CLUB GOSSIP

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 27 July 1929, Page 11

CLUB GOSSIP

BY A LOUDON CLUBMAN

HE TENETS OF SOCIALISM

The General Election results cvulciUeo e fact that the tenets of Socialism at ® lineating move and more people vc« • year, and that in all ranks of bccictj , nn.the lowest.to the..highest. > at there are conceptions of Socialisn i ffering widely from each other, I wai ; ntrigued” the other day .by happete g, in one of my collections of entigs ” upon a conception of ‘Socialism the Twentieth Century,’ 'tfrom thei n of Mr George Bernard Shvw, who, everyone who reads is entcr[ns Socialistic views. I wondeiA if Mr iaw remembers what he wrote someing like thirty years ago; ;f, pn the ;hfc. of happenings and developments ice the twentieth century began! '“e mid desire to modify or qualify* ms recast of Socialism, hy which •. he »aht “the substitution, in the incT.usf of the country, of collective action ,ving .its incentive in the desire to oduce a well-ordered commonwealth rprivate speculation haying its incenre in the desire of individuals to get «h at tho expense of their i interesting have I found Mr Shaw s position of the aims of Socialism that am temptod to quote freely from his tide, without committing myself to j reement or disagreement with him: “If' you arc a working man ni the entieth century you. will find that- you H always ba able to obtain stoady emoymerit from the Vestry, or tho Goun- : Council, or the Corporation, or the Dvernment,: at a wage fixed, not by the mpetition of starving men for . b .react, it by public opinion (including your rtf opinion) as to what- is sufficient to itble you to live; and bring up yotir mily as a f decent citizen, in return for iiir eight hours’ work a day. If yow irk for a private employer, he; w-UL ive to treat you equally well, to prent; your leaving -him and getting pubi employment. Your children will, be ained in schools which will turn them t better educated —both . technically d generally—than the best-pa;d skilled zrkmen -of the. present century; and ere will be of scholarships to eble them to pursue their studi<A>, anc\ up to The universities, if they have ecial talents fitting them. to enter the irned professions. You will travel by a when and where you please, as fri»c-' '*s you now -walk along the roads; so it'you can live; in the country - and ork in the town. You will, buy your* arii roilk at the County Council ikery and dairy, just as you, buy your imps at the Government post office. Du will pay your rent to the local aubrity j and i-it will include a constant pply of hot and cold water and electric mt. And you will become entitled. So l old-age pension, sufficient to save iu from becoming a burden on your lildren, before you.are sixty. ’ ■“lf Vou. are a small shopkeeper, the ost needy and anxious of men to-day, ft will be' in the twentieth century a iblic official, in the service of your fel-W-townsmen, managing the. municipal iery, or dairy, or oilshop, br other atributing business of ••the town or parb, ind safp from bankruptcy, sure of higher salary than your best profits of ►day. looking forward to a pension, id ; enjoying an. unquestionable social ptus. Or, should you still be manager k business "that is not public proirtyrtybu.’will',bhly do so on condition lit tbe proprietors allow you to make iofits sufficient to give you a full equiilent; for the advantages that you Ight "enjoy in the'public service. And iuSvill have all the advantages of the orkinginanintothebargain. “If you are a professional man, you ill- have several thousand -families able >• retain your services and pay you fees c every one that can afford to do so >w, except on the poorest scale. You ill have public appointments and comissions, private clients, patrons, and itients on a scale now undreamt of. hB ytfu will have no anxiety about tho iture of your children,"even if they fail (inherit yourabjlity. “If you are an idle landlord, you will ndlyour land, being bought' from you, jot-by 'plot, for public purposes; and pjujwUl at the same time find your nnttned income being taxed shilling by tilling, until at last you will find yourslf with all your land sold and all your icohae" extinguished- Under these cirimatances you will not apprentice your (tfW.your own trade, i “If you are an idle shareholder you ill- find your income being taxed out f :existence without even, the landlord’s

jsource of selling land, xou will reret'the good old times. •‘‘lf you are a busy landlord, managig your own estate capably and never laving the work 'to your agent and socitor, you will enter the public ’service nd manage public estates. '“lf you are a busy capitalist, organung. labour for private profit as a great of industry, you, too, will enter w public service and organise industry >r the general good, You will have a ositibn* infinitely superior to that now njpved by a general or a Cabinet Unister. iAlfyou are an incorrigible' idler, or Huai ward tramp, or if you are too inch .of a gentleman to work for your ving, in the twentieth century you be compelled to support-yourself by fbrk, in a penal colony. Nobody will mdsyou money, because you. will not is able to pretend, as you tlo now, that bu have tried to get world, and failed, fegging letters will not draw a shilling tom the softest philanthropist. The imily credit will be lost yinstead of ived by helping you. You will be lie most miserable wretchirithe counry, though you will probably he better ff in your penal colony than many inluilrious and deserving men and women tow Jfind themselves in tlieir old age n tlieir workhouses.” -i f-X THE‘‘MASHER”

■T noticed the other dayii that somelie writing in a “daily” enquired what “masher” was. His—or her—modem ictitonary would have revealed the inormation/that a masher was “a fellow r,ho dresses showily to attract the atention of silly young women.” I mte in the past tense, for the reason hat the counterpart of the‘masher is carcelv known to-day. A masher was bmething more than a walking fashionlate. I saw and heard many of the idney, say, forty years ago, and they Iways amused me greatly. In order to riii the admiration of giddy girls, whom o-day we style “flappers,” the masher igged himself out gaily, adopted .a aincing, swaggering gait and finicky i*nner,‘ used extravagant language, rith much slang and catch-phrases, inlulged iii an inane giggle, and generally onstituted himself a caricature of a lan. A mash wo know as a mixture. k> was a masher—a mixture—neither ne thing nor the other. There was a opular ditty which satirised the cheap, ftwdry specimens. What a capital index o the fashions, fads, and foibles of the ime are the popular songs of the day! can recall many which were the vogue 1 my youthful and young manhood ays, and at this distance of time I can .’ell understand how aptly they fitted he manners and customs of the day.