We must add that there is substance in the criticism
that the Government ought not to have published at the public expense memoranda which are necessarily ex pane statements. It is true that Liberal speakers and writers acted most unfairly, not to say unconstitu- tionally, in persistently declaring that permanent officials could Bud no flaw in the Liberal scheme, and that the Government dared not say so. The Government, there- fore, have this fact on their side—that they have only spoken for those who are prevented by regulations from speaking for themselves. What is stated in the names of various Ministers' Reports is no doubt the collective wisdom of Departmental officials. Nevertheless, it is regrettable that the Government should have adminis- tered their rebuke—richly deserved—in this form during the election campaign. * *
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