At first sight Mr. Lloyd George appears to have secured
a great triumph by means of these concessions. But what of the effect on his Bill P We must remember that the very im- portant provisions of the measure which he has now thrown overboard, as if they were the merest lumber, were not inserted by accident or by malice. Mr. Lloyd George deliberately placed them there because he thought that without them his scheme would be financially and administratively unworkable. The fact that he has, after a hard struggle, yielded to the threats of the Friendly Societies does not alter the considera- tions which weighed with him before he realized the strength of those societies. All that has happened is that he has prob- ably made his Bill impracticable, and most certainly added greatly to the tremendous financial responsibilities to which he has already engaged the nation.
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