Vol. 53. No. 4 APRIL, 1948 Threepence

CONTENTS

PAGE

EMERSON IN LONDON. By S. K. Ratcliffe

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BENTHAM AND THE LAW. By G. W. Keeton

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Do RACES WEAR OUT? By Joseph McCabe..

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THE " COMMUNISI MANIFESTO.- By S. K. Ratcliffe ..

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CONWAY DISCuSSION CIRCLE:BRAINS TRUST, Lancelot L.W. David Wills

Whyte,

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BOOK NOTICES

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EDITORIAL NOTES..

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SocIETY'S ACTIVIIIES 15 & 16

q. 0

The Soidety does not .1told itself responsible for views expreSsed Wr ieported herein.

EMERSON LONDON

One hiadred years age) this **§Iwiiiit—Ralph Waldo Emerson was in-London. It was his second visit to England and he was enjoying a remark-able experience. An invitation had reached him from the Mechanics'Institute§ of the North, an early-Victorian experiment in adult education,:and since November, 1847, he had been lecturing in large towns betweenBirmingham and Edinburgh. There were many notable circumstancesdonnectEd with this enterprise. Emerson was then 44, in the prime of hisinfluence from Boston to the new Middle West. But he was known inEngland only as the author of two volumes of Essays, the first of which was

* introduced here by Carlyle. If we were to judge by the demands of today,we'should say that no speaker could be less likely,,to receive a welcome fromaudiences of working.men than an American whose name' was associatedwith oracular utterances on such themes as Art and Friendship, Compen-sation and -the Oversoul. Carlyle himself was of this opinion. WhenEmerson after a friendly call in Chelsea started for the North. Carlylewrote: " I rather think his popularity is not very great hitherto. Hisdoctrines ate too airy and thin for the solid practical heads of Lancashire."That was a bad shot.

Beginning in Manchester and Liverpool, Emerson went through anatduous and stimulating winter. The institutes and other societies,were readyfor courses of lectures, and his first offering was "Representative Men," later •made Into one of his more successful books. There is no recorded failurein the tour. His audiences kept up to the end, despite his reading of everyword. He was' helpless without the manuscript. Carlyle asked in good-humoured scorn. Do you call that lecturing?" Accounts from manyhearers agree that his voice and delivery were singularly attractive.Invitations poured in from .all over the country, most of them in urgentterms. He took pleasure in English hospitality, and particularly in talkswith business and professional men. He reported that he was everywhereat home. He formed a generous, if critical, admiration of the British people,later 'developed in the discerning chapters of English Traits.

By March, 1848; he had finished with the provinces and was back inLondon for a stay of three months, broken into by a trip:to Paris for aglimpse of the revolution which had ended with the dethronement of LouisPhilippe. His companion was the poet Arthur Hugh Cough, one of hismost 'fervent admirers. Emerson was not a little puzzled by his receptionin London. Carlyle, recalling his own lectures on Heroes eight years earlier,had promised him an audience of the British aristocracy, but on his returnfrom Paris, though the doors of the most famous West. End houks wereopen for him, it hardly seemed likely that lectures would be asked for.Emerson's means were restricted. His estimate of the yield from fees wasmodest enough, yet it was rather in excess of the actual figure. Everything,however, worked out well. A series of six was arranged: They were deliveredin Edward Street, Portman Square, before an audience that was literaryrather than fashionable. The, Carlyles attended, although Jane, oncedevoted, declared that she had lost all interest in him. Froude, hearing himfor the first time, noted that at the end of one discourse Carlyle's loud good-humoured laugh rang out, for indeed, said he, what Emerson said wasrather moonshiny.

The ticket for the course cost a guinea. That, it was'poinied out, togetherwith the hour and the small room, made Emerson a speaker. for. the-few..Why should not other dates be arranged, with cheaper tickets and a largerhall? The answer came in the form of an invitation from • the Shop-Assistants' Association for four lectures in Exeter Hall—not, of cogrse,'thebig auditorium. Henry Crabb Robinson, the diarist, at first• an- unsyin',pathetic listener, heard nearly all the London lectures. He remarked' thatthe last, oh " Domestic Life," was the most liberal utteranceirr the annalsof Exeter Hall. An important fact is that Emerson's appearance in anY-town was an event. The welcome was invariably cordial. Therh Was a keencontest in hapitality. Press reports would have been far more adequate'but .for the known circumstance that Emerson had a strong .objection-tothem. That was natural, enough, for the local committees preferred' thesubjects first announced. Several writers have tracked Emerson thfough• his,itinerary. Dr. Monctire Conway, always a friend and .admirer, wrote a 'goadlittle book on the tOur.

London, however, was not important for Emerson as a lecture centre.'The platform experiences that meant most to him werethose in the industrialtowns and in Scotland. Readers-of his journal and Of the unequalled • chapters in English Traits will recall that he had the entrée to almost every - -important circle of the West End. He dined out continually and, like everyfamous visitor, breakfasted with Rogers and with Richard Monckton Milnes.He met statesmen and churchmen, authors and artists, philosophers andscientists, explorers, social reformers, great ,ladies. At a learned society: towhich he was taken by Sir Richard Owen he heard a discussion that seemedto• him superior, to tile best debate in Parliament. He received invitationsto parties of all kinds. Everywhere there was curiosity concerning him. It .was not lessened by the discovery that this American, though so unmistakably •a New England Yankee. did not conform to• tiny known American .type,...He could talk well, though with brevity and detachment. No man was further'.from inquisitiveness • or loquacity. In any crowded assembly he was..out of his element, and he confessed that his awkwardness was incurable. His • •manner, however,- was evidently not a serious disadvantage, for. . he wasgracious and imperturbable. His presence was admired: almost everyone •spoke of his benignity. During this longer visit he did not stay with the .Carlyles, but with John Chapman, the publisher of the Westminster Review .

