A SYNOPSIS 379 



the universal clieapeniug of laiKl and sea transit, and the use of 

 mechanical appliances to haudlin;,', than by Free-trade. That 

 this is so is proved by the incontrovertible facts just referred 

 to, namely, that the price of bread is the same in all Burojjean 

 countries irres2)ectivc of varyivf/ fiscal systems. That there was 

 no truth in the " cheap " loaf cry ; tliat it was, in plain Englisli, 

 a deliberate lie purposely put forward by a great political party 

 with intent to deceive, also becomes evident, and that it has 

 done irreparable harm there is no doubt. 



The question the P.ritisli people should now determine is 

 this — to what extent should political parties — admitting that 

 they are equipped with much of the best brain-power in the 

 country — be permitted to use their intellectual endowments in 

 the manufacture of political falsehoods with the S(jle object of 

 serving their party by deceiving the people, and doing incalcul- 

 able harm to national interests ? It is true that custom has 

 sanctioned many things in i)olitics that are regrettable ; but 

 when able pul)lic servants ixdlute the thinking principle of 

 their brain l)y inventing sordid scliemes for immoral purposes, 

 the bad usage born of unbridled licence should be cruslied out 

 of existence by the irresistible force of public opinion. No 

 private individual is permitted to indulge in acts that are 

 publicly immoral or harmful to others, and no man who serves 

 public interests, or no collective l^ody of such servers of the 

 State should be permitted to indulge in practices that are harm- 

 ful to the commonweal. The time has now come to stop such 

 immoral practices in national interests, and the people are right 

 in demanding that the law should be consideraljiy enlarged and 

 extended so as to provide for such cases, or that a fresh Act be 

 placed on the Statute liook empowering the authorities to deal 

 drastically with any proceedings on the part of public servants, 

 or representatives of the people that are vicious, and therefore 

 subversive of the public good. 



Old Age Pensions — an Additional State Charity 



Whatever scheme may exist in the fertile brain of ]\Ir. 

 Lloyd-George in respect to future arrangements, it is clear 

 that the Old Age Pension Act of 1908 is nothing more nor 

 less than a huge extension of the existing State Chai'Jties. 

 Whatever may be the needs of the masses, or the political 

 exigencies of the Government, no justification can possibly 

 exist for such a predatory piece of legislation as that launched 

 on the country by the Chancellor of the Exchequer ; indeed, 

 the whole business is in comphite agreement with that official's 

 "hen-roost-robbing" policy whicli he so jauntily talked about 



