The Progress of the World. 



269 



progressive views, deservedly" held in high 

 popularity and respect, and possessing the 

 confidence of all sections of the community. 

 The Liberal Association did not, however, 

 act on the advice of their late member, but 

 have nominated Mr. Alexander Shaw. The 

 Labour Party naturally nominated Provost 

 Brown. The Unionist candidate is corre- 

 spondingly hopeful. So we have the some- 

 what humorous spectacle of a Labour can- 

 didate who is trying to capture the historic 

 Liberal seat of Midlothian coming before 

 the electors with the strong recommenda- 

 tion of the late Chief Liberal Whip 1 Of 

 course, the new Viscount has later expressed 

 his hope that Mr. Shaw will be returned. 

 This peculiar triangular situation suggests 

 once more the need of a clearer under- 

 standing between the Liberal and Labour 

 Parties. When the retiring Liberal Whip 

 so blurs the border line, what can the 

 average elector be expected to do r 



^i^g The much advertised Li- 



insurance Act surance Act is now in full 



^"^ operation as far as con- 



the Public. , ,. , . ,, 



ccrns the licking or stamps 



and the collection of contributions. The 

 country at large has accepted the innovation, 

 and it would be a bold man who would 

 say that any change of Government would 

 mean its repeal. Meanwhile, since no 

 benefits are to be given for six months, the 

 (iovernment is enjoying to the full its 

 immediari- benefit of some quarter of a 

 million of free revenue weekly. The interest 

 on this sum alone during the six months' 

 interval will be considerable. And by the 

 time the State has to find its share of the 

 benefits there will be an accumulation of 

 money — nobody can quite tell how much, 

 but it must be between ten and twenty 

 millions. Hut the general public is more in- 

 terested in the inconvenicnccof stamp-licking 



than in the destination of the money. It is 

 perhaps this financial aspect of the Insurance 

 Act which brought it into being — it is in any 

 case the only great social measure which has 

 been originated within recent years without 

 any public demand. And when the benefits 

 begin for those insured, the State will be in 

 the happy position of not only having a 

 large reserve fund, but also the usual weekly 

 income from the stamps. It is undoubtedly 

 this view of the Act which will cause many 

 employers to protest and some to resist. 

 During the six months' period of payment 

 without benefits it is probable that a general 

 election would reveal irritation rather than 

 enthusiasm on the part of the electors. 



The only organised oppo- 

 The Case sition to the Insurance Bill 



for . , I • 1 



the Doctors. '''^'' Come trom the medical 

 profession, and it must be 

 confessed that the doctors have a good 

 case. They speak as those who have to 

 spend considerable sums of money in order 

 to practise, who suffer under many disadvan- 

 tages, and yet who are an essential element 

 of the nation. Without doctors where 

 would we all be? And vet the strongest 

 argument used by the doctors against the 

 Insurance Act is that, by making it still 

 more impossible to make a living, the State 

 is going to hasten on the serious diminution 

 in the number of doctors. When we learn 

 that in 191 1 there were only 176 new 

 doctors admitted to practise as against 564 

 in H)io, and that the entries of medical 

 students at medical schools is seriously 

 declining, we are bound to admit that it is 

 an argument which cannot be ignored 

 without serious national consequences. 

 Some time ago a plav was produced which 

 showed the home of a striker who had 

 arranged that all the electric lights in a city 

 should be cut ofi. A doctor was engaged 



