The Dominion SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1921. THE IRISH DISTRACTION

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 280, 20 August 1921, Page 6

The Dominion SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1921. THE IRISH DISTRACTION

An early general election in the United Kingdom is an obvious possibility in view of the unpromising aspect now worn by the Irish negotiations. If Mr. de Valera and his Sinn Fein supporters refuse to conclude a peaceful settlement on the generous terms they are offered, the British Government will probably appeal to the country on the issue. Necessary and inevitable as it may become, an election in these conditions would be an unqualified misfortune, not only from the Irish standpoint, but in its bearing on the general politics of the United Kingdom. A general election on the Irish issue perhaps offers the Coalition Government its readiest means of obtaining a new lease of power, but it would be apt to postpone the reorganisation and quickening of political activities which is very badly needed in order that the country may bo piloted through its present difficulties.. It is recognised both inside and outside the Coalition that there is great need of a process of political renovation and readjustment in order that pressing national problems may receive tho practical attention and treatment they demand. The conditions reached arc in some respects extraordinary. The Coalition still holds about four-fifths of the seats in the House of Commons, but it has failed to maintain the standards of an effective working combination. and the figures of numerous by-elections demonstrate that it has seriously lost ground and favour in the country.

, While the deterioration of the Coalition is undeniable, it seems equally apparent that no alternative Government is available in the existing state of British political parties. Mr. Asquith and his “Wee Frees”—the Manchester Liberals who uphold the doctrines of “pure party”—are assuredly' not in a position to fill the breach. It is obvious enough that a Coalition of some kind must continue to hold the reins of power in the United Kingdom, and indeed this is no new thing in British politics. Mb. /■ squitii himself was never Prime Minister save as the leader of a Coalition —the working combination of Liberals, Labour men, and Nationalists which dominated the House of Commons from 1908 until 1915 was certainly a Coalition in fact if not in name —and so long as they adhere to their present standpoint he and the members of his “forlorn fragment” are definitely out of the running. The Labour Party, though it now talks of contesting five hundred seats, and may improve its present position, seems as ill-quali-fied as Mr. Asquith and his group to play a decisive part. Thb Lahonr Party as it is at present constituted was recently summed up by the London Observer as “the dullest and feeblest party of its size there has ever been in the House of Commons.” It is. according to the same authority, the weakest in leadership, and the average of its rank and file are the weakest in critical and constructive faculty. “They are tho poorest attenders on record, because there is so much of regular public business they do not understand; and they feel themselves to be equally without interest or usefulness for what they do not understand.” This criticism does not seem unduly severe in view of the poor showing the Labour Party has made in recent times in the House of Commons. Tho “Wee Frees” and the Labour Party are alike far from offering a practicable alternative to the Coalition, and the detached Unionist group

which is led by tho brothers Cecil is for the time being as little important from that standpoint. The whole position, of course, would be transformed if the Coalition were dissolved, but there is verv little doubt that this would be diametrically opposed to the interests of the nation. With its shortcomings, the Coalition has one strong claim to consideration. It includes those elements in ths several parties which are anxious to deal with the affairs of the nation at this critical period from a higher standpoint than of party. A Coalition Unionist M.P. (Mr. E. E. Wild), who unsparingly denounced the attempt recently made by Lord Salisbury to break up the Coalition, declared that the worst disaster that could happen to tho country “would be the triumph of any single party in the House or at the polls, unless such party be, in deed and in truth, in comprehensiveness and in vision, a National Party.” Much as it has fallen into disarray in recent times, the Coalition undoubtedly contains the elements which in the present state of British politics are needed to constitute an effective National Party. More is to bo hoped from reviving and reinvigorating the Coalition than from allowing the control of national affairs to pass to any single party or alternative combination. If distractions amongst which the Irish issue now ranks as most formidable were removed, there would be some hope of rousing the Coalition to an effective pitch' of energy and initiative. The Government has just set up a committee on economy with a membership which commands respect and warrants the confident expectation of a report which will point the wa.y to a really purposeful policy in the interests of financial rehabilitation and commercial and industrial revival. With the vital issues here involved given the prominence they deserve in the period leading up to an election and in the election itself, the country would be well placed to exact efficient political service. The development of the Irish crisis raises a danger that in respect of all other issues the existing! confusion and disarray of politics may bo deepened.