At present both sides are only watching the fruit upon
the trees. It will not be ripe until after the General Election, and there is no question of picking it until then. When that time comes a great deal that has been said very emphatically in the past few months may be unsaid with deftness but also completely. It is noticeable that Mr. Lansbury's fierce statement about the impossibility of any alliance with the " decadent remains of Liberalism' is already being explained away by the Labour Party. What every member of his audience, and every reader of his words, must have taken to be an unqualified declara- tion for all time is now interpreted as referring merely to the period before the General Election. The only state7. ment of note which Mr. Lloyd George has made recent speeches was not about the proposed alliance but about his Party Fund. He said that he would disclose its sources when Mr. Davidson disclosed the sources of the Unionist Party Fund. We suppose that many contributions to Party Funds are made under a strict anonymity which has to be observed, but if it were possible for permisSion to be Obtained it would be an excellent move for Mi. Davidson to state the facts—we assume that there is nothing to be ashamed of—and call openly upon :Mr. Lloyd George to redeem his prOrnise.*
