7 SEPTEMBER 1918, Page 3

It is not too much to hope that the spectacle

of such leadership as this with its confused thought and muddled morals will not escape the attention and the censure of the many hundreds of thousands of patient sheep who have hitherto allowed themselves to be folded according to the misleading verdicts of the Card Vote. As we have pointed out on previous occasions, the mass of working men allow themselves to be led by the few who take the trouble to gather responsibility into their hands. When these few men in each Union have decided upon a policy, a simple majority vote counts as though it were the voice of the whole Union. Yet even the majority vote as often as not is obtained by the simple fact that there is no other policy in the field. Only the few politically-minded persons have troubled to take action. All the time the real feelings of the working man are represented by such a spontaneous outburst of enthusiasm as was seen when the news of the great British victory was announced at the Trade Union Congress. It would be difficult to conceive anything more truly undemocratic than the present system. The people who profess to speak for the majority really stand for a minority masquerading as a majority.