National existence, Mr. Lloyd George went on, was now all
stake, and that was not a subject for party warfare. Although he was entirely in sympathy with the workers' demands for better conditions, the rights of the community could not be surrendered to any minority. "If a minority can hold up the community by taking from them the necessaries of life, there is an end to democratic Government in this country." Mr. Lloyd George next defended the Ministry of Transport, and declared that the Ministry was not, as was often stated, a piece of extravagance. "It costs at present, lock, stock, and barrel, a quarter of a farthing in the on the Income Tax." Returning to his thesis of the value of the Coalition, Mr. Lloyd George said that the country was like a ship in a hurricane.. There was no longer any question of what watch amen belonged to ; all members of the crew must be on deck to save the ship. "I am on the bridge." And the Coalition were not only saving the ship, but were improving the country. "I challenge any man to point out any four years in the history of Parliament when so many Acts for strengthening the power and improving the conditions of the people have been carried as in the past four years."
