, 1925-01-05
fore. Alexander Hamilton wrote hi.

fore Alexander Hamilton wrote his
reports
Facts OF far less consequence than
the invitation 10 John Kemp, the
Flemish weaver, are far better
known. Dates Of less moment than
1887 are in a hundred schoolbooks.
Quotations OF minor weight are in
the mouths Of thousands who never
considered what Parliament did for
England when the encouragement
OF skilled workmen- became a part
OF England's policy, when foreign
cloth was barred from British ports.
when It was decreed that British
wool was to lie made up into cloth
at home. There is hardly n news
paper man In the entire English
speaking world who does not know
that Pitt said. or DR.. johnson said
for him; 1.-THE %atrocious crime OF
being a young man I shall endeavor
neither to palliate nor to deny"
Yet this, striking as It Is. is merely
a rhetorical flourish. The coming of
John Kemp marked a new era. II
was, as Carey says. more important
to the wage-earning Englishman
than Magma Charta. But while It
would be hard TO find a man or
woman who can read English who
does not know that Magma Charta
vas granted in the days of King
John. perhaps not n reader in ten
thousand ever heard Of John Kemp.
To most readers, even those of
more than average intelligence. the
history OF England is picturesque
rather than practical. One may
know that Richard Of the Lion-heart
was brave. and that Robin Hood
was q Skilled archer without giving
a. thought to the steady workers.
These workers built up the fabric Of
England's greatness as surely as
the workmen in Jerusalem built the
temple of Solomon. vitality impor-
tant vas the part they played in
rearing an England that could meet
the force of Spain, that could wrest
the sceptre of tho Channel from
Holland. that could battle the strength
OF France from Louis lie Grand to
Napoleon Bonaparte. This was not
done in a hurry. The Oldest man
whom Nelson or Wellington ever
saw was the great-grandson OF n
born far too late to remember the
wool industry of Edward the Thirds
time. Tho statute Of 1887 was more
than a century old before Queen
Elizabeth's grandfather was born.
Even in childhood the ear is
caught by England's title. "the
mistress OF the seas" II has an i'm
pressive sound like Where Blake
and and mighty Nelson fell"
Equally important is the workshop
OF the world One balances the
| other. The England that triumphed
at Aboukir. Copenhagen and Ira
falgar. is the England hat built
ships 10 carry her cargoes. The
wool, the iron, the coal. the ship
yards. the potteries. the endless out
| put of labor. how little attention
these receive even from persons who
are perfectly familiar with the
names OF Plantagenet, Tudor, Stuart,
Orange and Hanover.
In the next street we may meet
somebody who remembers when this
country first began In n to
manufacture It's own steel rails. We
can easily find those who have boy
ish memories OF Morrill's first Tariff
and whose fathers remembered the
Walker Tariff. What we have done
Is altogether a matter of recent his
tory. But when England began her
Free-rrade experiment she had had
Ave centuries OF Protection.
Five centuries-that means a
greater period than the one stretch
ing between US and the voyage OF