. However, the demand for a general election grew weaker, and it was credited to Sir George Younger, leader of the Unionists, that he used his influence towards keeping the Coalition together and averted a crisis at a time when it was necessary for Britain to maintain the best relations with France and Italy on the question of German reparations. The demand I for a general election early in the year j partly arose from the differences which , arose between Britain and France over German reparations. France desired that the Versailles Treaty should be fully obeyed; Britain favoured the reasonable policy of giving Germany a 1 fair chance to recover her financial [strength to meet her obligations. The i demand now for a general election /arises largely from the crisis in the Near East, which, as far as the attitude of France and Italy towards Great Britain is concerned, provides very interesting features. The Mudania Conference has fortunately [reached a successful issue, and we.believe that .tL-3 conference was brought about by Britain's definite resistance iof Kemal's aggressive actions. Mi Lloyd George's foreign policy has however, been severely criticised though ■we think that he. has in hh speech published to-day made oui | a very strong case in defence of his ! Government's attitude. If he decides to appeal to the country it will probably" be on. the question of foreign pol icy, though domestic polities will alsc be brought into the campaign by those who complain that expenditure and taxation are far too high. It has beer (charged against Mr Lloyd George thai :he secured the return of the Coalition J at the last general election by a clevei | use of the slogan ''Make Germany pay," and that he has since changed his mind and is not so keen on the reparations question as he was four , years ago. However, he has managed to keep the Coalition together and has brought the United Kingdom through several very serious crises. True, the last twelve months have found the majority of the by-elections won by candidates opposed to the Government, but it will take a great reversal of the voting at the last general election to defeat the Coalition. Of course, the Unionists and Coalition-Liberals may decide that the Coalition has outlived its usefulness, and there may be three main parties—Unionist, Liberal and , Labour—in the field, in which event it would be more difficult to foretell the result. The Coalitionists of the Unionist and Liberal parties, however, are fully alive to the dangers which would follow the return of a weak Government at the present time, and we are fairly certain that it will be decided to continue the Coalition. Labour, whose principles nobody need confuse with the so-called Labour Party in New Zealand, may gain considerable strength at the election, but it would probably be at the expense of the Wee Frees (anti-Coalition Liberals) than at the expense of the Coalition. There is little chance of Mr Lloyd George being ousted from the position which he holds, though after such a strenuous time as Prime Minister he would naturally welcome a rest. He has done many great things for the nation, and in the doing of them he has offended, some of the most prominent men in Great Britain. Since the war he has been subjected to a great flood of criticism, much of it of a petty nature, but the critics have so far failed to bring about his overthrow. The rea- * son is, we think, that Mr Lloyd George ' places his duty to the nation * above ' everything else, and all that he does has behind it the conviction that he is doing his best for the nation and for civilisation. It is sad to think that great leaders are so often not recognised at their true worth by those who seem to think that destructive criticism is the one aim of life. Mr Lloyd George has faced a task which no-man would care to undertake, and the success which he has achieved stamps him as one of the greatest men in history. iWe do not think that the electors of

Great Britain will permit him to suiter defeat when he appeals to the country, for his days of useful service to the Empire and its Allies are by no means ended. He is a lover of peace, and he knows better than anyone the many dangers that face the world to-day. Here are the words he used when he addressed the representatives of the Nonconformist Church in July last: "I am one of those who attach high hopes to the League of Nations. I am entitled to boast. I was the first man to propose to the Council of Ten at Paris that the League of Nations : should be an essential part of the , Treaty. In the forefront of that much--1 abused Treaty it stands —an essential part of the machinery of civilisation. If it succeeds, civilisation is saved. |If it fails 1, civilisation is doomed. Doomed. The strongest passions of the heart, fear, revenge, hatred, yea, even love, love of king, love of country, love of home, are ranging themselves on the side of war. That is the fact. j That is the peril. The deep, dominant : passions of the heart are enlisting on the side of war. That is where the churches come in." How can the critics say that he is the man who would plunge the nation into war for the sake of an oil company or to please some group of militarists? However, those are the charges made by scurj rilous critics, and the answer will be ' given by the electors of the United Kingdom at the election which is expected to take place shortly.