28 DECEMBER 1929, Page 2

Mr. Baldwin's speech was a succession of quiet medita- tions.

His criticism was sorrowful and sympathetic by turns, never bitter. He himself, he explained, had acted throughout on the knowledge that the only real resources of this country were inherited good will and inherited experience. No Conservative Prime Minister could expect the confidences of organized Labour. The present Government were not thus handicapped, yet under their administration there had been a rise of seven points in the cost of living and a fall of five points in real wages. A painfully nurtured revival had been blighted by the prospect of vague and vast burdens on industry. All Mr. Thomas's schemes provided work for only a third of those who had become unemployed since the General Election.

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