BRITISH LIBERAL PARTY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20961, 26 February 1930, Page 15

BRITISH LIBERAL PARTY.

AN OPEN SPLIT:

VISCOUNT GREY’S DECLARATION.

(Fkoii Otjb Own Correspondent.) ' LONDON, January 16. At the meeting of the Liberal Council I - this, week Viscount Grey of Fallodon de- , finitely repudiated Mr Lloyd George’s leadership. The council; of which Lord i Grey is president, was formed in 1927 in ' opposition to Mr Lloyd George, but until the meeting on Tuesday it had not pro- : claimed any definite and open rupture , v “The things said during the election," , 1 said Lord Grey, “gave the public to .'.understand that we in the Liberal Council no longer found want of confidence! in Mr Lloyd . George’s leadership, and that our objection to the party being depen- , dent upon his fund had evaporated. “ Our. feelings about these two things • remain just as decided as they were when the Liberal Council was formed.’’ - Referring to the use of the Lloyd , George fund at the election. Lord Grey said: “We Understood.that money fop the election was banded over to be spent . under the control of those who'were at headquarters. But what is necessary to ■ made the situation absolutely clear to everybody is what took place before that , money was' handed over unconditionally. What negotiations were there? •i . “When. Lord Oxford was leader there were substantial contributions made from i Mr Lloyd George’s fund, to the party fund There was a party fund then, but substantial contributions were made from Mr Lloyd George’s fund. “But those contributions were preceded by protracted negotiations. I knew they were taking place, but the impression I had was that those who were personally engaged in those negotiations went •. through an experience which they decided they were not willing to repeat. A FATAL POSITION.

Therefore that question of money , being handed over unconditionally does ; not dispose of the question of whether , there were previous conditions, • “Apart from that it does not really affect the broad lines of the position, which is, what the public'will look at; ‘namely, that the- leader of a party lias always had .considerable say in how the party fund should be used, but never be fore has he been, in a position to say to : the party' ‘ You' have ■no party fund and unless you do what I want, you will nave no, money/ That is a position which , really is fatal to any,, party, i “It is not a question ot what use the person who had the fund made of it at any particular moment; it is the simple fact that any' party which stands well ■ before the country ought to be in a posi- , tion to say that it is not dependent upon a personal "fund for the replenishment of its party fund." It was essential that tie leader of the Liberal Party should be a member of the ■blouse of Commons. “We have no confidence’in the leadership of the Liberal jDarty there_ to-day,” Lord Grey observed. and that is the situation as regards the leadership of this party." . Viscount Grey said that it would be very easy for those like himself who had . made their contribution to public life to slip out of party politics but the younger men had to be thought of. There were those who shared the views of the Liberal Council on the matters he . had dealt Y l *' they felt exceedingly uncomlortable. “It is natural," he said, “that they should be thinking whether ikey could not work better with some other party, and X know that the thoughts of several young people are turning towards the Labour Party. I would just venture to e , a y : .. Dont lie in a hurry to take a definite and final decision of that kind.’ You are feeling—and very naturally feel mg—uncomfortable about the difficulties on which I have dwelt, but the other parties are feeling equally, perhaps more, uncomfortable." ‘ ■ Speaking of the Socialist Party, Lord . Grey said that their foreign and Imperial policy, so far as it had been defined, was one they could cordially' support. In the region of home affairs, however, he uttered . warnin 8 concerning State expen-To-day,’ he said, '-the three parties - are not really opponents, they are competitors. They are all advocating progressive policies. The parties are out to outdo each other in a race for expenditure* and as each Government succeeds another it comes in with a pledge to add to the public expenditure. We ought to realise* that danger. We are drifting, I think, into a very unsafe and dangerous commitment as regards public expenditure.”