New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-08-02
DEMOCRACY IN ENGLAND.
VIEWED BY HENRY GEORGE.
-ur PROGRESS OF VARIOUS POLITICAL AND SOCIAL
UNDERGRADUATE.



(oopvrtohs 1851
That IN. tide of the times is in England setting
.arA great social and political changes is obvious
enouch: but how strongly 1t Is running lew IN tnis
country realize. The general American idea OF the
ENGLISH Is that they by nature peculiarly conser
vst,ve Thetruth that the people who on diiereh'
s,des of the Atlantic speak the same tongue arc
essentially the same people. differing only In their
conditions. The more equal diffusion OF "eai'n
the higher average of opportunities, that nave u"
tanned here may have made our people quicker anu
.mere independent, but we have on the Quiet n"uu'
more OF that conservatism that springs iron quo
notion that our institutions include ali iaouoi"
improvements" while the very incongruity OF fhe-
lsh institutions with tho spirit of the age, the con-
sciousness that they must undergo cnahge oiSpo'0'
to the easier reception OF radical IDEAS.
And though I'D to the present in the hands OF
nriv;leped class the Government OF England is less
fitted to resist or delay sweeping changes tuan
ours. With one more extension OF the FRANCHISE
I'm addition to that soon to go into operation WIN
the payment Of members and Of election expenses,
which must soon follow, the English system VIII
he in essentials more democratic than our owh' in
MANY respects England has been making progress
while We have been standing still. lhc mahner VI
voting the safeguards against coercion ana pfoeIy'
tina manner of presenting candidates and conduct
system of responsible government brings questions
of public policy directly before the voter IMAM
do elections in which the choice of an Executive
often turning on matters of personal cbaracter Is
ant to oyershadow everything else; while the So
lection of representatives without regard to resi-
dence gives political leadership hlgher anu
broader character than when, as with us. man Oh
national reputation may be relegsted 10 pflVate
life should he incur the hostility of his local poitl
cal machine" or fail to maintain his popularity
with his immediate constituents.
When tho class who have hitherto ruled Eng
land lose control of the lower branch of the Legis
ture no point of resistance remains. The House OF
Lords is really not so efficient conservative safe
ouard as an American Senate. majority IN the
House of Commons may abolish the Lords, vacate the
fhrone and deal with institutions and with property
as they please No bench Of judges can place veto
on their acts in the name of written Constitution
Such an act as the Irish Land Act would In the
United States have required a constitutional
amendment and could not have become a valid
law unless demanded by an overwhelming majority
of the whole people and after long delays. But IN
England this act, involving the most revolution
ary principles became s'law in o few weeks.
It is mistake to think of England as country
where everything is finished and settled. There
Is an old England-the England Of which. because
see all he can and the American who travels by
proxy likes to read. But there is also new
England that Is steadily swallowing up the old.
London. Manchester Liverpool, Leeds, Edinburgh
and Glasgow are In large part as new as Chicago
or San Francisco. Steam and electricity are
doing their work upon the soil for which Roman
fought with Celt, and Dane with Saxon, as
thoroughly as upon our Western prairies
They are redistributing population and
wealth, destroying the little village and building
up the great town; breaking down local pecuiiari-
ties and bringing about uniformities OF fashion.
taste and thought. And tho great problems which
arc beginning to force themselves upon England
are the problems which lie before U.s. The British
land system is essentially the same system Which
prevails in New-York and in Dakota. The British
arstocracy derives its real strength not so much
from associations of antiquity as from the
hope that its constant recruiting from the
successful Of the middle class holds out to
men such as constitute the prominent citizens OF
American towns and from that differentiation of
society into grades and classes that we may OBJ
serve here accompanying increasing neq uaity III
the distribution of wealth. while the feeling to-
ward the Crown which is apt to somewhat puzzle
an American is in large part made up of satisfied
tolerance with fgurehead that saves the trouble
and lar of an election. The growth of the American
Republic the example Of France the reaction upon
the mother country from the colonies, add to the
influences which stimulate the growth OF the
democratic sentimen Great Britain, but
at the same time these examples show how little
TO improve the most important conditions of
people mere political democracy do.
The great force that IN England is making for
change is not political discomfort but social dis
content and this all the tendencies OF the time are
contributing TO increase.
lost p,1n
forces that are to-day working in Great Britain,
are the Board Schools. For some ten years com
pulsory education has been enforced in country and
In town with avigor that partakes of cruelty.
Children who cannot get enough to eat are forced
to go TO school, and the grants from general funds
In aid Of local school rates stimulate even
the Highland factors to impose extra-jndicial
hnes upon tenants whose children are absent from
school The Board Schoolmasters who are becom-
tng an important class are young men Of the Z" low
or orders" who have won their way by dint of in
telligence and industry, aud who are largely
imbued with radical ideas. The Board Schools
must eventually develop into a system of NatIo nal
education which will act as powerful solvent upon
prejudioes of class and creed aud largely
ing such influence already; but their most i'm
portant effect is upon the sub-stratum of English
society. The young men who are to-day Joining
the ranks of the agricultural laborers older onos
die or retire TO the workhouse, or who are growing
10 manhood in city Sums, may have been
used TO sleeping SIX IN a room may never have
joyed what an American would consider " a good
square meal" and may not know now where to
get one-but they do know how to read write and
cipher. This knowledge may not make them
more moral. it may not add to their reasoning
powers. but it does widen their horizon, and in
creases their discomfort with social conditions.
Other agencies, too are working in the same di-
rection--the short term service in the Army.
trades unions, cooperative societies, temperance