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Show I r : ' I The British Elections i , : The forthcoming British elections are fraught with consider Able importance to the United States, although the imprcssiof might prevail in some quarters that they are not significant to th i ,' political and commercial relations existing between the two coun- . ,rie'- I ' Writing from this great distance of the political battle which i is now raging in the British isles fails to provide one with an abso- ; lute cue as to what might happen if one or other of the parties gain 5 i office, but there are certain features appearing on the surface which are patent to everyone. ' ! Two of the big issues confronting tiie people of the British ' isles will be home rule for Ireland and the Welsh disestablishment I r- iiin. Opinion sffms to be a much divided on these issues as the r division on the question of the mining amendment recently voted upon by the people of Utah. Besides these two issues, questions affecting the working people peo-ple rf the United Kingdom and Ireland and the program of rccon-! rccon-! struction with the ending of war, figure in the campaign speeches. ! David Lloyd George has asked that his government be retained in power. Lloyd George went to parliament as a Liberal. He j has always been a staunch Liberal, thus differing greatly to Winston ! Churchill, former lord of the admiralty and now minister of niu-, niu-, nitlons. HoyH n.-nrpr .-.vinot. and is not, as a matter of fact, arrcalin::. to the people of the British isles to return Liberals to power. He ' is asking that the coalition power of control be retained. Thus the i people to a large extent will not in this election vote on strictly straight party lines. Lloyd George asks that the coalition govern-; ment, which saw the war through to successful conclusion, be re-1 tained so that it may continue a program of construction. If Lloyd George is returned to power, it goes without saying I that the present relations between Britain and the United States willj be extended and a greater unity will undoubtedly spring therefrom. ! .' If, off the other hand, the opposition succeeds, it would, at this time, ' be mere conjecture to state what reflection would be seen on thir. side of the Atlantic. There would certainly have to be considerable! reorganization work. . : ' It would be idle to suppose that any opinion .rendered at thi ! distance would have any weight on Britain's political situation. The j' opinion here given is not for that purpose, but to indicate the povsi-; bilitier arising from the British elections. ; It is clear that Lloyd George will be returned, personally, although his government might be defeated. Should the present government's majority be small it will signify that another election v ilf be held at an early date. ' , Lloyd. George at one time promised homc-rule for Ireland, j Then circumstances arose, such as the rebellion in Dublin and the , calling of the Irish convention which sat for many mouths without t reaching. a conclusion. Asquith, formerly Lloyd George's supeiioi - ! ln parliament, but now his lieutenant, is for home rule, wtfile it appears that the premier is for allowing Ireland to work out its owfl"sal'vation. The premier's alternative in regard to Ireland seems to allow a separate "government for the Nationalists and Sinn Feiners, w&h the Utsterites remaining under the jurisdiction of i ! St. Stephens. 1 : The peculiar situation is that this is not a Whig and Tory I i fight. Radicals and Conservatives are practcally missing from the)" , political ship. In other words, if a similar situation could be applied ;J to. ihe United States there are few Democrats and Republicans fighting on a party basis. The real big question is as to whether the present British government will be sustained a government in ', which men of the opposition have allowed party lines to be melted J inttj'a national policy toward a unity for a nation's benefit. t i . i i' |