It must not be supposed that when we speak of
Mr. Balfour as unwilling to snatch at office we are suggesting any feeling of a converse nature in Mr. Asquith. We are quite certain that Mr. Asquith does not desire to cling to office, and that he and his colleagues would under present conditions be very glad to be relieved from a situation so perplexed and perplexing. They are, however, in power, and therefore, as patriotic and responsible men, know that they cannot get rid of their trust unless they have a just excuse to say that it is absolutely impossible for them to retain office. Office is not a thing which can be abandoned in the public street the first moment its holders find it irksome. Truly this is a case not of bead but of miserrimi possidentes. But precarious though the situation is, judged from the point of view of Ministers, we do not think it necessary to be unduly pessimistic in regard to it from the standpoint of the nation. In all probability means will be discovered, not only for carrying on the King's government efficiently for the next year, and no one can look beyond that, but for doing so with- out any subversive or revolutionary action in Parliament. An immediate appeal to the electors is not a consumma- tion to be wished for by any responsible person, and we believe that the country will visit its displeasure very severely on any statesman, or body of statesmen, who by rash action precipitate a Dissolution in the course of the next three months.
Previous page
