LEGACIES OF THE WAR.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 2008, 29 July 1919, Page 3

LEGACIES OF THE WAR.

MR. ASQUITH AS CRITIC,

London, July 26th,

.Mr Asquith, speaking at Edgware, expressed serious misgivings regarding our policy in Russia. The future Government of Russia should be made by the Russians alone. He said that the latest official pronouncement regarding Ireland was most disquieting and -discouraging. The economic conditions of the world and of Britain had never been more menacing. We had faulty administration, there were excessive prices, inflated currency, extravagant profits in favoured trades, and the transport facilities were deficient and dislocated. These legacies of the war demanded prompt and drastic handling. There was no common policy for the co-ordina-tion of the nation’s powers under a central responsible Government. Public expenditure was rising. There had never been so many placemen in the House of Commons since the days of Queen Anne. No House of Commons had ever, within six months of election, possessed in a lesser degree the nation’s confidence and rerspeet. We needed real representative Parliament. We -would never make any real advance toward industrial peace until we were able, with full Cabinet authority, to deal with the situation as a whole. Referring to the reactionary spirit underlying the Triple Labour Alliance’s ballot, Mr Asquith said that this meant direct action. He warned his hearers that Parliamentary institutions here and elsewhere were undergoing a severe trial. They would not emerge with success unless developed to meet the present needs. Meanwhile there must be no delay in restoring to the House of Commons its permanent and independent authority over the whole machinery of government. Never before was the Liberal Party more needed, with its principles of freedom, equality, and diffusion of justice for all men.