the whole
demands earnest and immediate attention. The totally different question
of the devolution of powers to any parts of the United Kingdom has yet
to be settled. The claims of national sentiment have to be recognised
while the welfare and safety of the whole are secured. What are the
units to be on which powers can be conferred, and what should be their
extent? Who exactly are those whose national claims are being asserted,
and how far are they at unity among themselves? All these questions must
be treated as matters for constructive statesmanship, not as pawns in
party contests. They must be dealt with as practical problems having
regard to the special circumstances of each case, not as opportunities
for embodying some general political theory. There is a commendable
opportunism which knows how to take "occasion by the hand," to do the
wisest thing under the conditions subsisting at the time, as well as a
blameworthy one, which looks out how to use them for personal advantage.
There will be need, too, for the "trimmer on principle"--the man who,
when the boat is going over on one side, deliberately and quickly
transfers his weight to the other, or the steers-man who tacks when the
wind is contrary in order to bring his ship to the port where his
passengers desire to land. Such a man, as was said of Lord Halifax in
the time of Charles II, "must not be confounded with the vulgar crowd of
renegades, for though like them he passed from side to side, his
transition was always in the _direction opposite to theirs_. The party
to which he belonged was the party which at that moment he liked least,
because it was the party of which he had the nearest view. He was,
therefore, always severe upon his violent associates, and was always in
friendly relation with his moderate opponents."

It is obviously impossible to discuss all these questions in a volume,
still less to propound in detail the steps to be taken in dealing with
them. Most of the more pressing ones will be touched upon and some
suggestions made with regard to them; a few worked out rather more fully
as examples. In some cases the remedies are obvious, and could be
applied without difficulty, in others they require great special
knowledge and careful thought, and their application will involve
serious risks unless very great care and skill are used. To appear
dogmatic in speaking of these subjects is inevitable if one would be
definite; mistakes may be made, but