Mr. Baldwin's speech at Edinburgh on Friday, July 27th, was
a combination of that broad sympathy and good sense which is making so deep an impression upon the country. He pointed out that decent men could have no quarrel whatever with the motives of Socialists since those motives were for the better- ment of human conditions. Unhappily, the preaching of the doctrine that you can have a sudden trans- formation which will enable the poor to enter into a heritage long withheld from them was bound to be attractive to uneducated men. The fatal but easy gospel of Socialism had been greatly helped by the War because, during the War, while the State managed every- thing, work was found for everybody and wages were never so high. What the average Socialist forgot, however, was that the cost of that experiment was so vast that " our children's children will be paying for those wages long after we are dead." Socialists also forgot that the goods produced during the War were for a market waiting for them. The moment the goods were ready they were put into use—mostly blown into space. Socialism had never solved the problem of finding markets in peace time.
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