26 NOVEMBER 1927, Page 2

Of course Mr. Baldwin feels in such circumstances that he

is being heckled in order that the Opposition may have the satisfaction of saying that they have forced him to surrender—to surrender to improper methods. Although we strongly sympathize in this particular respect with Mr. Baldwin, we are none the less sure that he will entirely misinterpret the state of popular feeling if he does not show when the time comes that he recognizes that the credit of the whole Government is bound up in the coal question. There may be an opportunity next Tuesday when the Labour Party hopes to move a vote of censure framed expressly to indicate Mr. Baldwin's personal responsibility. We are confident that he will distinguish between unparliamentary expedients and an opportunity which is legitimately provided. We wish that at the outset he had made it plain that he meant to speak, but we appreciate his reasons for not doing so. There was no excuse for the Labour Party.