* * * * The Prime Minister accepted the Liberal
resolution after having put his own gloss upon it, which was that the money was to be found only when each scheme of develop- ment had been proved to be economically sound. He would never consent to raise a great loan and invent the work afterwards. A " pretentious loan " would damage the national credit. In other words, the Prime Minister excused the Government's past in regard to unemploy- ment, and found a justification for whatever tightness of hold may be kept on the purse strings in future. This fell a long way short of accepting the original Liberal proposal of a loan of some £200,000,000. The truth is, however, that the Government and the Liberals anxiously desired to agree, and they cast friendly glances upon one another under the cover of what Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland called a sham fight.
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