undoubtedly obtain an effective majority--the prize we shall claim
will be a final change in the relations of the two Houses of
Parliament, of such a character as to enable the House of Commons to
make its will supreme within the lifetime of a single Parliament; and
except upon that basis, or for the express purpose of effecting that
change, we will not accept any responsibility for the conduct of
affairs.

But there is another issue which must not be overlooked. I mean the
social issue. We have taken a great step already. I must say that he
is rather a sour kind of man who can find nothing to notice in the
Old-Age Pensions Act except its little flaws and petty defects. I
think you will feel, on the contrary, that the establishment of the
pensions system is a marvellous and impressive example of the power
which British Governments possess. Without a hitch, perfectly
smoothly, punctual to the minute, regular as clockwork, nearly
600,000 aged persons are being paid their pensions every week. That is
a wonderful and beneficent achievement, a good job well worth some
risk and sweat to finish. Nearly eight millions of money are being
sent circulating through unusual channels, long frozen by poverty,
circulating in the homes of the poor, flowing through the little shops
which cater to their needs, cementing again family unions which harsh
fate was tearing asunder, uniting the wife to the husband, and the
parent to the children. No; in spite of Socialistic sneer and Tory
jeer and glorious beer, and all the rest of it, I say it is a noble
and inspiring event, for which this Parliament will be justly honoured
by generations unborn. I said just now that a Tory tariff victory
meant marching backwards, but there are some things they cannot undo.
We may be driven from power. We may desire to be released from
responsibility. Much of our work may be cut short, much may be
overturned. But there are some things which Tory reaction will not
dare to touch, and, like the settlement and reconciliation of South
Africa, so the Old-Age Pensions Act will live and grow and ripen as
the years roll by, far beyond the reach of Party warfare and far
above the changing moods of faction.

There are many political injustices in this country and many absurd,
oppressive, or obsolete practices. But the main aspirations of the
British people are at this present time social rather than political.
They see around them on every side, and almost every day,