NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE heavy decline in trade and values is filling everybody with alarm. The only consoling reflection in a very depressing situation is that alarm always proves to be one of the best incentives to the British public. When the nation is faced with a real crisis of life and death, it has never been known to become rattled and lose its head. Instead of acting wildly and despairingly, it pulls itself together in such circum- stances and acts with more than usual coolness and determina- tion. We have no doubt that this will happen again if only the truth is sufficiently appreciated—in other words, if the alarm is sufficiently widespread. We will summarize later the Economy Debate in the House of Commons last week. That debate was unsatisfactory. The Government would not consent to tackle the question at the right end by ascertaining the maximum revenue of the country and then undertaking to ration the departments accordingly.
