Mr. Clynes opened the debate on the Address with a
vague
and cautious speech. The Labour Party, he admitted, were "not particularly anxious" to come into power at this moment —though Mr. Clynes knows as well as any one that nothing is less likely. No election,- he said, could immediately transform the terrible economic conditions of the country. Sir Donald Maclean commented on the omission from the Speech of any reference to India or Egypt or to the repeal of the Safeguarding of Industries Act. He attributed much of the prevailing un- employment to the fact that in the past three years the revenue was £5,627,000,000, or more than half the cost of the -War. Had part of the money been left to fructify in the pockets of the trader, there would have been plenty of work for the men -who were now unemployed.
Previous page
