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I take leave to doubt the wisdom of this Bill even as a political manoeuvre. In spite of militarism and false ideals about trade, there is a growing spirit of fraternity between democracies. English working men are not so selfish as to be unsympathetic towards the victims of circumstances or oppression. They do not respond in any marked degree to the Anti-Semitism which has darkened recent Continental history; and I for one believe that they will disavow an attempt to shut out the stranger from our land because he is poor or in trouble, and will resent a measure which without any proved necessity smirches those ancient traditions of freedom and hospitality for which Britain has been so long renowned. (en) |