The Dominion.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2200, 13 July 1914, Page 6

The Dominion.

MONDAY, JULY 13, ISU. '< V' .'V' y•'''' • ' v .'.t v 1 -A DWINDLING MAJORITY > "THE.'-BritUh Cabinet is; seriously; considering. ; the backward state 'of. j •Parliamentaryi business and the mutinous attitude of'sections of;iits .fol-' lowers.'' . So'\wc are: informed by a cablegram': which' appeared in; Satur-. day's'issue.:,: It is - also .stated .that. "Ministers for .the first time in eight and a half years are alarmed about "their, majority." The authority on -which,' this; information is-b'ased is riot disclosed, but it has been, obvious • for -some time, past that the troubles of the Asquith Government ; have, been almost,; overwhelming. ; It; is, faced, by a .'strong and determined Opposition, 'and.is;weakened-:by dissensions within jt-s own- rariksi Some' 1 of the Radicals arc not satisfied with. ■'Mil. Lloyd George's financial proposals, and a number of the Liberal Churchmen 'think that : the; disendow- , lrient " clauses of'. the Welsh Church Disestablishment Bill arc too'drastic. ■As regards . Home Rule, the English Nonconformists:view.with ''.alarm the application ;of anything in the nature if.cper'cion ta Ulster; while the. Nationalists still declare' that they ■ will; not'.-agree'to the abolition of the time limit. The position,of the Government has been still further shaken by the-TCcent'Army crisis; which resulted in the resignation of Colonel Seely, who was succeeded by Me. Asquith, himself, as. .Minister' of War, and. on the. top of all these anxieties comes-the. double defeat of; Mr.'- ' Mastkrmax, a member, of. the Cabinet, who has been rejected'both by- Bethnal Green and Ipswich. "The prestige bf the Government has been<in the down : grade ever s i ncc i as t' general election. Everything seems 'to have gone: wrong, .but as long & the' Coalition" can hold together thev will have a sufficient, majority, 'with the help of the Act, to •place their principal measures on the Statute Book. All attempts to' force, a dissolution have so far ended in failure,;'and. it now 'seerris inevitable that Home Rule ,in, some form, and. ■ Wel'shv' Disestablishment, must 1 soon become la,\v. The outlook in Ireland is, still very gloomy, for no agree- 1 "nieiit -has .. yet been' reached 011 'the Ulster question,- though the'twovolunteer armies are making . ready for battle./ It'., is no wonder that the] British Cabinet is seriously, consideriiur the position. , ... ■; ; The results of 'the,.by-elections, and tho spirit of revolt whichhas made it'self felt within the vanka. of>the Liboral-Labou'r-Nationalist Coalition

make, it easy ; to , believe that tho Government. is becoming alarmed about its majority, which has fallen from 126 to ill since the last npncral election. The.only seat which tho Unionists have lost is Londonderry, and their net gain on a. division' is now; no fewer than 32 votes. The state' of parties in the House of Commons is. as follows:.—.^ Unionists ........ 288 ' . .Liberals .2(11 Labour 37 ■Nationalists fo Independent Nationalists 8 ' • ■■■'" - —7■ 382 '

Coalition' majority ..........,r. !tl In a recent article dealing with the dwindling- Coalition ; majority,' the London .Morning "-P-oit' pointed out 1 that since early in 1911 the Unionists havo'been'the*largest .party in the House, and are at the present time 27 more Unionists than Liberals, so that-the Ministry' could . not last .for a day but for the support' of - .-the Nationalist arid Labour groups. The trend' of public opinion in, the United Kingdom during the : last ten years is indicated by. tho .change that has come over the composition .of the' House, of Commons; At the opening of the session of -1906. the Coalition had an majoi-ity of. 356.' The Unionists' gained-: M. v s&te'":.'at'.'by-.-elections between-1906 and 1910, and at the; general election • in, January, /1910, they won.over a hundred seats, •a.nd the .Coalition majority was reduced, to 124. Another general, election, took place in December of . the same year, bringing the present Parliament, intoexistence;;; but little! change., resulted in- the balance of parties, the Coalitioi} majority beine;'. 126. Since that time the by-elections have proved so -disastrous to the. Coalition '. 'that': it's . majority now stands at 94. During the present year the 1 Unionists have gained Bcthnal Green, Leit-h Burghs, NorthEast' .Derbyshire, .and Ipswich, just at a time when "it .was of the. utmost ,importance.'to .the Government that' it;,,should' '.receive somosort of. endorsement .from ■ the electors' for its Home- Rule and Welsh DisestablishmejSb;'Billß'.y But approval, groat petitions have been forwarded by.'- Welsh ; Nonconformists against disendowment, while the by-elections-must be regarded as expressing the , dissatisfaction 'of the'. •; electors • with' the Government's handling of the ; Irish.■ : jprobierii..lt is generally: felt; general election 1 must spqnjbe, held,, and-, if the by-elections reveal the true, state of public, feel-; ing,;'ifc is, quite probable that 'the -Unionists may command a majority .in the new Parliament, for: if' they, secure'a net gain of 48 ' steate—which is by no means an impossible - task—they ; all tlie:'other.;parties' combined., There ; are ,man,v signs that the- Coalition's 'ifcijetigtlr' is ebbing. away in. the electorates,';',and 'if' hqthing-.'happen's'iri the: mean time v .to' .theltide of- defeat; the oomirig .general. elpctiph';''miy- ; .Tesult- , ,.ih : .'!tlA;' downfall, ofthe/ 'Asq;uithVAdminis*.' trafcion. , ";i; V;;■ (:■/;,V. : ,