At the close of the year London was teeming with forecasts of a general lection in February. Labour, it is believed, was responsible for these, which must be taken as groundless. else we should not have seen the present contest in Paish The Labour tactics on this occasion are instructive, for the attempt to work the country into a frame of mind for a general election was based on the statement that, unless the nationalization of the mines took place at an early date, the whole mining body would strike. The reiteration of such a threat, and Mr. Smillie's presence at the head of the miners, might possibly have created the necessary atmosphere, for it may be remembered that after the great railw: strike it was half believed that Mr. Lloyd George had it in mind to test the wishes of the country. If so, he changed his mind, and as recent by-elections have on the whole been more favourable to the Coalition than those for some months previously, no paramount reason exists for a general election at the moment.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.