The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 1911. REVOLUTIONARY RHETORIC.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1014, 2 January 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 1911. REVOLUTIONARY RHETORIC.

At various times during the ficrce political struggle in Great Britain wo have expressed tho opinion that, apart altogether from their political inclinations, tho sober-minded people in tho_ overseas Empire- havo felt not a little uneasy at the changed standards' of British statesmanship, as illustrated by the extraordinary nature of some of Mr. Lloyd-George's speeches. It. is to bo presumed that Mr. Asqihth is as honest - and sincere as Mr. Lmyd-George, and thero is therefore no excuse for tho Chancellor's adoption of methods that his chief is quite incapablo of employing. Tho London Morning Post on November 14 discussed at somo length tho dangers of tho revolutionary rhetoric oncouraged by Mr. LloydGeorgr, and although it rather overstates its case, it certainly succoeda in giving moro than an abstract proof of the noxious effects of thiß vary undesirable innovation in British public life. Although it is a littlo surprising that Mr. Asquith and his more sober, colleaguos havo not placcd any ''check- upon thoir extremist colleagues, wo need not give "up all hope that nothing will bo done_ to remind the Radical politician intent on party tactics that his tactics may do very great injury to tho.future of tho.country. The Morning Past, anticipating further rhetorical excesses hy Mr. Lloyd-Geokge, whom it suspected _ of . an , intention to give his official" weight to statements subversive of all stable suggested thafc'beforo a new crusade against civiliscd society began "it would be well -if tho authors reflected. a moment on the dire results of tbeir last campaign, and realised how deep and dangorous are tho wounds they havOjinfTictcd on tho_ body corporate." The satisfactory story: told by the trade, statistics ia not, as our contemporary. poinla out! quite so satisfactory when it is remembered that j a shock has been sustained by "the I .basis.of all commerco and'all indus-! try," which is_ "the mutual confidence of class in class." The position of trade-unionism is citcd as a conovebo illustration of this unquestionable fact. A year ago, beforo' the clarion of class hatred had been sounded, trade-unionism .had bound together all the workers in a trade in a common society, ordered, stable, progressive. To-day the position is quite changed: Trades Unionism is struggling to preserve a semblance of order. Revolt is threatened in many of the greatest organisations, in somo it is successful. Tho forces that inalrs for peace seemed to havo won a final victory, and the unions, leaving tho earlier stag© • of development, when to stir up strife vas their dominant'motive, had passed into a new lifo in which tho preservation of order was tho height of their ambition —trado after trado had como under tho sway of Conciliation .Boards, agreements and treaties had taken tho plate of arm- ' ed hostility, and all tho forces 1 of progress seemed united in a steady movement that, without violoneo and without waste, would bripg tho adjustment of tho rival claims of capital and labour— then, at tho very momant of its greatest achievements, tna organisation of tho trades was threatened not by tho growing power of . militant capitalism but by tho recrudescence of tho old anarchic spirit i fanned into _ new flame by the rhetoric of politicians, whoso »!» object was to. distract attention from their own", record of failure. In. tho ■ first rank , of all the great trade organisations stood the-. Society of Boilermakers. Last year . no union was moro powerful. To-day tho very existenco of'rho organisation is in question. Its funds depleted, its leaders repudiated, its members unablo to work and unwilling to negotiate, the union is powerless save for mischief, and with its failure comes- tho disorganisation of a great industry. A year ago the conduct . of strikes seemed freed from violence. If disputes could not be compromised, then tho trial of strength between tho parties was made with n- respect for law and order wonderful to all who knew either tho history of industrial warfare or tho practice in other countries. Today_ that tradition, is shattered. Strikes again .connote rioting and. pillage. It. may bo contended, of course, that this new spirit of lawlessness is the product of forces that the revolutionary rhetoricians like Mr. Lloyd-George can neither help nor hinder. But most men will incline to the view that revolutionary speeches by a statesman holding ono o£ tho very highest officcs, in a kingdonv accustomed to give authority to high place, must produce a revolutionary spirit. In any event, tho majority of sober men will agree that it is the duty, of all statesmen in _ Great Britain to . throw their weight against tho development of lawlessness and revolutionary ideas. The recent labour troubles in Britain, as was clearly shown by some high authorities whom wo quoted in a recent articlc, havo been due, not to an actual oppression of work-' men .by their employers, but to an idea that the existence of private wealth and capital is an offence. Mr. LiiOYD-Georoe has devoted all his energies and his great talents as a public speaker to tho ripening of this_ ruinous idea. Taking into account his position, no man in Britain has ever don<i so much as ho to foster class-hatred. If wo quote Mn. Asquith's methods,-so far as this phase of the controversy is concerned, as tho methods', which Mr. Lloyd-George cannot bo oxcuscd for having abandoned, nomebody may say that Mr. Asquite's methods arc inadequate. "Reformers," aa the Morning Post observes, "often insist that the more prevalent aro tho signs of unrest the moro rapid and effective must bo the ameliorative measures. Tho truth is that the only permanent euro for legitimate discontent is the_ removal of grievance." The grievance that

such speeches as thoso of Mb. Lloyd-George are intended to foster, tho itorning I'ost might heave added, is the existence _of capital, and the inequality of wealth. These can be removed, of course, for a'time by a Socialistic arrangement that will abolish both capital ancl wealth, and this is the end to which revolutionary rhetoric tends to drive tho State.