Parasites, Mirth, Pup

Certain that politics will go on forever, complacent Britons nonetheless noticed last week these alarming political symptoms:

Labor v. Majesty. Both His Majesty and His Majesty's National Government have been denounced in the House of Commons before, but never quite so abusively as last week by Glasgow Laborite John McGovern: "His Majesty's Government are crooks! The MacDonald Government are a Gutter Government! I say that the Royal Family are part of a parasitical class which is living on the common people of this country!"

"Go on! Go on!" Abuser McGovern was urged by a fellow Laborite, as the Speaker tried to stop him with cries of "Order! Order!"

"If your class goes to war," roared Scot McGovern at the Government Bench, "I hope the workers will use their rifles on the ruling classes! . . . We pay King George -L-10,750 per week*. . . We pay -L-25,000 yearly to the Duke and Duchess of Kent-- or a shilling per minute!-- and when a child comes they will get -L-10,000 more. . . . I tell you that instead of spending still more money on the King's Silver Jubilee, black flags should be hung out as mourning for the common people who are being destroyed!"

Two days later suggestions that His Majesty proclaim an amnesty in celebration of his Silver Jubilee this spring were icily rebuffed from the Government Bench by Scottish Home Secretary Sir John Gilmour, not in the least disconcerted by Laborite McGovern's bluster. "Regardless of what other countries might do in similar circumstances," said Sir John, "Britain must adopt her own custom."

Luton v. Ramsay-As he grows less and less popular, Prime Minister James Ramsay MacDonald is abused and heckled by audiences more and more, but last week at Luton the ruled classes received Orator MacDonald with jeers, catcalls, laughter-- far more dangerous than heckling or abuse. Sensing that he had become ridiculous, Scot MacDonald lost his temper and with it his usual audience control. For the first time he failed to win silence and a hearing, left Luton amid cruel mirth.

Attempting to speak next, Conservative Solicitor General Sir Donald Somervell provoked bedlam by opening with the words "You have just listened to a great speech by a great man."

Churchill v. Baldwin. Not Ramsay MacDonald but Stanley Baldwin is leader of the Conservative Party which dominates the House of Commons, sustains the National Government. By what his friends call "masterly inaction" Mr. Baldwin has kept his Party from splitting internally, the natural and dangerous tendency of any too-great majority. Year after year die-hard Tories led by Winston Churchill have attacked moderate Tory Baldwin for his bumbling virtues, which seem to them defects. Masterly inaction, they say, is going to cost Britain the loss of India, and with India the Empire will be lost. Last year Mr. Churchill fought Leader Baldwin in party caucus and lost.

Last week Mr. Churchill tried the trick of unleashing upon Leader Baldwin a cheeky and supercilious young man called "that pup!" in Mayfair where he used to work as a gossip-gatherer for William Randolph Hearst.

The pup happens to be Statesman Churchill's son Randolph. He went yapping out to Waver tree, a suburb of Liverpool rated as "safely Conservative" and tried to knife the regular Conservative candidate in a by-election last week by standing for election himself as an "Independent Conservative." Dashing about Wavertree, Candidate Churchill brandished banners reading "DOWN WITH THE OLD CAUCUS!" in which Father Churchill was defeated and "NO SURRENDER IN INDIA!"

A successful lecturer to women's clubs, Pup Churchill again succeeded last week. Not winning Wavertree himself, he nevertheless polled 10,575 ballots, thus knifing Conservative James Platt who polled 13,771, and throwing the victory to Laborite J. J. Clearn who won 15,611.

To the Empire this was important because it badly rocked the majority party's boat, suggested that masterly Inactor Baldwin may be forced to act, a prospect fraught with parlous implications.

*Since the King is in hereditary possession of the Crown Lands, since their enormous revenues are turned over to the Exchequer, and since His Majesty receives from the Exchequer only a fraction of this sum, the Kingdom has technically made itself an expense to the King, a parasite upon the royal purse.

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