It was obvious that he forgave the Poplar Guardians their
anti-social act, and they naturally went away rejoicing, claiming a "great victory." The whole tone of his statement to the deputation was quite different from the tone of the subsequent explanation. If his original statement that the Mond scale would be " rescinded " meant nothing but that the Order, in the course of events and legislation, had become obsolete, why did he not say so ? But what will the Poplar Guardians do now that their victory has been nominally taken away from them ? Will they continue their rebellion and their refusal to pay ? Will they continue to make it more profitable to be unemployed than to be employed ? And, if they do, will Mr. Wheatley enforce the ordinary penalties of the Poor Law, which, according to his own statement, remain in force ? We wish that Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, when speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, had answered such questions as these instead of airily dismissing the general alarm as absurd.
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