The sun., 1916-11-05
By HILAIRE BELLOc.

The following unusual and impor.
s,nt article has come to THE SUN.
DAY SUN. Its author. Hilaire
BeiIoc, is one of the foremost Of
ENGLISH writer's on war problems
and THE SUNDAY SUN presents
the article in the belief that what.
ever Mr.. Belloc has to say is inter.
estins, but without in any way
expressing its opinion of the
writer's political creed.
"IlE chief task facing those men
In England to-day who wish to
see a resurrccted and strength.
ened England arise from this war 10
ito put It In the most general terms)
the task OF making what was an aris-
,ocracy and is now a plutocracy act
like a democracy.
In the matter Of tho war and It's
peace the need is SO urgent and the
punishment threatening ignorance,
corruption or a bad political machinery
50 evident and SO tremendous that
they have a better chance of accom-
plishing their object than heretofore.
Let MI give AT once an example
that will show both the difficulty and
the nature Of such a task.
Not long since In England q brill
liant journalist and editor. Mr.. Cecil
Chesterton. and I worked side by side
for months making public the nature
Of parliamentary decline. After q
general exposure In book and news
PAPER ~ proceeded to . particular
cass IN proof. the business Of the
.~1larconi" scandal
u was q out Of dozsns Of such
things which are native to the atmos-
phsrs Of the English Parliament, but
Il W. IN excellent working model
WITH which 70 move our contempt.
rsriss.
Nr. Chsstsrton put n forth most
clearly and fully. OF course all that
could BE- concealed by the culprits was
concealed-And still is-but the MAR
conf ramp" was made an object lesson
so reiterated and 20 insisted upon that
nobody could ignore II. After several
months Of this prolonged action even
the official Conservative press was
compelled to discuss the misdeeds of
the Liberals. In something like a
year all the middle classes and great
sections wen OF the populace had at
last appreciated. though imperfectly,
what the governing classes in Eng
land had known all along. that bribery
was a commonplace in English politi-
cal life. and that the professional pol
iticians gave themselves and their rel
atives sums OF money obtained. direct
~ and indirectly. by monopolies. spe-
cial contracts. &c. out Of the public
pocket. I say. 81 far as plain state
ment and proof were concerned. all
we're at last convinced.
What was the result?
Under the old a%ristocratic conditions
IN England which had been the
strength Of Protestant England since
the fall Of the monarchy In the seven
tenth century the "Marconi' men
would have been done for. Not that
aristocracies are other than cynical but
that their power depends upon a GER
tain prestige. and members OF their OIL
Garchy discovered and exposed in an
ndignifed position are thrust out Of
that oligarchy for the sake Of Its pres
orvation.
Under q democracy the culprits
would have been punished. for under a
democracy public men are regarded not
as masters but as servants. Dishonesty
upon their part, though more fire.
quently attempted perhaps than under
o;her forms OF government. is checked
because II grows dangerous by the
simple process Of attaching unpleasant
consequences to corruption. At best
the culprits are imprisoned 0ike Gar
funkel) or driven to suicide (like Rel
nach) or they ny the country 0ike
Hertz). At the least they suffer gen.
eral contempt. Honest men refuse to
associate with the trlcksters. They
have TO hide and retire.
But Under the present English
regime Of %plutocracy neither Of these