Coming Elections
(British Commonwealth of Nations)
Party leaders continued to oil election machinery.
Premier. In a speech at Derby, Premier Ramsay MacDonald defied the opposition to oust the Labor Government over the Anglo-Russian Treaty (TIME, Sept. 22, 29). The most important passages of his speech:
"One of the difficulties of settling with Russia is the legacy of Lloyd George. He levied war upon Russia, and Russia is putting in a counterclaim upon us. Some of Lloyd George's acts are still having a serious effect upon the international affairs of Europe.
"What could we do? We have not settled claims, but we have drafted a document which we believe will settle these claims. We are not giving a loan to Russia. All we have done is to guarantee a loan, which is a little different.
"The loan is to be used for construction only. The loan which the Russian Government hopes to raise on the guarantee of the British Government will be largely spent in the purchase of material and goods in this country. It is a business arrangement. It is not complete but it is a beginning.
"If we are to have Europe pacified, we cannot have large countries outside the cooperating nations. We cannot bring peace to Europe if we leave Russia out. That is the biggest reason for these Russian treaties. We shall not ask the House of Commons for a blank check. We shall state the amount and we shall ask Parliament to decide the conditions under which it will guarantee the loan, how it shall be spent and the securities that must be demanded.
"Our opponents say they will not have these treaties. Very well, so be it. Those opposed to these treaties are opposed to a settlement with Russia and trade with Russia. If the House of Commons will not allow us to make these treaties, the House of Commons had better censure us. Office is a great honor, but office has burdens; grandeur very soon goes and drudgery accumulates, which stays. Still, it is a great thing to have served one's country.
"If the House of Commons says we must go, in the words of one of my friends, it will be a happy message. But I do not think that the country wants a break. If we are forced to go, we shall go from the floor of the House of Commons to the public platform."
Platform. The Labor Party let it leak out that--in the event there comes a general election--its platform will embrace:
1) Bulk purchase and distribution at standard prices by the Government of principal commodities--a bold bid for popularity by promising cheaper food
2) Nationalization of the mines
3) Nationalization of power production (electricity, gas, etc.)
4) Continuance of the tax on land values
5) Acceleration of public works to provide employment--for five years the election cry of Conservatives and Liberals
6) Continuation of unemployment insurance.
The publication of these planks in the Labor platform, which are to be presented next week at a conference of the Party's executives, was thought by some to indicate that the schism within the Labor ranks was healed. Such was not necessarily the case; for Premier MacDonald is irretrievably bound to the Anglo-Russian Treaty--which is to be used as a lever to oust the Laborites (TIME, Sept. 29)--while Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Snowden is opposed to the financial clauses of the Treaty on the ground that the Government would be unable to finance the cheaper food scheme as contained in the above platform.
Churchill. Following ex-Premier Herbert H. Asquith's blunt excoriation of the Anglo-Russian Treaty as "a crude experiment in nursery diplomacy," Winston Churchill, brilliant factotum to Governments, whose political credo now transcends mere party politics (he seceded from the Liberals and is denied membership with the Conservatives), presented a clear picture of the predominant issue of the generally envisaged general elections. Said he, speaking at Edinburgh:
"Certainly in a few months, possibly in a few weeks, a general election will be fought at which the citizens have to decide whether they wish to see a Socialist Government installed in office with an effective Socialist majority behind it."
Socialism, according to Mr. Churchill, is "bluntly, nakedly and unavoidably" to be the paramount issue. His object is clear; it is to coalesce Conservatives and Liberals into an anti-Socialist Party, thus involving a return to the two-party system.
"I challenge the official Liberal leaders to define in terms of principle, or to state specifically, the large practical measures which separate them fundamentally from their Unionist fellow-countrymen."
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending upon the point of view, Mr. Churchill is not taken seriously. His appeal for cooperation and persevering action among men of good sense therefore fell upon many deaf ears, except in political circles, where "Winnie's" inimitable propensity for "bobbing up" is well known.