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the laird is afraid that the nerves of his deer would be unduly agitated by their unnecessary proximity. Consequently he issued his edict of banishment, and it has become incumbent on those crofters who succeed in raising any crops from the soil to sit up all night until the harvest, in order to drive away the deer, which descend from the hills in the dark, and commit the most deplorable depredations if undisturbed. But enough of Arran; let us take a glance at the romantic Isle of Skye. We have this year visited the Braes and the disputed hill Ben Lee, and have learned on the spot the grievances of the crofters, and verified them by comparison with the accounts of the landlords themselves. Seventeen years ago the landlord enclosed the hill which had been common land for all time before, and the crofters were calmly ousted from all their inherited rights of pasturage. For fifteen years they held their peace, not unmindful of the legal powers of the landlord, as shown by the atrocities practised in Sutherland; but at last, driven to desperation by the exhaustion of the soil of their scanty holdings, on which they were now obliged to feed their sheep instead of cultivating them for oats, and also by the widespread ruin caused by the disastrous storms, they demanded the restitution of the hill, and by forcible means have finally effected their object. Not that they have gained it free, as was formerly the case, but they are to pay about half the rent which the landlord was unjustly receiving from the sheepfarmer whom he had installed. The consequence of this arrangement is that some of the crofters, who had been obliged to sell their sheep, are now in a worse position than before, having to pay their portion of the rent without gaining any compensating advantage in the way of grazing, but fortunately this is not the case of the majority of the people. All over the island concessions are being made, and lands restored to the crofters, except in the single instance of Glendale. There the war continues, but its results are not uncertain. The crofters have right on their side; and though in past times it was wrong that prevailed, we have firm faith that right will triumph at last.

form it has been adopted by town labourers, workmen in factories, &c., and is now spreading to the country. In a scientific form it has penetrated into the domain of political economy, and is upheld by professors in nearly all the Universities of Germany and Italy." By an orator in the German Parliament just five years ago, we were rightly informed that a movement, almost imperceptible when it commenced, had developed with extraordinary rapidity, and that Socialism was to be met with everywhere as "a universal evil;" while a French writer of to-day maintains that "Socialism is the social phylloxera." But we need not multiply proofs of the permeation of modern society by those whose great aim is to equalise social conditions. Signs of the times may be noticed on the Bench as well as at the Bar; in the pulpit no less than in the lecture-room. From the judge who confessed in public that he had a sneaking liking for Socialism, to the preacher who addressed his audience in Westminster Abbey as the worshippers of the great Socialistic Carpenter, we may find plentiful proof in all classes of society of the sympathy of the thinking portion of mankind with those precepts of Christianity which condemn riches and inequality with a vehemence nowhere surpassed. The Socialist takes his stand on justice enforced by law; the Economist expects to realise his millennium in the results of personal interest individually pursued. Selfishness, aloft on the pedestal from which brotherly love has been previously dethroned, surveys the generations of men, and while deeply regretting with Malthus that they are so many, begins to perceive that they are finally revolting from her sway. It is admitted on all hands that Christianity is as much against the possession of great riches as the most radical Socialist, while the Fathers of the Church endorse her teaching in words which read as if they might have come fresh from the columns of the Irish World. "The rich are thieves," says St. Basil. "The rich are brigands," says St. Chrysostom, outdoing even St. Basil in his choice of severe epithets. "Opulence is always the result of a theft," says St. Jerome; "if not committed by the actual possessor, it has been the work of his ancestors;" while, according to St. Clement, if justice were enforced there would

SOCIALISM AMONGST THE BOURGEOIS. be a general division of property, private possession

Now that society is astir with schemes of social reform, the monthly magazines have admitted to their pages some account of the progress which Socialism has of late years been making. That cautious writer, M. de Laveleye, declares that "the red spectre haunts the imagination of all, and it is a very general belief that we are on the eve of a great social cataclysm;" and although he opines that this may be an exaggeration, yet he commits himself to the assertion that it is nevertheless certain that Socialism, in a variety of forms, has spread most extraordinarily of late. "In a violent

being an iniquitous thing. We will quote the comments of M. de Laveleye:-"We see, then, that Christianity engraves very deeply in the hearts of all ideas which tend strongly to Socialism. It is quite impossible to read attentively the Old Testament prophecies and the Gospels, and then to cast a glance at the economic conditions of the present day, without being lead strongly to condemn the latter as very contrary to the ideal of Jesus. Every Christian who understands and believes his Master's teaching has some Socialistic tendencies, and every Socialist, great as may be his hatred of all religion, possesses some unconscious Christianity

Christianity and Socialism declare war against the strong that is to say, the rich-and they preach the relief of the poor and the afflicted. They subject the pretended natural laws to a law of justice." Again, "Socialism claims for the labourer the integral produce of his labour. Nothing, apparently, can be more just than that claim. Socialism considers that riches should be no longer the privilege of the idle, that they who do not sow should not be allowed to reap. This is exactly the teaching of St. Paul, 'If any will not work, neither shall he cat.'"

