Egg to Poor

What the British Isles can expect in the likely event that Labor wins the next general election glaringly appeared last week. Just a year ago the London County Council was captured by Laborite municipal candidates, led by onetime Errand Boy Herbert Morrison, "The Next Labor Prime Minister."

By no means a Bolshevik, Mr. Morrison always turns up at Council meetings in an impeccably pressed tailcoat. He has been called "precise, businesslike, even stodgy, the perfect administrator." On taking office he found in his lap a nest egg of -L-2,000,000, salted away in London County Council's treasury by Conservatives. Last week Perfect Administrator Morrison, having run through his nest egg, made London householders wince by taking steps to raise their rates (taxes) to the extortionate percentage of seven shillings in the pound (31%). Said "Next Prime Minister"* Morrison: "The money has gone in treating all the poor of London more humanely, providing more homes for the aged poor, and more free education, and modernizing hospitals, improving their dietary and increasing their staffs.''

As Prime Minister, on this showing, the Perfect Administrator can be counted on to unbalance Britain's budget and get the Empire magnificently out of gear in the name of Humanity and Dietetics. Feeling that a "national emergency" exists in the fact that Herbert Morrison today is probably the people's choice, members of His Majesty's Government were believed last week to have up their sleeves a scheme to block 1936's scheduled general election and keep the Perfect Administrator out of No. 10 Downing St. until 1939 (see p. 20).

*The Leader of the London County Council is often loosely called "The Prime Minister of London" and the Council is often called still more loosely "The Parliament of London.'' One hundred and twenty-four councilors are elected to the Council by London householders every three years. The No. 1 councilman of the majority party becomes officially Leader or "Prime Minister." He has an unofficial ''Cabinet" consisting of the eight chairmen of the Council's principal committees. In session the Council (see cut) greatly resembles the House of Commons. Its chairman or "Speaker" is proposed by the Leader and is today Lord Snell (see p. 20).

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