On Wednesday Mr. Barnes, on behalf of the Labour Party,
proposed an amendment to the Address on un- employment. He pointed to the nightly scenes of misery on• the Embankment, and declared that all the Government measures dealt with matters which were insignificant beside the privations of the unemployed. The Government would be false to their pledges if they did nothing but what was pro- posed in the King's Speech. In his opinion, the chief causes of unemployment were the private ownership of land, capitalism, and the increasing use of machinery. As remedies he proposed the taxation of land values, afforestation, the nationalisation of railways, and shorter hours of labour. The best criticism of this list of fantastic and foolish remedies was, as usual, made by Mr. Harold Cox. He expressed as keen a sympathy as any man could feel for the sufferings of the unemployed, but ridiculed the idea that afforestation- " skilled cabinetmakers digging holes "—would be any solu- tion. As for the Socialistic view of capitalism and land- lordism, it generally expressed itself in the phrase that we ought to produce "not for profit but for use." When analysed that meant that all the troubles in the world arose because men were paid for their work.
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