file remained Free Traders “in principle,” but it soon became evident that they could not look forward to an early escape from the now strongly rooted Protectionism, and when the Nationalist Government absorbed Sir John Simon and other old-school Liberals, it became clear that Free Trade, together with “economy” and anti-bureaucracy, the bulwarks of nineteenth-century Liberalism, were doomed to disappear. There remains a remnant of stalwarts who have refused to bow down in the House of Simon, and continue to hope for a revival of Liberalism on the ancient formula of Peace, Retrenchment, and Reform, though it is difficult to know what meaning they would attach to the last of the three terms. My old and valued friend, F. W. Hirst, is a revivalist of this order, convinced that with truth upon his side he will appeal successfully to the reasonable self-interest of the ordinary citizen for an escape from the entanglements of Protectionism, Militarism, and Imperialism.
A considerably larger section of this dwindling party takes what may be termed the middle course, developing, as in their “Five Years’ Plan,” a progressive Liberalism which does its best to advocate public control of key industries and finance, with extension of public services, on lines that elude the charge of Socialism by confining public ownership to a few national and municipal monopolies and leaving detailed administration of “controlled” indus-
