Britain prepared to cinch its social revolution a little tighter. New Year's Day would be Vesting Day, so-called because on that day title to coal mines and the cable & wireless industry would be taken from private ownership and vested in the Government.*
For the occasion, Conservatives predicted a socialist saturnalia. Under a headline, "Shinwell celebrates—with 1,000 guests," London's Tory tabloid Daily Graphic told of plans for washing down coal nationalization with highballs served on silver salvers in a paneled, specially heated room. Fuel Minister Emanuel Shin-well issued an immediate denial, announced...