One result of these transactions was that the Chairman of
the Unionist headquarters was requested to withdraw a leaflet which states that the Socialist policy is to nationalize life insurance. Mr. Davidson refused. We are entirely for scrupulous fairness in political con- troversy, but we are bound to say that Mr. Davidson was justified in his refusal. As we have seen, Labour and the Nation makes a strong point of the basic import- ance of nationalizing life insurance. If Mr. Ramsay MacDonald would state in clear terms that it is no longer proposed to nationalize it, Mr. Davidson ought certainly to withdraw the leaflet, but, as it is, Mr. Davidson is really being asked to absolve the Labour Party while the Labour Party evidently holds to its right to maintain its policy. In general, however, Mr. MacDonald is to be complimented on the temperateness of his programme. It is true that he has two documents of authorization in his hand, his programme and Labour and the Nation, and we do not like the ambiguity ; but as a matter of practical politics he would probably find it impossible' to go outside the four quarters of his programme. His calculated moderation, even if forced by circumstances and not coming from the heart, is a real tribute of respect to an intellectual democracy. Mr. Lloyd George alone among the leaders seems to think that the new electorate can be screamed or cajoled into new opinions.
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