Predictions of a general election in the autumn, if Mr. Chamberlain gets his peace front fully organized with the inclusion of those suspicious Russians, are pretty positive now. On the last day of the Southport Conference, Mr. Greenwood, who at least is not afraid of the future, bade his Socialist brethren gird themselves for the fight, in which, he said, they had a chance as never before of turning out the Government.
But besides being divided the Socialists are short of money. They started the year with a deficit of over £6,000 and this has not grown smaller since. A weekly increase in members subscriptions was proposed at Southport but defeated, and the question of raising the wind is still unsettled. It is a pity that the Party has quarrelled with Sir Stafford Cripps who is very generous and is said to be making the biggest income of any man at the Bar.
It is idle to attempt prophecies about an election before its date is decided. The Government is not popular and there is no blinking the fact. On the other hand, what conceivable Government could the Socialists form?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.