THE WAIKATO TIMES With which Is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 1930. BRITISH POLITICS.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17981, 28 March 1930, Page 6

THE WAIKATO TIMES With which Is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 1930. BRITISH POLITICS.

There seems to he much excitement in political circles at Home over the understanding which is presumed to have taken place between the Liberal and Labour parties. It cannot be .said that there is anything to be surprised at, for there are many questions on which Liberals and Labour men are in substantial agreement. The really wonderful thing is that they have not agreed before, and for .this it is probable that Mr Ramsay MacDonald is chiefly responsible. He assumes on all occasions that it is his party 'alone which is anxious to benefit the country and that those opposed to him are actuated by unworthy motives. It is not three months since he made a vicious personal attack on Mr Lloyd George for opposing some of the provisions of the Coal Bill. His colleague, Mr Graham, the Secretary of the Board of Trade, has adopted most of the Liberal amendments and embodied them in his bill. He apparently does not share Mr MacDonald’s objections to working for definite purposes with another party. If the price of alliance is the abandonment of the opposition to some of the clauses in the Coal Bill it cannot be said there is much to rejoice at. The Liberals are said to have obtained a promise that the electoral system shall be reformed and there is certainly a great necessity that this shall be done, for the results of elections as conducted at present are a matter of chance. They do not in any way represent the opinion of the majority. Tt is not creditable to politicians that both the Conservative and Labour par.ties have neglected to make any attempt to amend what is confessed to be an injustice. At the same time it seems to be the height of folly to allow the existing system to remain. Politicians seem to be fatuous enough to think that when they attain power they will keep it for ever, and that the chances of elections will never turn against them. It was supposed that this was a Conservative peculiarity, but the Labour party have shown that theyshare it. Possibly the Liberals would be the same if they were in power. It ■will probably be pointed out to Mr Ramsay MacDonald that he could not be induced to make any attempt to amend the electoral system until he was in a light corner. He was willing to benefit by a bad system. Even now' it is said that there is no prospect of anything being clone until the end, not of this session but of the next, so that for this length of time the Labour party will have a free hand. It is not at all unlikely that the compact will not last the period. The Liberals are a peculiar party, all officers and no privates. Although their numbers are so small, there is more ability in their ranks than in cither of the other parties. One consequence of this is that the members think for themselves, and may possibly refuse to follow Mr Lloyd George’s lead and support the Labour party. The Conservative press are perturbed that Mr Ramsay .MacDonald should preside over the Imperial Conference at the end of this year and over the coming Indian Conference. Like Mr Ramsay MacDonald, they believe in the Divine Right of .their own party and think the times are out of joint when they are not in pow'er. They carry this feeling so far that for some time the majority of the party have ceased to attend the House. It was for this reason that the Labour party were able to carry the Coal Bill. At present they are conducting a campaign in the country for Imperial Free Trade, and it is said that this was what first drew the Liberals and the Labour leaders together. There is much that is artificial in the propaganda, and also in the opposition to the propaganda. Imperial Free Trade is impossible because the Dominions will not take part. The name, however, is a good one, and therefore it is used to cover a movement for protection. * The Labour party leaders oppose Protection, and Mr Snowden at least is in earnest. It is known, however, that many of their followers, especially in the textile trades, have a hankering for protection, and it is not unlikely that the question will split both the Conservative and the Labour parties. It differs from many of the questions on which politicians wrangle in that it is one on which men feel deeply on either side. It is not merely an excuse for argument. A short time since we argued that the three-party system made it possible that measures would be considered on their merits. It is certainly possible, but it seems to be more likely that it will lead to log-rolling. There is nothing wrong in the Labour party desiring to save their CoaL Bill, or the Liberal party desiring a measure of electoral reform, but if it leads to Liberal support of Labour action which on its merits they would disapprove, it is a misfortune and may come to be a disaster. It .substitutes political manoeuvring for voting on conviction. Incidentally one may be somewhat surprised at the bargain. Some years ago a political cartoon represented the Conservative party as the young lady of Riga, who went for a walk with a tiger, the tiger ha-ing the strongest resemblance to the late Mr Joseph Chamberlain. It might have been thought that Mr Ramsay MacDonald in journeying with Mr Lloyd George would meet the same fate, but it looks as if he had the best of the bargain. He is to get assistance at once and to pay .the price 18 months hence. Anything may happen in that time to prevent the carrying out of the bargain, the most likely thing being that the Liberal party will tire of it before the end comes.