DEMOCRACY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 254, 15 July 1918, Page 6

DEMOCRACY

Sir, —I was very interested in your subleader of Saturday's issue of The Dominion, founded upon the Anglican Bishop o'f Wellington's remark that the war may show thai a democratically-con-stituted society cannot survive in this world. If we had a true democracy the remark of the Bishop might well be applicable, but to far tho world has hardly done more than glimpse what democracy may mean. The civilisation that is now iii the melting-pot could hard!)', with its vast system of capitalism and industrial slavery, be called (hat. Rather was it nothing but commercialism, pure and simple—a very different thing 1 to civilisation. Till every man, woman, and child is given hi; or her opportunity to make "good" we cannot call ourselves a democracy. The nearest approach to that has been given by the Bolsheviks of Russia when they declared that no man or woman should possess more land than they could personally deal with; that the law of inheritance should )x> done away with; that tho employed should have a share, in an industry equally with the employer; that every right and privilege enjoyed by man should be equally enjoyed by woman. Compare that with our own system.—l am, etc., DEafOCEACY. July 12.