Keir Hardie (1856–1915)

Keir Hardie, as the Preface states, "For over thirty years ... toiled incessantly at his task of bringing into being a Labour Party which would be absolutely independent of the two orthodox parties and have Socialism as its objective." He did not go about his task quietly. Writing at Hardie's death, George Bernard Shaw wrote, "the House of Commons is a less scandalous place now that he is not there. When Keir Hardie rose to ask questions, there was only one thing for the Front Bench to do, and that was to lie--lie impudently, snobbishly, spitefully, Pecksniffianly, Tartuffily, in the face of records that littered the earth and facts that blotted out the sky, until at last we asked whether, if the Government could not produce a gentleman to stand up to a real man it could not at least produce a respectable liar, a brazen, thundering liar, a liar with convictions and a purpose, a creature with some strength of evil in him to test the strength of good in his challenger. Now that Hardie is gone, the lying will be of the natural House of Commons type; placid, confident, dignified, the liar breathing an atmosphere of general approval, and feeling nothing but an agreeable sensation of good taste." Clearly Shaw was an admirer. This collection of Hardie's speeches and writings reveals his persistence and idealistic vision.… (más)