We cannot regret the decision that much of the work
of the Conference will be done in private. Of course there ought to be ample means of informing the public of the progress made and, of course, certain plenary sessions will be public. Everybody knows the dangers of the public discussion of questions vitally affecting racial, religious or sectional interests. The tendency is for the delegates then to abandon the indispensable spirit of compromise, to become special pleaders of their cause, to seek the limelight and to allow their fears of what will be said about them by their friends to conquer their own convictions about what is fair and practicable. No experienced observer could possibly make light of the sea of difficulties upon which the Conference embarks, but the signs justify hopefulness, for the will to agree unquestionably exists. It would be one of the greatest personal triumphs in the history of the Empire if Lord Irwin's patience and very high moral courage, which have only too often been misinterpreted as feebleness, should be rewarded as they deserve.
