276 ESSAYS IN PERSUASION part

the state of the Budget , and the want ofconfidence—cannot be thus disposed of. Twoyears ago there was no need to be frightened.To-day it is a different matter. It would notbe wise to frighten the penguins and arousethese frigid creatures to flap away from ourshores with their golden eggs inside them. Apolicy of expansion sufficiently drastic to beuseful might drive us off the gold standard.Moreover, two years ago the problem wasmainly a British problem; to-day it is mainlyinternational. No domestic cure to-day can beadequate by itself. An international cure isessential; and I see the best hope of remedyingthe international slump in the leadership ofGreat Britain. But if Great Britain is to resumeleadership, she must be strong and believedto be strong. It is of paramount importance,therefore, to restore full confidence in London .I do not believe that this is difficult; for the realstrength of London is being under-estimatedto-day by foreign opinion, and the position isripe for a sudden reversal of sentiment. Forthese reasons I, who opposed our return to thegold standard and can claim, unfortunately,that my Cassandra utterances have been partlyfulfilled, believe that our exchange positionshould be relentlessly defended to-day, in order,above all, that we may resume the vacantfinancial leadership of the world, which no oneelse has the experience or the public spirit tooccupy, speaking out of acknowledged strengthand not out of weakness.