(76-68) ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, PA. It is awful to go The Book of the soul, When the world is asleep, The Book of the heart— And stand ’neath the glow There is naught on that scroll Of the star-studded deep, For the shrewd or the smart! And gaze at that tower And so there must be With its secret unknown,— A witness for such, For great is the power A thing they can see Of the Witness of Stone! And a thing they can touch. They have scoffed at the Truth ’Tis a book for the wise, Which is written in ink, If the meek and the just; They have deemed it uncouth ’Tis a chart for the eyes For the brain which can think; Long blinded by dust. But they will awake ’Tis a proof for the sage When they see it defined Whose god is the known— In figures which make There is truth for the age An appeal to the mind! In the Witness of Stone. —Grace P. Bronaugh. Vou. XXIX ALLEGHENY, PA., MARCH 1, 1908 No. 5 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER SOCIALISM SPREADING IN GREAT BRITAIN That Socialism is growing rapidly in Great Britain is attested by the fact that at a recent convention of the British Labor Party at Hull, England, a split oceurred over a socialistic resolution—more than half representatively voting for the resolution, which read as follows:— ‘Resolved, That in the opinion of this conference the time has arrived when the Labor Party should have as a definite object the socialization of the means of production, distribution and exchange, to be controlled by a democratic state in the interest of the entire community, and the complete emancipation of Labor from the domination of Capitalism and Landlordism, with the establishment of social and economic equality between the sexes.’’ The reporter adds: **Each delegate voted for the whole number of union men he represented, and the final vote on the resolution stood: For Socialism, 514,000 votes; against Socialism, 469,000 votes. The result was hailed as a great victory by the Socialists, who put the convention in an uproar by their frantic cheering.’’ * * 6 Of course these leaders may not on either side fully reflect the sentiment of all whom they represented as delegates; but the proportions are probably nearly correct. At all events this shows the rapid growth of Socialism in quarters where it had almost no influence ten years ago. The importance of this item is seen when it is remembered that the British Labor Party is represented by more than forty members in the present Parliament. That statesmen are quick to measure the influence of this growth of Socialism is shown by the comments on it by the Hon. Arthur Balfour, ex-prime minister and now leader of the Conservative party of Great Britain. He sees in Socialism the foe of present institutions and fears, just as the Scriptures foretold, ‘‘Men’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking forward to the things coming upon the earth.’’ He prophesies the reformation of all parties along that line—for Socialism or against it. He is reported thus:— “‘Mr. Balfour, on learning of the vote of the Labor Party, at once declared that henceforth in England the political fighting would be between Conservatives and Socialists; and that the old-time Liberals and Radicals would disappear, as they are already rapidly disappearing in France and Germany.”’ The reporter continued :— ‘Since then nearly all the British papers have thrown their columns open to the discussion of Socialism. As yet the laboring men are a good deal divided, while several secessions from the Labor Party are noted. It is said that the name of the Labor Party will not be changed, and that the extreme Socialists will still keep a separate organization. England is the last country in Europe where Socialism has secured a foothold. As yet but one man has ever been led to Parliament on a straight Socialist platform. Whether the Labor Party will gain or lose by its connection with Socialism the next general election will show.’’ A dispatch from London to the Chicago Tribune on the same subject says:— ‘‘In all the political movements of England possibly no such sudden and remarkable swing of the pendulum of public opinion has ever been witnessed as that recorded this week, when in a conference at Hull representatives of millions of British workingmen, forming the Labor Party, hoisted the flag of Socialism. ‘*The English public is still so dazed over the suddenness of the avowal that only a few newspapers seem to grasp the real significance of the new situation. Persons who expressed astonishment and fear when the lonesome figure of John Burns —since raised to a seat in the cabinet—entered Parliament as a representative of a labor constituency many years ago have now a real reason to fear for the traditional conservative trend of British legislative institutions. ‘“Among other things, the latest move of the Labor Party really means that the cry of Socialism will not only be raised with a strong voice in the House of Commons but that the present Labor members of Parliament, who have so suddenly changed their political complexion, will be backed in pushing the socialistic propaganda by the strong organization and wealthy treasury of the Labor party, though it is true that since the Hull meeting some non-Socialist members of the party have condemned its action and threatened to break away. Impartial observers in some quarters declare the middle and upper classes of England, who have such good ground to fear the present socialistic movement, have only themselves to blame for the Labor party’s sudden change of front. In other words, laboring men seem to be practically driven to take their latest radical step from sheer desperation at their deplorable plight, the growing rarity of employment and the rise in the cost of living. The percentage of hungry men, women and children begging bread throughout England this winter is greater than for twenty years, and the desolation in many towns and villages, to say nothing of the larger cities, is appalling. ‘‘Labor leaders, while acknowledging the splendid efforts made to relieve suffering, point to the utter impossibility of preventing starvation and the utter indifference of the great mass of people to the condition of the poor. A typical illustration of their ground for resentment against the more fortunate portion of the community was shown this week, when the county council voted a liberal sum of money to purchase flagstaffs to be set up on the public schools rather than vote money to feed those thousands of London school children who average less than one meal a day and always go to school hungry. ““Labor leaders have wisely taken into consideration the economic conditions of the country in framing their accusations, and by so doing they strengthen the charge of criminal callousness against the prosperous sections, that are always willing to open their checkbooks to aid sentimental measures— monument funds, funds to preserve old buildings, ete——but who refuse to interest themselves in the demands of charity.’’ KING'S PARK FOR FARMS Surrounding Windsor Castle is a large park, which a lot of idle men at Manchester, Eng., think would be more useful to them if cut up so that a section of it might furnish them with small truck and garden farms. They have no objection to being close neighbors to their ruler. It is proposed that a small army of the unemployed shall besiege and bescech their king on this subject, and a cablegram says, ‘‘That the movement is most serious is certain.’’ SOCIALISM AT HOME ALSO ae following extract from a letter to the Editor speaks for itself :— [4143]
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