The result of the By-Election at Smethwick has not been
announced when we write these words, as owing to the fall of Christmas we go to press earlier than usual. The campaign was noticeable for ugly incidents and for exceptional Mr. Mosley in effect assured the electors that they had only to tell him what they wanted and he would try to get it for them. A doubt may be hesitated about the genuineness of Mr. Mosley's mil- lennium if only on the one ground that the way to the millennium certainly cannot lie through the reckless encouragement of class-hatred and the misrepresentation of other men's opinions. On the other hand, we regret the exaggerated ridicule with which Mr. Mosley and Lady Cynthia Mosley have been pelted on the assumption that people with money and position are necessarily humbugs if they belong to the Labour Party. It was tactically weak of Lady Cynthia, no doubt, to try to pass " for the duration " as " Mrs. Mosley " ; but the fact remains that if the Labour Party fairly represents a point of view, money and titles have not a great deal to do with the matter. * * * *
Previous page
