POLITICAL PUZZLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18223, 17 October 1922, Page 7

POLITICAL PUZZLE.

IWILL PREMIER RESIGN ?

plans not disclosed.

PRESS ATTACK ON SPEECH.

CONSERVATIVES RESTLESS

SECESSION DISCI'SSED, 8y Telegraph—Press Association—Copyri ;:h * {Received 0.5 p.m.) &. arid N.Z. LONDON, Oct. 16. The press continues to be obsessed bv the obscurity of the political situation. Most journals predict an early dissolution. Others point oat that Mr. Lloyd George is not the kind of man to resign. Re was profoundly impressed by the warmth of his reception in Lancashire, acd he may attempt to carry on in the belief that he is sufficiently strong to down antagonism, as on previous occasions.

Lord Birkenhead, Mr. Winston Churchill, and others are pressing Mr. Lloyd George to appeal to the country. On the other hand other Unionist members of the Cabinet declare that if the Prime Minister forces an election without consulting Conservatives as a Party they will resign immediately and precipitate * crisis. Conservatives and Independent Liberals are preparing for a fight The Independent Liberals have 300 candidates ready to take the field at the shortest notice.

The political correspondent- of the Daily M»U states that a general election in November is now regarded as a certainty. The probable date is November 6. The Labour Party has arranged to begin an electoral campaign on October 28. The Westminster Gazette declares that the chances of the Labour' Party are greatly strengthened by Mr. Chamberlain's invention of the Bolshevik bogey.

Premier Accused'o! Frivolity. Press comment on Mr. -Lloyd George's *peech is severely critical and generally adverse. The Daily Chronicle and the Daily Telegraph alone: support him. The Daily Telegraph deprecates a general election in tho present state of the Near Eastern situation and the imminence of ratification of the* Irish Treaty.

The Daily Express describes Mr. Lloyd George's references to France as deplorable. It declares: "Whoever represents cs at the Near Eastern Conference frill weighted by these utterances. It is *n impossible position."

Tha Westminster Gazette says that nobody is so quick to recognise the failure cf tactics as Mr. Lloyd George. He plainly saw that the country had no use for Mr. Chamberlain's policy, and left the latter to flounder in the morass in which he wanderecL

The Morring Post says: "The apparent frivolity with which the Prime Minister deals with the most delicate questions of international moment -seems to indicate that Mr. Lloyd George is temperamentally incapable cf understanding the elements of statesmanship."

Regarding Mr. Chamberlain's speech some newspaper strongly approve Mr. Chamberlain's loyalty to Mr. L lord George; others declare that he is a traitor to the Conservative Party, and should resign the leadership. It is suggested in some quarters that- both Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Lloyd George : are again manoeuvring for the creation | cf a centre party by the elimination of ! dissentient elements in the Coalition. \ Their speeches seem to indicate that they j intend to await developments in the Con- j •ervative ranks. j

The moderation of Mr. Lloyd George's ipeech came as a surprise after the sensational prophecies.

Conservatives IS age? for Independence.

Hie Sunday Express states that the <fuestion for Conservatives is whether the party is to be shattered like the Liberal Party id order to keep Mr. Lloyd George In power. The .Conservative rank and file desire to deliver the party from the coils and toils of the Coalition. They are determined to recover their independence and to go before the electors with their own policy. Mr. Chamberlain ought to TP-sign, and if he refuses a conference of Conservative members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords ought to be summoned to define the party's policy and choose a leader.

The Observer states that the mass of moderate Conservatives desire to end the present Coalition. They want to march to the polls under their own banner with their own leader and programme. This is the only means of keeping the party together. If by an immediate election the Unionist Party is committed, without its representative body being consulted, a total split will be threatened, and the Unionist leaders in Cabinet may be repudiated by the rank and file. The Observer declares that experts reading between the lines of the Manchester speech predict that Mr. Llovd George intends to resign the Premiership within a few days. This will result in a dissolution of Parliament and an election early in November.