A man of real guile within the Labour Party might
whisper in the ears of Mr. Ramsay MacDonald and Mr. Snowden that if they insisted on their right to collect the last penny and smashed the Conference, they would be in a very strong tactical position at home. They might then incite the Opposition in the next session to condemn them for the collapse, and appeal to the country on the cry, which might well be extremely popu- lar, of "putting the foreigner in his place." If we were asked, however, to believe that the members of the Labour Government, who have all their protestations of peace- ful intentions still hot upon their lips, would countenance such a clever trick we should certainly refuse to believe it. Without insisting on the last penny, Mr. Snowden will have accomplished a great deal very much to the liking of Englishmen. He has cleared the air. His mistake has been to put himself in a position in which it is very difficult for him to unsay one of his worth. That is a negation of the art and meaning of conference.