-in the Strand.•

Emerson had a deep appreciation of the Engligh record and character.His after-dinner speech in Manchester, often quoted in this centenary' Year,is a classic. To him the English folk seemed admirable because firm androunded, cool, individual, self-assured. But towards the life, the habits andprejudices, of the ruling class his attitude was critical and. on the wholaantagonistic. He judged them to be arrogant, limited in intellectual range,materialistic. The conversation that, was characteristic of a London group.of wits and public men was. he thought, superficial, always keeping awayfrom vital topics. Among the elect of Boston and Concord, he was .sure, •there was better talk to be enjoyed.

•Emerson's lecture tour is an incident that stands alone int:Anglo2;

American chronicles. It was remarkable that, on the basis of his'Essays alone, he should be invited by the Mechanics' Institutes and be heardwith attention; remarkable, too, that he should be welcomed by the 'best(Of England wherever he 'went, and certainly most surprising that in 100years no other American, writer or prophet, has been able to repeat the •adventure.

S. K. RATCLIFTh*

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G. W..Keeton on ." Bentharn and the Law " .Rifiditik:SiNin." The Times." (Special article: "A Great English Reformer.")

. February 14, 1948

••As'. February 15 was the 200th anniversary of Bentham's birth, it is anappropriate opportunity to say something of his vast contributions to legalthbught ancIto law reform.

' n'Bentham was the son and granthoti of lawyers, and Benthanis father,who had the highest ambitions for his gifted son, sent him, first, to Queen'sCollegeiOxford, and then to Lincoln's Inn, to study.law with the object of*Omni& a great advocate:. This is the kind .of environment from whichgreat' Lord Chancellors have habitually been drawn, but Bentham was afailure in'Oractice, and, even had he been successful, he was too much of a'retief to submit to the rigid discipline 'which is a necessary condition precedentfcir• the achievement of high office. Instead, he deliberately chose to be alaw-reformer. His ledal writings are vast, and even today we are by aoMeans familiar with their full extent. Much remains in Manuscript atUniversity College, London.

"At' Oxford, Bentham listened to Blackstone's lectures, of which heformed alow opinion. Blackstone's Commentaries represented English-lawas"the perfection 'of reason, praising its continuous historical development(which Blackstone only half understood) without perceiving that Englishla& 'had accumulated a good deal of technical and archaic matter, whichought to have been abolished. Twenty years ago, an American, ProfessorEverett, working in the library of University College, London, discovereda hitherto unknown manuscript work of Bentham's, A Comment on theCommentaries. This was a full-scale onslaught on Blackstone. It was notprompted by Bentham's undergraduate experience, however. It emergedsoMer years later out of discussions with a friend, but was put aside on com-pletion.' It therefore exercised no widespread contemporary influence, thoughit -Was' known to various friends. Nevertheless, it supplies important clues,to Bentham's approach to law reform, and to Bentham's view ofutilitarianism. This attitude was expounded at greater length in anothertreatise,' of which The Principles of. Morals and Legislation was the firstpart. In 1945, Professor Everett once more enriched legal philosophy bypublishing for the first time another of Bentham's works, The Limits of

Jurisprudence Defined. This was the second part of The Principles of Morals

and.. Legislation, and-it established Bentham's position in the narrower fieldof jurisprudence. • •• Bentham's approach to English law was revolutionary, not evolutionary.

He wanted a reform and restatement of the entire corpus juris of Englisiilaw. He invented the word codification, and energetically advocated it. Thiswas a by-product of his belief in the instrument Of legislation as a methodof ,promoting. hurhan happiness, provided that Parliament accurately repre-sented the popular will. So in the nineteenth century we have a thiee-foldprocess: (1) parliamentary reform from'1832-onwards, producing (2) a greatincrease in social legislation, one aspect of which is (3) law reform.

Widespread reforms, especially in criminal law, evidence, procedure, andproperty, were advocated by Bentham's pupils after his death, and much wasdone. Slowly, by their efforts, the idea of a general codification gatheredsupport Bentharn's influence was probably at its zenith in the sixties, whenLiberalism had triumphed, but had not yet turned towards collectivism. Inthe mid-sixties one Lord Chancellor, Lord Westbury, seriously consideredthe (3osSibility of getting up a codification commission, but the legal profes-sion took fright. On Westbury's dismissal, the full-scale project lapsed, buta Royal Commission on the courts sat and its report was responsible forthe Judicature Acts, 1873-75, establishing a single supreme court of judicature.

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Today, 'general codification is once again a living issue.. Criminal Law-T—Bentham learned here .from Bercaria, who had craps-

fornied the criminal law of North Italy. He bitterly attacked the'tidrbarmissystem of his day (which awarded the death penalty for over 2,000 offences);and in Parliament his views were pressed by. Romilly and Mackintosh.Eventually they triumphed'in the reforms of Peel, who borrowed dhe ideasof Rornilly. and Mackintosh. Within ten years of Bentham's ,deathiethecriminal law has ceased to be a barbarous medieval system and,haff assumedsubstantially its modern shape

The Constitution — Here Bentham .attacked existing abuses in seasonand out of season. They were repugnant to his ideas of utility; and.his deathcoincided with the passing of the first Reform Bill. Throughout. his lifehe was a firm Believer' in the original ideas of the French Revolution. HI.

The Law of Evidence—Bentham's treatise on evidence is the firstcriticalanalysis of principles which we possess, and he was the first person::whoattemPted to place the law of public records on a coherent basis... :

Lords Brougham and Denman applied Bentham's principles in.: the'courts, re interpreting the rules of evidence in the light of his ideas. -

Equity — Here Bentham's powers of denunciation were highest:at theexpense of the Court of Chancery and Lord Eldon. Bentham 'sometimesexaggerates (though Dickens in Bleak House did not), but his efforts, borefruit in: •

The reform of the land law, by the abolition of a great deal..ofobsolete law;in the movement towards land registration;in the reform of the Court of Chancery.

. International Law — Bentham coined the phrase, saw the weaknesses ofthe system, and• suggested the remedy, i.e., a League of Nations.

