He has been accused of a desire to modify Labours principles because jhe lacked the necessary strength to impose them on the country. It may well be that time and circumstances moulded Mr. MacDonald's opinions to a different conclusion from those he originally held.
At any rate, after the then Mr. Baldwin's Government in 1929, when Labour, for the second time took office with Mr. Ramsay MacDonald as Prime Minister, he inaugurated a mildly progressive policy without reference to the extreme principles laid down by his left wing. On July 31, 1931, the country was startled by the issue of a sensational report the Government's Economy Committee declaring that the nation must find £120,000,000 to balance next year's budget.
Mr. MacDonald began discussions on the international financial crisis with Mr. Henry Stimson, the United States Secretary of State during a holiday in Scolland. On August 11 the Prime Minister made a hurried
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.