We all had our pleasant morning dreams, he said, but they usually
disappeared after we had had our cold bath; and the country, which was
no longer rich, but poor, must take its douche. His own dream is of a
beautifully centralised control, directing all our traffic agencies
(save tramways and shipping) into the most convenient channels; and he
won't be happy till he gets it. But judging by some of the speeches
that followed he too may have a frigid disillusionment when the Bill
comes up against the "interests" in Committee. Mr. T.P. O'CONNOR,
on behalf of Liverpool, described it as the product of "an old
bureaucracy and a young Parliamentarian," and Mr. RENWICK declared
that, if it passed, the Manchester Ship Canal would be "between
the devil and the deep sea," surely an uncalled-for attack on
Cottonopolis.
Upon the adjournment, Col. CLAUDE LOWTHER again raised the question of
the payment of German indemnities, and Mr. BONAR LAW again declared
that the policy of the Government was to demand the largest amount
that Germany could pay, but not to demand what we knew she couldn't
pay. It would have saved him a lot of trouble if at the General
Election the Government spokesmen had insisted as much upon the second
half of the policy as they did upon the first.
_Tuesday, March 18th_.--GILBERT'S fanciful description of the "most
susceptible Chancellor" is justified by the way in which the present
occupant of the Woolsack and his predecessors vie with one another in
the endeavour to secure the favour of the fair sex.
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