IN GERMANY: A SKETCH. By Her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland THE CLOSING OF THE INDIAN MINTS. By the Right Hon. Lord Brassey A GREAT UNIVERSITY FOR LONDON. By the Right Hon. Lord Playfair BISHOP BUTLER AND HIS CENSORS. By the Right Hon. William Ewart THE CHINESE VIEW OF MISSIONARIES. By T. C. Hayllar. THE CHANGE OF OUR MUSICAL PITCH. By J. Cuthbert Hadden ART CONNOISSEURSHIP IN ENGLAND. By Sir Charles Robinson INDIAN FRONTIERS AND INDIAN FINANCE. By Sir Auckland Colvin THE NINETEENTH CENTURY No. CCXXI-JULY 1895 CROMWELL'S STATUE1. WHAT needs our Cromwell stone or bronze to say His hand won back the sea for England's dower; From Cromwell's eyes the light of England's glance Flashed, and bowed down the kings by grace of chance, The priest-anointed princes; one alone By grace of England held their hosts in trance. The enthroned Republic from her kinglier throne Spake, and her speech was Cromwell's. Earth has known Refused by the House of Commons on the 17th of Jure, 1895. VOL. XXXVIII-No. 221 B Incarnate England in his warrior hand Smote, and as fire devours the blackening brand Made ashes of their strengths who wrought her wrong, And turned the strongholds of her foes to sand. His praise is in the sea's and Milton's song; What praise could reach him from the weakling throng That rules by leave of tongues whose praise is shameHim, who made England out of weakness strong? There needs no clarion's blast of broad-blown fame Who bade fierce Europe fawn at England's heel There needs no witness graven on stone or steel ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE. June 20, 1895. THE CONSERVATIVE PROGRAMME OF SOCIAL REFORM NOTHING has contributed more to the downfall in public estimation of the present Government than its failure to deal effectively with any of the social problems of the day. The hopes which were held out by its supporters at the general election of 1892 could indeed never have been realised, because all the Parliamentary time was mortgaged from the outset to measures of political change; but this fact does not seem to have been appreciated by a great number of the electors. The general desire of the people to try what the other side can do in social legislation will be one of the most powerful influences at work in the coming general election. If it should give a majority to the opponents of the Government, their own retention of the confidence of the people will in its turn depend upon their fulfilment of expectations which have been built quite as much upon popular hope as upon any definite pledges which the leaders of the Opposition. have given. They will have one immense and obvious advantage over their predecessors. Pledged to no political changes, they can devote the whole of their Parliamentary time and the entire energy of their administration to the framing, discussing, and passing of measures which directly affect the well-being of the people: they will not be obliged to put off reform by Royal Commissions, Select Committees, and sham Bills. The policy of the Conservative party in reference to labour and social legislation would be guided by constitutional principles, and would necessarily proceed along the existing lines of social organisation. During the last fifty years solid and substantial improvement has taken place in the condition of the people. It would be folly not to seek for further progress along the same lines, and to imperil all that has been attained by some wild experiment in socialism, contrary to that caution and sobriety of sentiment which has always characterised the British people. But there are two diseases or disorders of the body politic which, though of old standing, have in recent times undergone a new and alarming development. They not only obstruct progress, but threaten to destroy the stability of the existing social order. Some immediate remedy for them is urgently called for. They are 1. Strikes and lock-outs. 2. The unemployed. The first efforts of any administration which is placed in office by the next Parliament will have to be directed to the treatment of these pressing and dangerous disorders: they have been fully discussed; their symptoms have been studied; remedies have been suggested; they are ripe for remedial legislation, if legislation can cure them. STRIKES. The first of these disorders is not so hard to deal with as the second, of which it is moreover one of the aggravating causes. The task is also made easier by the example of laws existing in our own colonies, in American States, and in European countries, many of which have been in operation with excellent results for some years. Certain of the best organised trades in our own country, such as the Cleveland iron-workers and the Northumberland miners, have for many years had the relations between employers and employed regulated by voluntary joint committees, which have successfully dealt with questions of wages and hours of labour, and have maintained industrial peace for long periods. Guided by these precedents, the Government should now work out a plan by which the benefits possessed by the well-organised industries can be to some extent conferred on the general mass of less organised workers. Public bodies, local and central, should be called into existence, to impede, if they could not altogether prevent, industrial conflicts. Local bodies would deal with local disputes, which, though individually small, produce a vast aggregate of misery and loss. Central bodies would deal with conflicts affecting the great staple industries of the country. Authority to create such bodies should be derived from Parliament, which should prescribe their general constitution and the fundamental principles on which they should act. The appointment of local bodies would be made under schemes prescribed by the Councils of counties and the municipal corporations of boroughs, which should have considerable latitude in adapting their constitution and procedure, and their mode of election or appointment, to the particular circumstances of the neighbourhood. The appointment of central bodies would be made directly by the Government. The general principles to be laid down and observed are such as these : 1. They should be permanent. People object to the intrusion of volunteers and to the meddling of a Government department. Disputants cavil at the choice of persons to judge their particular quarrel. A standing body acquires experience and prestige. 2. Employer and employed should have an equal voice. They |
