DRAMATIC CLIMAX

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26619, 15 November 1947, Page 7

DRAMATIC CLIMAX

TENSION IN HOUSE RUMOURS OF GOVERNMENT’S RESIGNATION Rec. 11 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 14. The dramatic development of Mr Dalton’s resignation from the Cabinet and Sir Stafford Cripps’s appointment as Chancellor occurred after the Ho„se of Commons had been buzzing with rumours ranging from the resignation of Mr Dalton to reports that the Government was resigning. Mr Attlee saw the King after holding a meeting of senior Ministers and offering Sir Stafford the Chancellorship. While this drama was enacted behind the scenes, Mr Dalton’s Budget was under the fire of criticism in the Commons. The first hint that something was happening came when Mr Attlee cancelled his engagement lo speak at a dinner of the Printers’ Pension Corporation. The lobbies of the Commons produced strong opinions on ** leakage.” Many Labour memoers claimed that Mr Dalton should in 110 •circumstances consider it necessary to resign. Mr Dalton, after apologising to the House, added: “1 take the blame for having committed an indiscretion in my relationship with a correspondent whom I have known for a period of years. I do not think it would be suitable for me to pass judgment on him.” • Mr Dalton's resignation adds an astonishing chapter to parliamentary history, says the Daily Mail. “There have been Budget leakages in the past, but never from a Chancellor of the Exchequer,” The financial correspondent of the Daily Express says the Star’s stop press story, although on the streets at 3.45 on Wednesday, did not make anybody’s fortune. The Stock Exchange was closed, and members were observing the usual agreement not to operate after closing time' on Budget day. The circumstances of Mr Dalton’s resignation are widely regretted, says The Times parliamentary correspondent. Whatever views may be taken of his handling of the nation’s financial affairs through a very difficult period, he has proved one of the most able and distinguished men in the Government, and one who carried great authority in the Labour Party. His resignation, the correspondent adds, is a severe loss to the Government. The parliamentary correspondent of the Daily Express predicts that Mr Dalton will soon be back in office, not only because of .his ability, but also because of the support he commands. “Ability and support are his distinctive features,” the correspondent says, “ and they do not always go together among the Socialists.” In view of Mr Dalton’s resignation, .it is unlikely that Mr Churchill's motion for a Select Committee of Inquiry will be proceeded with, says the political correspondent of the Sunday Mail. The motion was tabled before Mr Dalton’s resignation was announced. Mr Dalton told John Carvel, the Star’s lobby correspondent, the main heads of the Budget proposals without placing any embargo on the information. Maybe he calculated that if it were used, it could not possibly be published before his announcements were made in the House of Commons. The Daily Telegraph, in a leader, says that Mr Dalton showed very proper spirit in not Peking to disguise or evade his responsibility and utmost punctiliousness in following his confession by his resignation. But that is not to say that he ought not to have resigned. The standards of British public life arc high and exacting inexorably, and if the slightest departure from them were tb be condoned, parliamentavy Institutions would suffer. Their reputation' is more important than the career of any man. A Daily Express editorial says there is and can. be no suggestion that Mr Dalton’s disclosure of Budget proposals had any motive other than willingness to help an old acquaintance in his work, but his lapse is politically still one of the gravest which, can be committed by a Minister of the Crown. The Daily Herald comments that it is a tragedy that a career so full of achievement should be thus halted.