Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 42).djvu/277



OT long ago at a political meeting someone in the audience asked a well-known politician what he would do if he were given absolute power. His reply was: "I would put an extra loaf in every poor man's bread-basket every morning." But this did not meet the approval of at least one of his hearers, who jumped to his feet and exclaimed, "Well, as for me, I would provide a job of work for every man that has not got it." All this is, of course, only a variation of Mr. Jesse Collings's wish of forty years ago—"If I were an absolute despot, I would see that every man in the kingdom had three acres of land, a cottage, and a cow."

What would you do if you were King with unlimited power? Not power to frame a measure and introduce it into the House of Commons, and argue it to the assembled legislators and modify it clause by clause in Committee and finally see it, maimed and disfigured, qualified out of all recognition, placed obscurely on the Statute-book; but power of a kind to effect it instantly and carry it to-morrow into execution.

What is your idea of an urgent special reform? What is it that Englishmen demand at once to make them happy? What is the most crying abuse of the age? Readers of newspapers in general become so confused with the various agitations brought daily to their notice that they are unable to estimate their relative importance. recently addressed a number of representative public men, putting to them this question: "Of all the pressing reforms of this present reign of His Majesty George V., what single one would you choose for instant consummation if you were given the power, and why would you choose it?"

The field of selection is a wide one. The world is full of pain, suffering, hunger, and hardships; crime and disease meet the eye of every man as he walks abroad. Cannot the reader see the eager look on the faces of millions of unfortunate beings bent upon the figure of the man who, crowned with supreme power, could, by a gesture of his hand, turn their woes into happiness?

Alas, it may be said at the outset the suffering millions would expect too much. As one distinguished statesman, who begs that his name may not be quoted, writes: "The reform must be practical before all things, and the passage of any single measure such as you suggest would probably make very little difference to the lives of the people." A hundred might, spread over a score of years, but not a single one.

Mr. Andrew Carnegie.

"What do I think the greatest reform of the present day?" asks Mr. Andrew Carnegie. "What single act would I select for instant consummation if I had the power? I would enact the abolition of war. I would abolish war between nations, which belies our claims to civilization. As long as men kill each other they are savages." Think of what a tremendous act this would be, and of what far-reaching significance. A decree would be signed disbanding the British army, dismanning the Navy, and putting ships, guns, and weapons on a scrap-heap. It is certainly