Such in broad outline has been the result of the
elec- tion. The politicians of the country have been faced during the past week with a baffling situation. The crux of the matter has been, of course, whether Mr. Baldwin should resign or not. If he did, the King would almost certainly send for Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, who would then, it is felt, form a Labour Ministry, and this would in all probability result in a new election over the Budget in the spring. If Mr. Baldwin did not resign, he had two courses open to him : (1) to attempt to effect some sort of working arrangement with the Liberals ; or (2) merely to carry on till Parliament meets on January filth and face the probability of defeat at that date. At the Cabinet Council on Tuesday it was decided that Mr. Baldwin should not resign, and it appears that no effort is being made to form any kind of coalition. Thus, it is assumed that the Govenunent will carry on till the new session, and then be defeated, but this is not necessarily certain. The Liberals would have little to gain by defeating the Conservatives in order to put in Labour. Mr. Asquith's attitude is as yet unknown, and it is just possible that Mr. Baldwin might be able to carry on through the next session if he confined his programme to non-contentious measures. In any case, we can only say that we consider Mr. Baldwin's decision to be thoroughly wise.
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