In another article, entitled "The European Terror," the same writer contrasts the programme of the Collectivists with the "Pan-destruction aimed at by Bakounin and the Nihilistic party. This programme includes the reduction of the length of the working-day to eight hours, a legal minimum of wages, to be fixed yearly according to the local price of provisions, free education, the nationalisation of banks, railways, and mines, and the progressive taxation of incomes. Such a scheme as this is looked upon with the most supreme contempt by the Anarchists, who wish for complete Amorphism, and declare it to be a crime even to discuss the form of the society of the future, for researches of this sort prevent utter destruction, and impede the advance of the revolution. We should imagine that the repressive laws which are enforced in Germany against the Socialists must be extremely useful to the Nihilists, in the way of bringing in recruits. For instance, Herr Most, who was a peaceable Socialist in his native country, was converted by their operation into an expatriated Anarchist; while England, to complete the transformation, has repeated the dose of persecution, and driven him across the Atlantic, from the other side of which he transmits encouraging messages to the Old World, to the effect that he can allow no more coronations of any kind to take place in any country. Unless, instead of persecuting Socialists, we can devise and adopt some system of securing to every man the full reward of his labour, we may look forward to a rapid spread of the principles of the Anarchists, with their comfortable doctrine that destruction itself is infinitely preferable to the existing social order. For their devotion and courage are quite as strong as their opinions. Their own lives are never allowed to weigh a feather in the balance, and this partly explains their indifference to the lives of other people. Every official hand is against them. Their life is one long act of running the gauntlet, and immense is the yearly tribute which is yielded by their ranks to Siberia or the scaffold, while, faster than these can claim their victims, new recruits are converted to the cause.

Do we want further proofs of the assertion that Socialism is permeating all classes, even in our own country? We find them provided to our hands in two consecutive numbers of the Nineteenth Century

In one, Mr. Samuel Smith informs us that the last Liverpool election was fought and won largely on the lines of "Social Reform," and that mere party politics have ceased to possess the interest they once had for the mass of the British people. In the other, the Rev. S. A. Barnett declares himself Christian Socialist, and advocates measures of "Practicable Socialism," which, though timid and tentative only, are yet sufficiently significant signs of the times. He suggests a new assessment of the land-tax, the abolition of sinecures and waste in every public office, and the utilisation of the wealth at present uselessly locked up in many of the endowed charities. With the funds thus realised, the poor are to be provided with libraries, musichalls, and flower gardens,-an excellent scheme as far as it goes, but hardly reaching the root of the matter. The main scope of Mr. Smith's argument is to the effect that "our only hope lies in rescuing the children." There is great truth in this remark, but when we learn that his plan resolves itself into one for the annual expatriation of from fifty to a hundred thousand children of the poor, we cannot help asking why Mr. Smith does not unite with those Socialists who wish utterly to abolish the present system of competition, seeing that it has finally resulted in the desirability of such a scheme as this. He evidently realises that the competitive system stands self-condemned. Let him then accept Strafford's motto of "Thorough," and help the Socialists to abolish its principle. Even in the pages of Good Words, we come upon another sign of the times, in the shape of a sermon preached by the Rev. C. W, Stubbs, before the University of Oxford. The subject of the sermon is "Progress and Poverty," and the preacher discusses the merits of the book in no qualified terms of praise. Our space is limited, but we cannot refrain from presenting to our readers an excellent couplet which he quotes in his discourse

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THE AFFIRMATION BILL.-" Mr. Gladstone should have calculated beforehand what impression he was likely to make upon the public mind by the invocation of Eternal

Justice. Parliament does not deal much with abstract

principles, and the English public are accustomed to judge If Mr. Gladstone was not prepared to appeal to them on of each question as it comes before them on its own merits. the practical utility of the change in the law which he proposed, he would have done much better to leave it alone." We quote in all sad seriousness from the Standard, as the recognised organ of Conservative opinion, the above cynical renunciation of the principles of Eternal Justice whenever they are not in immediate harmony with those of political utility. "The deep damnation" of such sentiments is beyond anything which our weak words can express. We simply present them to our readers as a sample of the guide the judgment of men in all questions whatever, exact opposite of those principles which we believe should whether political or social.