Foreign Law--Bentham's work had tremendous influence .abToad—through the medium of Dumont's French translations of his principal avorks.They influenced the work of Spanish and Portuguese reformers after 1815.Further, they crossed the Atlantic to Latin-America, where Bolivar: andSan Martin were his enthusiastic pupils. Bentham produced draftdawrcodesat short notice—even for Egypt and Turkey—but they were not adopted.although they were widely studied. . .

The great defect of the Benthamite view of codification was that; itignored local habits and outlooks. Yet this idea of the borrowability.ofcodes survived into the twentieth century, in the Chinese, Japanese, Turkishand Persian codifications. Today, however, we see that codes must drawupon national habits and traditions if their roots are to reach down, intothe daily life of the people.

Few people have influenced legal thought to so great a 'degree asBentham. He ranks as Grotius and Kant as a legal philosopher..,

. In England we have three lawyers of world-wide importance—Sir Thbmas .More, Bacon, and Bentham—and the greatest of thes6. isBentham.

(Contributed hy G. W. Keeton)

Joseph McCabe on " Do Races Wear Ouit.'Readings from: (1) A. L. Rouse, "The Use of History," •• .•

(2) J. II. Moore, "Better-World Philosophy."1:

A few days ago the President of the Republic of Chile warned us thatwe British folk have played our part on the stage of the world but are wornout and must depart. He seems to have impressed his cousin of Guatemala,and his language is echoed in Buenos Aires, where a cabaret-singer. is still

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smarting under the refusal of thc Royal family to receive her in state. leis echoed in many parts of. the world, and we are not listening to it for thefirst, time. .1 heard-it in America and Australia forty 'years ago, and thefaiitire of our ship of state to sise in three years out of the trough of thegreafl.,waves that have tumbled upon it has led to folk asking themselvesth6.question in very many countries. And now we get a book from Dr.

load setting the seal of philosophy on our doom. It seems that Dr. loadSees definite 'symptoms reflected ori tbe face of the nation that indicate thatdadly Malady. decadence. These symptoms are, he says, luxury, scepticism.

,weariness..and superstition." How we are both superstitious and scepticalis bot clear, and whether the one tenth or one twentieth of the nation that isconspicuous for its coStly wines and mink coats scan ruin us is not clear.Weariness might be natural but the health and production.statistics of thenatio6 do not give proof of it.

What is the ground of these recurring predictions that one nation or'othee has passed or is passing into the state of decadence that precedes afinal. lethargy and at last death in the eye of the historian? No nation orpeople.eyer dies though it may be murdered or almost murdered by another

: nation.: Even then it may rise again. Three centuries ago at the end of theThirty Years War Bohemia found itself almost bloodless, and a very highproportiOu of its towns and villages razed to the ground. For the last quarterof a century it has shown itself one of the most vigorous and progressivecivilizations in Europe. Yet there has been case after case in history—theAsyrians in ancient times. Spain and Portugal in modern times—in whicha people shows no sign of rising again, but lies on the lower levels of historyas if semi-paralysis had tainted it. Do nations wear out? Thirty to fortyyears ago, a large body of scientific men said, Yes, •the germ-plasm, or aswe now say the genes, may be tainted or enfeebled. However, the geneticalscience,of today •is less Calvinistic and gives little encouragement to prophetsof decadence. We must judge by facts, by a realistic examination of thatrepeated historical decay of civilizations which seems to justify so many inasking„ anxiously, " Is it our turn next?-

Outstanding amongst all these decays of nations, most important of allin its,consequences. which still endure, and which checked the evolution ofreal civilization for a thousand years, is the fall of the Roman Empire' andthe:onset of the Dark Age. In fact the prophets who warn us by historicalprecedents . more frequently appeal to that tragedy than to any other. Onefifids that the growth of • scepticism ruined Rome, another that its luxuriesand vicessuined its character and physique. It was worn out, and the first

..floodeof sobust barbarism swept- it away. And this is a totally false andsuperficial view. In the first volume of the Cambridge Medieval Historyour highest authority on the transition from the ancient to the medievalworld, there is a ;.iery curious speculation. It is said that if the HUns whotherrjnvaded Europe had found the kind of steppe environment in Franceand Germany to which they had been accustomed in Asia, civilization wouldhave been irrecoverably lost in Europe, and it is the Chinese civilizationthat would dominate it today, instead of Europe dominating Asia. What-ever exaggeration one finds in that, modern historians generally recognisethat the fate of Europe was settled in Asia. The Roman Empire haddeveloped weaknesses, especially by relaxation of military discipline, butvastly outweighing all these in importance is the fact that by the last quarterof the fourth century the simmering mass of half-barbaric peoples betweenthe It6man and the Chinese Empires boiled over and sent into Europe suchmasses of. .superbly horsed and destructive Huns that the Goths and otherTeutonic :peoples fled before them. Even then there was a faint hope ofcreating ia:Teutonic bulwark that might conceivably have saved Rome, butit .-is 'Ia. commonplace of history •that the stupidity of the rulers and the

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:cupidity of their officers drove the 'Goths into alliance .with the Huns andthe end was certain.

„. In each case of what we call the decay or fall of a civilization, historyassigns .some such external factors. Luxury never applies to more .than a'privileged minority, and the people-who pay first by the collapse of theircivilization just bow their heads like ears of corn when the wind blows overthe field. They remain as robust as ever, ready to follow.any clear call torebuild, as some of those same Asiatic peoples have done under the lead„ofRussia in our time. The people of Egypt. Mesopotamia and Western Indiabuilt the first civilizations 6,000 years ago. There is no evidence whateverthat they are less robust today than they then were. War and the blundersof rulers and statesmen have been the most common causes of that wither-ing of the flower of civilizations—wealth, art, and culture—while the rootsrerhained in the past. The only question to concern us is whether oncemore the.race must pay for the blunders of its modern statesmen.

(Contributed by Joseph McCabe) -

S. K. Ratcliffe on " The Communist Manifesto,' 100 Years After."February 8, 1948

Readings from (I) IT J. Laski's "Communism";(2) The Manifesto.

