Mr. Haldane, speaking at a garden party at Abernethy last
Saturday, dealt with the achievements and prospects of the Liberal Party. Since Parliament had been prorogued they had been counting up the harvest and saw no reason for dis- content. Transporting himself by the exercise of imagination into the position of leading the Opposition, Mr. Haldane pointed out hew deeply committed their opponents were to a Protectionist programme, and how difficult it was to discover any signs that the "silent voters" were deserting the prin- ciples of Free-trade. Ho defended the application of those principles to Army administration, and showed how, both as regards the contracts for meat and the supply of horseshoes, they had secured the best article at moderate prices. Mr. Haldane's defence was, in fact, that foreshadowed in our last issue. As regards the future, Mr. Haldane alluded in general and guarded terms to the claims of the licensing question and the condition of the aged Poor. They were pledged to deal with the latter problem, and to work it out, but it Ives not so simple as the Congress at Bath seemed to think. That is so ; but we fear that Mr.. Haldane and his colleagues will also find that it is not so simple as they seem to think to convince the Labour Party that a modest scheme costing, say, £10,000,000 a year will be a welcome substitute for the grandiose proposals of the Trade- Union delegates.
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