TOPICS OF THE DAY.
FRANCE AND MR. MACDONALD.
WE are approaching what we fear is going to prove one of the supreme danger points in the history of mankind. If things go well, if, that is, we can make France see that the security which she needs, and ought to have, cannot be obtained by goading the German people into despair, hate, revenge, and a form of militarism far worse than that destroyed at the Armistice, we may yet save civilization. The material troubles of Europe will soon pass away—witness what has happened in Austria. It is a moral and intellectual peril which now alarms the world. The German elections, which will be fought in view of the conditions prevailing in the Ruhr and the Rhineland, can hardly fail to produce fresh dangers and difficulties. White communities, surging with tempestuous passions, who see their fellow citizens held down by black troops commanded by officers filled with fierce suspicion, and inspired by the teachings of a political philosophy such as ruined Louis XIV. and the two Napoleons, will be asked to express their will as to the political future. In such circumstances can we do anything but assume the overthrow of the comparatively peaceful and timid democratic Government now in power in Germany ? But a triumph for the soldiers and the Nationalists, the men who want to hit back, no matter what their weakness, will inflame the French with that which always inflames them most— an intangible fear. They will react to an instinctive desire to meet danger halfway by a homicidal fury. This means that the French elections are likely to prove an ill foundation for that general European settlement which must be made if we are to solve the problems of the political nightmare which we have so strangely named " The Peace "—a Peace, alas ! which passes understanding. Yet the attempt to obtain the settlement cannot be postponed. The existing conditions will not stand still. If we cannot destroy them, they will destroy us. This is equivalent to saying that the present Government will have to deal with a situation which will be difficult in the extreme. But deal with it they must, and we do not despair if they are firm, prudent, and, above all, just and bold. They must run risks. They must be active, not passive. They must not be afraid of seeming to belie old principles or old commit- ments provided they can accomplish their immediate work of world salvage.
If Europe is to be saved, the British Government will have to play the leading part. No Government, however, can do this which is not able to speak for the nation as a whole. If Foreign Powers can put by a suggestion made by a British Prime Minister on the ground that, " after all, his is only a Minority Government, and to-morrow may see him out of office," he will make little way. Imagine the situation, say, in Paris, or wherever the inevitable Conference to deal with the Reparations Reports and the problem of the Inter-Allied Debts takes place. Mr. MacDonald will have to be there, and will have to leave the home situation to his lieutenants. But suppose that during some crisis in the negotiations there is risk of a hostile vote in Parliament, and the Government is, or easily can be, placed in a humiliating predicament by the Opposition. The able diplomats of France well know how to use such a situation to the best advantage. We are not friends of the expedient of giving authority to Minority Governments, but the decisions of the anti-Socialist leaders and the force of circumstances have for good or ill placed Mr. MacDonald in power and we must all take the consequences. These consequences clearly require a great deal of reticence, moderation, and give and take in all parties. We cannot prevail unless the nation is able to speak strongly and with a single voice. That the Labour Government will have to ask for a good deal of " law "—to use the old hunting phrase—is obvious. In doing so, however, they must remember to give as well as to ask. The Unionists and the Liberals will have to make sacrifices, but there must be equivalent sacrifices from Labour.
The Government cannot expect to be kept in office on the plea of unity of purpose in the foreign field if they are using, or even appearing to use, the political truce to obtain advantages in the home field. The Labour Party must not make their external difficulties a ground for saying to themselves : " Things are too critical abroad for anyone to turn us out who agrees with our policy towards France, as no doubt Mr. Baldwin does. Therefore we shall have an unrivalled opportunity for nationalizing the mines, for forcing the question of the Ulster boundary to the front, and for taking the first steps in nationalizing credit."
If there is to be " a truce of God " while we are damp- ing down the fires of hate and militarism in Europe, that truce must cover the whole field. The Minority Government will not be asked to change their principles, but they will be asked not to put them into immediate practice. If they agree and are loyal to their pact, Mr. MacDonald, if and when he is obliged to be abroad and to give up the personal direction of the Commons, will fairly be able to ask that he shall not have his position weakened by the attacks of snipers in the rear —attacks which, though they would mean little here, might well be used abroad as proofs that the British delegates were without authority. That Mr. Baldwin— and it is his view which here matters most—will be inclined to be sympathetic to a demand for a temporary relaxation of the rights of the Parliamentary Opposition we do not doubt. Nor can we imagine Mr. Asquith unwilling to be indulgent to all just claims. The trouble will arise, if it does arise, from the over-zeal of individual members of the Opposition. These will no doubt be able to find plenty of excuses for being nasty owing to the indiscretions of Ministers with scant Parliamentary experience. Again, when their leader is away, it may well be that the Labour Extremists will prove intolerably provocative, and will cast themselves for the congenial part of the Fat Boy in Pickwick. They will attempt to make our flesh creep by tales of how our blood is to flow in torrents !
Though the prospect is unquestionably dark and precarious, we refuse to regard it as hopeless. If Mr. MacDonald has to leave the Commons for a time, let there be a truce openly proclaimed by the leaders. If Mr. Baldwin were to declare that he would not, during the Prime Minister's absence, undermine the authority of the Ministry or tolerate undermining by his followers, provided always that Mr. MacDonald would pledge himself to an unprovocative policy while the truce was in operation, and if this agreement were then endorsed by Mr. Asquith, we see no reason why Mr. MacDonald should not be able to make it quite clear to Foreign Powers that, though he may be a Minority Minister at home, abroad he speaks with the full authority of the nation.
Mr. Baldwin is the very man to invest Mr. MacDonald temporarily with that power by a speech in the Commons. Whatever may be Mr. Baldwin's political weaknesses, in other respects, here he has none—no one doubts, or will ever have cause to doubt, his absolute sincerity and good faith. He is political honour personified.
J. ST. Lois STRACHEY.
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