A SOCIALIST COUNTESS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume 1, Issue 8, 14 February 1914, Page 3

A SOCIALIST COUNTESS.

Few, if any, of the great society leaders in England have for a number of years been so prominently in the public eye as Evelyn, Countess of Warwick. V" The •£ a f thor ,, of an . historic work, "Warwick Castlye and Its -,_ Earls," she is a keen book-lover, ami her writings are clever and full of interest if, perhaps, somewhat idealistic. One of her latest efforts is contained in the work entitled "The Great State," a series of essays by notable publicists. Her contributions include an essay with the title "The Great State and The Countryside." The Countesses - So e i a 1 i s t i <n leanings are easily discernible in her essay iri which she attempts'to describe the ideal country as it visualises • itself to the mind uf one who ' accepts and for theGrcW Jtate ' as the most probable and most desirable condition ,o£ human society as it will one day be organised. She admits that her'' essay is frankly ideal, but claims that, although. a statement of " an ideal place,' it does not necessarily follow that it based on phan-: toins of the imagination. ,s '- - The Countess presents that rare combination of a vmind essentially idealistic and at the same time intensely practical, as is evidenced by her founding of. a college for framing in horticulture, dairy, bco, and-' * poultry-keeping; science and technical schools, a home'-' for crippled children, and a complete- organisation for the welfare jof the poor and nursing of the sick. She* - is a prominent niember of the Social Democratic Fedcr- _ r ation, and —an6ther rare combination —is the owner of *"" 23,000 acres. "', "- '"'-*~ , /•■■ ■; .