e full brunt of the attack. It had come
not from the politicians but from the judges, but in this country we
have to realize that within wide limits the judges are in effect
legislators, and legislators with a certain persistent bent which can be
held in check only by the constant vigilance and repeated efforts of the
recognized organ for the making and repeal of law. In destroying the old
position of the Trade Unions, the judges created the modern Labour party
and cemented its alliance with Liberalism. Meanwhile, the aftermath of
Imperialism in South Africa was reaped, and Conservative disillusionment
unlocked the floodgates for the advancing tide of the Liberal revival.

The tide has by no means spent itself. If it no longer rushes in an
electoral torrent as in 1906 it flows in a steady stream towards social
amelioration and democratic government. In this movement it is now
sufficiently clear to all parties that the distinctive ideas of
Liberalism have a permanent function. The Socialist recognizes with
perfect clearness, for example, that popular government is not a
meaningless shibboleth, but a reality that has to be maintained and
extended by fighting. He is well aware that he must deal with the House
of Lords and the Plural vote if he is to gain his own ends. He can no
longer regard these questions as difficulties interposed by half-hearted
Liberals to distract attention from the Social problem. He is aware that
the problem of Home Rule and of devolution generally is an integral part
of the organization of democracy. And, as a rule, he not merely
acquiesces in the demand of women for a purely political right, but only
quarrels with the Liberal party for its tardiness in meeting the
demand. The old Liberal idea of peace and retrenchment again is
recognized by the Socialistic, and indeed by the whole body of social
reformers, as equally essential for the successful prosecution of their
aims. Popular budgets will bring no relief to human suffering if the
revenues that they secure are all to go upon the most expensive ship
that is the fashion of the moment, nor can the popular mind devote
itself to the improvement of domestic conditions while it is distracted
either by ambitions or by scares. On the other side, the Liberal who
starts from the Gladstonian tradition has in large measure realized that
if he is to maintain the essence of his old ideas it must be through a
process of adaptation and growth. He has learnt tha