Last month attention was drawn to obvious lacuna fu the cabled Messages dealing with the recent crisis in. Parliament over the Unemployment Assistance Board. It is now Fevealed by the mail papers to hand that the new scales of relief, by some: error in draftmanship, actually proved to be workable only by inflicting doubted hardship on the supposed beneficiaries. As the result of public outery Mr. Oliver Stanley, the Minister of Labour, gave close per sonal attention to the working of the: new scales and came to the conclusion that' something was radically wrong. With commendable courage land promptness he took steps suspend the scales and restore the previous rates, pending a thorough Fe-examination of the whole subject. In order to regularize this dramatic admission of error, Mr. Stanley had to obtain "sanction to a hurriedly rushed through Bill framed. specific tally to cover his temporary expedient of relief. This he had no dif culty in doing but, of course, the; episode, as already' noted in these] columns, gave the Opposition material for a demonstration against the Government. On the whole, however, Mr. Stanley's masterly frankness and effective removal of the fundamental cause of complaint greatly mitigated the Government's discomfiture. Generally it may be said that the Opposition has yet to establish such lFeputation which will encourage the country as 2 whole to show sigs abandoning faith in the National Government. Yet the apparent signs! of discord in the Government's ranks have undoubtedly ed to selling of! sterling by Continental holders. Tis Process has been accentuated in the Test few dags, but it is not likely to} cause the Government special anxiety. 'Such holdings are mostly what is, termed "bad money." 'They represent their owners' former belief that. sterling 2 suitable "funk-hole" could be found to protect them from dangers to their money elsewhere. Investments made In that spirit are always Van uncertain blessing and it is not
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.