The Prime Minister explained why the ing's Speech contained so
little. He had provided as much as the House could digest in a session which would end in .July. The really big meal would come in the session which would begin in November. Mr. Baldwin refrained from saying anything about the trade union Bill, but promised to justify himself in this matter next week. The force being sent to Shanghai, he explained, was despatched simply because the Hankow incident had proved the kind of danger which might arise. Mr. MacDonald had advocated bargaining with the Chinese, but in the presence of contending armies assurances, however sincere, might be impossible of fulfilment. Hankow was a place from which withdrawal was easy, but the evacuation of Shanghai was quite impossible. No more troops had been sent than the General Staff considered necessary for the defence of the international concession. * *
