Yet another danger which the Prime Minister has evaded was
caused by the indiscreet speech of Mr. Hender- son, the Home Secretary, at Burnley. Mr. Henderson said that the revision of the Treaty of Versailles was " an absolute essential." On Monday in the House of Commons Mr. Lloyd George naturally inquired whether this declaration indicated the intention of the Government -to overhaul the whole Treaty. If that was the intention, how did the Government propose to do it ? Had this intention been communicated to the other signatories of the Treaty ? Mr. MacDonald obliquely. admonished the Home Secretary by stating that the policy of the Govern- ment had already been fully described in the.statement he himself had made in the House, and that no alteration was contemplated. Obviously Mr. Henderson's statement was most unwise. We have no doubt that Mr. MacDonald would like to do just what Mr. Henderson said, but that is not the point. The point is that statements on matters of cardinal national importance should never be made, except on the collective authority of the Cabinet.
