5° 



The Review of keviews. 



July I, 1906. 



magazines. It would also have small social rooms 

 for meeting friends, a large reception room where 

 At Homes could be given and other social gather- 

 ings, and a central hall for the holding of all those 

 international congresses whose increase is one of 

 the most helpful and significant signs of the times. 

 Registers would be kept of all the foreign residents 

 in Britain, which would be free for inspection to 

 any member. The Bureau of Information would be 

 thoroughly well equipped by a staff capable of con- 

 versing in many foreign languages. The telephone 

 would be at the disposition of the members. Com- 

 petent guides and interpreters would be at cail. By 

 arrangement with the railway, and steamship com- 

 panies and with the places of amusement, all tickets 

 could be procured on the premises. A Pos/e Rcstantc 

 would be a much appreciated adjunct, and every 

 facility would be provided for changing money, 

 stamps, viseing passports, etc. 



The idea is quite simple. Worked in connection 

 with the. National Hospitality Committee, it might 

 cost ;£i 0,000 a year. It would probably lead to the 

 expenditure of twice that sum by private individuals 

 in the exercise of hospitality that would otherwise 

 have found no vent, it would probably lead to the 

 expenditure of ten times that amount of foreign 

 money by the guests who would be attracted by the 

 facilities secured for their comfort and convenience, 

 and it would probably save a million a year in the 

 War Budget. 



Side by side with this provision made for showing 

 hospitality to the Princes of King Demos, his 

 humbler ser\-itors should not be forgotten. The 

 National Hospitality Committee would devoic a 

 stimulating and inspiring attention to the provision 

 made for the strangers within our gates who are not 

 blessed with wealth. Take, for instance, the thou- 

 sands of foreign sailors who every year visit our 

 ports. In some places much is done to make them 

 welcome. In other places little or nothing. To 

 level the worst places up to the standard of the 

 best there is needed the spur of the counsel of a 

 central authority. Or take the foreign immigrant 

 alien par excellence, the Russian and Polish Jew. 

 The rites of hospitality are discharged but ill by 

 barring the door in the exile's face. But it is a 

 cruel kindness to allow them to come at times when 

 there is no demand for their labour, and the es- 

 tablishment of ^n efficient labour bureau might well 

 come within the range of the activities of John Bull 

 as host. 



A third class of strangers, being numerous and 

 very poor, are the Italians, to whom our meaner 

 streets owe almost all that they enjoy in the shape 

 of music. No one proposes to import organ-grinders 

 or Polish Jews, but when they come unbidden and 

 dwell in our midst, it would not cost much and it 

 might save a great deal if John Bull bestowed a 



little care and kindly forethought to the foreign 

 colonies. 



That, however, is mere philanthropy. Decimal 

 point one and the Hospitality Committee are prac- 

 tical politics. B-. sides establishing the permanent 

 apparatus for the exercise of national hospitality 

 described above, it W'>uld be the duty of the Hos- 

 pitality Committee to make the most of every op- 

 portunity for promoting the spirit of International- 

 ism and of fostering good feeling between nations. 

 Besides sheltering and banqueting all Inteniarional 

 Congresses which meet in ordinary course in Bri- 

 tain, it would do well to promote International Con- 

 gresses on its own account. We might, for instance, 

 do well with an International Congress on the sub- 

 ject of the religious difficulty in schools, which is a 

 problem common to civilisation. Or, what is pro- 

 bably a more practical proposal, it could hold an 

 International Congress on the licensing question, 

 and nothing but good would follow if the habit grew 

 up of always ascertaining the results of the experi- 

 ence of foreign nations before framing our o^yn 

 legislation. About fifteen years ago the German 

 Emperor summoned an International Conference on 

 Labour at Berlin. Why should not our Government 

 summon an International Conference of Labour next 

 summer and make the assemb'y of the representa- 

 tives of the Trades Unions and Labour organisations 

 of all nations the occasion for a great International 

 Festival of the Workers of the World ? There are 

 many other directions in which the proposed National 

 Hospitality Committee could promote the entente 

 cordiale. The interchange of municipal hospitali- 

 ties which is going on simultaneously between Bri- 

 tain and Germany and Britain and France could 

 be supported and systematised. The anticipated 

 visit of German journalists in June to London is 

 a proof that such international hospitalities need 

 not be confined to municipalities. There is no end 

 to the extension of the international picnic, \yhen 

 once it is adopted, as the best security against the 

 international pinprick. 



Everything depends upon the creation of a Hospi- 

 talit\- Fund. Without Decimal point one nothing 

 can be done. At present John Bull is in the most 

 parlous state owing to the non-existence of that 

 fund. When the French Fleet came to Portsmouth 

 last year, the success of their reception was due to 

 the public spirit of the Mayor, who paid ;^40oo 

 out of his own pocket to defray the cost of the 

 municipal hospitality. ^Vhen the Paris Municipal 

 Council entertained the L.C.C. they sf)ent _;^i3,ooo 

 in doing them honour. WTien the L.C.C. enter- 

 tained the Paris Municipality, they had not a penny- 

 piece to spend, and so they were reduced to billet- 

 ing their guests, like militiamen, upon their own 

 members. Most scandalous of all, when the sailors 

 of Admiral Togo arrived in the Thames, and it was 

 resolved to give the gallant representatives of our 

 Eastern ally a hospital welcome, there was no 



