Mr. Clynes described the I3i11.as purely class legislation, and formally
repeated the threat of Mr. Ramsay Mac- Donald, that the next Labour Government would abolish • the Act whatever form it might have assumed. Captain Macmillan made an admirable speech from the point of view of a Unionist progressive. He admitted that the principles of the Bill were " elementary to civilization." But was the declaration of them expedient ? The most striking speech of all was that of Mr. G. A. Spencer, who was dismissed from the Labour Party for leading his men back to work in Nottinghamshire without the consent of the Miners' Federation. Ever since then Mr. Spencer has been ostracized and vilified, and on Monday and again on Tuesday he unburdened his soul. He described in detail and with brave pertinacity the bitter rewards he had received for simply doing what his men had begged him to do. There had even been Communists who had implored him to get them back to work. Mr. Arthur Henderson may have felt incapable of answering this speech, but at all events he made no attempt to do so. He left Mr. Spencer's damaging statements alone as though they could safely be treated with contempt— the one inappropriate treatment. * * * *
Previous page
