THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 1933. A CENTENARY OF REFORMS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21976, 10 June 1933, Page 10

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 1933. A CENTENARY OF REFORMS

This year is the centenary of three important reforms in British history. In 1833 slavery in British colonies was abolished, the first Factory Act was passed, and the first grant of public money for education was made, this being a sum of £20,000. These three parliamentary acts were but the culminating point of a great series of agitations for better social conditions. r lhe abolition of slavery marked the close of an old era; the Factory Act and the education grant marked the beginning of a new. What was done in 1833 has been continued in an ever expanding measure till the present year and shows no sign of diminution. Perhaps the most striking thing in modern history is not scientific progress, or commercial expansion, but the quickening of the social conscience of mankind. Observation could not determine whether physical and mental evolution is proceeding in the individual human being; but as to the Evolution of sensitivity in the social

organism there is no doubt whatever. The mere thought of slavery, for example, is abhorrent to the man of 1933. To the average man of 1833 it seemed much like epidemics or illiteracy—there it was, and little could be done to mitigate it. The civilised world was shocked recently to discover that some millions of slaves are still existing in Africa and Asia. A century ago this would have aroused no indignation except among a few devoted philanthropists. Of course, in those days the influence of the press was not so widespread; news from abroad came in slowly; each country looked to its own interests; the interests of man in the universal sense were little regarded. The Church at that time took a spix’itual interest in the welfare of its members; yet in the first fifty years of the industrial system the Church did little to ameliorate the condition of the down-trodden and the over-worked. The report of the Archbishops’ Committee in England in 1919 said: “On the fifty years that laid the foundation of modem England, the influence of the Church as a witness to social righteousness was, it is hardly an exaggeration to say, almost negligible.” What then awakened the new social conscience in Church and State and the general body of citizens? If one cofild answer this question one could read the riddle of social development. The preaching of Wesley, the revolt of the American colonies, the French Revolution, the romantic note in literature, the manly independent songs of Bums, the trumpet blasts of Byron, the appeal of Clarkson and Wilberforce on behalf of slaves, the work of Howard in the matter of prison reform —all these and other factors contributed to the creation of a new social conscience.

The essential mystery, however, eludes solution. It is not difficult to make an historical catalogue of causes after the event. The scientific litterateur is ready to “ explain Shakespeare as a child of the Renaissance ; but no one saw him afar off like a new planet swimming into human ken. Even so, great social movements gather head slowly, generation after generation, not advancing . with any rhythmic movement, but sometimes‘almost like a stagnant pool, and then soon after like a wild onrushing series of ocean billows. It is impossible to tell just when the great billows will come. Nor is it possible, even when they do come, to assess their relative strength, as measured by influence yet to be. For example, all historians of England in the nineteenth century emphasised the abolition of slavery and the first Factory Act while some completely ignored the first public vote for education. Yet the wave of education which began to roll in 1833 has been the steadiest in persistence and in increasing volume of the three movements we have mentioned. It was natural a century ago to dwell on the horrors of slavery, as even down to 1760 auction sales of negroes had been held in London, Bristol, Liverpool, and Hull, and it was only in 1807 that the slave-trade had been stopped after a course of 250 years in which some nine million slaves had been shipped from Africa. The immemorial slavery indigenous to Europe had lasted in some form almost down to Elizabethan times. The social conscience of to-day is tender and humanitarian as never before in human history. This fire is fanned by the growing recognition of human interdependence. Despite all the friction of to-day, nations are less bitter towards each other, and less callous. Within the nation no Shaftesbury is necessary to secure an Act limiting the employment of children between thirteen and eighteen to twelve hours a day. This is indeed the era of child welfare. When expressions of dissatisfaction with the state of the world in 1933 are heard, it is well to look back along the road. Slavery is abolished; sweating of women and children is ended; education is free to all. There are perplexities to-day, but glaring social cruelties are gone, and, best of all, there is a greater determination to give social justice than ever before. This is a better year than 1833.