The Progress of the World. 



343 



l.ir .IS those conililion'i bear upon wages ami prices and upon 

 tliiclualions in lin- ccil of liviiis,'. Thai will show u- the way 

 '" remedies ihal cannot safely i)c sought without knowledge. 

 Mr. Holihouse's speech encourages nie in the hope that Parli.T- 

 Mient will earnestly address itself to a thorough and far-reaching 

 investigation of ihe conditions of life for the pco| le. 



I suppose this means a Royal Commis,sion, with a witJe 

 mandate. A series of small sub-commissions, each 

 harged with one branch of the inquiry, would enable 

 ihc work to be carried through with celerity. It is 

 to be hoped the Condition of the People Commission 

 will not be like the Divorce Commission, which, after 

 taking twelve months to collect evidence, is apparentlv 

 taking another twelve months in which to make up 

 its mind. Mr. Asquith is, however, not satisfied that 

 ' Royal Commission will meet the requirements of 

 the case. 



The effect of the pacific settlement 

 Looking of the minimum wages question 



Further Afield. jn Britain is likely to be felt far 

 and wide ■ throughout the world. 

 For, as Lowell sang, — 



\\ hen a deed is done for Freedom, through the broad earth's 



aching breast 

 Kuns a thrill of joy prophetic, trembling on from cast to west. 

 Through the walls of hut and palace shooi^ the instantaneous 



throe 

 When the travail of the Ages wrings earth's systems to and fro. 

 .\t the birth of e.ich'new era, with a recognising start 

 Nation wildly looks at nation standing with mute lips apart, 

 And glad Truth's yet mightier man-child leaps beneath (he 



Future's heart. 



When the .Minimum Bill was passing a Scandinavian 

 observer in the Lobby said : " This is the greatest 

 event that has happened since the French Revolution." 

 -And a vision of a new Heaven and a new earth has 

 undoubtedly begun to dawn on many darkened eyes 

 all over the world. 



Great expectations are apt to be 

 greatly disappointed. The Syndi- 

 calist anarchists stand ready to 

 profit by every failure of Govern- 

 ment to realise the ideal. But again, to quote Lowell 

 when he wrote cxultingly over the new energy divine 

 nf Toil's enfranchised glance : — 



And if it be a dream, 



'I lie dreams which nations dream come true, 

 .\ri'! >hape the world anew. 

 If ibis be a sleep, 

 .\l.vke it long and make it deep. 

 \S liile labour so slecpelh, 

 1 1 is M>rrow is gone, 

 N.i longer he wcepcth. 

 But sinilelli and sicepeth, 

 Hi^ thoughts on the Uawn. 

 • • • • . 



Ah ! if he awaken, 

 Gixl shield us all then, 

 If llii* dream, rudely shaken, 

 Sli .11 . Ihmi him again. 



Perils Ahead. 



Mere man has revolted against the 



« . o ,. nagging of the women, and after 

 Man In Revolt. pp ts ,,.,.,, 



the manner of his kind he has hit 



out at the weakest thing within 

 range of his fists and knocked it down. In other words, 

 he has rejected the Conciliation Bill by a majority of 

 fourteen, which he read a second time last year by a 

 majority of 167, not in the least because he does not 

 belie\e in woman's suffrage, but because he wants to 

 " teach these window-smashing women to behave." 

 That the window-smashers hated the Conciliation Bill, 

 and that byrejecting itMan goes far to justify theirmajor 

 premiss that all men, especially all members of Parlia- 

 ment, ought never to be trusted ; these considerations 

 do not weigh with him one atom. The dear, delightful, 

 illogical John Bull ! One cannot help loving him ; he is 

 so hysterical, illogical, irrational, impulsive, and every- 

 thing else that Sir .Almroth Wright says characterises 

 John Bull's wife. They are a worthy pair, well matched, 

 and their children are like unto them. The cause of the 

 women has suffered a temporary set-back, just as ' 

 the cause of Home Rule was put back by the murder 

 of Lord Frederick. Cavendish. The leaders of the 

 W.S.P.U. are, to the great body of the sufTragists, what 

 the Invincibles were to the great body of Irish Home 

 Rulers. Of course, window-smashing is nothing like 

 so heinous a crime as the assassination of an Irish 

 Secretary, but both are alike in being appeals to 

 violence which irritate without intimidating those to 

 whom they are addressed. 



What the women should do it is 



What the Women f"'' 'he women to decide. Far be 



Should Do. it for a mere man to arrogate to 



himself the right to direct the 

 political strategy of politicians who are at least as 

 capable of framing their own policy as any politicians 

 in Parliament. But it may without presumption be 

 remarked that if men were in their place there is no 

 doubt what men would do. They would accept with 

 grim stoicism the temporary rebuff, recognising that 

 it was but the natural and inevitable penalty due for 

 a false move. But then they would set to work to 

 organise the League of the Unenfranchised in every con- 

 stituency so as to render it difficult to carry any candi- 

 date who would not pledge himself to \ote the right 

 way. And they would make a vigorous clfort to combine 

 all branches of the movement into one federated whole. 

 At present the women are all at si.xes and sevens. They 

 ill! want some kind of a Bill, but they cannot agree 

 upon what kind of Bill it is they want. They all agree 

 that some action should be taken, but they cannot 

 agree as to what that a<tion should be. One extremist 



