TOPICS OF THE DAY.
THE PREMIER AND THE UNIONIST PARTY.
y_LB. LLOYD GEORGE'S speech and the subsequent. divisions with their tremendous majorities appar- ently in his favour could not even temporarily bemuse the public mind into regarding last Monday as a 'day of true success. The proceedings remind • one of the brilliant strategical, yet empty, victories which marked Napoleon's campaign in 1814. Napoleon was, in truth, beaten. He had delayed too long coming to a decision, and had played fast and loose with Europe too often. Yet for a time his prestige and his skill were sufficient to give him the appearance of success. The force of circumstances was in the end, how- ever, too much for him. Though he could delay, he could not prevent the catastrophe and " the solitudes of Fon- tainebleau." So it is with Mr. Lloyd George. His skill as a politician enabled him to put before the House a resolution which was certain to be carried by a large majority. He contrived also that the carrying of this resolution and the defeating of all amendments to it should look like a personal triumph, even though it was in fact a personal defeat. In spite, however, of these most skilful manoeuvres England instinctively realizes that Mr. Lloyd George is no longer a Heaven-sent Prime Minister with a potent and faithful majority behind him. In spite of his majority of 278, and in spite of the fact that only 94 people can be brought together in the House of Commons to oppose him on a vote of want of confidence, he is actually in process of becoming an extinct volcano ! The House of Commons may appear to pass a vote of confidence almost by acclamation. But the facts are otherwise.
Though there are plenty of people willing to do Mr. Lloyd George lip service for a little longer, the spell is broken. He no longer has the confidence of the Coalition and he has not succeeded in regaining the confidence of the Independent Liberals or Labour Party. We do not, of course, say that he will never regain their confidence. Party politicians have very strong stomachs. Again, if one is to judge by the speech of Major Lloyd George, Mr. Lloyd George's son, the Prime Minister, has by no means given up hankering after the leadership of a new Coalition, composed of the two existing forms of Liberalism plus the Labour Party. In the speech to which we refer, Major Lloyd George used the following words :- " His father was applying Liberal principles to his policy, and he was as good a Liberal now as when he first sat in Parliament."
If this means anything, it means that Mr. Lloyd George, in spite -of certain Conservative passages in his speech, is drifting towards the left. If not, why emphasize the fact that he is still a sad, good Liberal at heart I But, granted that Mr. Lloyd George is on his way to Canossa and its snows, and that the Liberals will, in the end, forget and forgive, we do not believe that he will succeed—unless, of course, some great national disaster were to make the people of England determined to try a new " proprietary medicine." 1 If things go on normally there is, in our opinion, very little future for a union between Labour and Liberalism.
But, though we feel very doubtful as to Mr. Lloyd George's political prospects, it must not he supposed that we are in the least satisfied with the situation from the Unionist point of view. On the contrary, we are deeply dissatisfied with it. No one who looks squarely at the matter can fail to see that the Unionist Party has received a deadly wound through Mr. Lloyd George's shilly-shallying, or, shall we say, refusal to tell his followers what side he is on. Political parties live and succeed, like men, by knowing their own minds. Lord Melbourne was perfectly right when he put his back to the door and told his Cabinet that it did not much matter what policy they adopted so long ari they were agreed about. it--i.e., " all said the same thing." Mr. Lloyd George, instead of bringing the Party he has led up till now to a common agreement, has, con- sciously or unconsciously—we do not presume to say which—managed to throw one apple of discord after another into the midst of his supporters. Though the Coalition Whips were able to make so good a show on Monday, the Unionist Party is, in fact, rent far worse than Caesar's cloak. Everyone has had a stab at it, and most of the stabs have been followed by tears that will take years to mend. And remember this has not been done because Mr. Lloyd George has shown himself too liberal in the true sense of the word, or in any real sense too advanced in his politics. It is because he has not been clear and definite, and because he has not given a proof of good faith and of steadfastness. If ho had proved - politically trustworthy t;-..ere is no reason why the Coalition should not have gone on for years under his leadership and his supporters become a true Party and not a weak and weary, distrustful and distracted affiance. What is bringing down the Coalition is the feeling that men have in their hearts, though they are not as yet willing to express it, even to themselves, that Mr. Lloyd George will not stick to his followers in the hour of danger. They see with anxiety and disgust that he has kept himself free to desert the Coalition if the Coalition should not be able to provide him with a working majority after the General Election. That to put it plainly, is the situation in a nutshell.
But all practical politicians know that it is impossible to gain a victory when these are the conditions under which the battle is to be fought. Want of trust in one's leader breaks a Party as does the tiny crack in a delicate porcelain vase. It is certain in the end to spread and bring the vase to destruction.
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