The Henson Journals

[185]

Saturday, September 27th, 1919.

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Neither letters nor papers, for the Railwaymen had gone on strike at midnight! The "Times" arrived about 5 p.m. by motor transport. The Government make very brave protestations, but whether they will hold to them remains to be seen. Mr Wardle said that a railway strike could not last a fortnight, but he may be as wrong in this opinion as he was in his view that no strike would take place. It is more than ever apparent that there is a resolute body of men behind all the Labour unrest, determined to bring about a social upheaval. Meanwhile, I proceed with the poor little cycle of unreal duties – Harvest Festivals, Dedications of War Memorials &c – as if anybody really felt the smallest interest in any of them. I wrote to Linetta, who has now made up her mind to stay on in Italy for another year, to take a degree at the Roman University, and to publish her thesis on "Ossian in Italian Literature". She is a most courageous person, as well as very brilliant; &, if her health does not give way, she will yet astonish the world. Her description of Italian feeling with respect to D'Annunzio's raid on Fiume is illuminating – "The universal feeling here shows that we are in a mood to accept even the military dictatorship of a theatrical maniac rather than submit to Wilson's dictatorship". Wilson himself is reported to be suffering from nervous prostration as the result of his rhetorical campaign. I wrote to George.

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