NEWS OF THE WEEK
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TILEgreatest possible mistake is made by those who pretend that because nobody wanted a General Election just now there is therefore no real issue before the country. The actual issue is one which may mark a turning point in our history, for what the electors have to decide upon is no less a question than whether there is, or is not, to be an attempt to bring about an economic revo- lution. Mr. MacDonald has declared that the Socialist programme put forward by the Labour Party in 1923 stands unaltered. The Socialist says that the construction of society is wrong from top to bottom, and that it must, be replaced by something better. The Anti-Socialists, whether Unionist or Liberal, say that the existing social and commercial edifice accords exactly with human instincts ; that Capitalism cannot be abolished sinee everybody is in truth a Capitalist, even though his capital is only his brains and his muscles. . But, of course, both Unionists and Liberals are ardently desirous to right wrongs which we all admit to exist. The achievement of far higher standards of well-being during the past hundred years under our present system is a very remarkable fact. It cannot be explained away. It has been acknowledged, - if reluctantly, even. by such a learned student of the "life of the people" as Mr. Sidney Webb. Socialism has nothing whatever to place against the achievements of• Individualism, though it has many failures (necessarily in restricted experiments) to its discredit.
