Evening Post MONDAY, MAY 7, 1934. NATIONAL, GOVERNMENT'S PROSPECTS

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 106, 7 May 1934, Page 8

Evening Post MONDAY, MAY 7, 1934. NATIONAL, GOVERNMENT'S PROSPECTS

Mr. Austin Hopkinson, the Independent member for the Mossley Division of Lancashire, contributes another of his acute, brilliant, and witty- surveys of British politics to | the April number of the "Fortnightly I Review." ' The title of his article is | rather misleading, for "The Cost of National Government" suggests that it is financial extravagance that he has in view, and that he proposes to show that the Government is not getling full value for its annual expenditure which still stands at about £750,000,000. But so far is the article from discussing finance that, except for a few dates, there is not a single figure in it from start lo finish. It is with the co«t of government in the broadest sense that Mr. Hopkinson is concerned—its cost in efficiency,, in piinciple, and in its , ultimate effccls.'upon the alignment'of parties and the stability of politics. His grave view of. the outlook is rather emphasised than relieved' by the humour which lie is unable to resist. He opens with the remark 'that the present political situation must be a delightful study for the disinterested observer with a taste for -the,paradoxical and the whimsical. -

But those who share in the responsibility for tho • welfare of tho nation may well fiud it less amusing. Pot their ?'onl v v comfort is the "knowledge tliat'maiiy incidents in 'our past history appear to show that we can safoly practise absurdities, yet still survive, and enu Wen draw national progress from national illogicality. Tho supremo paraj dox is, of course, ouV-Priine Minister. Mr.. Hopkinson- makes no attempt to extenuate the gravity of the peril that brought the National Government into being, "in the autumn of 19ol' we'were,'' he says, "on the brink of the abyss," and he strips Ihe stark teality of any disguise when he interprets this figurative language j as meaning that ''the time was rapidly ! approaching when employers of I labour would have sent their cheques :lu the bank on Friday to obtain cash j for the week's wages, and would have . failed to get it." The imminence of I this disaster was ihe inevitable result of the "childish notions of finance" ' which had been put into practice by j die present Prime Minister and his j colleagues in ihe Labour Govern- ! riient. ,•' ,-. Tho nation,, says Air. Hopkinson, realised'its'.peril, .demanded a constitutional dictatorship^ signified its readi-' ness, to submit to the unpleasant 'pro-; cess of financial rehabilitation, called1 for a strong man, and acclaimed—Mr. Ramsay MacDonaia. But, hidden beneath this "superficial' ! delight of our nation in politicall , farce," Mr. Hopkinson is pleased to recognise a vein of- common sense. : While thus' satisfying its' love of .farce, the nation .'met the "demands of common sense by! arranging to have . iwo Prime Ministers.' ■,

This -consulate .of Caesar . and Garrulous is now in its third year, Mr. Hopkinson -writes, and hus been " so successful that we can, without immediate lisk of'ruin, practise-in a modified form, some of tho political follies which" brought us to the -verge of bankruptcytwo -and a half years ago.

Mr.' Hopkinson nevertheless admits that to advocate a change of nominal Prime Minister is altogether out of the question. ' He regards that matter as settled by the undertaking which was given by the' Conservatives when the National Government was formed, and from which they could only be released" by Mr. Mac Donald himself. He describes Mr. Baldwin as "perhaps the only man prominent in politics today who can be depended' upon to'risk .political ruin by carrying out such an undertaking." In the eyes of disappointed office-seekers and other Conservative malcontents the crime of their leader is that "he values the honour 6f his party "more highly than its immediate advantage, but Mr. Hopkinson is equally satisfied that Mr. Baldwin is in the right and that he will stick to it. At the same time he regards the contention that the Government is national and non-party as a pretence which deceives nobody and need not be maintained. Yet Mr. Hopkinson sees some advantages in the extrinsic elements which qualify its strictly Conservative charecter, and it is particularly pleasant to find him saying a good word for Sir John Simon, who, as he says, has been bitterly attacked in the Press, and often very unfairly. Mr. Hopkinson does not deny the failures of Sir John's foreign policy, but his policy has been xhat of the Cabinet, and he was set an 'impossible task: * ■

It is unfair, says Mr. Hopkinson, to criticise' the Foreign Secretary on. the ground that he lias failed to induce foreign nations to behavo reasonably and to , disarm. For no critic would data to suggest . that anyone else could have'succocded. Indeed, it would appear that the only justifiable doubt of Sir John Simon's fitness for tho office which'he holds arises from his extraordinary forensic ability. Brilliant advocates arc prone to think that, if you can reduce a man to silence by argumont, you niust necessarily have convinced him .that ho is wrong. Yet nothing _is fui'tho" from'the truth, and our diplomatic history seems to show that subtlety on the part of our adversaries^is best opposed by a certain simplicity and directness on our part. No one outside official circles can really know enough about the matter to judgo whether our present. Foreign Secretary would do better service to the country iin another office. But we may, I think,

feel certain that the Government would be weakened if ho ceased to be a member of it. '

Other satisfactory points in Mr. Hbpkinson's very candid estimate are the high praise that he awards to the administration of a majority both of the most important Ministers, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Home Secretary, the Secretary for India, the War Secretary, and the First Lord of the Admiralty, and of the holders of minor offices, as both honest and competent.

With all its faults, he adds, the Conservative Party cau at least fiud men enough to make up a Cabinet whijh inspires confidence, if not enthusiasm. Unhappily the other two parties suffer from a shortage of such material, which 1)60011)08 moro acute every yea\ that passes.

Yet the chances of the Labour Party have improved and are improving because for about two years the Conservatives allowed it to have almost a monopoly of popular agitation. "It is not enough," says Mr. Hopkinson, "that the Government should be incapable of corruption, as the present Government obviously is. It must also abstain from the appearance of evil, take the people into its confidence,, and advertise its good works."

Mr. Baldwin's Albeit Hall speech which was reported on Saturday is just the kind of propaganda that is needed. He has no skill in blowing his own trumpet, but he enjoys a greater ■.■•popularity and carries greater wight than any other man in Englan_d, and in die foresight and the determination with which his colleague the' ■ Chancellor of the Exchequer had "stuck grimly ,and stoutly" to an unpopular course, and in the "magnificent courage"' of the British people he had congenial themes. They have already received some compensation. They have only to "stick it out" and the reward will be complete. It is on this characteristically Baldwinian and characteristically British note that the nation may be expected to win if the Government continues to play the game.