On Friday week Sir Edward Grey delivered the first of
the Sir David Dale Memorial Lectures at Darlington. He said that in his belief, whatever the catastrophes in foreign affairs might be in this century, the most important developments would be internal. Labour unrest was world-wide, and it was curious that it was most acute in the most advanced countries. There was less hardship than fifty years ago, and far less than a hundred years ago. The underlying cause of unrest was that expectations were much greater than before. Workers were conscious of what their Unions had done for them, and stood by them more than ever ; but some of the younger men thought the Unions should have done more, and consequently ignored the Union officials and took matters into their own hands. Yet a contract was as binding on the employees as on the employers. The best employers welcomed the opportunity of dealing with the Unions, as thus they came into touch with the feelings of the men; but to maintain this relation it was essential that the men should be loyal to their Unions. Sir Edward Grey, as often before, displayed a true ability to understand the British mind. "Great things," he said, "have been done by insight rather than by foresight, by a faculty for deciding how much is possible, and for attempting that, and not something else."
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