LOCAL TAXES AND INCIDENCE OF RATES.

To the Editor of the CHRISTIAN SOCIALIST. SIR, A loud cry is being raised for the relief of local taxation at the expense of the Imperial Exchequer. Will you allow me to point out that such a change would be chiefly the making of a new present to the landlords?

Rates are paid by the tenants. But they ultimately come, in no small measure, from the pockets of the landowners, who would be able to raise their rents if the rates were diminished.

Let anyone who doubts this take a simple case. The rent of a given piece of land is £50, and the rate on it is £5. It pays a tenant to take it on these terms. Then if the rate were abolished, it would pay him equally to give £55 as rent; and the same forces which enabled the landlord to get £50 would enable him to get £55 when the rate was abolished. The subject, however, is complicated by the fact that rates are assessed on the value of buildings, &c., as well as on that of land. The former part of the rate is really paid by the tenant, who may fairly complain that other classes of property are not subject to a similar tax. This is a real injustice. But the true remedy would be a change in the mode of assessment, so that the whole rate should be proportioned to the land value, whatever use the land might be put to.

Such a change would further remove one of the impediments to improved dwellings for the poor. I am, &c.,

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A CHRISTIAN COMMONWEALTH. THE title which Professor F. W. Newman has chosen for this short but pithy exposition of the causes of our recent wars suggests a very striking comparison with a weekly paper called the Christian Commonwealth. In the last number of that paper issued during April, it is stated that Mr. Justice North deserves the thanks of everyone in the community for the heavy sentence he has inflicted on the editor of the Freethinker. Now it is obvious that Mr. Foote was punished, not because he ridiculed Christian beliefs, for many others have done so with impunity, but because he did so with bad taste. Therefore, it seems that the Christian Commonwealth thinks a judge deserves gratitude when he condemns one man to twelve months' imprisonment for bad taste, and another to three months' confinement for a brutal and murderous assault. Judged by the command of St. Paul, which Professor Newman prefixes to his treatise, "Let everyone who nameth the name of the Lord stand aloof from injustice," it would appear that everyone who in these latter days professes to be a Christian understands the necessity of standing aloof from injustice. What wonder, then, that those who do not call themselves Christians should misunderstand or vilify the principles of Christianity.

Professor Newman touches on the piratical and dishonest acts which initiated our recent wars against such feeble folk as the Chinese and Burmese, and dwells at greater length on the real origin of the Egyptian "hostilities. Many will remember the wording of the prayer written as a thanksgiving for our victory by the Archbishop of York, and the exclamation used by Professor Tyndall when he heard that the flower of the British army had not been routed by the Egyptian rabble, "Thank God, we are a people yet!" It is a hopeful sign that sounder ideas of the morality of national acts of vengeance and spoliation are held by a man like Professor Newman, whose name demands a hearing, and whose style arrests attention.

We would ask all who claim to share the religious ideas of St. Paul to weigh well the facts in this little book, and bear their terrible import in mind the next time "British interests are said to demand armed interference.

of all wars of aggression fall on the richer classes would be We fully agree with the writer, that to make the cost the best means of bringing home their wicked futility to those who could stop them if they would.

THE LAND NATIONALISATION SOCIETY.—-We have much pleasure in drawing the attention of our readers to an important announcement in another column as to the holding of the second annual meeting of the Land Nationalisation Society. We scarcely need draw attention to the urgent necessity of a radical change in the tenure of our native soil. It has too long remained the monopoly of the few, who have wielded their power with destructive effect on the wellbeing of the community. Is it not that "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?" May He who inspired the prophet to utter these words also proclaim as to our land :—“As I live, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Britain." We heartily wish a speedy consummation of this desirable end, and that the efforts of the Society will be crowned with immediate results. We urgently invite the co-operation of our readers on behalf of the Society. It greatly needs pecuniary assistance to propogate more thoroughly its objects; and also needs the personal and continued advocacy of all who wish something more than the miscalled free trade in land of which we

so often hear. This will not meet the difficulty. We look for the time when the prophecy uttered 2,500 years ago will be verified, that "they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid." We hear that Dr. Wallace, Professor Newman and E. de Laveleye, and other well-known land nationalisers, are expected to be present at the meeting.

