Sept 18.
For a day we may. well try to get away fromthe absorbing if, not overwhelming. conditions under which we.are carrying on, and seek another aspect of life] to which to pay attention. In school days there were lessons in elementary physics and the meaning of the phrase was taught that described matter as being in a state of unstable equilibrium. The usual illustration was that of a stone, poised on the hillside, only half buried in the earth, When a storm) bursts the rains come and wash away the. supporting detritus and the rock is precipitated into the valley, carrying destruction in its} path.' The crust of the round earth itself is unstable. Geologists tell us that it is everywhere rising and falling in slow, rhythmic movements. Now and then there is a fault in the rock-ribbed foundation on which the subsoil rests and then there an earthquake and the world is terrified by the catastrophe. Society resembles, in some respects, the structure of the globe. There are gradual movements of social change like the rising and falling of the earth's crust. These are imperceptible at the moment but are plain enough when a long period of history is passed under review. Again, there are catastrophic upheavals which correspond to the phenomcuon of the earthquake. The} French Revolution and the fall of the Tsarist regime in Russia are examples of such violent readjustments in recent history. Economic grievances lie at the root of all these modifications of the existing order, and whether they be sudden in their mani-testation or so gradual as to pass unnoticed the underlying causes have, in either case, been' long accumulating the explosive force which ultimately bursts the bonds of established custom and inaugurates a new era. It is the task of statesmanship to study these subterranean movements! and forestall their destructive operation by 80 altering conditions of existence that their pent: up energy shall make for ordered progress and not for social ruin.
We have been reading an article by Lady Frances Balfour, Li. in which we can see, through the eyes of a lady of, England, some -of those unseen forces at work. Lady Frfinces say'
On one of these perfect summer's days, or days of sweltering heat, as the reporter may determine, people can look down into the unshaded white pit where the foundations of an historic house once stood, and where. are to be raised gigantic flats, to be inhabited by the mil-Hionaires of the earth. Down in the glaring pit all is white dust and a scene of ordered chaos. Baulks of timber, and huge cranes rise out of it. At the dinner interval the swarms of men disappear, and are to be found in their scores on the east side, which is in shade. 'They have retreated from the cloudless sun, and stand—there is no place to' sit—silent, covered with the soil and dust their toil, most are smoking, wi they watch the stream of cars down' the narrow street. Too tired to move, they are earning what many think' more than a "decent wage;" what they themselves think " hard-earned living. A few streets away is @ famous restaurant and round the. lunch hour gathers within another multitude. All is cool and shady; the air is full of the sound of delicious drinks and of falling' ice. The hum of social talk and greeting rises in the air. Parti meet, and the butterfly dresses of the women flutter lightly in the cooled air, all the colours of the rainbow are here. Men, well groomed, and with foreign manners, fare in' the ascendant. So we meditate, and soon hostess _and guest meet, and we sit-down to food as tempting as the scene is Suppose that some voice had sounded forth s message, or a command, a woice.which none who heard could' doubt: "Take out all those things which are making you comfortable, and give them here and now to those who are athirst. Let] them know how others live. Or, ring.them in and set them in your th.one.consent we would which do not suit with butterflies and "lovely times."
The dinner-hour comes again and again—men will stand in the shade andthe restaurants will be full of feasting and delight, And—the ight. cometh.
The lady might have dipped her brush in darker shades had she wished to paint for us a more harrowing picture. She might have shown us the miners coming up from the.bowels of the earth, wet and grimy, after winning for us the coal by which we live. Or the women with abi their heads keeping their long vigil at the spithead, after a catastrophe, waiting for the men who will come no more.
That China is at present in a dition of unstable equilibrium too plain to be disputed. But if, like Lady Frances Balfour, we look beneath the surface for the root causes of unrest they are not far to seek. The vast majority of Chinese workers of the coolie class are notoriously il paid. 'Their work is heavy' and the hours are long. Their food is insufficient to keep their bodies in health and their homes; are not fit for human beings to live in, It is no discredit to them that they are discontented with their lot; they would be less than men if, they were otherwise. Those who have the good fortune te be in the employ of foreigners are better off than their mates but they, too, have to contend against the depreciated coinage and the higher cost of living. Let us not take the flattering unction to our souls that this is all the comfort they ever were accustomed to but let us welcome] every change that makes for the amelioration of their hard lot} and do willingly what we can to ease their burdens when sickness or other calamity falls upon them.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.