In an interview in the Daily Express of Monday, Mr.
Appleton said that his assailants were members of a group which had worked for years to crush the General Federation. " They are for revolution. That is because they have not read history. I believe in evolution. I want the nation to grow up—not blow up." Mr. Appleton's real offence is that when he says he is a democrat he means it. He is indeed the best of demo- crats. He believes that the wide franchise and tremendous electoral power which manual labourers have at last gained must not be thrown on to the scrap-heap, but must be used, and that a victory won by any other power would be fleeting and therefore of no use. With exceptional courage, consistency and industry he has for many years laboured for trade unionism, and many of the greatest successes it has gained are due to him. In his quiet and efficient way he has done a hundred times as much for Labour as has been done by Messrs. Cramp, Williams, and Bromley.
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