The Opposition

Liberal. A revolt within the Liberal Party was incepted when Captain W. Wedgwood Benn, M. P. for Leith, wrote to a prominent Liberal newspaper: "I cannot acknowledge in any way, direct or indirect, Mr. Lloyd George as my leader in the House of Commons . . . The vital fault is want of trust. The people have no confidence, and rightly so, in Mr. Lloyd George."

This statement was made while ex-Premier Asquith, the leader whom Captain Benn prefers, was "journeying to Egypt to consult the Sphinx on the Liberal riddle," in the words of Austen Chamberlain, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The political significance of the incipient revolt is little, because most of the Liberals in the new House of Commons are faithful to Mr. George. If, however, Mr. Asquith should decide to return from Egypt to contest a Dundee seat made vacant by the death of Laborite Edmund D. Morel, and if he should be elected, the small Liberal group in the House may again become divided, as it was in 1922, under the leadership of Asquith and George.

Labor. In a manifesto, signed by ex-Premier MacDonald and several notables of the Independent Labor Party, Socialists were told that "our work now is to win the people for Socialism." They were also informed that:

"We must show that Socialism is not a destructive force, encouraging antagonism to existing institutions, but a constructive force making for order and true harmony, based on justice and service; that the Labor Party is the only Party whose program is founded on beliefs that will lead the world to peace and disarmament.

"While the Labor Party in Parliament is doing its work as the Opposition, the Socialists in the country must be educating the electorate and preparing the necessary organization for such a victory in the next election as will give Labor a clear majority."