The commentator : a weekly political and social review.

Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The commentator : a weekly political and social review. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Commentator, Friday, May 27, 1910 Old Princi, pies in a\New Pettier TOE OMMEN TAT OR A WEEKLY POLITICAL AND SOCIAL REVIEW Vol. I. No. I rRegutered afl L G.P.O. J FRIDAY, MAY 27, 1910 One Penny The Question “ How is it that this country, so full of natural riches and so well placed in natural seaports for competing with any other ^country in the world, should be unable to employ its own 'population ?—Lloyd George, at Swansea. [The columns of this paper will be chiefly devoted to the con- sideration of this question, and to the advocacy and propa- gation of Conservative principles. For the last thirty or forty years these principles have found very few, if any, exponents in the House of Commons, or in the so-called Conservative press of this country. Since the passing of Lord Beaconsfield's Reform Bill, every political section in Parliament, or out of it, has .apparently been dominated by but one idea, namely, to secure the votes of the masses, at any price, and at any cost to the true interests of the country. The State has been left in the position of a ship without rudder, chart or compass, at the mercy of every passing gale. From a political point of view this abnegation of principle has completely failed to obtain the desired object, the efforts of each party in turn having resulted in disaster to themselves. By the destruction of confidence, not only has capital been frightened from our shores, but employment from our ^country, and in this manner a deadly blow has been struck |at national prosperity. Broadly speaking, this is the answer to Mr. Lloyd •George’s question, but the many other causes operating detrimentally to the interests of the nation and directly arising from political action demand exhaustive enumera- tion and criticism. In commenting on these causes, we t^mtend to remind our readers of those old principles which, .•hen recognised and acted on by the legislature and people, ot only enabled England to employ-her population, but by 0 doing made her the foremost commercial country in he world. In those days such a question as Mr. Lloyd George now sks would have been a meaningless absurdity. The adoption of Free Trade and the administration of the Education Act of 1870, with its subsequent amendments, dded to the disastrous cumulative legislative measures diieh have been piled one on the other in the senile attempt 3 gain votes, have now, unfortunately, rendered Mr. Lloyd ieorge’s question of paramount and vital importance, and >ne which it is impossible to ignore. The actions of the present Government generally, and of tfr. Lloyd George in particular, have greatly tended to accentuate the effect of this legislation, and the latter gentleman has, by his actions and speeches, supplied a most effective answer to his own question. It must be obvious to the meanest capacity that his attack on capital has acted as a direct discouragement to its invest- ment in this country, and without such investment the demand for labour has continued to decline. Enterprise of every kind has been discouraged, no man being sure that some Socialistic legislation may not have the effect of destroying in a moment an undertaking to the promotion and ultimate success of which many years of his life may have been devoted. The finest chess player in the world can do but little if the rules of the game are being constantly altered whilst he is contending with his opponent. Having produced the evils they profess to deplore, the Radicals avoid responsibility by dubbing them “ Social Problems,” at the same time generously offering to devote their great minds to the elucidation of these problems. The solutions they discover are characterised by a deadly monotony, for they invariably begin and end by proposals to base the future prosperity of the country on its ability to exist on its own rates and taxes, and by the abandonment of all reliance on honest labour. They fail to perceive that by making the investment of capital unremunerative, and thus driving it from our shores, they are depriving the working classes of their bread, and by producing a hundred evils for one they are attempting to ameliorate, they are constantly running in the same vicious circle. They fail to see that by increasing taxation they are causing a decrease of industrial undertakings, and by thus placing the increased burden on'fewer shoulders they are creating a position which is not only intolerable but is fast becoming impossible. Unfortunately, legislation based on these ideas has not ! been confined to the Radical party. They were the originators, but the Conservative party when in power allied themselves with this policy, and thereby suc- ceeded in impressing the rank and file of their supporters with the belief that politics is a mere game of “ Ins and Outs.” The Conservative leaders seem to have completely for- gotten that they were sent to Parliament to represent Con- | servative principles, and in accordance with those principles j to initiate legislation for the welfare of the country, and not j to treat great national interests as though they were mere j pawns in the party game. The sooner the Conservative leaders recognise that the