A SOCIALIST UTOPIA,

Free Lance, Volume XVII, Issue 920, 1 March 1918, Page 10

A SOCIALIST UTOPIA,

Five Hours a Day and Two Sundays a Week. Tom Mann, the Labour agitator •*■ and plugless wordspout, who cut such a sorry figure when he came out to- Australia and New Zealand to preach what he called "the divine cause of discontent" to the downtrodden antipodean "wuckers," is verbally, at least, as active as ever in advocating that advanced Socialism, of which he and "Comride" Holland are su'ch more or less distinguished exponents. Lord Leverhulme, of the great Lever soap works, and a model employer, recently expressed his conversion to: a six-hour day for the British worker. This however, was not enough for such a whole-hogger as is Mr. Tom Mann, and so we find him gogoing one hour better. Tom's programme, is "a, five-hour day and two Sundays a week." * * * •» Seeing that so many British workmen worship Saint Monday with such devotion that they refuse to break the sanctity of that day by condescending to turn up to do an honest day's work, what we wonder would be the effect in British industries and commerce should Tom's project of two Sundays a week —and, consequently, two Saint Mondays!—ever come into force? Tom's programme also includes, he is good to inform the world, a minimum wage of a pound a day! Really, we are astonished at his masterly moderation. Why not institute a. one-hour day and a minimum emolument' —wage is too ''slavish" and "servile" a term!—of say ten quid a week and free beer! Who knows, perhaps before very long, that will be the programme of our own dear Revolutionary Socialists !