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Show H A SIGN OF THE TIMES. m A significant point of view is that of H the head of a great English firm, Mr. B Scebohm Rowntree, who has written to Q the London Daily Mail criticising the Hj churches for not arousing the classes K to a keener sense of the inequalities H of fortune which are "so utterly op- H posed to the great principle of broth- H erhood." H "Had they played their part in m making us vitally conscious," writes B Mr. Rowntree, "that all our opportunisms opportuni-sms ties and talents and possessions should m be regarded as a trust, to be utilized 1 not for our own ends but for the bene-H bene-H fit of the community, we should never HI have heard of labor unrest. B ' It is because we have forgotten our WM trust that labor rises and says to us: H 'If neither love nor justice can in-H in-H duce you to share the good things of H the world with your co-workers on fair H terms, wo who have suffered for gen-H gen-H erations must demand our share by H force.' H "We must recognize that if justice H is to be done to the workers it will H mean sacrifice on the part of the rich. H No doubt, as the demand for higher H wages and bettor conditions of work H become more Insistent, the employing m classes will improve their methods of HH organization, and in many industries H great improvements can be made in H the lot of the workers without mater- H ially le3sening the earnings of capital. H But this will not solve the problem. H The poverty at one end of the social Wi Bcalo will not be removed except by Hi encroaching heavily upon the great H: riches at the other end. I think dur- H ing the next few years we shall see H labor organized more effectively than Hl ever before, successfully demanding a B much larger share of the wealth an- Hj nually produced." B This great English business man P seo3 very much farther than most men H of his world. But the hurrying events H of recent years in Great Britain must m be Illuminating to many of the proper- H tied classes. The organization of lab- H or is becoming more inclusive, more Hp militant, and more effective each year, B while the pressure of economic noces- H sity supplies an ever increasing pro- H pulsion upon the English masses. The H increase of the cost of living relative H to wage increase Is substantially H I greater, and is felt even by the classes Hj above the wage earner acutely. Moan- H J while political and social philosophy is Hi modifying the thought of the educated H I classos. B The movement toward largo social readjustments based on the economic revolution of the last century is growing grow-ing in depth and power, and perhaps the most important question in the world of European civilization is whether these readustments can be brought about without revolution. If this bo possible anywhere, it should bo in England. |
