ignorance. It is certain that there is a large body of opinion in this country in absolute sympathy with the wise counsel of the Opposition leader, enforced as it has since been by the powerful reasoning of Sir W. Harcourt. A Liberalism true to this ideal need not fear the mischievous influence of cross-currents. Lord Rosebery, in his muchcriticised speech at the City Liberal Club, in a phrase which was most severely handled of all, sought to rally the party to the watchword 'As in 1886.' To me it seemed nothing more than a recall from a dreary ploughing the sands,' in obedience to a programme, to a broader Liberalism of guiding principles and loftier ideals. This is the one condition of that resurrection of the party which can deliver us from that system of government by groups which, as we are continually taught by the experience of other nations, is fatal to all true progress. J. GUINNESS ROGERS. THE GREAT UNPAID WE most of us have heard of Mrs. Adams's reply to a young and amiable peer at Boston who observed to her that in America there appeared to be a total absence of the leisured classes: 'I hardly know what you mean,' she said. ‘Oh, people like myself who have nothing to do, and travel about from place to place.' 'We have plenty of them,' she rejoined, but we call them tramps here.' It is cheering to think that this detestable class of tramp is gradually becoming extinct in this country, and that every one with nothing to do for the most part finds something to do; but the world has little idea of the amount of work done by the army of the great unpaid, and I should be glad if I could show shortly what it is. There is no such fruitful source of discussion in an age painfully analytical as to whether things are better or worse than they were in the lives of our ancestors. I want to add a little to the material of that undecided controversy by proving that among the favourable signs of our time may be included the growing interest which is taken throughout the country in all questions affecting municipal life. Every year the roll of workers who, unostentatiously, give their services in the various stages of self-government increases. Few people have ever fully considered, far less realised, the vast amount of gratuitous work performed by men who have no hope of any reward beyond that which is popularly supposed to follow virtue. From the category of these I purposely exclude the services of members of the Houses of Lords and Commons, because, although they have no direct payment, as in other countries, they have their reward in the attainment of position, and the possibilities of offices or titles. Spain alone shares with us the honour of a wholly unpaid legislature, for though members of the Reichstag in Germany and members of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies in Italy receive no salaries, they are allowed to travel in their respective countries at the expense of the State. In the same spirit I shall exclude Lord-Lieutenants and HighSheriffs of counties, and for the same reasons. My mind in the first outset of my enquiry not unnaturally carries me back to the time when, as Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue, I learned from experience of the enormous services rendered in the assessment and collection of an Income Tax of over 17,000,000l. by Local Commissioners, who are commonly known as the General or District Commissioners of Taxes. These Commissioners are appointed by the Land Tax Commissioners, out of their own body, and are absolutely independent of the Government of the day, for they hold their appointment directly from Parliament -Justices of the Peace being ex officio commissioners. The whole of the Land Tax, amounting to nearly 1,000,000l., is also assessed and collected by the Commissioners, who are, of course, wholly unremunerated. Grand Jurors, before 1888, when much of their business devolved on the county councils, had under their control the administration of County Lunatic Asylums, bridges, and main roads, and were responsible for the county rate. The Chairmen of Quarter Sessions still try all cases not neces sarily going before a Judge of Assize, and hear appeals from decisions of Justices of the Peace at Sessions, while a grand jury of twenty-three have thrown upon them the decision of whether or not true Bills should be found. The appointment of a Commission of the Peace for each county dates from the fourteenth century, and Lord Coke says that the whole Christian world hath not the like office as Justice of the Peace if duly executed.' There may be a few Justices like the Shallows and the Silences of Shakespeare's time: In fair round belly with good capon lined, Some there may be who are satisfied with being able to write 'J.P.' after their name, who take no share in the duties properly devolving on them; but this only throws additional labour on those who are willing to undertake it. The work done under the fierce light that Mr. Labouchere throws upon them every week in his legal pillory is very considerable. A committee of visiting justices for convict establishments and local prisons used annually to be appointed at Quarter Sessions, but under recent legislation Boards mainly but not wholly consisting of Justices have been instituted, on whom grave responsibilities as to management and discipline have been imposed. The treasures of the nation at the British Museum, at the National and Portrait Galleries are under the direct supervision and management of unpaid trustees who hold their offices with a just and natural pride. Over a hundred hospitals in London and the country are, some well and some ill, administered by Governors