We need not devote more space to Mr. Lloyd George's
letter, though it is well worth reading as a crushing, and at the same time dignified, answer to a poisonous and vindictive attack. Two observations, however, we must make on the incident as a whole. Mr. Lloyd George deserves the respect and the gratitude of the country for having had the moral courage to speak out quite plainly on the great practical need of the hour—the need for higher efficiency in the pro- duction of war material—though he, of course, knew well the kind of attacks to which he would be exposed. To speak unpalatable truths a democratic leader requires a high sense of patriotism. We have said hard things of Mr. Lloyd George in the past, but we most gladly acknowledge that since the beginning of the war no public man has shown a finer spirit than he, or greeter willingness to concentrate all his efforts on the war, and to be ready for any personal sacrifice in order to attain the supreme end of victory. That is conduct which his opponents will always remember.
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