I am not a soft-headed, humanitarian faddist. I have been ordered in my
time to do dangerous work; I have ordered, others to do dangerous work; I
have never ordered a man to do any work I was not prepared to do myself.
I attach no exaggerated value to human life. But I know it has a value
for which the most generous contributions to the Mansion House and
"Heroes" funds cannot pay. And they cannot pay for it, because people,
even of the third class (excuse my plain speaking), are not cattle. Death
has its sting. If Yamsi's manager's head were forcibly held under the
water of his bath for some little time, he would soon discover that it
has. Some people can only learn from that sort of experience which comes
home to their own dear selves.
I am not a sentimentalist; therefore it is not a great consolation to me
to see all these people breveted as "Heroes" by the penny and halfpenny
Press. It is no consolation at all. In extremity, in the worst
extremity, the majority of people, even of common people, will behave
decently. It's a fact of which only the journalists don't seem aware.
Hence their enthusiasm, I suppose.
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