This argnment might seem to point to a National Government,
but no such particular proposal is made. The manifesto is, indeed, a homily, an appeal to the spirit of man, rather than a scheme. An attempt to establish, to National Government at present would almost certainly fail, and the consequent cat aract of disappointment would engulf many other much more reasonable hopes. A National Government might have been possible before the fiscal controversy reached any acuteness : it might have been possible, for example, when Mr. Baldwin was inviting Mr. McKenna to become Chancellor of the Exchequer. Now the Labour rulers will not look at Protection and the Unionist leaders will not hear of any remedy which does not contain Protection. What we hope in these circumstances is that the equivalent of a National Government will gradually be achieved by withdrawing from controversy a succession of problems which ought never to have been allowed to become controversial.
