ESSAYS IN PERSUASION

PART

328

party which hates or despises existing institu-tions and believes that great good will resultmerely from overthrowing them—or at leastthat to overthrow them is the necessary pre-liminary to any great good. This party canonly flourish in an atmosphere of social oppres-sion or as a reaction against the Rule of Die-Hard. In Great Britain it is, in its extremeform, numerically very weak. Neverthelessits philosophy in a diluted form permeates,in my opinion, the whole Labour Party . How-ever moderate its leaders may be at heart,the Labour Party will always depend for elec-toral success on making some slight appeal tothe widespread passions and jealousies whichfind their full development in the Party ofCatastrophe. I believe that this secret sym-pathy with the Policy of Catastrophe is theworm which gnaws at the seaworthiness of anyconstructive vessel which the Labour Party maylaunch. The passions of malignity, jealousy,hatred of those who have wealth and power(even in their own body) ill consort with idealsto build up a true Social Republic. Yet it isnecessary for a successful Labour leader to be,or at least to appear, a little savage. It is notenough that he should love his fellow-men; hemust hate them too.

What then do I want Liberalism to be? Onthe one side, Conservatism is a well-definedentity —with a Right of Die-Hards, to give itstrength and passion, and a Left of what onemay call “the best type” of educated, humane,