If one were asked to make a list of the writings which have mostdecisively influenced the conduct of men and the pOlicy of States, how longwould the list be and which examples should we be led to put first? TheSacred Books, certainly, such as the Analects of Confucius and the Koran;the Bible, not the whole, but certain portions. Delisle Burns in The FirstEurope has called attention to the effect upon kings and generals during..theearly Christian centuries of the sanguinary Hebrew chronicles. The openingChapters of Genesis still act as a stiff barrier against the education. of ouryoung people in the elementary truths of science. It would not be difficultto show that the life and precepts of Jesus do not compare with thrEpistlesof Paul, judged by tragic results in history—for instance, the persecutions andwars of religion that can be traced to the Pauline dogmas; as, after theReformation, to the theology of Calvin. In later times the most powerfuldocuments have been social and political, e.g., the words of Rousseau 'andThomas Paine, the American Declaration, and the Rights of Man. Now.Weare commemorating the centenary of a piece of writing which- may prove,tohave been more potent than any other of the modern age—the CommunistManifesto. •

It was a product of the great European uprising which Mr. McCabe hasexpounded. A conference of the small German Communist League was held

'in' London, November, 1847. A programme was demanded, and the responsecame immediately from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, then living in'Brussels. It was written in German, sent to a London printer, and came offthe press only a few days before the Paris revolution of February. 1848.Today, therefore, we meet almost on its 100th anniversary.

Karl Marx was born in 1818 at Trier (Treves), the lovely old town on theMoselle. He came of a long line of rabbis. His father, a lawyer. turnedProtestant in 1824, so that the children had a Christian upbringing. Marxattended Bonn University, and at 18 met a beautiful girl, Jennt vonWestphalen, whom he married seven years later. Going to Berlin, he-foundhimself in an eager group of young Hegelidns. Hegel, at the height.of hisinfluence, had died in 1831. Marx, who wanted to be a poet, studied, juris-

'prudence and philosophy—anything but economics. His ambition was to7

dethrone Hegel and his Absolute; and yet, as the world carne to see, histhinking was governed 'to the end by certain Hegelian methods, particularlyin dialectic. His work 'began in Cologne, on the Rheinische Zeitung. Thesuspension of this, newspaper in 1843 drove him to Paris, where he metthe French Socialists, and began to shape his ideas. An essay of that yearcontains passages with the unmistakable Marxian ring, for instance:

" Physieal force must be overthrown by physical force; but theorybecomes force as soon as it takes possession of the masses."

Religion is the sigh of The oppressed creature . . It is the opium ofthe people."

Ordered out of Paris, Marx went to Brussels. Engels joined him, andthus began the remarkable association without which Marxian Communismcould never have come to birth. Engels belonged to a German cotton firmin Manchester. He threw up his post in order to work for Socialism; thenwent back, started again at the bottom, and became the leading partner.His financial aid to. Marx was generous and unfailing.

In Brussels, Engels found that Marx and himself were in full accord,particularly on the fundamental doctrine which he states thus :*—

," That at any time the prevailing mode of economic production andexchange and the social organization necessarily following from it form thebasis upon which it is built up, and by which alone can be explained thepolitical and intellectual history of the epoch.-

That is, the materialist or economic interpretation of history. Engelsbelieved that the doctrine was destined to do for history what Darwin'stheory had done for biology. Marx's more moderate followers explain thatMarx did not hold the modes of production to be everything, but thateconomics had the last word. The extreme Marxist asserts that there isnothing else.

The doctrine is declared with ringing force in the Manifesto, togetherwith the Class War (" the history of all society hitherto is the history ofclass struggles ") and the rise of the proletariat to power by, revolution..The working class must not be content with seizing the government; it mustsmash the machinery of the bourgeois State, end the power, of property anditself become the nation. That, said Lenin, is the Dictatorship of the Pro-letariat—a phrase, taken from Blanqui, which Marx did not use untilyears later.

The Manifesto is a condensed paper, less than twice the length of theEpistle to the Romans. It is written in a style that Marx did not oftenattain. It states the antagonism between Bourgeoisie and Proletariat (theonly modern classes that Marx recognized) in the simplest, harshest terms.

'and ends with the famous sentences: "The proletariat has nothing to losebut its chains; it has a world 'to win. Working men of all countries, unite! "

Marx, in 1848. had given up his Prussian citizenship and could notremain in France. For him, as. for all 'European political exiles of lastcentury, England was the one land of refuge. He came to London with hisfamily, and lived here till his death in 1883, dependent almost entirelyupon the devotion and bounty of-Engels. There is no parallel in modernEngland to the experiences of those 34 years. Marx and his devoted wifesuffered the extremes of misery—destitution and the pawnshop, illness, thesickness und death of children—these conditions being permanently relievedonly when Engels was able to fik an income.

In 1864, Marx founded the Working Men's International, but gave itup after eight years of fierce activity and the quarrels (such as those withLassalle and Bakunin) that filled his life with storm. Nothing in his careeris more singular than the slowness with which, amid his labours in the BritishMuseum library andshis unflagging energy, he produced his Capital. Engelsand others prodded him incessantly. A masterpiece, they urged, must8

come from him: The first volume, the only one that appeared in his lifetime, •was finished in 1867. There were long delays over the English. translation.(Bernard Shaw, in the 1880s, read it in French.) The book, massive anddifficult, has never been much read in Britain. We may say that the conquesthof Karl Marx have been achieved not by the big book, but by the CommunistManifesto, with its sharp statement, its unqualified dogma, and phrases thathave the' force of deeds.

Marx began.the Manifesto by announcing that, in 1848, a spectre washaunting Europe, the spectre of Communism. He believed in the imminenceof revolution, and he looked for it first in Germany " after the crowing ofthe Gallic cock." To the end of his life he saw any and every outbreak onthe Continent: as. the beginning of the general overturn. His forecasts weresingularly at fault in several most important particulars. For instance, he wasconvinced that industrial serfdom must become worse, the workers •be evenmore oppressed, their toil more unendurable, the conflict with the bourgeoisiemore proridunced. He did not foresee the improved condition of the workers,on the immense results of technology and training in the diversifying ofoccupations, the transformation of the old static working class.

