Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-09-28

KE1R HARpIp n chimney sweep
Outwardly his career fulfilled all the re-
quirements of Smiles hero He read Carlyle
and John Stuart Mill, and came out of the
pit at twenty-three with an idea, q purpose,
mission. He would be Ishmaelite. He
would create a party of political Ishmaelites,
and with them would march into the fat pas
lures of Canaan and challenge the ancient
tyrants. He resembled Gladstone in the at
tention he paid to problems of religion and
the fierceness of the conviction with which he
accepted the will of God. Labor agitation
was to him species Of applied theology.
Politics with him hinged directly on life and
life in turn hinged on the ever-felt myster-
les of veal and woe righteousness and in
justice, time and eternity It was this note
and all the implications OF this note which
were so poignant in his oratory-an oratory
which has been described as one which
"unitss a perfect literary finish with the
LONELINESS Of the Scotch accent"
A "Self-Help" Hero
Literary finish? Never sent to school he
used the language like an Oxford don. In
his teens he knew the Bible and Tammas
Carlyle by heart. And he kept on with his
reading and his thinking and his formulation
of ambitions and at twenty-four he entered
the trade union movement then in its in
fancy. few years later he turned editor.
At thirty he stood for the House of Commons
and at thlrty-sx he was elected He entered
Westminster with a flourish of trumpets
(provided by an enthusiastic company of his
constituents) and what a contemporary
called IAN amorphous Arrangement of toast
colored tweed" Keir Hardie's golf cap be-
came as much a symbol of English political
nrsM Mr. NIL
lain's monocle. AS for the brass band" Mr..
Hardie many times explained that 1t con-
sisted OF a solitary cornet.
though he travelled all over the world he
never acquired the cosmopolitan touch or
lost the quaintness of his provincialsm. He
fought his fights in worlSingman's garb. He
gave of his wages to feed the hungry. He
more than once took off his owr. coat to
clothe the destitute Even his enemies have
given him the great title of Christian gentle
man. Never did Kisses cause him to lose his
equanimity. Never did insults cause him to
lose his temper. Physical and moral courage
were in him conJoined This little, almost
frail-looking man was mobbed at one time
or another in nearly every town in the coun-
try. His fearless integrity of mind was re-
vealed quite as clearly in his opposition to
the Boer War and to entry into the present
world conflict He spoke with the soemnity
of a Hebrew prophet, but never in his
speech appeared any cant of Socialistic ex-
hortation and never any attempt to arouse a
superficial emotion over the sufferings of his
class.
With all the ruggedness of his nature
there was no roughness. He was a versatile
man. He made hobbies of such things as
ballads and chapbooks of literature. He was
a frequent visitor to the art galleries of
London and the Continent. He loved and
studied the architecture of the cathedrals Of
Europe. He was deeply interested in plant
life, and became almost an authority in the
science of botany Such were the tastes of
a proletarian labor leader of peasant origin.
Kelr Hardie's mission was to detach the
Labor section from Liberalism and make 1t
in name and fact the independent Labor
party, of which he was for years 10 be the
leader. He also founded the Labor Leader.
and was a frequent figure in the reviews
and magazines His writing. like his
speeches, ran counter TO most of the precon-
ceived ideas, and he never studied sequence
of thought long as he could express his
views with vigor. Years ago he left the
Fabians and after that there was nothing In
common between the Keir Hardie of the
Labor platform and the intellectual or dilet-
tante Socialism Of certain former associates
Of his who have betaken themselves to lit
erature.
A Cottage in the Heart of London
For some years Keir Hardie lived, when
in London, in a secluded court or Fet-
ter lane. Fleet street, and cultivated con-
genial company in a surrounding of books
chiefly relating to politics, Carlyle Burns
and the ballad literature Of Scotland. There
is a pleasant little story. as a friend of Mr..
S. r. Littlewood has written. Of the Labor
leaders discovery of this London home OF
his. He had just determined to leave an
almost equally old house in Chelsea. There
he had lived, ever since he came TO town,
out OF reverence for the memory OF Carlyle.
But he wished to be nearer his work In Fleet
street. So he wandered everywhere around,
seeking a lodging that he could care for, and
found his way by chance to NevilPs Court
Delighted with the place. he tapped at this
very door and applied for the vacant rooms.
The good landlady however, after looking
him up and down, refused to let him have
them without references. He never relin-
quished his working class garb. and she was
quite astounded when the rough-clad stran-
ger suggested the names OF several members
OF Parliament as sponsors for his respect
ability.