It will be interesting to watch the reactions of the ordinary Englishman when he be-gins to realise that at the heart of world politics there is a universalist conspiracy to make the world safe for the gold standard.
There is indeed grave danger that Britain may miss her chance. An industrially stagnant ruling class is less swayed by economic considerations than by the ad-vantages of birth and education. Whole-hearted co-operation with Russia on the Continent, enormously profitable as a business proposition, might involve the peril of a new equalitarian impulse radiating this time from a Continent which was turned into a home of popular government by Russian influence. Not as if the U.S.S.R. was feared any more as the mother of Soviets; yet she may still prove herself a true daughter of the French Revolution. The cloud on the horizon is not yet bigger than a man’s hand. But what if it started to grow and, eventually, in some dire crisis or in some great adventure of progress, fresh forces should spring up and fuse Dis-raeli’s Two Nations into one? Such a consummation is dreaded by those who look more to the past than to the future for their title to leadership. They will hold on to social privilege even at the expense of financial loss. Contrary to national interest, they might attempt to restore universal capitalism, instead of striking out boldly on the paths of regional planning.
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