TOPICS OF THE DAY
THE KING'S SPEECH
1F a nation without a history is happy, a Parliament which has no desperate remedies offered to it in a King's Speech is presumably also happy. The King's Speech on Tuesday contained nothing unexpected and therefore proVided no special opportunities for the Opposition critics, whose remarks, indeed, were mis- directed and harmless. So fir the signs are good for a useful, placid year of recovery. But• unfortunately one black cloud hangs upon the horizon. That cloud is already larger than a man's hand, and it may or may not bring a devastating storm.
In political • meteorology fortunately man is more or less able to control the conditions, and we liked nothing better in the King's Speech than the earnest appeal for conciliation and mutual tolerance in industry. It was evident from the language used that the writers of the Speech felt that the danger of an industrial cataclysm, beginning in the coal-fields, made all their proposals dependent upon a mighty " If." The phrase, " The interests of the nation are paramount," is a clue to the feelings we have described. The Government may be labelled " Tory " (whatever that may mean nowadays) by are who, with an astonishing lack of accuracy, are willing to tie on ancient and now meaningless labels, but the obvious truth is that Mr. Baldwin is the head of a Government which may be called national— certainly national in spirit and almost national in com- position. Mr. Baldwin is magnificently free from class consciousness and places the interests of the community above the interest of any part, whether that part is com- posed of employers or of employed. In their secret hearts a great many of his so-called opponents accept the principles by which he is managing the affairs of the country. Some of them admit this only in private ; others admit it in public. Mr. J. H. Thomas the other day, after persuading the railwaymen's delegates to reverse their disastrous policy of throwing overboard the machinery of conciliation, courageously said in pUblic that the interests of the community must always take precedence over the interests of a group. We believe that the appeal for peace in the King's Speech has fallen on heeding ears and that we shall not have to bewail the terrible spectacle of some months of national self-destruction.
A point of great interest in the King's Speech was the fOrmal announcement of the convening by Great Britain of a Conference in London to discuss an international agreement on hours of labour. Belgium, France, Germany and Italy will send delegates. Such a move as this would have been quite impossible but for- the remarkable preparatory work done by the League of Nations. There is no reason at all why there should not be a successful arrangement. In the case of many other international agreements, particularly those about armaments, there is always a dread that some unscrupulous Government will secretly violate it. But there can be no such fear about an agreement on hours of labour. When once a law on this subject has been passed in any country it is sure to be kept because the workers themselves would not tolerate a violation. An agreement would ease trade enormously ; it would create confidence because manu- facturers would not be haunted by the expectation that some foreign competitor will undersell them as the result of suddenly increasing the hours of labour. The boon of stability in hours would be comparable to Stability in the Exchanges. We congratulate the Goverriment on setting the stage for such a Conference. Our only regret is that Holland is not to be represented, as it is a common complaint among shipbuilders-here' that the longer hours in the Dutch yards make successful competition with Holland in the ship repairing business alinost impossible. - The - Government's Agricultural policy, which was mentioned in the Speech, can be investigated further, though not yet in detail, in the White Paper which was published in the papers of Wednes day. The White Paper points out that the extension of arable fanning by means of Protection is barred by the Government's pledges and that the Government regard the alternative method of subsidies as impassible. No scheme could make this country self-supporting in breadstuffs except at an impossible cost. The Government are, moreover, opposed to any of those methods of controlling farming by com- mittees and officials which lead on to nationalization. It was only to be expected that the Government would thus clear the ground by a statement of what they cannot do. There was once an opportunity to guarantee arable fanning against loss, and the opportunity was boldly taken in the Corn Production Act. That Act provided for a minimum wage for the labourer, and in order to enable the farmer to pay that wage and also to safeguard him against the intermittent losses on arable farming which most farmers suffer from, it guaranteed him a certain price for his wheat. Arable farming is the most scientific kind of farming, even when the fanner is mainly a milk producer, and the real reason why the average farmer seeks safety in bringing his land down to grass is that his risks and commitments—in wages' bills and the capital required—are then much less. Many a grass fanner if only he had confidence would go ahead and be a successful arable farmer. The Corn Production Act gave him the necessary confidence, but when the trade depression came the Government of the day threw over the Act. It is quite possible that if it had been retained there would have been no national loss through the guarantee, but it is useless to repine now. The lesson which the farmer learnt was that he cannot put his trust in Governments. If he has really learnt that lesson for good and all he is a much wiser man, for even if one Government backed him another might desert him. In the long run he will be in a safer position if he works out his own salvation. We are glad to know that the Govern- ment are going to arrange for him the enormous benefits of easy credit.
The Westminster Gazelle has given a forecast of the recommendations of the Commission, a forecast which, to say the least of it, is highly credible. It is said that the Commission will propose the grouping of mines and the closing of uneconomic pits. As there will probably be grouping of some kind, we hope that the experience of the railways will be borne in mind. Grouping imposed from above and not with the active consent of the companies is a thing to avoid. '
For the rest, the reorganization must, of course, be carried out as an essential part of the Government's.
scheme for generating power. The next important point is that this involves the saving of the by-products of coal by low temperature carbonization or by some similar process. This process and others like it have been tech- nically perfected, but whether any one of them is yet economically perfect is another matter. We fancy that Germany has already practically reached the commercial stage. But we suggest that if a commercial basis cannot yet be assumed, • the balance might be corrected by the tax which Sir Richard Redniayne propoied on the importation of foreign motor-fuel. The tax would serve a special and valuable purpose. We, as Free Traders, could raise no objection to it bid should rather welcome it.
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