RAND OPTIMISTIC OVER CONDITIONS IN ENGLAND

Improved conditions in England are reported by Dr. Benjamin Rand '79, Librarian of the University Philosophical Library, and author of "Modern Classical Philosophers." Dr. Rand has just returned from England, where he has spent much time in research work of a philosophical and incidently historical nature.

"The present unemployment and labor unrest need not be taken as an outcropping of national dissatisfaction and unhappiness," claims Dr. Rand. "On the contrary, many more are employed now than before the war, and the mass of the working classes receive better wages and enjoy better condons than in any previous period of English History.

A Generation Without Parents

"That individuals suffered heavily from the war cannot be doubted. War orphans are numerous; it might almost be said that a generation is growing up there which knows neither father nor mother.

"But these misfortunes are not evident. It is an English characteristic to 'face the music' and take things as they come without being too much perturbed. There is no brooding over the disaster, as in Latin countries; the English mind is always looking up to push forward. As a natural result of this the nation pays its debts and makes good its credit, whatever the burden on the individual."

Dr. Rand was much impressed with the wealth of the private literary and artistic collections which have accumulated for centuries in the great English houses.

Finds Colonial Portrait

It was while doing research work in one of these that he made a find of considerable historic interest. In the private gallery of the Earl of Shaftesbury he found the portrait of a group of 24 English philanthropists, including James Oglethorpe, all founders and trustees of the state of Georgia. The painting represents an audience given Chief Toms Chiki and his Yanracraw Indians in London, July 3, 1734, for the purpose of renewing a treaty of peace and good will.

The principal historical value of the discovery lies in the fact that each figure in the group is painted with detailed accuracy, and that nearly all the Englishmen were well known philanthropists. The state of Georgia, Dr. Rand points out, is unique in that it was founded, not for commercial purposes, but from sheer philanthropy by prominent Englishmen, many of them of the nobility. It is expected that a copy of the picture will be hung in a prominent spot in the State House at Atlanta.