and Committees, while the number of men who are trustees of various public and private charities is very great. Notwithstanding the cheap sneers of Lord Salisbury on the result of Royal Commissions and Departmental Committees, it would be easy to point not only to years of arduous work, but to the good effects produced, and constantly produced, in consequence of their investigations and recommendations. Mr. Disraeli bore testimony to this when he said: The Government of this country is considerably carried on by the aid of Royal Commissions. So great is the increase of public business that it would be probably impossible for a Minister to carry on affairs without this assistance. The Queen of England can command for these objects the services of the most experienced statesmen and men in the highest position in society. If necessary, she can summon to them distinguished scholars or men most celebrated in science and art; and she receives from them services that are unpaid. They are only too proud to be described in the Commission as Her Majesty's Trusty Councillors. In this long list of services rendered to the State I now come to that performed by Parish, Urban District, and County Councils, and Boards of Education and City Corporations. My own experience began as a member of a District Council in Surrey, and I find it difficult adequately to describe the energy with which duties necessarily new were undertaken by that body. But the work of the Council, where, I am happy to say, we had the great advantage of the services of two elected ladies, was as nothing compared to the incessant sittings and work of the various committees dealing with public health, highways, asylums, buildings, and the proper administration of the Poor Law. But my greater experience of municipal work, what it was and how it was done, came to me when, in the spring of 1898, I had the great honour of being elected as an Alderman of the London County Council. The work is, of course, greater in volume but the same in character as that performed by sixty-one Administrative Councils in England. The London County Council embraces in its ranks every phase of the complicated civilisation of modern municipal life. There are men who with all the temptations of wealth and position scorn delights and live laborious days;' there are those who, like their distinguished chairman, having spent many years of their life in arduous official duties and justly entitled to some relaxation, are ready to devote in the service of their country all their remaining energies; there are professional men who rush from the Law Courts to attend committees ; there are business men who are content to curtail their mercantile profits and gains for the public good. I know one instance of a member of the Council who daily reaches his office before any of his clerks, in order to be free for his afternoon Committee Meetings. There are also really working men who, at a great sacrifice, patiently attend the protracted and arduous deliberations of various Committees. I cannot help comparing the advantage to a young man of ambition beginning a career as a County Councillor or as a Member of Parliament with a vast balance in favour of the former. Sir Arthur Helps in one of his ablest essays, with an almost prophetic instinct, says: Many a man is anxious to get into Parliament and do something useful there, who, having obtained his seat, finds himself powerless in that assembly; the same man, however, might have been a great light in a Municipal Council. The position of a young Member of Parliament of ordinary abilities has been humorously described as being 'to make a House, to keep a House, and to cheer his leader'-and that is all. If his party is in office he must be as dumb as a sheep before his shearers. He must not on pain of the displeasure of the whips even express an opinion adverse to the policy and conduct of his chiefs. He must vote as he is told; he must attend as he is bidden; and he is rarely put on any Committees more important than on a private Bill relating to the gas supply of Little Pedlington-what has he to show as the result to himself of a long Session? Now let us consider the lot of a young County Councillor. From his earliest moment he can choose the committees on which he would wish to serve; and here, while getting an admirable insight into their modes of working, he can and does without any presumption not only learn the subjects before him, but may be absolutely independent of all party considerations and freely express the opinions he holds either in Committee or Council. Lord Rosebery has told us that there is as great a scope for energy and practical action in the County Council as in the Imperial Parliament; in the first the young member will find food for the healthiest of intellectual appetites. If he is bent on studying the attempt to solve the most pressing problem of modern civilisation, he can grapple with the housing of the poor; if he wishes to learn the forces of selfish and interested monopolies, he can watch the history of the laws that insist on the limited supply of diluted sewage in the place of fresh water for the supply of a population of five million of thirsty souls in this metropolis. If he has an artistic turn of mind, a noble field of architectural and engineering skill in the improvement of streets and the building of bridges lies open before him. If he contemplates gaining distinction in the apparently lost art of economy and finance, he may qualify for a future Chancellorship of the Exchequer by studying the collection and expenditure of over 6,000,000l. per annum. Electrical tramways and fire brigades, |