On Monday last, Mr. John Burns, at St. Peter's School-
room, Pugh Road, addressed the electors of Battersea,—the constituency for which he intends to stand at the next General Election, and which he represents already on the London County Council. After describing himself as a Social Demo- cratic Labour candidate, Mr. Burns explained his political views. His programme is :—(1), Free education, with one free meal per day in all Board schools ; (2), an eight hours' working day for all trades ; (3), adult suffrage ; (4), official registration ; (5), payment of Members ; (6), abolition of the House of Lords and all hereditary authority—whatever that may be; (7), shorter Par- liaments; (8), Home-rule and decentralisation; (9), nationalisa- tion of land and mines; (10), the placing of the declaration of war, the making of peace, and the concluding of treaties under popular control. The list, which is, we can well believe, the outcome of honest if somewhat confused individual thought, exhibits a curious mixture of crude theorising and constitutional pedantry. If Mr. Burns gets into Parliament, we fancy he will not trouble much about popular rights in regard to treaties. The majority of the House of Commons has always complete control over foreign policy, though the minority's right of harassing the Government is somewhat restricted. Does he, however, mean to abolish the throne ?
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