THE CHANGE

Southland Times, Issue 19393, 6 November 1924, Page 5

THE CHANGE

CONSERVATIVES TAKE CHARGE RESIGNATION OF LABOUR MINISTRY MR BALDWIN SENT FOR. MR CHURCHILL’S NEW ROLE. (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright). (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association). LONDON, November 5. (Received November 5, 7.5 p.m.) Following upon the verdict of the General Elections, Mr Ramsay MacDonald to-day tendered his resignation of his Labour Ministry, and advised the King to send for Mr Stanley Baldwin. Acting on this advice, the King immediately sent for Mr Baldwin, who undertook to form a Ministry. It is understood that the list of leading Ministers will be issued on Thursday night. One of the reasons for expedition is the fact that the Lord Mayor’s banquet takes place on Monday night, a feature of which has always been the Ministerial speeches. These, owing to the special circumstances, are awaited with unusual interest. Invitations cannot be issued until the names of the Cabinet Ministers are known, and the toast list will be rushed to the printers at the last moment. SURPRISES ANTICIPATED. It is stated in well-informed quarters that the Ministry will contain some surprises. Certainly Mr Baldwin is getting plenty of hints as to the desirableness of the infusion of new blood, and a liberal sprinkling of young men, gifted with enthusiasm to grapple with questions arising out of the new social conditions. LEVELLING UP POSITIONS. The Times appeals for the inclusion of Mr Austen Chamberlin and other recalcitrants of the 1923 split, making the Government a different ope to that which committed suicide last year. In order ro prevent jealousies, it suggests the levelling up of the status of the various positions, enabling men of special fitness to hold positions without considering their claim to so-called higher offices overlooked. It adds: “If, by any consideration, salaries are held to make a position of greater consequence, then this should be swept away.” WINSTON CHURCHILL ‘SORT OF ELECTION HERO.” A CHARACTERISTIC SPEECH. LONDON, November 4. (Received November 5, 8.5 p.m.) Mr Winston Churchill and other Constitutionalist members of the House of Commons were given a dinner at the Constitutional Club by prominent Conservatives. Right-Hon. Ronald McNeill, M.P, for Canterbury, in proposing a toast during the evening, referred to Mr Churchill, who, he said, had never has been deficient in backbone.' He was plentifully endowed with the spirit for which there had never been more need than at the present time. Mr Churchill, in replying, declared that Socialism was the antithesis of Liberalism. He looked forward to seeing Parliament take up the broken pledges given the Overseas dominions at the Imperial Conference, and to seeing the spade set to work again on the naval base at Singapore. Lord Birkenhead solemnly declared that the first task of statesmanship was to solve the unemployment problem. He also commented on the increased Socialist vote at the elections. DEMONSTRATION DENOUNCED. The Times denounces the ill-timed demonstration at the Constitutional Club at which Mr Winston Churchill was paraded as a sort of an election hero, asserting that it will revive the suspicions of intrigue by the old familiar, centre party, rendering more difficult the immediate installation of Mr Churchill in a position in the Cabinet, to which his great gifts entitle him. It adds: Stanley Baldwin has shown himself something more than a silent accidental leader. While Mr Ramsay MacDonald had reached the stage of almost incoherent rhetoric, Mr Baldwin was steady and consistent, quietly logical always to the highest level, impersonal and patriotic in argument. His tenure will depend mainly on a wise use of his majority, which is unanimously antiSocialist, but this does not mean wholly Conserv.’tive. The country is still a little suspicions of extreme Conservatism. The electoral verdict was an overwhelming repudiation of person ad shiftiness of Ministers, but not an endorsement of any positive policy. THE ZINOVTEV LETTER. NO POSITIVE CONCLUSION. CABINET COMMITTEE’S DECISION. LONDON, November 5. (Received November 5, 11.30 p.m.) It is officially stated that the Labour Cabinet Committee found it impossible to reach a positive conclusion regarding M. Zinoviev’s letter. On the evidence available, it appeared that no Government Department had handled the original letter, only a copy. The unsatisfactory report has caused surprise, and is interpreted to mean that some members of the Committee believe the letter genuine, and others that it is a forgery’. Mr Baldwin’s Government will probably investigate further. The political correspondent of the Daily Herald understands that high officials of certain departments who received copies of the letter laid them aside as not worth attention. The Herald adds: There is reason to believe that what the Foreign Office acted upon was obtained by the Secret Service through its connection with the secret services o fother Governments, and to get to the bottom of the affair would involve inquiries abroad. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. ELECTED BY PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION. SEAT FOR MR ASQUITH. LONDON, November 5. (Received November 6, 1.0 a.m.) The Oxford University election, conducted oq the system of Proportional Representation, resulted as follows: Lord Hugh Cecil (Conservative 4,220 Prof. Sir Charles Oman (Con.) 2,968 Prof. Gilbert Murray (Ind.) .. 2,832 Professor Murray was in the second place on the first count. The Admiralty authorities are confident that work on the Singapore base will be commenced shortly. The suspension thereof has not involved dislocation of the plans. There is a likelihood of Mr Kenyon resigning the Chesterfield Division of Derbyshire, Mr Asquith succeeding him. It is not unlikely Chesterfield Unionists would oppose Mr Asquith. EMPIRE PREFERENCE. VIEWS OF THE PRODUCERS’ ORGAN. “GREATEST IMPORTANCE TO BRITAIN.” LONDON, November 4. (Received November 5, 11.0 p.m.) “We must be thankful that the Overseas dominions, when rebuffed by the Imperial Parliament, looked first to each other instead of succumbing to the temptation to make terms with foreign countries,” says the Empire Producer, a periodical production. Referring to the Australian and Canadian agreement, it says that Canada has immense quantities of raw materials, also a better place for transport to Australia than Britain,

“It is an interesting illustration of the truth,” proceeds the journal, “that the Preference policy is of the greatest importance to Britain. It is not merely a case of Britain giving concessions to the production of the Overseas dominions. It points out that the stipulation that 75 per cent, of the value of imports must be of British make or origin to qualify for Preference in Australia and New Zealand will also benefit Canada, especially if this policy is adopted throughout the Empire, because it will compel American firms, with assembling shops in Canada, to undertake the complete manufacturing process there.