New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-09-23
MIR. HERBERT SPENCER.
HIS VIEWS on LAND NAT;OSALlAAiioN
AND THE USE MADE OF THEN 81
THE ENGLISH LAND EEsToRA li'S
LEAGUE-MR HENRY GEOkGEo
ATTACK ON MP. SPENCEH'
London, September I.

London, September 4.
A corrsspondcnce has been going on ic: 'ae
las. ,or+r,rht respecting Mr.. Herbert SPENCE
,.,.,-s an nroporty in land, and the use H'i"e "a
than, nv n body OF persons calling themselves
.r,a English Land Restoration League. IL -
nv ,ha mart ~ Mr. Spencer's opponents Voiu'"
,,s and d,fYuse and raises q numocr o. ISSUE"
It,, ,,s,,,c, from each other and from 'h"t
Ill, &C. rerhans the most important o. AL. foE
A.. 80, ~ those who are unaware OF the
-,.,,oa. odo,ts, and justified by the ad"ooa'cs
=. ,a,a naturalization. this Issue deserves 70
=. statea II indeed everybody would Keep III
,,,ra Mr. C,adstone's definition Of land na'oh-
,,-.., os land robbery the advocates OF II
might be left to themselves. Robbery as o"S''
:. lie, recenera,ion will only be accepted by
the community under some disguise ana oS
81, -, n,,cb Discrimination and dishonesty on
,h. rert ~ i,a champions. But. az they are qu''e
= ,w.r. ,hat discrimination and dishonesty are
70, b.,r cbief WEAPONS and they persist IN he'"
al. NJ controversy which cannot be Adequately
a.ensd bv other words they do seem 10 require
.,,.r,ion as from time TO time. they emerge
,ror, their holes and exhibit themselves In the
light Of day.
Roth in America and in England. disnonest
,se Of Mr. Herbert Spencer's name and authori-
90 has been made and persisted In after ne had
exposed the dishonesty and denied the opinions
,,,nu,ed n him Mr. Henry George was the
chief American offender. Mr.. Georges charlatan-
ism has been stripped bare often that MS no.
toriety once considerable both i'll the Chi'eo
states and here. has declined, and his authority.
or such authority as he once had. has fallen 10
somewbere near zero But when Mr.. George
was exposed he thought proper 10 turn round on
Mr. Herbert Spencer with the insinuation that
hi. change OF opinion respecting land ownership
was due 10 his social aspirations or social inter-
course with the land aristocracy of this country
That Is tn. kind OF remark which puts man
ont Of court Controversy ends 1t becomes IN
che mouth OF a man guilty Of such an insinua-
tion mere abusive personality. 1t is the kind OF
accusation never made except by man capable
Of the baseness he mputes TO his opponent II
10 malicious but when Mr.. George filings it at Mr.
Snencer he shows not only malice but Ignorance
Mr. Snencer's sins do not include the sins OF social
Violations with the owners of land. for the simple
reason that he is and all his life long has BEEN
an invalid, and has never gone nor sought TO CO.
into what Is called society He gave his whole
strength to hi. own work. II he had had social
ambitions nothing would have been easier TO
him than TO crafty them. He would have been
welcome wherever great abilities and great fame
and great simplicity and truth Of nature are well
come But he has been, socially speaking, re-
cluse Membership of the Athenaeum Cluo, ana
friendly acquaintance with the men who intel
Iectually speaking are in the same rank as him.
self and an occasional excursion into circles OF
less eminent friends and admirers. do not expose
= man to the reproach Of being in society. And
n Mr. George had ever been five minutes in the
same room with Mr. Herbert Spencer. he would
have seen how absurd 1t was to speak OF him as
\ man who for any purpose would cringe to any
BODY. Probably he did know 1t was absurd. He
had at any rate not a shred nor a scntilla OF
fact on which to base his malignant innuendo
There is another side TO this social question OF
, which Mr. George is ignorant and others also
T. have shown themselves ignorant. He assumes
, and 1t Is often assumed In America when some
body has to be accused-that II Is possible for
man TO recommend himself TO English society by
eervility and especially by that kind OF servility
which consists in protesting 10 hold opinions
you do not hold. The answer is a short one. So
ciety does not care twopence about the opinions
Of It's members. and no man ever found his way
inside any front door in London BY pandering
to its prejudces, or by advocating one set Of
views or opposing another
lin the first place, Society has no views So
ciety consists of certain number Of persons who
hold a great variety Of views on different sub
jects On no subject is conformity expected. On
none does Society whole agree. 1t processes
respect for the Ten Commandments and for the
Statute Book. You may. however dsobey the
Ten Commandments or at least some OF them, and
stu keep your place If you disobey statute
that is more serious. for. IL society does not re-
sent it, the courts OF criminal jurisdiction may in
terrupt your intercourse with your own set In a
time of deep excitement. when the waters are
let loose and the political foundations under
mined, Society may feel the agitation and may
for while express its dislike to revolution and to
revolutionary leaders by ostracism. But that is
the exception. 1t might also draw the line at
Anarchists, or even at those Socialists between
whom and anarchy there is no visible line of de-
marcation. 1t might not welcome Ravachol nor
Mr.. Henry George. though there is at least one
well-known house in London which the latter has
been privileged in times past to enter.
But for Mr.. George anybody else to say
or suppose that Mr.. Spencer would be a more or
Tess acceptable guest In Mayfair because he had
modified in his book on Justice" the opinions he
had announced In Social States is to say or
suppose a perfectly ridiculous thing. There IS
not the least probability that the persons whose
fat is most influential IN social matters would
be aware there had been change. They
did not read Social States and they did not
read Justice" They would take Mr.. Spencer. If
at ALL on his personal merits. He or anybody
else,--Buffalo Bill for example,-might be lion
lied for a season. but that is very different
thing from being adopted into the sacred circle
as a permanent member. Social membership is
dependent en- totally different considerations. Mr.
Henry George does not understand them and
cannot BE- expected to understand them 1t is his
speciality to theorize on matters OF which he has
no practical knowledge. Admiral Maxse who is
hath thnknr and lardnMrcr. said ot him affer |