ABSTRACT
The election which was precipitated in October 1931 was held before the panic that had been created by the events of August and September had had time to subside, and when the electors were still bewildered by the sudden menace of financial collapse, which they did not understand. In short, the election of October 1931 turned what had been a National Government into a Conservative Dictatorship. It should have been the duty of statesmanship to allay the public panic, and to lay before the electors a sober and reasonable view of what had happened. The Liberals, now the only party that adhered to Free Trade, were in an extremely weak position. The most remarkable argument in the campaign against the Labour Party was the assertion that they had been using the deposits in the savings bank for current expenses; it was suggested that the people's savings were not safe in the hands of a Labour Government.
