The Washington herald., 1921-05-08
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

eeoihSt uifty WORK. II Is HBntinE
not only for good wages but for an
easier time. some fun In life, some
clothes that might be- clean and
I spruce and some time and money for
pleasure, as enjoyed by the middle
lclasses. without the haggard appre-
hension of dire poverty. Thus the
revolt of millions against ugly toll,
and II happens at a time when Eng
lands state Is critical.
Ineome Tax DeubIed.
The last budget revealed the por-
tentous burden imposed upon Brit
ish shoulders. The income tax alone
amounts to twice the total national
revenue before the war. and II is
reckoned at ~ pounds sterling per
capita, compared with 8 pounds paid
by the Germans. The richest men
pay 16 shillings out of every 20 OF
income and people of moderate
means and the professional classes
pay one-third of the income taxes
and the local taxes.
Even with-that tax collection we
are still unable to reduce our
| Overwhelming war debts to any i'm
portant extent. For the interest on
our debts alone are this year 1885,
100000 pounds sterling. Now these
| figures and facts bring England to
the crossroads of her fate, and what
Is being decided now in this con-
flict of political and social ideas is
whether she will take the road of
| idealism and seIf-sacrifice for the
! sake of recovery and progress or
whether she will pursue the old
methods of force and self-interest.
Realists Versus Ideaiists.
Those two conflicting ideals cut
/ across every class and divide every
group or men and women according
/ to their temperament and education.
To explain the situation In another
way, l may say this struggle Is be-
tween realists and idealists. The
realistS in the governing classes be-
lieve the nation may be saved only
by returning to the old traditions
of British supremacy at home and
abroad, based on cheap. submissive
labor at home, kept quiet by fear
Of unemployment and by imperial
commercial adventures to secure
world markets and raw material
with protective tariffs and the
power of a big navy.
This school of thought is led for
the moment by Mr.. Lloyd George
Il as alhoN ulS natural lnSIlnClS, III al
lance with Tory minds upon whom
his office depends, which favor a
sharp, stern conflict with labor,
when. after an Inevitable defeat, the
| workmen will feed from the hand
that smote them.
This school Of which Lloyd
George Is nominal leader. but moral
antagonist, is for the imperial de-
II valnnnnant 81
estine Though Mesopotamia costs
100000 annually. for coercion
rather than reconciliation in ireland
Though our ARM there costs a.
250,000 monthly, for punitive meas
ures against Germany with the ut
most rigor, including occupation
and ransom (though 1t risks future
war), and for a strong hand every
where in order to maintain the
British prestige in the world.
The realists in the labor ranks.
more ignorant of the big issues in
volved and more limited in their
interest, believe also in the policy
Of strong hand according to old
methods. They still believe that by
Withholding labor they can terror
ize the government and secure high
Il AhCy ddfOCdle OTRdnlZefl
laziness, called limitation of output.
In order to avoid overwork. secure
| Jobs for more men and enjoy life.
Church Demands Decent Wages.
But on both sides idealists are
trying to modify this direct con-
flict and to lead the nation in an
entirely different road. The recent
conference of bishops was, for in =
stance, remarkable in expressing
sympathy for the miners and stat
| ing that the first charge on all in
dustry must be wages of workers
surncient to insure a decent liveli-
mood. and the bishops rebuked the
mine owners for offering wagas
that did not fulfil those conditions.
| That was a definite challenge by
the English chukch to the employ
ers who want a straight fight with
labor in order to beat them back
to surrender on any terms.
Labor leaIers i:ka Thoma :.
| Clynes. Snowden and others have
| definitely abandoned the policy of
using the strike as political weap-
on and are trying to educate labor
to abandon all ideas and methods
CT revolution IN order to work for :,
national evolution by which more
equality of conditions may prevail in
all classes.
Express Clear Cut Policy.
The idealists. as l have called
| them, on the top as well as on the
bottom rungs of the ladder-men
1 like Viscount Grey, Herbert As
| quith, Lord Robert Cecil at the top,
| men whom I meet on street cars at
the bottom-have a certain clear
cut policy which they express in
| different ways, but which gradually
is being organized into a national
conviction of increasing strength
In this dispatch can only briefly
summarize 1t, dividing lis t:erd and
| thought into home and foreign af-
| fairs.
| Their home policy Is founded On
the conviction that there isl no rev
| olutionary spirit in England at
present; that II labor is dealt with
fairly and squarely and put in pos
session of equal facts governing
the economic conditions of the ma
/ tion and of particular trades and
| then given a decent minimum wage
| with an interest in future profits
| the men will agree to a temporary
reduction of wages during times Of
| trade depression and thus avert a
social conflict that is otherwise in
| evitable.
Opposed to Foreign Adventure.
But home prosperity, they think.
Is entirely dependent on foreign
policy, and for this reason they pro-