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Show PREMIER'S VICTORY. Lloyd George has triumphed temporarily tem-porarily by challenging his critics yfo overthrow his government. The majority ma-jority by which he won is convincing evidence that however well organized the drive against him, the present government's gov-ernment's conduct of the war has been satisfactory to the country. By a majority ma-jority of 131, the house of commons expressed ex-pressed confidence in the premier's administration. ad-ministration. At the outset the critics of the government gov-ernment made a strategic blunder. Instead In-stead of relying upon mismanagement of the armies and of production at home, they centered their criticisms on the A'ersailles war council. They attempted at-tempted to overturn the government on the ground that the united war council had declared unreservedly for a vigorous vigor-ous prosecution of the war without paying the slightest attention to the question of peace. They introduced an amendment expressing regret that "in accordance with tho decision of the supreme su-preme war council at Versailles, prose- , cution of the military effort is to be the only immediate task of the government." govern-ment." The minority, which cast twenty-eight votes, was composed main- i ly of pacifists. In other words, the agitation took the form of pacifism aud invited de- 1 feat. At Washington a similar drive agaiust the government showed much greater strength, because its backers demanded a more strenuous conduct of the war. The opposition to Lloyd George really had some valid criticisms, and they were voiced forcefully by Herbert Samuel, the former home secretary. He was able to demonstrate that the production pro-duction of food had fallen far below expectations, and that the shipbuilding programme had failed by half. Nor was it feeble criticism that the government, govern-ment, which had promised to reduce the production of beer to tpn million barrels, bar-rels, had permitted 1j,0ij0,uo0 to be hrewed. Id our own country radical radi-cal restrictions have been placed upon the manufacture of intoxicant?, so that we may conserve sufficient quantities of grain to supply the British with wheat. Our own people will not be inspire-' by the thought that the British government is permitting the production produc-tion of "I.'.O'iO.OOO barrels of beer annually, an-nually, for if the grain used for beer -houH be used for food, England would not require so much wheat from us and the s-hippin:: space would be saved thereby for war supplies. The drive cJgain?t the government tailed because the Biitr-h and American Ameri-can people are. determined to carry the war to a successful conclusion. .cUhcr money nor lives will be spared to win a victory that will keep the world from b'-ii'.g enslaved by Prussian despotism. It is significant that the opposition to the British government obtained it? strength for the most part from the professional pacifists. British labor, like American labor, is in no mood to accept a peace that will breed new wars. The P.ritish and American workmen work-men understand that peace ii impossible, impossi-ble, so long as a. chancellor at Berlin can coolly demand a peace which shall give Pru'siamsni supreme dominion by land and sea. Count von llertling's speech T,..JS an insulting dare to the allies. It was about, as much of a peace j-rojc-a) as Macbeth 's cry of "Lav on, Mar-duff, and damned be he that first, cries hold, cnon;'h ! ' ' The war council at Versailles was fulfilling it' only proper f und inn when it confije-l itself t(, the problems of the .-pring campaign. It coiibl consider con-sider pe;ice matters only if its at.ten-lion at.ten-lion v.crc celled to them by the allied govern rn'-ii t u, and the only step it, could li,'-,i t.'il.e v.'ijl'l be to "ii :pere! Iiotlli in lie.v of some p".'ne, negotiations negotia-tions v.hicli had been i na ii;'ii ra ted by the beili;er-ent go vern men t The very name of f!,e council, ''supreme war . conncil' is S" f i icien f I y i n-l i'-n t i ve of 1 i : s n.'jtore. The .onri'il confines itself - to military matter.-! and h-a , c. ,lo , .ano'ir ;'0 '. em oien t s the negotiations ! in;; . !.' - 1 h" liol h' ' i i are deiniifi'liey Ib'i. f.rrnrin ',oM'n;in and It'll mini be -'Tit I , ,-, c ' ' f.'.r The I nite, Mai-.., while grievously disappointed with Russia, Rus-sia, has no such grudge against her. -Minneapolis Tribune. |