11 JUNE 1921, Page 1

The Reserves would not have been disbanded before the coal

strike was settled if the Government had not felt that the time had come to save every penny even at some public risk. Another sign is the reduction of the unemployment doles with an accompanying demand for an increase of the contributions from both employers and employed. Yet other signs are the cutting down of the State housing scheme and the abandonment of the programme for building more employ- ment exchanges. The result of the St. George's election was for the Government a portent written in the skies. If the question had been asked, Which is the safest seat in England for a Government candidate ? nine people out of ten would have answered, St. George's. Yet that seat has been taken away from the Government by a decisive majority.