As a glance at the list of contents will show, the papers cover almost the whole range of political interest, foreign, domestic, and imperial, but the greatest emphasis is laid upon the problems of economic and industrial organisation. Yet, since it is impossible to survey the universe in ten days, there are large and important themes which remain unexplored, while many subjects of vital significance are but lightly touched upon. Perhaps the most notable of these omissions is that of any treatment of local government, and of the immensely important subjects—education, public health, housing, and the like—for which local authorities are primarily held responsible. These subjects are held over for fuller treatment in later schools; and for that reason two papers—one on local government and one on education—which were delivered at Oxford have not been included in the present volume.
It must be obvious, from what has been said above, that these papers make no pretence to define what may be called an official programme or policy for the Liberal party. It was with study rather than with programme-making that the School was concerned, and its aim was the stimulation of free inquiry rather than the formulation of dogmas. Every speaker was, and is, responsible for the views expressed in his paper, though not for the form which the abridged report of it has assumed; and there are doubtless passages in this book which would not win the assent of all Liberals, for Liberalism has always encouraged and welcomed varieties of opinion.
Nevertheless, taken as a whole, these papers do fairly represent the outlook and temper of modern Liberalism. And the candid reader will not fail to recognise in them a certain unity of tone and temper, in spite of the diversity of their authorship and subject-matter. Whether the subject is foreign politics, or imperial problems, or government, or industry, the same temper shows itself—a belief in freedom rather than in regimentation; an earnest desire to substitute law for force; a belief in persuasion rather than in compulsion as the best mode of solving difficult problems; an eagerness to establish organised methods of discussion and co-operation as the best solvent of strife, in international relations and in industrial affairs quite as much as in the realm of national politics, to which these methods have long since been applied.
That is the spirit of modern Liberalism, which gives unity to the diversity of this little volume. As has often been said, Liberalism is an attitude of mind rather than a body of definitely formulated doctrine. It does not claim to know of any formula which will guide us out of all our troubles, or of any panacea that will cure every social ill. It recognises that we are surrounded in every field of social and political life by infinitely difficult problems for which there is no easy solution. It puts its trust in the honest inquiry and thought of free men who take their civic responsibilities seriously.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
| [Preface] | [v] | |
| [The League of Nations and the Rehabilitation of Europe] | Rt. Hon. Lord Robert Cecil | [1] |
| [The Balance of Power] | Professor A.F. Pollard | [19] |
| [International Disarmament] | Sir Frederick Maurice | [37] |
| [Reparations and Inter-Allied Debt] | John Maynard Keynes | [51] |
| [The Outlook for National Finance] | Sir Josiah Stamp | [59] |
| [Free Trade] | Rt. Hon. J.M. Robertson | [74] |
| [India ] | Sir Hamilton Grant | [92] |
| [Egypt] | J.A. Spender | [111] |
| [The Machinery of Government] | Ramsay Muir | [120] |
| [The State and Industry] | W.T. Layton | [145] |
| [The Regulation of Wages] | Professor L.T. Hobhouse | [165] |
| [Unemployment] | H.D. Henderson | [176] |
| [The Problem of the Mines] | Arnold D. McNair | [194] |
| [The Land Question] | A.S. Comyns Carr | [212] |
| [Agricultural Questions] | Rt. Hon. F.D. Acland | [227] |