Cañon City record., 1910-02-17
Observations In Europe
BY WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE
TAXES AND POLITICS IN ENGLAND"
BY WILLIAM ALLEN VIII

One shudders to think what the
Kansas bourbons would say of such a
law. And when they are told that the
majority party in England, headed by
Lloyd George. lord chancellor of the
exchequer, and Mr.. Winston Church
Ill, grandson of the Duke OF Marl-
borough-has formally served notice
that the government will demand that
all employers of labor and all lab
orers join the government at one
third assessments each in providing
a fund to insure men against loss OF
labor due to hard times-when one
considers these things. one sees that
the world is wagging on, and that all
the "disturbers OF business" all the
"reformers and demagogues all the
mere theorists" are not among the
progressive Republicans OF Kansas.
go
Naturally, the proposal of the gov
ernment to tax the landlords un-
earned increment in England pro-
duced a great outcry. And there was
great hullabaloo. But as election
after election returned members
pledged to the proposition without the
loss of a single member. It dawned
upon the Tories that liberalism would
prevail.
In July there was a great mass
meeting. called in Hyde Park, to sup
port the government in its demand
for the proposed tax upon the un-
earned Increment And we got into a
taxicab and went to see the fun
There was a great procession leading
to the park 1t was composed OF la
boring men, merchants. professional
men-all sorts.
The banners they carried are of in
terest One read, idle Lands Make
Idle Hands," another read Tax Land.
Not Food" third read Down With
the Dukes" A big banner carried
Cromwell's picture. and one man
carried "a banner with a strange de-
vice" that looked mighty familiar 10
the Kansas eye. The banner declared
for equal rights to all. special priv
Ileges to more" Apa the great gov
ernment of Englaf sthe cabinet and
majority of parliament were behind
t.
II is a long jump from Jerry Simp-
son to Lloyd George, lord chancellor
OF the exchequer. but progress seems
TO have made IL in two jumps" 1t is
but fair to say that the party in pow
er in England today is allied with the
labor party And that the labor party
Is built upon the wreck of the Social
ist party.
John Burns. the great labor leader
in England who once was a Socialist,
now is in the cabinet Kier Hardie
spoke in the parR. where the govern
ment's land tax was endorsed, and
endorsed by the government And
Henry Georges son. from New York.
! was one of the speakers in the pre-
| llminary campaign.
But England is no more under the
control OF the Socialists than France,
where the new premier and his cab
met are outspoken Socialists, nor
than Germany. where the Socialists
are so much in control that the kais-
er took the organizer OF state insur-
ance for prime minister rather than
go to the people in an election and
get he knew not what nrebrand, and
| perhaps a revolution.
So. knowing something OF the po-
lItical temper of Europe. we were not
| surprised to see the greatest political
meeting ever held in Hyde Park, sup
porting the increment tax. But even
IL we were not surprised, we were
immensely interested at seeing the
same deadly seriousness in the Eng
lish crowd that used TO pervade the
old Farmers Alliance professions In
| the nineties In Kansas.
An American crowd takes Its poll
tics ordinarily in merry mood.
There is always a good-natured chat
ing and guying and badinage in an
American procession OF any sort, and
political procession in this land OF
the free is unusually festive. But this
great English crowd, TO begin with,
was fianked with policemen. The po-
lice never know where trouble will
start In n British crowd, and SO, with
these banners demanding "land for
the landless." and taxes upon the
idle rich and not upon the idle poor
literally thousands OF policemen were