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320 suffrage. Even at the time of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne (1837-1901) there was great discontent among the people. "Wages were low, work scarce, and bread dear. In the cities thousands of half-fed creatures lived in squalid cellars; in the country the same class occupied wretched hovels hardly better than cellars. &hellip; A very large proportion of the children of the poorer classes were growing up in a state of barbarism. They knew practically little more of books or schools than the young Hottentots of South Africa." As to public offices, those were considered up to 1870 as the booty of the party which was successful in an election; and the motto of some politicians was, "Every man for himself and the National Treasury for us all." These scandalous proceedings ceased when positions in the civil service were to be obtained solely by competitive examinations. In spite of her unquestionable wealth and her powerful position in the world England has still to solve a very delicate problem—the agricultural question, which is giving some concern. Thousands of acres of fertile soil are no longer under cultivation and the laborers thus left without employment are congregating more and more in the towns. The consequences of the agricultural crisis were also felt in the British colonies of the West Indies; they have lost much of their former