THE NEED FOR THE REFERENDUM.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I have read with no little interest your leader of the 17th February and subsequently pondered for a few minutes as to what Government and prospective 'policy is possible, say, five or ten years hence. If I thought the "Anti-Socialists' of our country were to be so indifferent about our country's welfare as to allow the "property socializers" and "interest repudiators " to instal themselves at Whitehall, then I would sell the house I live in, live on the proceeds of the sale, and become a " lazy beggar " for a few years, until my labour was socialized. For after thirty-seven years' work underground I might as well commence now to have five or ten years' easy time, living on my hard earned thrift, because I will not be allowed a holiday when the State—Tom, Dick and Harry je suis real, or rather, nous sommes l'etat—abolishes private property and private savings.
As sure as the Referendum precluded the possibility of a levy on capital in Switzerland, so will the Referendum, if enacted by Act of Parliament, protect the private savings of the working-man in England. I am at present seeking information from the Assistant Overseer as to what percentage of miners in the village I live in own their own houses. Your
readers may get a surprise.—I am, Sir, &c., A MINER. Northumberland.
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