Who ought to succeed Mr. Asquith at the Exchequer ?
In our opinion, Mr. Morley has the greatest claims on the post, for there is no man whose ideas on public finance are sounder than his. Both from long and intimate study of public affairs and from temperament, he should prove an ideal guardian of the public purse. If, however, he should -think, which is by no means unlikely, that having put his hand to the Indian plough he ought not to turn back, We hold that the post could not be in better hands than those of Mr. Burns. Mr. Burns in his two years of office has not only refused to add to the national burdens, but has done what we venture to say has been done by no other of his colleagues. He has actually reduced expenditure (on the Poor Law) by a very substantial sum. Mr. Burns would be a strong Chan- cellor of the Exchequer, and a strong Chancellor of the Exchequer is what is wanted. If we are told that both these men are impossible because they are " old-fashioned " in their views, we can only say that the one chance of salvation for the Liberal Party is a return to "old-fashioned views" in the matter of public expenditure.
Previous page
