Towards democracy

464 Towards Democracy

dealer, merchant, speculator; the bank, the counting-house, the big store, the director’s office ; the advertising agent, and the vendor of patent medicines ; : Think of all these, and of the ideals beneath and behind them—and ask again the question, How out of such stuff can a strong nation grow?

Where (and the question must be faced),

Where, anywhere over the surface of England to-day, do_ the necessary conditions exist for the outcrop of a decent population—if only a body of a few hundreds at a time?

Where are the conditions for the growth of men and women, i

Healthy and well-formed of limb, self-reliant, enterprising, _ alert, skilled in the use of tools, able to cope with Nature in her moods, and with the Earth for their sustenance, loving and trustful of each other, united and invincible in silent faith?

Where is the Statesman who makes it the main item of his programme to produce such a population? Where the | Capitalist, where the Landlord?

Where indeed—in a country in which Poliues are but a game of party bluff, where Labor is a modified slavery, and ' where Land (for such purposes as indicated) is simply not |. to be had?

And the answer comes: The conditions do not exist. The conditions (says the doctor) of life and vitality are gone—already the process of decay has set In, which only \

a swift crisis can arrest: