NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Government have satisfactorily overcome difficul- ties which, with less skilful management than these received from the Prime Minister, might have involved the downfall of the Ministry. Mr. MacDonald has shown a reasonableness and a frankness which have been of great service to him. The motion for the adjournment of the House of Commons on the subject of the laying down of new cruisers need never have been made if Mr. Ammon, who spoke for the Government, had worded his announcement a little more wisely. As for the Poplar controversy, Mr. Asquith, as we suggested last week would probably happen, did not after all show fight, and the Prime Minister, after in fact admitting that the Minister of Health had made a mistake, was allowed to lift the whole matter on to the much higher level of a general consideration of Poor Law reform. We welcome this move, and have written on the whole subject in our first leading article.
