TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1918. S'fIITAIN'S plain verdict

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 81, 31 December 1918, Page 4

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1918. S'fIITAIN'S plain verdict

! No Government resting on popular suffrage could desire a more em- | phatic vote of confidence than is implied in the overwhelming victory of the Coalition in Great Britain. A summarised return which was published yesterday, and has not been superseded at time of writing, credited the Coalition with 502 seats I in the House of Commons out of a 1 total of 707. Apparently; the total of 502 includes about thirty members who did not wear the Coalition label, but intend to support the present Government. . The success _of i the Coalition is not overwhelming only from the standpoint of the '■ number of seats captured. Particulars thus far cabled, though they are 'incomplete, show that it is remarkable also on account of the defeat by big majorities of the leaders and members of hostile parties and factions. Mr. Lloyd George's own return was triumphant. Mr. Asquith was defeated by a majority of two thousand. His supporters are now explaining that the readjustment of boundaries added a big block of Conservative territory to his electorate, but no doubt the practical test of an appeal to the people was needed to show how the land really lay. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald's defeat by a three to one majority in Leicester W. also deserves particular attention. There is no more aggressive and fanatical member of the extreme pacifist faction than the Jate member for Leicester, and his decisive overthrow in a constituency he had represented in several Parliaments is one of the clearest proofs the election has afforded of the determination of the people of Great Britain that their delegates shall take up no weak attitude at the Peace Conference. An American commeutator sums .up the popular verdict as "an amazing and extraordinary tribute to the Coalition Government and vote of confidence ,in the greatest personality the war has produced." No doubt Mr. Lloyd George's weighty personal influence was a big factor making for the victory of his Government and the composite party behind it, but it would probably be wandering a long .way from the facts to ascribe the victory mainly to the operation of this factor or to anything in the nature of an unreflecting wave of enthusiasm.

On the facts in sight it seems likely that the election will stand out in history as one in which the verdict of the electors definitely, represented a reasoned judgment on the issues at stake. Leaving Ireland out of account, the action of the electors was in a-remarkable degree consistentand indicates an altogether exceptional unanimity of national sentiment. The Coalition submitted a clear-cut programme. Its essential features weK officially summarised in the following terms:— (1) To punish tlio Kaiser. (2) To make Germany pay. (3) To get the soldiers home as early as possible. (4) Fair treatment for returned soldiers and sailors.

(5) Better housing and social conditions. These were vital issues plainly stated upon which it was no very difficult matter for any elector of ordinary intelligence to reach a definite conclusion. _ A decision favourable to the Coalition was made the more likely by the fact that the attitude of its opponents (always excepting Ireland) was hesitant and ill-defined. On behalf of his party Mr. Asquith joined issue with the Government chiefly on the ground that the election was ill-timed (as it certainly has proved to be from his point of view) and in his uncompromising defence of free trade. The Labour Party also declared without reservation for free trade, and gave prominence in its election manifesto to housing and other social reforms. Tho Coalition stood out as the only political combination in sight ready and able to deal resolutely with the urgent and all-im-portant issues of peace upon which it alone, through its leaders, had expressed itself forcibly and with dccision,_ and at the same time pledged itself to the vigorous prosecution of social reforms. Its opponents offered nothing more than a real, though vaguely defined, weakening of the Government's attitude in regard to conditions of peace, and an echo of its social reform proposals. That in the circumstances the British electors plumped for the Coalition does not call for any more far-fetched explanation than that they were actuated lay sound sense and a clear perception of the vital though in some respects simple issues at stake. As has been said, the trend of the voting was remarkably consistent. The Government has been given a vote of confidence and a mandate which admit of no misunderstanding. The men who would have hampered it most seriously in giving effect to its ' policy have been decisively aside. Hostile factions, except in Ireland, have been cut or kept down to a minimum. The Labour Party has increased its total of seats from 40 to 65, but the gain is extraordinarily small in view of the democratic broadening of the franchise which r>receded the election. Another striking indication of the consistent determination of the electors to give the Government a free hand appears in the return of men like Sir Eric Geddes and Dr. Addison, who lack and despise the arts of the politician, but are qualified by exceptional ability and or-

ganising power k> render signal service to the State.

All the facts in eight support the single conclusion that the Government is solidly supported by tho nation in the policy, it is pledged to uphold at the Peace Conference—a policy which will demonstrate once for all that criminal nations which in the hope of plunder plunge the world into the horrors- of war invite a terrible retribution. The overwhelming victory of flic Coalition is not without a bearing on domestic and Imperial politics. For instance, it manifestly involves a staggering defeat for the uncompromising defenders of free trade. But it is above all an express mandate to the Government to carry out its declared policy of making Germany as far as possible pay for and make good the havoc she- has wrought in the world. It is probably not going too far to say that such a verdict as the British electors have cast was the last thing needed to ensure this policy being firmly upheld and enforced by the Allies. There is no doubt that France and Italy and the smaller Allied nations' will follow the lead trie British Government is now in a. position to give, nor is there any apparent danger of the representatives of the United States striking a jarring note at the Peace Conference. The indications ■are decidedly to the contrary. During the last day or two President Wilson has made a series of statements which, though cast in general terms, suggest that in regard to the essential issues of peace he is in close accord with the British statesmen whose policy has been so emphatically endorsed by the people at the polls. It is the more readily to be believed that- these statements accurately indicate the President's attitude since recent events and the development and expression of opinion in his own country have been well calculated to impel him into closer touch with the Allies and correct any tendency on his part to show undue leniency to Germany. Something has been said during.the last day or two about the tremendous reception accorded to President Wilson in England, but what is really being celebrated in those popular demonstrations, or at all events what is best worth celebrating, is less the arrival of the distinguished American statesman than the rapidly-developing unity of sentiment between the two great branches of the English-speaking race. It should not bo forgotten that the British election of which the returns have just been made public followed closely upon a Congressional election in the United States which resulted in a definite victory for the Republicans—the party whose leaders and' members are avowedly bent upon enforcing a straightforward and practical treatment of peace issues by the President. The British election and the American election are complemcnI tary in their results as marking a united determination by the two ' nations to enforce the policy of making Germany pay to the utmost in every just and feasible way for the havoc she has wrought in the world.