Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-10-20
ENGLISH PRESS ASKS
FOR CRAFTSMANSHIP

London. Oct. 1 CA. p. by MaiD--
Almost the entire English press IS
wailing for craftsmanship to come
forward, lest this country lose her
traditional greatness. one ana an
the papers seem to conclude that
economically and otherwise the ma
ton is begging down, and that
something must be done.
The editorial writer's have even
ceased their-post-w practice o.
looking around for some foreigner
on whom to put the blame for Eng
lands woes. They no longer lecture
the French morning and evening. nor
erowl of unfair competition" from
Germany. For the moment they
have even ceased to complain OF
Americas attitude toward the war
debts. There is evidenced grow
ing realization that England has her
own house to put in order.
The papers are beginning to pan
the Prime Minister. That is one
straw showing how the wind blows.
The cheaper, noisier and most Wlde-
" circulated ones opened their OIL
fcnsive against him weeks ago. Ihey
did not like his surrender IN the
mining dispute, in which the govern,
ment bought truce between coal
diggers and coal owners at the cost
of 100000 pounds q month. Then
Mr.. Baldwin went to Aix-les- Bains
for a holiday. When he came back,
after four weeks of rest. he gaily re-
marked that he hadn't read an Eng
lish newspaper for month.
None of the newspapers took KIND
ly to this, or saw any joke IN II. a
great many things of Importance
happened while he was gone, they
have been informing Mr.. BALDWIN.
For one thing, unemployment be-
came still worse. And under the
surface there is a great deal of talk
about Bolhevik uprisingS ana all
sorts of possible trouble next May
when the coal truce ends. And more
talk of mobilizing the manhood OIL
the country to protect Brltlsn
standards and traditions" Young
sters and grown-ups OF the middle
classes, eX-army folk ana sucn, are
organizing branches OF the BRUSH
Fascist"
The serious journals are beginning
to cry for craftsmanship, and to In
form Mr.. Baldwin that he has not
lived UP to the hopes they placed in
him when Labor was thrown out
and Conservatism put back in power.
G. K. Chesterton, in his weekly. has
been pounding away at a campaign
for small ownership, for the return
of English peasantry to till rlch
| soil that is more and more neglected
| while the country keeps buying
| larger proportions Of food from over
seas.
Sir Philip Gibbs. writing in the
! Sunday Times, inquiries rs England
Done?" and says the Government
| policy has been one of drifting, OF
| temporary makeshifts in emer-
gencies; niggling measures to reduce
! unemployment (Which hasn't been
reduced), returning to the gold
| standard without counting its cost in
| impairing trade, substituting lazi-
| ness" as an American termed the
| dole. Sir Philip thinks the rot in
our social state" can be stopped only
| by an all-round reduction in the
| standard of life. mot asking labour
| to get back below the poverty line
while we keep all our luxury"
| Someone, he said, must show how to
get a few million to emigrate out OF
! England.
His call for leadership is echoed by
! J. l.. Garvin, the distinguished editor
| of the Sunday Observer. The coun-
| try does not want to replace the
! government, for the alternative is
! probably labor with working ma
| jority, he contends, but the coun-
! try intends without mistake to
awaken the Government to n more
| real sense of the magnitude and
urgency of the public crisis. to in
| vigorate its action, and to force it
out of conventional habits of mind"
| Other journals and lesser men are
| expressing the same thought daily.
Mr.. Garvin, who confesses that he
| Joined heartily in the "Te Deum"
| that welcomed the Conservative gov
| eminent less than a year ago,
| writes:
unless the Baldwin Government,
as regards trade and unemployment,
| can rise above nullity or mediocrity
| of attempt or the subsidy spirit,
| John Bull will resort to the news
papers and advertise a vacant situa-
| ton"