The digestive capacity of the Conservative Party is, moreover, phenomenal.
So solvent are the juices of their charm and generosity that even the staunchest Liberal National, even the most ardent believer in National Labour, undergoes a chemical transformation. True it is that most Conservatives regard us, their Left-Wing allies, as insects ; but they look down upon these insects with a friendly glance, even as a farmer smiles at a ladybird which has settled on his sleeve. Yet was it not Mr. Duff Cooper, last week, who suggested in one of his tonic articles that we wzre not insects merely, but parasites? It is indeed a fact that we derive much sustenance and many votes from the Conservative connexion. But the analogy is not as close as Mr. Duff Cooper would have us believe. He is a scholarly man and must know well that the original meaning of parasite was " mess-mate," i.e., someone who is obliged to share in the mess. He must also know that a common form of parasite is the schizomycete which increases by division. And he must be well aware that, whereas most organisms profit by getting rid of their parasites, the National Government might be embarrassed were their Liberal National and the National Labour parasites sud- denly to attach themselves to other bodies politic.
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