Jottings

I am going to quote two items of historical interest:

“Suraj-ud-Daulah, possibly at the instigation of the French, chose to take offence because the British at Fort William were strengthening their fortifications in case they should find themselves involved in hostilities with their French neighbours at Chandernagur. The Nawab ordered them to demolish the fortifications, the Governor replied with a remonstrance; and the Nawab responded by despatching an army against him. The Governor and some others fled on some British ships which were in the Hugli ; those who remained behind had no choice but to surrender. The unhappy prisoners, one hundred and forty-six in number, were packed into a chamber twenty feet square, three human beings to the square yard, with one small grating to let in air, on a sultry night in July. Suraj-ad-Daulah forgot them till next morning, when twenty-three of the hundred and forty-six were found to be still alive.”

“I was standing on the bridge in the evening when the Medjidieh arrived. As this ship with two barges came up to us, I saw that she was absolutely packed, and the barges, too, with men. When she was about 300 or 400 yards off it looked as if she was festooned with ropes. The stench, when she was close, was quite definite, and I found that what I mistook for ropes were dried stalactites of human faces. The patients were so huddled and crowded together on the ship that they could not perform the offices of nature clear of the edge of the ship, and the whole of the ship’s side was covered with stalactites of human fteces. A certain number of men were standing, some with blankets, some without. They were in a pool of dysentery about 30 feet square. They were covered with dysentery and dejecta generally from head to foot.”

I can hear the reader crying “Enough! Whose devilish imagination has conjured up such revolting details ? Wherever could such things as these happen ?”There is no imagination about it, dear reader. The first item is a brief description of the Black Hole of Calcutta ; the second item is merely an incident in the great war of liberty, 1916, as described in the Report of the Mesopotamia Commission.

After the foregoing it will be gratifying to all lovers of their country to learn that “the glorious Minster windows, the pride, not only of the city of York, but the unique possession of the English Church, are to be taken down because the enemy sought destruction with engines of war unknown in days of old, and with a ruth-lessnesa unequalled in the most savage times.” That ought to remove the nasty taste left in the month after reading the preceding paragraph.

M. Phillips Price, Petrograd correspondent of the “Manchester Guardian,” describes (“Manchester Guardian” 17.7.17) a visit he made to the Kronstadt prison in June. One portion that he visited contained a number of admirals, generals, and naval and military officers of all ranks who had been arrested at the outbreak of the revolution. “They all complained,” he says, “that they had been kept there three months without any trial or examination of their cases. But the young sailor who accompanied me chimed in: ‘I sat in this very prison for three years for having been found with a Socialist pamphlet in my possession. All that time I never had a trial of any kind whatever.’ I pointed out to the sailor that the prison accommodation was unfit for a human being. He answered,’ Well, I sat here all that time because of these gentlemen, and I think that if they bad known they were going to sit here they would have made better prisons !” A case of what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Opponents of Socialism used to be fond of saying that under such a system there would be no progress, no advance in science, art, etc., in fact, all incentive would be destroyed. No inventions would appear, no researches would be made, for the simple reason that it wouldn’t pay—there would be no adequate return for services rendered. Of course, the inference always drawn from this kind of argument is that under the present beautifully adjusted system every effort made ensures due appreciation and reward to the full. Does it ? A perusal of the Civil List Pensions from time to time will indicate the extent to which incentive is “rewarded” under the present system.

Among the items on the latest list I notice the following:

Mrs. Charlton Basti»n, in consideration of the jcrvices to science of her late husband, Dr. Charlton Bastian and her straightened circumstances, £100.
Mrs. Minchin, in consideration of the scientific work of her late husband, Prof. E. A. Minchin, and her straightened circumstances, £75.
Mrs. Roland Trimen, in consideration of the eminent services of her late husband to biological science, and of her straightened circumstances, £75.
Mrs. Albert Gunther, in consideration of the scientific work of her late husband, Dr. Albert Gunther, and of his distinguished services to th« British Museum as Keeper of Zoology, £70.
The Misses Aimee, Clotilde, and Nora Evelyn Legros, in consideration of the artistic eminence of their late father, Professor Legros, and of their inadequate means of support, £75.

The thousands of homes that have been broken up in order that our masters’ property might remain secure will, by now, have disposed of the favourite argument of the “anti” that Socialism meant the break-up of family life. The newspapers week by week are full of heart-rending cases where homes arc utterly broken, with perhaps, the loss of the loved one by legal murder to complete the ruin. In the Manchester district there are eight homes for waifs and strays ; now it has been found necessary to establish a receiving home, such is the traffic.

Tim Bishop of Manchester, who “dedicated,” found the explanation of the increase in child destitution in the fact that the war has taken so many of the husbands and fathers away from their homes—never to return, he might have added.

The bishop said that the removal from home of one of the parents was the primary cause of many children becoming destitute. No, reverend sir, not the primary cause ; but it was a near shot, and we shall always take care to remind you and your friends of it.

On the same day (18.7.17) a jug was sold at Christie’s for 3,600 guineas.

LUCILIUS