Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-31
BY CYRIL ARTHUR PLAYER.


an unprejudiced discussion.
BY CYRIL ARTHUR PLAYER.
| LONDON, May 30.-Great Britain
before the war was a rich mans coun-
try. The world wagged for the we'll
to-do. The empire existed for him to
govern. The riches of the Indies were
! his to garner. He made up the narrow
margin of superiority for whom uni
versities droned statutory prayers and
! bcnedictions, for whom codes and GUS
| toms and privileges and outrageous
snobberies were imposed on the great
submerged.
Many splendid men were developed
| by this system of caste; millions were
condemned by 1t. But the empire grew
and prospered, and dominated the earth
and came to q standStill. Then delu-
sions of grandeur plucked haios from
| the splendid past; time, at the opening
| of the twentieth century and for a
decade. almost stood still and it was al
ways golden Summer. 1t was brlet
| time Of comfortable assumptions, dur
ing which John Bull contemplated his
! paunch.
In those days, so amusing in retro
Spect, the gods looked with polite toler-
ance on the ambitious from below. A
man might be clever. but who was ne?
Did he belong? Did he make IA
miliar and welcome member of the
fianneled company OF Henley, at Lords
of the week end house party, OF tbs
world that was? :,
Yet there were murmurings below all
this. Men dared. They challenged the
reticent powers of oxford and Cam
bridge and emerged with degrees; or
scorning cultures arid smile OF SNUG
approval. they simply set about preacn'
| ing the devastating doctrine OF human
rights. They said the poor should o.
happy. that the have-nothings shoulo
have something. that none should be
! without food, without livelihood, WITH
out opportunity without power.
Purpose Is Born.
Gradually out of this rebellious sub
merged vastness there was born q pur'
pose. 1t did not ignore the inheritance
| of inbred talent but it did claim the
birthrieht of original genius. Time wa;
to Judge whether 1t enriched the lane
F., or ruined IT. ,. ~,
Rritons NAV waive the subject, bui
before the war, democracy in the lane
existed only as plausible theory I'M
odor OF sanctity enveloped ana snleios.
the great; for the multifarious ilttie
|
usually had an element OF delectlon.
For 20 years before the invisible revo'
luton in Great Britain there was de,
veloping q tragic bitterness on the par
of the intelligent depressed, move
| ment so intense that the naive un-
readiness of the self-contained arlstoc'
racy-ariStocracy of birth ana PROBES
sion-seems now absolutely fatuous.
In those days the schools OF the peo'
/ ~ ff1eien
elementary institutions, not at all com
parable to the improved system OF TO-
day. although this has long way II
| travel. Between the workers cnlloref
and higher education stood that stub
born obstacle, money.
High schools meant fees, private
schools meant more and higher ices
Not more than l per cent OF the com
mon school population could expect u
reach A university, and, what was thu
heart Of the tragedy, no university ex'
pected them tc do so. When any die
reach the heights the guardians wer'
not wholly pleasantly surprised. Ther'
was a conviction that the poor nigh
| receive access freely to cinemas, bu
reluctantly to Parnassus.
New Leaders Arise.
The ancient universities and the sys
/ LcLn LQcy IGpICoEklOCo S@NN 0AO0V - @Se.~~
| It's great leaders of the past, but tn.
self-educated masses have contributed
to what may prove its greatest present
In the north, particularly, men sough'
| and discovered ways to obtain ina
which was denied them, found means
to force the popular cause into effective
battle line, while down in the hearts o.
the older citadels Of privilege youni
men, with typical national courage ane
imagination, caught the spirit o
emancipation and brought disciplined
minds TO the aid and direction OF TIT
new era.
Not very accurately, this is called the
labor movement. One of its more OBJ
vious achievements Is that there art
fewer very rich and fewer very poor In
Great Britain today but. deeper thar
that, it unquestionably represents the
liberating of hitherto undeveloped ma
tional resources, the freshening Of the
waning strain recognized as the gov
erning class Of England and q valuable
experiment in pure democracy, for gooc
and for Ill. with blessing and curse. FOL
the world to scrutinize thoughtfully.
The Great Britain Of before the wal
produced a remarkable series of public
men of high average talent, most o!
whom were drawn from a narrowly
limited section Of the population. Post.
war Great Britain has public men con-
tributed by virtually every class, ane
the leader who emerges from the work
ers is no longer either lonely Of
threatening phenomenon.
1t has been easier than might bt
supposed for the practical Laborite anc
the intellectual Socialist to find com
mon basis for action. Great Britain
being Great Britain, Socialism itself be-
| tai aA,,ofik,,tinnal ajSyiaR fF
conservatism, liberalism and radicalisn
new definitions of thought which ex.
press q difference in political action
but are all included in a profound
agreement on the subject Of nationa
integrity.
Wealth Is Shifted.
The great change in social values
which Is the outward and visible sigr
of the new Great Britain, has beer
paralleled by a considerable shifting Of
wealth. Great Britain, in spite of heavy
burdens, is still very rich and there are
a great number of extremely wealthy
men. If the statistics did not revea
the fact the stores on the important
shopping streets would do so.
But from great wealth has come, ir
taxes, the major resource Of the treas.
ury. much Of which has been distrib.
utsd during recent years among those
who have relatively little or nothing
The critic says this Is dissipation Of
capital for unfruitful purposes" Thu
Socialist. or even the Liberal. says 1t II
healthy increase In purchasing ca.
pacity among the greatest section OF
the population"
Due largely to phenomena connected
with liquidation of the war, a distress.
ing proportion of the people became
either ltnproductive or only ftfully