Social Reform is now the cry of Liberals and Conservatives alike.

The old Liberal doctrines of _laissez faire_, unrestricted competition, and the personal liberty of the subject are as dead as the Stuart doctrine of the divine right of kings.

The old Liberal hostility to State interference in trade or commerce, and to compulsory social legislation has melted away at the awakened social conscience.

It still has its adherents--Lord Cromer and Mr.Harold Cox repeat the ancient watch-words of Victorian Liberalism, and they are regarded with a respect mingled with curiosity, as strange survivals of a far-off age--but no popular echo follows their utterances.

Pensions for the aged, better provision for the sick and the infirm, a more careful attention to the well-being of children, national health, some cure for destitution, and some remedy for unemployment--these are the matters that a Liberal Government is concerned about to-day.