The political situation remains troublesome and confused. The only ray
of light is to be found in the possibility of adding a Referendum clause to the Veto Bill. As we have pointed out elsewhere, this is a solution with limited liability, while a General Election is one in which the liability is un- limited. At the same time, it would be rash to predict that this solution, though it is one which moderate men are more and more inclined to adopt, will be accepted. The Referendum has many enemies. In the first place, there is the difficulty of getting people in England to understand a new proposal ; and secondly, there is that of overcoming their constitutional dislike of a new idea. Further, they always manfully resist the notion that what can be done in other countries can be done here. The ordinary Englishman's first impulse when he hears that a thing is done in another country is to say " Oh, no doubt it can be worked well enough abroad, but the conditions here are so very different that it would be utterly impossible for us to carry it out."
