THE NEW MINISTRY.
This brings us, however, to a consideration of the great responsibilities attaching to the new Ministry. It must of necessity be a composite body, and we know from what has passed at the Election that there is likely to be a divi- sion of opinion on many matters of policy, and notably on matters connected with the fiscal controversy. I venture to think that the only hope of unity and of active progress being made by the new Government lies in a clear recogni- tion of those essentials emphasized in the Manifestoes of the National Party before the Election. The Budget has to be continuously and effectively balanced, not merely on paper but in reality. Confidence, which has been shaken at home and abroad, both by the spendthrift policy of a Socialist administration and by the trend of Socialist administration, has to be restored. The currency of the country has to be stabilised, but only on lines found, after careful experience and testing, to be those most con- ducive to the prosperity of the country. The trade balance, too, has to be restored, not by any bigoted action on the part of Free Traders or Protectionists, but as a result of a common-sense policy having for its sole aim the improvement of the trade of Great Britain, with due regard to the fact that trade cannot be improved on any enduring basis without the purchasing power of foreign nations also being sustained. To this end it will doubt- less be well that there should be the maximum amount of international co-operation- both as regards trade and currency developments, but at the same time it will behove British Ministers to think—if I may be allowed to use the term—even• more nationally and Imperially than internationally.
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