The Sun FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1916. MR LLOYD GEORGE'S TASK.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 883, 8 December 1916, Page 6

The Sun FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1916. MR LLOYD GEORGE'S TASK.

Nothing could be more calculated to hinder the much to be desired settlement of the British political crisis than the language used by the head of the Northcliffe Press in an interview with an American journalist. The situation is admittedly at a very delicate and critical stage, and Lord Northcliffe's brutal description of Liberal Ministers as a "gang of aged or inept mediocrities who have prevented the British Empire from exerting its full force in the war" is likely to give the gravest offence to the Liberal and Labour representatives and consolidate their forces in open antagonism to Mr Lloyd George and his Unionist following. Lord Northcliffe is a strong man. As one possessed of unusual wealth and the control of the most powerful newspaper combination in the world, he is in a position to make his influence felt in political quarters, and that influence has been very generously exercised since Britain went to war. But nothing can condone the insult he has offered to Mr Asquith and his Liberal colleagues, and it will come as no surprise to find that his intemperate and ungenerous outburst has prejudiced Mr Lloyd George's chances of forming a stable Government without an appeal to the constituencies. This newspaper dictator has many of the qualities of the great, but his gross attack on his political opponents demonstrates that one of the essentials of greatness is lacking in his composition. Where he might have used trenchant and dignified criticism he was merely vulgarly and truculently abusive. Apparently he is taking it for granted that Mr Lloyd George is assured of a following sufficiently strong to establish himself as Prime Minister without an election, but there is no such certainty about the matter. The suggestion that the recent dramatic development was a Tory plot to overthrow the Liberals will be strengthened by Lord Northcliffe's declaration of faith. It looks as though he has spoken too soon. If the Liberals were previously inclined to take their leader's advice and, for the sake of unity, support Mr Lloyd George in his efforts to form a new non-party administration, that tendency will be less pronounced, possibly defeated altogether, by the tactics that arc being adopted. If Mr Lloyd George and Mr Bonar Law could win over the Nationalists en bloc, a settlement could be looked for at short notice, but it is improbable that the Nationalists, in view of recent happenings in connection with the Irish question, will lend themselves to such a proposition. I Though the chances of a settlement I are not yet hopeless, present indicaj lions point to a definite party split, land the necessity for holding an election in order to unravel the tangled political skein. II is an unfortunate situation which will bring joy to the heart of the enemy, who has already been substantially encouraged by the affront offered to the Allies by Constantino, and the unequivocal successes in Bumania. Still, it is not too much to hope that out of this political evil good may yet emerge. If the prosecution of the war can he made effective by a change of Government, and without an election, the political upheaval in Britain will have been to a certain extent justified. At any rate, Germany will not I he entitled to gloat over the situai lion, since its real significance is not ja weakening of Britain's war spirit, but an expression of her determina- ; tion to do still more to effect the j Allies' purpose. We are assured that i improvement is necessary, and can be effected, in the conduct of the

war. Thus, if Mr Lloyd George succeeds in his purpose, a very important responsibility will accompany him and his colleagues into office. They will be expected to profit by past mistakes, and make good where their predecessors failed. The "Daily Mail" has called insistently for more men from Ireland, the "combing out" of State departments and munitions works, for more vigorous diplomacy in Greece, and a more unflinching use of Britain's naval might, in order that the war might be shortened. New blood, iwith the necessary resolution and prevision, was demanded to replace the "aged and inept mediocrities . . . and malevolents," and make the most efficient use of the Empire's industrial and military resources. The Northeliffe newspapers have found the new blood, and it remains to be seen whether their fond expectations will be realised, and whether (or to what degree) the Allied cause is going to prosper more under Mr Lloyd George (or Mr Bonar Law) than under Mr Asquith.