NOT ROOM FOR BOTH.-The Duke of Argyll has taken some pains to justify the Highland clearances, on the ground that the population had increased beyond the means of subsistence. I submitted his facts to a student of the Malthusian law for the purpose of calculating the number of persons it would be necessary at the present time to remove in order that those left might subsist on the produce of the soil. The result was, that no more need be sent to maintain themselves elsewhere than could be accommodated with first-class berths on an Atlantic steamer. Those thus selected for emigration have hitherto pursued the calling of landlords. Certain advantages were pointed out in reference to this new scheme of emigration which many would consider a great recommendation. There would be fewer people disturbed. The total expense of passage would be so small, that every emigrant might have the best accommodation. The result would tend to the greatest happiness of the greatest number, and those few who would be inconvenienced for the benefit of the rest would be far more kindly treated than has been the lot of previous emigrants.

THE SALE OF DEAD MEN'S BONES.--The robbery of our public lands goes on gaily. On the 9th of May our representative House handed over to private individuals portions of public lands in London and Southport. The London and NorthWestern Railway demanded from Parliament one-third of the disused St. Pancras burial-ground; the Select Committee, however, of the "faithful Commons " was in a generous mood, and gave the company one-half. Thus half of one of the few remaining open spaces of our crowded metropolis is to drop into the capacious jaws of the railway companies Mr Balfour moved, on the third reading of the Bill, that it be referred back to Committee, with instructions from the House that conditions should be imposed on the company with reference to laying out the remaining half as a recreation ground. This amendment was rejected by a majority of 16, and this, though it was discovered just before the third reading that the trustees

of the burial-ground, in representing to the Committee that they were anxious to get rid of three-quarters of the ground (on which representation the Committee gave the railway company one-half instead of one-third), had acted altogether in opposition to the wishes of the Vestry of St. James, Westminster, to whom the ground belonged, and whom the trustees were supposed to represent. The vestry had been anxious that the burial-ground should be laid out as a place of recreation for the inhabitants of St. Pancras.

WHAT PARLIAMENT SANCTIONS.-The second piece of jobbery was on the part of the Duchy of Lancaster, which has earned the gratitude of the inhabitants of Southport. The foreshore of Southport was part of the estates of the Duchy, and has recently been sold to two riparian owners. The Town Clerk and Corporation of that town have repeatedly informed the officers of the Duchy that it was absolutely necessary that the foreshore in front of the town should be in the hands of the Corporation, and yet in an underhand manner it has been disposed of to these two riparian owners for a less price than the Corporation would have been willing to pay. No one can now walk on the beach of the town, and no municipal works, such as drainage, can be carried out without the consent of these two landowners. The interest of the 4,500 inhabitants of Southport weighed as nothing in the balance against the interest of the two landowners. Mr. Dodson excused himself on the ground that the two landowners had already a "fighting title" to the foreshore, and that thus by disposing of the ground to them he has secured the money for the Duchy, and has saved the Corporation of Southport from litigation. This fatherly interest which Mr. Dodson exhibits for the Corporation of Southport is too overpowering, especially as the Corporation had expressed their willingness to take the lands with all legal liabilities, and to fight the claims of the two landowners. How long shall these robberies go on? How long will it be before the apathetic multitude will be sufficiently aroused to stop this filching of public lands to satisfy private greed? The thanks of the community are due to Mr. Balfour and Mr. Jesse Collings, and those men who endeavoured to stop these legalised injustices. But what shall we say of the members who, like Colonel Alexander, talked of the Southport job" as the grievance of some wretched watering-place in Lancashire"? It is only too evident that such men are absolutely unfit to sit in Parliament. Members must be made to comprehend that they are elected and sent to Parliament to prevent public property from being misused, and to secure to each man the fruits of his labour; and that they are not sent to waste time in discussing Affirmation Bills, which need no discussion, or to rob the public, or to involve the country in wars which the country neither wishes nor makes, but which it has to pay for in blood and money. They must be made to understand that they are not an irresponsible Government, but an Executive Council.

