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. WHICH IS TO RULE ? I

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WHICH IS TO RULE ? I THE TRUTH ABOUT THE POLITICAL SITUATION (By Our London Correspondent.) I The last few days in London have witnessed scenes of political excitement unparalelled within living memory. In the House of Commons, the clubs, the restaurants, and wherever men congre- gate, the sole topic of discussion has been the political situation. Even in tramcars, where passengers harbitually maintain an icy reserve, men who are utter strangers to one another liave joined in eager and angry discus- sion. In IQeBt-streot I have seen bar- ristel's excitedly rushing from their chambers in the Temple to buy succes- sive editions of the evenmg newspapers, and in certain clubs I have heard or- dinarily staid Nonconformist Liberals deliver themselves in terms startingly strong. The occasion of the unusual excite- ment is the successfu l defiance by a small number of the officers of 'crack' cavalry regiments in Ireland of the will of the elected representatives of this country. Aided directly or indirectly by the King (that is still firmly believed de- spite Mr. Asquith's mild repudiation)' these young aristocrats have thwarted "the bally Government," and estab- lished their right to obey only those orders which are in line with their par- ticular opinions or prejudices. JOHN WARD STRIKES A KEY- I NOTE. Humiliated, embittered, and disgust- ed beyond words, the Liberals have found relief for their feelings in the speech of M;. John Ward, of the Navvies' Union, the M.P. for Stoke-on- Trent. He expressed in fiery, unequivocal words in the House of Commons, their feelings about the King, and the Liberals were not slow to show their appreciation. Not only did they make the most re- markable demonstration witnessed with- in living memory in the House of Com- mons when he said in stentorian tones that the people would brook no inter- ference from King or Army, but on the following day, when the National Liberal Club was thronged just after the lunch hour, a member jumped on a chair and said, "Gentlemen! Three cheers for John Ward who has said what we all think." The cheers were given with great enthusiasm. But Ward did more than please the Liberals. He struck consternation into the Tories. Flushed and elated as they were on Tuesday, his passionate speech opened up to them a vista of the far-reaching issues involved, and they began to see how the country, would regard the use of the Army as a Tory instrument. Even Lord Narthcliffe's scurrilous newspapers moderated their tone when they realised how completely democra- tic opinion had been roused, and the worst epithet they could find for certain utspoken passages in "The Manches- ter Guardian" (the most influential Liberal newspaper in the country) about the King was "unhappy." THE KING AND A GENERAL I ELECTION. It is not difficult to outline the causes of the deep disquiet in the Liberal f-anks. They had learned from the week-end newspapers of the week-eaid visits of Lord Roberto and other Tory leaders to the King. For many months the rumour has lieen rife among them that the King has been pressing Mr. Asquith for a general election on the issue of the Home Rule. Hr. Asquith is said to have replied that the Government is perfectly willing to go to the country as "dismissed" Ministers, but not as voluntarily dis- solved. The chief political advisers of the King, they believe, are the Tory Lord Stamfordham, and Mr. A. J. Balfour. When the thunderbolt—the news of General Gough's rr-instatemerit.-f ell,, thev immediately concluded it was the result of pressure from the King. Their attitude to that august personage was A good indication of the hollowness of Royal ism in this country. I verily believe that if Mr. Koir Hardie or Mr. Philip Snowden had given a direct Republican lead in the House of Commons they would have cheered to the echo. Seely's resignation produced a queer reaction, but it is whispered pretty freely that his resignation was prompt- ed by a desire to prevent the storm and lightning that would play about the King's head if the full facts became known. So much for the effect of the political crisis on the Liberals. There were the same violent oscillations of feeling among the Tories, and they were much perturbed bv Mr. Ramsav Macdonald's ruthless application of their new doc- trine of "optional obedience" to the private soldier when called upon for duty in connection with strikes. v TORIES' WELL-LAID PLOT. I The Tones had their plot carefully laid. They knew exactly what action would be taken by their political allies in the Curragh camp, and at Aldershot if circumstances warranted. They also knew that practically the whole War Office staff had their resigna- tions ready for handing in at the psychological moment. Thus the Army was theirs to use as they liked in furtherance of their own ends. But they had not foreseen what use the Labour party would make of their trifling with treason, nor had they guaged the full effect of it on public opinion. "The Times," in a leading article tried to prove that while it was right to disobey orders in Ulster, it would be wrong to do so in cases of strike disturbances. In the one case, "The Times" argu- ment ran, it is civil war; in the other it is rioting. Surely a worse piece of false logic never came out of Printling House-square! Arming, and drilling, with a definite- ly avowed subversionary intention is a mere misdemeanour, which it would be monstrous to punish by military methods. A purely spontaneous out- break of disorder on the part of men maddened by sight of their wives and children starving, and directed not against life or democratic government, but against property, is a crime which it is proper to punish with death by bayonet and bullet. Nothing could more completely be- tray the moral and intellectual bank- ruptcy of modern Toryism than this sample of distorted reasoning. NEW DOCTRINE OF MILITARY I OBEDIENCE. The real secret of Tory chagrin was the incipient alarm of property owners. The business man whose chief ooncern is the security of his capital would in- evitably vote Liberal, however much it might go against the grain, if his choice lay between the "optional obedience" doctrine of Mr. Bonar Law, and the Liberal theory (which was the Tory theory also until recently) that the Army is an automatic machine for en- forcing the will of the executive. Meanwhile the Labour party has looked on with feelings of mingled scorn and amusement. To them the only anxious factor has been the possible loss of the present Home Rule Bill. In discharge of their debt of honour to the Irish Nationalists no less than in their desire to see the Parliamentary field cleared of long- standing political issues to make room for social reform measures, they are determined to see the Bill through. Their attitude towards the King was well expressed in the "Daily Citizen" oontents bill: "No Meddling by Buckingham Palace." They know that the effect of the King openly meddling in party politics to Tory advantage will be to put him in the same category with the peers and dukes, as far as the people are concerned. And they have nothing to fear from a general election. LABOUR PARTY AND CRISIS. I If the Liberals go to the country on the admittedly powerful battle-cry of "People T. Army," the Labour party will stand to gain, for thousands of Radicals will vote Labour rather than Liberal because they know that for every inch the Liberals will go in curb- ing the power of aristocratic or mon- archic usurpers, the Labour party will go a yard. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald has made it plain that the Labour party are ready and eager for a general election. But it must be AFTER the Home Rule Bill goes on to the Statute Book. They will not consent to wasting three sessions of the new Parliament in go- ing over old ground, and re-fighting battles already won. Whatever the historic parties may do they may be sure that Labour on its industrial as well as its political &ide will not permit them to ignore the in- dustrial system. A few months hence, when the miners, railwaymen, and transport workers have arrived at their projected agreement they will be confronted by a situation far more menacing to them than a quarrel, however deadly, be- tween the two sections of tJho ruling and exploiting class. -D. M. I -—.——— < «K *—————

I VICTIMISATION -INCREASING

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