The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1921. POLITICS IN BRITAIN

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14764, 1 October 1921, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1921. POLITICS IN BRITAIN

If we may judge from the representative British Press —and so far is the Dominion from Westminster that there is no better or safer index —the signs of coming change in politics at Home are unmistakeably plain- The conclusion is freely expressed that the Coalition Government has outlived its usefulness because it has fulfilled its mission. Though "failure" may in the near future be writ large on its tomb it •will probably live in history as a shining example of the fixed determination of the British people in a remarkable period. "Though the Coalition may seem strong and firm," writes Mr J. St. Loe Strachey, editor of the Spectator, "it is not so. It is dying, if not dead. Though it wins great numerical victories in the Lobby, though its speakers make fine speeches, and though every now and then there are what look like proofs that the Prime Minister still holds the country, the Coalition has already perished." The Spectator thinks the heart of the Coalition has turned to stone, while the Observer, which is conducted by Mr J. L. Garvin, one of the most brilliant and fair-minded of English journalists, also thinks its heart is affected- "First let us diagnose the real malady of the Coalition," says the Observer. "It suffers from an internal complaint morally incurable. Its original reason of being is'so far weakened or lost that it suffers from fatty degeneration of the heart. It has become quite devoid of moral impulse, vital energy, and genuine cohesion. The true health and the life are out of it. The reason is that it has survived its proper purpose, It was first formed to organise victory in war. It was continued to organise victory in peace." As the programme of reconstruction has been scrapped, "the end has been abandoned; the means have been lost." The means have been lost by the forfeiture of the strong support of the country, and the Observer thinks the Government has "ceased to represent any convinced majority of the nation." So the critics of various schools agree in varied form and language that the political days of the Coalition are numbered. The next, consideration concerns parties and persons. "When we turn to Oppositions," remarks the Observer, "there is comfort. They in their turn disorganise to an unprecedented degree the alternative side of public affairs. They have neither common leadership nor a common programme. They all * profess to hate the Government and yet direct their deadliest efforts against each other." In a word "the Coalition lives on the dissensions and feuds of its opponents." When an analysis of the Opposition is attempted the difficulties I of finding an alternative to the Coalition appear stupendous. Mr Asquith has I disappointed his ardent admirers, hut 'his apparent failure is not all his fault. It would be well nigh impossible for even a more able veteran than Mr Asquith to make a big political advance with a divided party- His greatest political success.was curiously enough as a leader of coalitions, from 1908 when the Liberal-Labour-Nationalist majority ruled until 1915 when the Unionists came to his assistance. Perhaps, however, the former might be called a "natural Coalition," to borrow a phrase from an article by Lieutenant-Com-mander Kenworthy in the Contemporary Review on "Parties of To-morrow." This tireless Radical member of the House of Commons sees hope in an alliance of the Liberal and Labour Parties. He should, however,' be in sufficiently close touch with practical politics to know that Official Labour is gambling on the decrease of Liberalism and counts on inheriting its electorate. Whatever the distant future may bring, the day of the Labour Party has not yet arrived. It is hopeless as the mainspring of a future Government so long as it remains a purely class party, and its immediate prospects of success are minimised by its Parliamentary performances. "Labour has proved," says the Observer, "to be the dullest and feeblest parly of its size there has ev.er been in the .Luise of Commons. . The Labour leaders cannot call their souls their own. At every step they are afraid of repudiation." Jealousies have destroyed opportunity for the ablest men and "the machine" has transferred unsuitable men to Parliament, with the result that "the Labour Party becomes duller as it grows. Its programme is stuffed with round words, ending in -'ation. Instead of the old deadly engagements with dialectical rapiers, the Labour Opposition turns Parliamentary controversy into a mere pillow-fight of politics." Such is the judgment of a keen critic, and though it may he regarded as severe il represents n very general judgment. What, th'ii, is tin' alternative? Of all prophecy that which is political is most difficult, because it adds to all the | elements of uncertainty the instability | of mass opinion. Th" most generally | accepted view is that Mr Lloyd George j may give further evidence of political j genius by re-organising Ihe Unionist I Party under a new name The Spe.c- .' later favours this \iew. believing that I the Prims Minister's Liberal supporters

would not hesitate to support him in such an adventure. At the present time the majority of the influential men in British politics are politically associated with Mr Lloyd George, but there are several who arc widely esteemed in real or seeming opposition to the Coalition Government. If these forces could be consolidated there need be no fear of the future of British politics. A return to party Government would be welcomed by all the supporters of the party system and by many who are disappointed with coalitions. As "a strong- Opposition is the best complement and condition of efficient government" it is to be hoped that the next ■House of Commons will be more representative of the opinion of the electorate than the present has been at any time. That would enable the new political king to reign under conditions more natural than the present, even if the reigning king is destined, as appears probable at this time, to occupy the Prime Minister's office at the head of a new party organisation.