THE BATTLE OF PECKHAM RYE.-The Metropolitan Board of Works also seem to forget that they are public servants, and they exist only on condition of doing what is required of them by the public. For some time past they have been waging war with the inhabitants of Peckham, who have been practically protesting against a bye-law which the Board posted up some weeks ago, forbidding anyone to address a meeting on the Rye without first getting leave from the Board, and telling them exactly what was going to be said. The Rye is now, Sunday after Sunday, a scene of disorder and confusion, but for this disorder we cannot blame those who are maintaining the right of Englishmen to freedom of speech in public places. It will be unwise for the authorities to pursue in England the policy of gagging free discussion which, to their shame, Englishmen have allowed the Government to follow in Ireland. Free speech on Peckham Rye may seem to have little general interest, but the attempt at repression shows which way the wind is blowing, and if Englishmen

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do not put a stop at once to this kind of thing wherever it appears, greater attempts may be made all over England to stop our mouths by force. We must maintain at all costs our right to criticise and express our thoughts freely, and theirs is the responsibility should any disturbance arise who, for the selfish interests of the few, attempt to prevent social and political truths from being made known to the masses of the people.

A MODEL LORD OF THE MANOR.-The Board of Works has further been signalising itself by doughty deeds on Hampstead Heath. Al out twelve months ago, to the surprise of the inhabitants, boards were dotted about on the West Heath prohibiting the playing of cricket, football, and all other games on that side of the Heath under a hot penalty. The contention of the Board was that the cricket ground on the Eastern Heath was amply large enough. The inhabitants, however, prefer deciding that for themselves, and have been practically protesting. When the Board summoned the offenders the magistrates dismissed the cases, as they considered that the Board had acted beyond its powers. The Board has appealed to the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, and the matter now awaits further action on the part of the Board. In the meantime, public meetings are being held in Hampstead, and a Hampstead Heath Defence Association has been organised. The guarantee fund has been headed by the lord of the manor, Sir S. Mayson Wilson, with a subscription of 501. The open spaces of London were handed over to the Board of Works that the rights of the people might be protected against the encroachments of private individuals, but we seem to have gone from Scylla to Charybdis. The Board of Works decidedly requires overhauling, and we trust that when we get our bran new Municipal Government it will see that those things are done which ought to be done, and those things left undone which ought not to be done.

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A DEFENDER OF THE FAITH.-All through the afternoon of Ascension Day, and far into the hours of the night, the Tories dragged the name of God through the mire of political controversy. Jubilant with the anticipation of embarrassing the Government, they drank deep to their own success, and feasted "not wisely, but too well!" When the time drew on for the division many of them were already half seas over; but what did it matter? The vote of a drunkard is as valid as the vote of a teetotaller, or what would become of all our rights and liberties? So long as those honourable" members could stagger through the lobbies of the House, with friendly support from their fellows, they could record an honest vote" for God against Bradlaugh." Things were going well, and men in the most vicious spirit imaginable were thus voting for God," when a certain defender of the faith, being rather more decidedly drunk than he usually is, assailed a supporter of the Bill with curses, foul language, and abuse. The matter threatened to be serious, and would have been brought before the notice of the Speaker, if he had not written an abject apology the next day. But the incident is not without its moral. A drunken man, swearing profanely without any provocation, and with his mouth full of vulgar abuse, staggeringly records his vote to prevent a man who is in every way his superior, and who neither drinks nor swears, from taking on affirmation the seat to which he has been thrice duly elected. What is the inevitable reflection of the impartial observer? "Almost thou persuadest me to be." How should that old quotation terminate under these new conditions?

Price Threepence (by post 34d) New Edition The LAND QUESTION, and How Alone it Can be Settled. By HENRY GEORGE.

Terms for distribution on application to WILLIAM REEVES,, 185, Fleet-street, London. Price One Shilling (or Cabinet, Half-a-Crown). New Portrait of HENRY GEORGE, Author of "Progress and Poverty," "The Land Question," &c. "Christian Socialist" Office, 185, Fleet-street, London,

PRICE ONE SHILLING.

Price One Shilling.

THE CHURCH AND DEMOCRACY. Two Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge. By the Rev. CHARLES W. STUBBS. Vicar of Granborough, Author of "Village Politics," &c. "The book is particularly valuable as a clear statement of the views held by a prominent member of the Broad Church school with regard to the right attitude of the Church in political and social questions, and is worthy of study by both Churchmen and Nonconformists. His bold advocacy of alliance between national Church and national life is admirable, and must win the undisguised admiration of all."-Cambridge Review.

