The Labour Party heralds itself as “the true national democratic party,” and as such claims to have formulated a national Labour policy, which, on the most superficial examination, exhibits many indications of purely sectarian objectives. My effort has been to appraise that policy critically but fairly, and see how far it is likely to advance the common welfare. This cannot be done unless one clearly appreciates the industrial root on to which the so-called national democratic party has recently been grafted, and from which it draws all its nurture and virility. Part I, therefore, explains in some detail the history and constitution of the Labour Party, and also the nature of the root, which, called by the most euphemistic name, is merely a particular species of Socialism. At the moment, the Labour Party does not seem unduly proud of its lineage, nor inordinately anxious to force upon the attention of the country its real socialistic aims. But it is essential that they should be laid bare, and this I endeavour to do in Part I, not by quotations from Labour leaders’ speeches, which express considerable difference in views, according to the forum, are not conspicuous by consistency, and are regarded as of no binding force by the Party. I give actual extracts from official documents published by the Labour Party, not generally known or accessible to the ordinary reader, and which state, if not with clarity, at any rate in its own language, the principles to which the Party declares that it has pledged the allegiance of all its followers. The Labour Party arraigns before the bar of public opinion the present Government, and, indeed, all past “Capitalistic Governments,” and charges them with having neglected the interests of the workers, and of being devoid of any consistent Labour policy. Such an accusation, if sufficiently repeated, obtains a certain validity of currency, because the public know little of what has been really achieved under Government direction. I hold no brief for the present Coalition Government—I have often criticized its unfortunate opportunist action in regard to industrial matters, and do so freely in this book—but it is vital that the public should understand, if only as the foundation on which to build a new and amplified Labour policy, what it and former Governments have done, at the expense of the nation, for the workers of the country. This is the theme of Part II, and, as any future solution of our Labour difficulties must be materially influenced by the effect upon industry, upon employers and employed, of the emergency measures taken by Government for the regulation of Labour during the war, a chapter in Part II is devoted to this important matter.