But it will be said, and rightly, the answer to this is 1917. Marx's majorprediction was fulfilled in the Russian Revolution, and the success of theSoviets is the master fact of our epoch. The world, in consequence, hasenthroned Marx as the great prophet of Socialism;, and this, despite the warto the death between Marxist Communism and Social Democracy. TheBritish Socialist movement presents a noteworthy self-contradiction. Forthirty ymrs the Russian achievement has been followed in the Labourmovement with the greatest sympathy; so much so that attacks on Sovietpolicy or methods have always been resented. And yet the Labour Partymaintains its hostility to the Russian system and its philosophy. The Partyleaders were never more outspoken in opposition than they are today. Mean-while the country which exhibits the greatest fear of revolution is the UnitedStates, where the Communists are, and will continue to be, •the smallest •minority.

It is not in the Western hemisphere that we should look for evidenceof the advance of the Communist faith, the power of the Marxian idea.For that evidence we must turn to the East and the South. The influence'of Moscow is tremendous in Central Asia and the Far 'East. The NehruGovernment in India has to face a growing Communism. In China, the onlyvital movement is in the Communist provinces of the North. Nor can Africabe thought of as a cOntinent outside the influence. Looking ahead, we mbyimagine what it would mean for the world if the liberation of the•African multitudes should be dominated by the most disruptive idea everknown among men. We need to keep in mind the Marxist dictum: theorybecomes force when it takes possession of the masses.• Europe is now the battle-ground. The Communist Parties in the Wdst arein difficulties, which are unavoidable for political groups that recognizeauthority outside their own borders. But the power of the U.S.S.R. and of

.Communism cannot fail to grow in a divided and desolated continent. Europecannot recover without American food and money. The immediate futuredepends upon the extent and the timetable of American aid, and doubtlessalso upon the harvests. Since the war ended Nature has been hostile to man.Winter, floods, and drought have in measureless degree augmented the mass.suffering caused by the madness of Governments. The more hopeful surveyorsof world resources are inviting us to believe that the worst is over, that man-kind has taken the turn. If this is so, then the Marshall Plan may be themeans of restoring, between West and East, the equilibrium without whichthe European 'system is lost.

(Contributed by S. K. Ratcliffe)

9,

CONWAY DISCUSSION CIRCLEo

•On . Tuesday, January 6, before a large audience 'a Brains Trust On

." Marriage and Divorce " gave u§ a most enjoyable and thrilling evening.Although only a few questions were dealt with, these were tackled fully; ina lively frank manner, and covered such a wide range.

Among the problems discussed were: Whether marriage laws were'indispensable to a eivilized.community,. whether-the abolition of marriagelaws would lead to unlimited promiscuity; Whether we should allow poly-gamy and •polyandry, and so establish the- vice of hypocrisy: and whether

.there was a need to reform marriage and divorce procedure.Dr. G. Halliday Sutherland (a Roman Catholic) maintained that divorce

should not be allowed under any circumstances, and thought people wouldput more effort into making their marriage a success if divorce were not soeasy. The highest civilizations were monogamous. Mr. R. S. W. Pollard,J.P., who proved lively and very fluent, queried which marriaize laws wereindispensable, as they were different in various countries, in Eire and Spain,etc., while in Tibet there .was polyandry. He doubted if it was the highestform of civilization when monogamy forced two people to live together inmisery.

With regard to the second question, Dr. Joan Malieson deplored peoplebeing kept together merely by legal position, but if they-formed other unionsthis would not be promiscuity. Mr. Pollard doubted if every man andwoman was longing for promiscuity. Many achieved it without the abolitionof the marriage laws which would make little, difference. Mr. ReginaldPestell, J.P. (of Marriage Guiaance Council) was well informed and practical,and produced statistics to bear out his remarks. He maintained there hadbeen more promiscuity since divorce was easier. It was found in 1944 that30 per cent of first maternity cases were outside marriage. Mr. Pollard hadpointed out that children were the result of parental desire, and there were

- abortions in marriage as well as outside.The Brains Trust agreed, though from different angles, that to legalize

polygamy would not help the situation. Dr. Halliday Sutherland thoughtit was going against nature, while Mr. Pollard considered a man could notafford more than one wife, and therefore the situation was economic.

While not thinking it ideal' for an individual to be the child of a''spinster Dr. Joan Malleson thought it preferable to being the child of asub-standard marriage. Mr. Pollard agreed with the view and advocated

-artificial insemination rather than deny women motherhood. Today we wereendeavouring to adapt our sex life to rational existence.

Both Mr. Pollard and Mr. Pestell az.reed the divorce laws should bereformed. The former -advocated divorce by mutual consent. The latterhowever disagreed with the suggestion of divorce after only two yearsseparation, feeling people would enter matrimony with a defeatist attitude.

L.B.

On Tuesday evening, January 13, 1948, Mr. Lancelot L. Whyte withMr. Gowans Whyte in the chair, gave an extremely interesting and thought-ful talk on Science and the Next Development in Man. People made guessesin history which were frequently correct, but occasionally wrong in time,as in' the case of the Russian Revolution which was farther off than antici-pated. He compared the main ideas of the two men whose publicationsappeared in the same year, viz, 1848, the founder of Positivism, AugusteComte, and Karl Marx. In many ways they were similar, Comte was ableto give an appreciation of Communism before the Manifesto .was published,and realized the working classes would remainloyal to it. Marx showednoble inspiration and up-to-date views. Both men were. scholars working10

;outside academies, and both suffered poverty. Both believed philosophic

thought should be guided to help humanity. Their differences, however,

were also great. Comte believed moral ideas could achieve everything, while

Marx thought force alone could bring social justice. To Comte reason was

_1111,: while to Marx economic conditions were everything. Comte thought

: the best of everyone, while Marx neglected the good in the bourgeoisie and

thought the worst of its opponents. Mr. Whyte was however not taking

sides but emphasized that he considered both views inadequate.

