Ogden Standard-Examiner | 1922-11-19 | Page 4 | Bonar Law's Test to Come If He Tries to Have France Agree to Moderate German Policy

BONAR LAWS TEST TO COME IF HE TRIES TO HAVE FRANCE AGREE TO MODERATE GERMAN POLICY BY A. G. GARDINER. Britain's Greatest Liberal Editor. (Copyright, 1922, by Tho Standard-Examiner.) Standard-Examiner.) LONDON7. Nov. IX My forecast of tho election result lias been fulfilled. A tidal wave of almost unprecedented magnitude has swept tho Conservative to power and Lloyd Georgelsm into tho abyss. Tho chief cause of this grand slam is the revolt of tho country against the methods Of the past four years. There was a profound ground swell of hostility hos-tility toward that dictatorship of Lloyd George whir ii subert'-d parliament by mlxturo of corruptions and levy and wt.ich ended by nearly plunging tho nation Into war single handed. Throughout the Liberal party opposed op-posed tho coalition und Its methods, but b a strange lron all credit for the overthrow falls to the Conservatives Conserva-tives who were Its main support and who only destroyed Llovd George when lie had ceased to serve their ends. The result of the election leaves Lloyd George an outcast with a trivial band of personal fupporters He ha3 Smashed the Liberal party, has been rejected by the Tory party und his future m'-st be that of a free lance. FALL C kTASTROPHIO. No such sudden catastrophic fall ever was recorded in the history of British politics. For six years di -tuter of England, almost dictator of Europe, now he is discredited and broken, without a following, repudiated repudi-ated alike by Tories, Liberals and Labor The f.lnglo monument of his work is the wreck of the Liberal party and tho overwhelming rehabilitation if the Consers atlves. The present feeding is that the election has sounded ho death knoll of the hopes for the revival re-vival of the Liberal organisation and It is doubtful whether it ever will be constructed as a flrat class fighting Instrument it ha9 been crushed between be-tween the upper and nether mlllston-s of Conservatism and Labor Asqulth passes Into final eclipse along with the lieutenant who engineered his fall six years ago. In him passes a great Englishman, wise, disinterested but lacking In Initiative to meet great situations. liABOK I ARTY .K s. Most significant is the growth of the Labor party. It now takes the plac of the Liberals as the most pow- I erful opposition to Conservative control. con-trol. Its ulm was to crush tlu Lib- ' i I erals and thh was nearly achieve! last Wednesday. Not only are in numbers more than doubled but Its personnel is enormously enhanced so that It will be, intellectually, the most I formidable element of the new par-I par-I liamont. Tho election disclosed the deplora- bio Inefficiency of our present voting vot-ing system The vast majority of tho Conservatives arc returned by a minority mi-nority vote, the, majority being split between the Labor and Liberal candidates can-didates The cliler victims of tho system sys-tem were the Liberals, whoso total vote in the countrj should entitle them to more than double their ac-, ac-, tnal representation. It also generally Is agreed that tho women's vote was a dominant factor. Last election, when tho women voted for the first time. they were almjst unit for Lloyd George. This tlmo they supported the Conservative ticket. It seems clear the lnfluenco will be exerted mainly on tho side of reaction reac-tion STORMY VOYAGE AHEAD. I Yet the fact is remarkable that only two women were successful, Mrs. As-tor As-tor and Mrs! Wlntringham returning to their seats. The experience of thl3 I election Indicates that a woman will not vote for a woman What will Bonar Law do with bis majority? He has promised tranquility tranquil-ity but I enture to say the voyuge will be stormy. The passage la strewn with the rocks of unemployment, bad trado relations with Franco, Europe in extremes, taxation crushing, reparations repara-tions a quostlon unsettled. Tho o ershadowlng question Is Franco. England Is being ruined by the present continental policy. Will England Eng-land now plainly face tho issue with h r ally and put to her the alternative alterna-tive that either France will agree to let Germany have a chance at recovery or England must adopt other means of restoring Europe to peace and prosperity? A strong appeal to Fronce Is urgently needed. The moment Is favorable in view of Loucheur's advocacy advo-cacy of a more reasonable policy. Law's handling of this great issue will be the solid test of his statesmanship.