The San Francisco call., 1906-08-13
r ONDON, July 18-"Comrade
John Burns, NJ P.-Manches-

ONDON, july 10 OOInraOe
1 John Burns, NJ. P.-Manches-
ter's unemployed have taken
your advice of twenty years ago and
gone back to the land for food, for
wives and BARNS. Congratulate us.
Jack Williams, Outlaw"
The above telegram, sent by one
of the principal actors in England's
latest industrial farce-comedy to
Honest John" Burns, erstwhile
Labor leader and present Cabinet
Minister, is still awaiting a reply. 1t
would perhaps be hardly fair TO say
that the Right Hon. John and Keir
Hardie and all the other front rank
Labor and Socialist party leaders are
lodging the new sect of "Grabland-
ers," yet it is remarkable how ter
ribly busy they are just now on Par
liamentary affairs. Being wise men,
apparently they do not want to be
identified with the band at whom the
public is at present laughing.
The unemployed have at last ac-
cepted the Back to the Land cry
and in Manchester and London have
seized two small plots of ground,
encamped on them and started to raise
vegetables and collections" The
latter are already yielding daily
and fairly bountiful harvest The
vegetables have not yet reported pro-
gress. Other small bands of unem-
ployed have at few outlying places
followed in mild way the lead Of
Manchester and London.
The leaders boast of having gone
back to the days of Cromwell. The
public and the newspapers stigmatize
it rather as going back to the days OF
Robin Hood as exemplihed in the
"Bostonians' famous comic opera.
England was a little bit startled in
the early part of July, when dozen
men headed by a trio named Gray,
Smith and Williams, took possession
of a six-acre field, unfenced, at Leven-
shulme, three miles from Manchester,
and announced that the unemployed
of the country had turned outlaws
and intended to grab all the land they
wanted and till it according to the
precepts of Back to the Land" din
ned into their ears for many winters
by philanthropists, sociologists and
charity organizations.
Arthur Smith is known as the
ringleader of the Manchester unem-
ployed for the last year. Jack Will
liams is prominent orator and leader
of the Socialist-Labor party and A.
Stewart Gray, NJ. A, is a land en-
thusiast, agricultural expert and
sociologist As his degree proves he
is a man of education. He also has
independent means.
Last winter he proposed that the
large cities should solve the unem-
ployed problem by spending quar-
ter of million dollars each on a farm
colony. This he declared would not
alone support all the unemployed and
their families, but would net profit
annually of anything up TO SI5o,ooo
to each city. His scheme was backed
up by Joseph Fels, the millionaire
American philanthropist and business
man. formerly of Philadelphia. now
of England. Mr.. Fels even offered
to help finance the schemes. But the
cities would have none OF them. loo
colossal" they said.
Shortly after the Improbable
marches to London of the provincial
unemployed last winter, Gray, Smith
and Williams got together and plan
ned their present land-grabbing busi-
ness. They consulted lawyers and
made their plans in secret for months.
So the present state of affairs is not
movement of the moment.
Gray reported on several plots OF
land-all "G1ebe" or church land.
And then the "Grablanders" squatted
on their present location as being
the most favorable from an agricul-
tural viewpoint They stuck little
flags at the boundaries of the field, a
big red one in the center; put up a
tent and stone fireplace and built a
grass-sod hut after the fashion OF
ireland. Then they set to work to
issue proclamations, make speeches,
take I'D collections and finally dig up
the field and plant cabbages.
One dozen men formed the initial