The sitting was marked by a curious scene. Mr. Asquith
was trying, not very successf ally, to draw his distinction between real and personal property as a monopoly, when Mr. Cunninghame Graham, starting up, asked him to explain "how a shareholder in a swindling Company—" He was interrupted by a shout of " Order !" and " Name !" and being warned by the Speaker, declared that he was named "solely for standing up for Socialism." Mr. Asquith was only trying to draw a distinction between swindling Companies and land- lords. The Speaker then named him, and Mr. Matthews moving his suspension, Mr. Graham shouted : "Suspend away, I do not care a damn." He was called upon to withdraw, and withdrew, apologising to the Speaker personally, but repeating that he was suspended for standing up for Socialism, and that he should be glad "to argue the matter in Hyde Park before 100,000 people." Mr. Graham was, of course, preposterously out of order, and, indeed, gave for the moment an impression of being hardly responsible; but he had certainly some reason in the substance of his argu- ment. If the unearned increment in land belongs to the com- munity, so certainly does the unearned increment in Companies which make fortunes for shareholders who do nothing to assist in earning profits except hold shares. The House passed on easily to its business ; but Mr. Graham's ludicrous logic created some excitement. The whole scene, like the proposal which created it, suggested a Continental Chamber, and the possibility of a Red minority appearing in our usually dully decorous House of Commons. Consider Mr. Asquith M. Clemenceau, and Mr. Graham any Red Deputy of ,pedigree and means, and the incident would read quite ordinary.
Previous page
