200 THE BfclTISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

on the evidence presented by world events, whether Capitalism
will destroy itself or whether its powers of retovery illustrated
after the War, will deliver mankind from present difficulties
and lead them to greater prosperity. The sensible person refrains
from calling his opponents fools; neither is he content with the
easy phrase, "There is much to be said on both sides'*; having
examined the evidence he gives his support resolutely to the
side which seems to him to have the better argument.
Against this background the party programmes can be set.

THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY.

This is the usual designation; the official name is Conservative
and Unionist Party.

Human beings often show an unwillingness to abandon
customs and ideas which they have respected for a long time.
This natural conservatism, praised by Edmund Burke in his
horror at the French Revolution, is claimed as one of the bases
for the Conservative Party's philosophy. It appears particularly
as a love of traditional forms and solemn ceremonies, 30 that
Conservatives dislike criticism of old institutions such as the
Monarchy, and emphasise the duty of loyalty to the King and
to the State which he personifies. Since one of the chief things
to be "conserved" to-day is the structure of Capitalism, the
great industrialists are joined to the old aristocracy in the
Conservative ranks. This union, encouraged by Peel in the second
quarter of the 19th century, was indeed the making of a Con-
servative Party as distinct from the old Tory party of the landed
classes. The Tory element remains, forming the Right Wing
of the party; a few of these, called "Diehards", are inclined to
regard all change with disfavour. Conservatism, however, means
.caution, or perhaps reluctance to change, not refusal; the majority
of Conservatives u?ge that Capitalism must be justified not only
to the rich but to all classes; democracy should be preserved
and the social services extended. They point out that the great
Conservative Disraeli extended the franchise in 1867 and was