In the rest of his speech Mr. G. H. Roberts
dealt with the difficult subject of demobilization after the war in a spirit which showed that he is for what may be called a strong, contented, and " patriotic " industrial oommunity. As regards its motive, his speech was an exact parallel to the moving and eloquent speech by Mr. Havelock Wilson at Liverpool on Empire Day. It is impossible to miss the significance of the fact that several Labour leaders— the most successful and the most implicitly trusted by their followers —are moving in the same direction. Even those who cannot agree in principle with the unofficial boycott of Germany by British seamen after the war, disagree solely on the ground that they cannot approve extra-Governmental acts of policy. No Englishman with a heart that beats could possibly disagree with the spirit of Mr. Havelock Wilson's movement. Seamen have suffered more than any other part of the British population ; they have borne their sufferings most heroically ; and they intend that the Germans shall be punished for their crimes. For our part, we do not see how the seamen can be prevented from doing exactly what they say they will do.
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