Mr. Henry George, the author of " Progress and Poverty,"
explained his views on the nationalisation, of the land, or rather on the confiscation of all land rentals, on Wednesday, at St.. James's Hall. He spoke with great eloquence, and impressed the educated portion of his hearers as not only sincere, but as full of religions faith. He does not make the slightest attempt, to conceal that he. proposes confiscation, and denounces every project of compensation in the plainest terms. His failure is intellectual, not moral, his scheme being far wilder than most of the working schemes of Communists. We have said enough of his proposal elsewhere, but must add here that too much is made of the large audiences which attend his lectures.. In a cloaca gentium like London, there are many thousand Socialists, and a large portion of the audience, including many workmen, were attracted by pure curiosity. One of the most marked and least noticed changes in our modem world is the ability to read and hear detested opinions with patience and equanimity. Newspapers constantly acquire circulation with- out corresponding influence, and lecturers attract crowds who listen applaudingly or passively, and go away unconvinced.. We have all watched this process for years, when the teacher spoke from the pulpit, and are now witnessing it when he declaims from the platform or from the journalist's chair.
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