Britain's Tories got a horrid preview of Doomsday when the Labor Government moved to nationalize the Bank of England. Last week, as the nationalization bill was introduced into the House of Commons, Doomsday turned out to have a sterling silver lining.
If nationalization of "The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street" was not painless, it was at least a well-anaesthetized operation. Said Bank Governor Lord Thomas Sivewright Catto, after reading the bill: "I have confidence in the skill and understanding of the surgeon [Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Dalton]. . . . He is well aware of the venerable age and the...