The Control of Foreign Affairs

DEMOCRACY is one of the many words which have suffered a vital change in their content during the past generation. We have almost ceased to mean by it a system of government which rests on the vigilant control of an organised multitude. We are satisfied if our rulers strive, by whatever machinery, to pass such measures and impose such taxes as seem to agree with the interests and the inclinations of the multitude. While the term has gradually suffered this subtle change in its implications, a whole department of public affairs has slipped beyond public control, and the process has taken place with the acquiescence of both our governing parties.