Power was weakened by lack of doctrine; and force in the hands of the

.few was .more ruthless than, in the hands of the individual. The dominant

issue at present was the prevention of war. Our technical knowledge and

power were in :disrelation. Through science the species were in mortal

danger; destructive power should be controlled by attitude, backed by a

world consensus of opinion. No one doctrine, religion or ideology was

sufficient to prevent war. Both negative and positive forces were at work;

people would realize in disgust physical power could no longer give protec-

tion, and Communism would lose its appeal. A dramatic event was needed;

a comprehensive rationalism making a deeper appeal; a theoretical discovery

that must be universal, applicable to all fields of knowledge. A unified and

unifying science was needed. In the last 150 years scicnce had tended to

specialize, but during the last 20 to 30 years it was appreciated subjects

.overlapped, and it was necessary to know something of neighbouring

sciences. In this overlapping might lie the clue, and the solution. Physics

had seemed to reach "rock bottom in finding the atom nucleus; biology was

now fundamentally concerned with proteins and mind-body relationships

were being.studied: if these three could be linked up, a broader science might

.develop•which would have a universal appeal, and state what man was and

should 'be. New attitudes took less time now to gain prestige; Buddhism

and Christianity took 300 years, and Marxism only 70, so it was poasible

science might achieve influence in 30 to 50 years. ;

In the discussion that followed several speakers wondered why we

assumed if was Russia who had to be feared and stopped, when the trouble

waa just as likely to start in America, judging from the aggressive headlines

in the Yellow Press. Mr. Whyte was apt to agree, but pointed out that the

themes of the writings of Lenin and Stalin were that force only could achieve

solutions, and it was to be deplored if both sides held that view. He con-

cluded by saying military policy was inadequate and merely a stop gap. As

Marxism had portended to show man's place in history, so science if :it

could show man as fulfilling his personality by certain actions, might have

as great or a greater effect.

On Tuesday evening, January 27, 1948, Mr. David Wills gave a sincere

and inspifing address on The Fallacy of Discipline. While Mr. Wills

believed in some discipline, his main argument centred round the fact that•

.a criminal was frequently described as a person with a weak character, but

the best way to improve and strengthen that character was not to impose

discipline from above, but let him learn better methods of his own accord.

As a good example of fine discipline_Mr. Wills cited the Whit Monday

Procession, but pointed out this was an enormous success because the

children taking part wanted to be disciplined, as then they believed the day

would 6e a success. This, however, was quite different from the attifude

in Borstal where Lhe inmates had no such happy feelings towards the

stewards, and where the few imposed rules on the many, and endeavoured

'to obtain an efficient organiration and strict obedience, which was essential

to make life tolerable for them. Warders .and magistrates however, not

feeling happy about the situation tended to rationalize and say these things

were done for the prisoners' benefit, and they came to believe that the doing11

of distasteful things was good for people. This idea had not died out, butcould be found in all .walks of life, 'including orphanages. The ChristianChurch was largely responsible for propagating this idea.

' If the criminal had a weak charaOter, the way to strengthen it was 'toexercise it, as an athlete Would exercise his muscles in order to strengthenthem. In his view to force youths to rise at 5.30 a.m. and do certain dutieswas atrophying their will by disuse. They became weaker by only'having to:acquiesce. He admitted it was easy to disparags a'system; there was however,much in penal institutions he approved of, such as the learning of trades,etc. He would however substitute a system in which the inmate would learnself discipline. There would be little compulsion, and from natural con-sequences the people would learn what was required; they would 'discoverfrom experience that discipline was needed for order.

In 1936, Mr. Wills began an experiment at Hawkesbury. Camp, atBarnes, where they lived in tents but provided material for building andexperts to advise;them, if the youths wanted more comfortable quarters forthe winter. Food was provided but it was left to the inmates to cook it. 'Ittook years to develop a workable system. The slackers suffered •the con-sequences of their own omissions, and this had more effect on theircharacters than otherwise. There were individual cases of a person beingbone lazy, being allowed to do nothing, and then after a fortnight askingfor something to do while another tried going dirty for some time and thengave it up as impracticable.

The weak character was chiefly due to inadequate emotional satisfaction.The child felt it was deprived of affection, and because of this emotionalvacuum, tended to want to fill the lack by acquiring other things. Delin-quency was the result; society knew this but did not act upon it. We mustsupPly the affection that was lacking. The anti-social problem was theemotional problem. Therefore in his camp he tried to make the intnatesfeel they were concerned with them as persons; he tried to supply theaffection, and make it apparent and unconditional.

'Borstal worked on the opposite syStem, which became an inducementfor youths to act again as they had before; this was not an effective therapy.We had to make a man an asset to society. The reform of the penal system

. was needed, but would require a revolution. It was necessary to establishpeace and order, and allow the characters to grow more stable. Disciplinemight be necessary where many people lived together. and where an efficientroutine was needed, but this did not enhance character but had a deterior-ating effect. Mental and moral training took place in freedom. To makea people good was not to impose discipline on them but for it to come frOmwith in.

In answer to a question whether discipline was not useful in forminggood habits, Mr. Wills maintained that people did not form habits they didnot. like, only acquiring those they did.

The chairman, The Hon. Mrs. Earl, dealt most inthrestingly with certainof the questions, having visited Borstal (women) and Holloway, many times,ind being able to corroborate the effect of lick of affection in youth, andstated how the capacity for self-discipline became impaired. She also spokeof the fine Swedish penal system, and how delinquents were allowed to workin the village and go to dances there and treat It as their home.

In conclusion, Mr. Wills gave us a most entertaining and humane storyof a little boy who was extremely wayward, and he found his chief grievancein life appeared to be some clogs he wore; .by disposing of these' and thusproving to the boy he was more important than property a cure was affected.12

. • BOOK NOTICES

Weffiave had our attention called to the winter, 1947, edition of The

Humanist, and amongst the interesting matter contained therein is an articleentitled ".The Life Work. of Henry Havelock Ellis," btour friend, F. H.Amphlett. Micklewright, also " Huthanism in Europe," by W. J. Biackhaffi.