Also by the same Author, nearly ready, Price Sixpence, Two Lectures on Christian Secularism."

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I. CHRIST AND LIBERTY.
II-CHRIST AND FREETHOUGHT.
Published for the Guild of S. Matthew,

FREDERICK VERINDER, Hon. Sec., 5, Goldsmith-square, Stoke Newington, London, N.

TO THOSE WHO FEEL THE POSSIBILITY OF A HIGHER SOCIAL SYSTEM AND WOULD STRIVE FOR ITS ATTAINMENT

PROGRESS & POVERTY:

AN INQUIRY INTO

THE CAUSE OF INDUSTRIAL DEPRESSIONS, AND OF INCREASE OF WANT WITH INCREASE OF WEALTH; THE REMEDY.

By HENRY GEORGE.

This remarkable book has already won, both in the United States and in Europe, a greater reputation than was ever before won in the same space of time by a book of the kind. Even those who shrink from its radical conclusions admit the force of its logic and the ntense interest of its treatment of vital questions. Conceded to be the most profound and original contribution made for a century to the science of political economy, it is yet preeminently a popular work. It is, as one of its critics says, 'a book which has been written to be read." The clearness of its

reasoning, the ease and beauty of its style, the aptness of its illustra. tions, its earnestness and candour, and the practical importance of the subject it treats, give it as absorbing an interest to the business or working man as to the philosopher or politician.

A New Edition will shortly be ready, in which will appear Mr. George's Reply to English Critics, now being specially written. 450 pages. ONE SHILLING.

One of the cheapest works ever issued.

WILLIAM REEVES, 185, FLEET STREET, LONDON, E.C.

POVERTY, TAXATION, AND THE REMEDY:

Free Trade, Free Labour, or Direct Taxation the True Principle of Political Economy. Universal Free Trade

the first condition of Universal Peace.

BY

THOMAS BRIGGS.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

"Well worth reading, whether the reader agrees with all its opinions or not."- Weekly Dispatch.

"It is a Free Trade brochure of an advanced and thorough-going type. Mr. Briggs has devoted his life to Free Trade, and the present little book bears evidence of his robust faith in and mastery of the principle of that wholesome doctrine. We have not space here to deal with the numerous subjects treated by the writer. He is in favour of the total abolition of Customs and Excise duties, and quotes as his motto Mr. Cobden's saying that: "The man or body of men who succeeds in abolishing in this or any other country the Customs and Excise duties will be its greatest benefactor.' Especially noteworthy are Mr. Briggs' remarks on the liquor traffic and railway amalgamation.-Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper.

"Mr. Briggs has issued a second edition in a cheaper form of a former work entitled the "Peacemaker," well-known to political economists. The author travels over the whole range of subjects affected by the doctrine of Free Trade when carried out to its fullest limits, that is to the abolition of all Customs and Excise duties, and the substitution of direct taxation. The book contains in small compass a vast amount of interesting information which is well worthy of careful study, apart from the extreme Radical views which it is designed to substantiate, and we commend it to the thoughtful perusal of all advocates of "Peace, Retrenchment, and Reform."-Barrow Times.

"The work before us is a series of papers, letters from the most eminent statesmen, and a vast compilation of statistics showing how Free Trade, Free Labour, or Direct Taxation are the true principles of political economy. The work is as cleverly conceived as it is carried out, and must have cost Mr. Thomas Briggs, the author, a vast amount of time and trouble, and to those who wish to understand the workings of many of our colossal systems, such as the railways, for instance, and others of like magnitude, would do well to peruse its pages."--Middlesbrough News.

"Mr. Briggs' book is worth reading. It contains many suggestions and side-lights that will be useful; and it will certainly stimulate the public to think about the topics which it introduces."- Western Daily Press.

"He sees in direct taxation a true principle of political economy, and in the abolition of all Customs and Excise duties the best security for political peace and social plenty. The land question, the liquor traffic, the Irish difficulty, and other problems of the time are freely dealt with by the author, who never shrinks from the application of his own principles. With him logical truth is peremptory; expediency is not to be found in his political vocabulary."-Torquay Times.

LONDON: WILLIAM REEVES, 185, FLEET STREET, E.C., And of all Booksellers.

(Terms for copies for distribution may be had on application.)

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