In the .latter article there arc paragraphs which should prove of interest. to our members. For example. we should like to record the following:t

A World Congress. " Next year," writes Mr. Blackham, " is the quater-centenary of the birth of Giordano Bruno. The Council of the World Unionof Freethinkers' meeting in Amsterdam in September decided to takeadvaffiage of this event by holding the Congress of the World Union nextyear iti Rome."

(The Congress certainly intend to venture into the lions' den.)" Three themes will be discussed :—1.. Vatican policy.

•The Schools. The World Union proposes putting beforeUNESCO an impartial documented survey, together with a statementof the case for Secular education."

Humanism and Freethougfit. Let us again quote Mr, I3lackham."Many freethinkers and rationalists call themselves humanists, and areinspired by a general humanist philosophy. But Ethical Societies andhumanist organizations are inclined to concentrate on the efficiency of theirown constructive programmes and have no use for militant rationalistorganizations. And there are doctrines called Humanism (Existentialisme est

un hunzanisme) with which Humanism is in full contest. It is a pity ifRationalists and Humanists cannot understand and appreciate. each otherwell enough to come together in a common international organization forcommon purposes. A job for the statesmen of our movements."

The final paragraph, entitled " Liberty of Prophesying," treats of therecent relaxing of the B.B.C. policy of exclusion of the expression of alterna-tives to orthodox Christian views. •

• The second issue of The Musical Digest (Is.) has come into our hands.Its twenty articles contain contributions by Arnold Schoenberg, ConstantLambert and Michael Tippett.

The whole 'booklet takes a wide field. This fact can be appreciated as,besides an article on Toscanini by Olin Downes, Constant Lambert gives itgood appreciation of 'the records of Duke Ellington.

Some of the articles are followed by extracts of other writers, whichmake quite•an appeal.

In the centre of this publication are a couple of pages of these paragraphscalled " Accidentals." This one is quite good—" The business of criticism is.,in the case of the first-rate artist, to' see hint steadily and see him whole,and in the case of a second- or thirdrate artist to-see him steadily and see 'him damned." Ernest Newman in the Sunday Times.

The Plain View (January issue). Ethical Union Quarterly, Is.Mr. E. J. B. Lloyd writes on' The Profit Motive: What is Wrong With

It? "—a soundly-reasoned article. He makes comparison between Mr. Att ea's" Social Motivation and " the Profit Motive." His arguments favour thelatter theory.

However much " Social Motivation " may be desired, it is unwise toshut one's eyes to the difficulties encountered in the exercise of this theory,especially in relation to our export trade—but those readers who areinterested in this vital subject should read Mr. Lloyd's article, from whichthey may gain much profit.

Another article in this periodical is by H..1. Blackham, " How Christianis England? A thoughtful contribution to this ever-topical theme.

13•

• :Mr. Blackham draws attention Ao "The old popular distinction betweenChristianity • and all its institutional and dogmatic forms." PerhapsChristianity would stand a better chance of survival were it not for thepresence of the Churches? Yet Christianity and organized religion have,become indescribably linked in this count1y.

Another factor which might •be noted, which is having its effect onChristian England—the career of the . :Ministry is not now sufficientlyattractive to men of live understanding and, shall we say, without:satiricalintent, men of ambifion.

Owing to its long history, the Church dies hard, and all its obituary:notices, which are many, haste been " grossly exaggerated."

A third article is called " Review Article." by Charles Kennedy Scott,who discusses Mr.'Smith's book, Music and Reason.

Mr. Scott is an able critic of this volume, and he gives full appreciationof its many merits, yet his final sentence is—" In removing fallacies, havenot some truths been removed as well? "

EDITORIAL NOTESObitualw

Miss Alpha Fenton and Mrs. Freeston. •Miss Fenton was a sister of Arthur Fenton, who at one time was solicitor

to this Society.

We are pleased to call attention to the Third: R.P.A.:Annual Conference,Magdalen College, Oxford, to be held Friday, J uly 23 to 27,1948. President :Lord Chorley.

Subject : " Reason and Unreason in Society?!Bookings for the above Conference are now being accepted and applica-

tions before Monday, April 5, are desirable. The fee for members of theR.P.A. is £4 I4s. 6d. as before, but the fee for non-members this year willbe £6 6s. Those who have friends at Oxford or who wigh to book their own .accommodation outside College can purchase a ticket for lectures only at£7 7s.

There will be a presidential address by Lord Chorley and a lecture byProfessor Gilbert Murray. . on " The Meaning of Agnosticism." Otherspeaker's will be Dr. Joan Malleson and Professor S. F. Nadel (theanthropologist).

Miss R. Halls, who recently retired from the Post Office, has, we areproud to relate, been the recipient of the Imperial Service Medal.

A very popular member, who for many years acted as Hon. Registrarto the South Place Ethical Society, we should like to offer her our heartiestcongratulations.

BirthWe arc pleased to announce the arrival of Stuart Arnold Broughton,

who joined the family of our good friends, Doris and Douglas Broughton,on March 1.

At HomeOn Sunday. February 15, Mrs. Lucy Norman. spoke on " Democracy in

Jamaica."This talk lasted until nearly :6 p.m., keeping the audience thoroughly

interested.Mrs. Norman, whose husband was Labour Adviser to the Jamaican

Government. knew her subject well, and gave an illuminating picture oflife in the West Indian island, interspersed with humorous anecdote and14

interesting 'situations. She told of a very likeable folk, who make a useful ,contribution to the democratic ideal: •

We can be grateful to Mrs. Norman for the information, so pleasantlyconveyed, regarding one of the oldest Crown Colonies which perhaps someof us in our ignorance had merely associated with bananas and rum.

Although Mr. and Mrs. Norman are twit members of this Society, theyhave always been interested in ethical work and we hope we may be allowedto count them as our friends.

The Monthly Record is posted 'free 'to members and associates. Theannual charge to subscribers is 4s. Matter for publication in the May issueshonld reach the Editor, G. C. Dowman, 112 Torrington Park, N.I2, byWednesday, April 14.

New MembersMrs. R. H. F. Hopkin, 36 Lissenden Mansions. N.W.5; Miss L M.

Clapp& 3 Elmer's Drive, Teddington; Mr. K.J. Nerval. 50 Upper BerkeleyStreet, W.I; Mrs. Westbrook, 65 Calton Avenue, Dulwich Village. - •

New AssociateMr. 0. T. Wolfgang, 7a Kildare Gardens, W.2.

It is with great regret that we announce the illness of one of our oldestmembers, Mr. Wallis Mansford. He is in the Mount Vernon Hospital,Northwood. We wish him a speedy recovery, for he is a valued member.

SOCIETY'S ACTIVITIES

At home for members and fricnds. In the Library on Sunday, April 18,Mr. H. B. Ritchie on " Seven •years in the Lake District."

Social EveningsThursdays, 6.30 p.m., in the Library :

April I.—Closed.„ S.—Whist Drive.„ 15.—Dr. Stark.

22.—Miss E. I. Percival, " The Romance of High Beach."29.—Mrs. Marianne Idiens. Dramatic Recital.

Mr. E. J. Fairhall, violin.

Table TennisPlay is on Wednesdays, April 14. 21 and 28 Visitors are invited.

Rubber-soled shoes must be worn by players.

RamblesSunday. April 11. Meet at "The Crown: Loughton, 2.30 p.m. Tea„

The Bell," Epping. No. 38 bus, or train. Leader: ,Mr. Warwick.

CONCERTby the

SOUTH PLACE STRING ORCHESTRA •

Sunday, April 25, 6.30 p.m. (doors open 6.0)

Conductor: ERIC SAWYER Piano: HELEN CLEAVER

The programme will include Handel Concerto Grosso No. 18 in B flat. BartokRumanian Dances. Elgar Introduction and Allegro for String Quartet and Orchestra.Chopin Concerto in F minor for Piano and Orchestra. Admission 2s. and Is. Ticketsreserved but not numbered, from.the Secretary, and members of the Orchestra.

On May 23, a special concert in aid of the Musicians' Benevolent Fbnd will be"

given. Full particulars will be published in the May Record.

I/

15

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETYSUNDAY MORNING MEETINGS AT ELEVEN O'CLOCK

April 4.—G EORGE O'DELL.—" Ethical Aspects of American Thought and Life."Soprano and bass duets by BERYL HALT and G. C. DOWMAN:

" Let us Wander " Purcell"Sound the Trumpet " Purcell -

Hymns: Nos. 45 and 81.April 11.—S. K. RATCLIFFE.—" The Mind and Heart of England."

Cello Soth by GETHYN WYKEHAM-GEORGE: " Kol Nidrei " .. Max &itchHymns: Nos. 92 and 90.,

April 1L—PROFESSOR G. W. KEETON, M.A., LL.D.—" British Films; from theConsumers' Angle."

Bass Solos by G. C. DOWMAN: " April's Charms .. • G. C. Downtan-> "The Poet's Sorig Parry

Hymns: Nos. 100 and 115.April 25.—ARCHIBALD ROBERTSON, M.A.—" The True and False in Christianity."

Piano Solo,by ELLA Ivihow: Sonata in A .. Mozart Hymns: Nos. 112 and 227.

Pianist: ELLA Inter. Admission Free. Collection.

, NOMINATIONS FOR COMMITTEE •The Annual General Meeting of members of the Society will be held on Monday.

May, 31 at 6.30 p.m. Nominations for seven vacancies on the Committee should reachthe Secretary by Sunday, April 25. Candidates having a minimum period of member-ship of twelve months must be nominate'd by two members. Forms for the purposecan be obtained from the Secretary, and should be handed to the Hon. Registrar,Mrs. T. C. Lindsay, on completion.

Corntnittee:—*C. E. Barralet. Ca A. BrOughton, H. L. Bullock, L. Camerman.G. C. Dowman, *E. J. Fairhall, *Mrs. H. Gamble. *Miss W. L. George, Miss R. Halls.G. Hutchinson, F. James, Mrs. G. James, W. C. Keay, Mrs. T. C. Lindsay, *Mrs. A.J. Lister. Miss P. Snelling, *L. W. Todd. B. 0. Warwick, F. C. C. Watts, Mrs. I. Wood.

*Retire at .4nnual Meeting

'SOUTH PLACE SUNDAY CONCERT 'SOCIETY, FIFTY-SEVENTH SEASONApril 4.—Roliert Masters Quartet: Robert Masters, Nannie Jamieson. Muriel Taylor,

' Kinlock Anderson. Mozart in G minor. K.478; Faure in C minor, Op. 15;Dvorak in E flat, Op. 87, Piano Quartets.

April 11.-1Zorian String Quartet: Olive Zorian, Marjorie Lavers, Winifred Copperwheat,Norina Semino. Haydn in C, Op. 74, No. 1; Beethoven in D, Op. 18,No. 3; Benjamin Britten, No. 2 in C. Op. 36.

April 18.—HIRSCH STRING QUARTET: Leonard Hirsch, Reginald Morley, MaxGilbert. Harvey Phillips, Colin Horsley. Mozart in D, K.575; Ravel in F,String Quartets. Franck piano Quintet.

6.30 p.m. (doors open 6.0) Admission Is.

The Objects of the Society are the study and dissemination of ethical principles'and the cultivation of a rational religious sentiment.

• Any persontin sympathy with these objecls is cordially invited to become a Member(minimum annual subscription 10s.), or Associate (minimum annual subscription 5s.).Associates are not eligible to vote or hold office. Enquiries should be made of theRegistrar to whom subscriptions should be paid.

OfficersHon. Treasurer: E. FAIRHALLHon. Registrar: Mrs. T. LitiosAY Secretary:C. J. TURNADGE

Conway FealL.Red Lion Square, W.C.I. .

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