PUNCH,

OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

VOL. 101.



October 24, 1891.




LAISSEZ FAIRE.

(_INSCRIPTION FOR A FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY._)

[Illustration]

Here is an Institution doomed to scare
The furious devotees of _Laissez Faire_.
What mental shock, indeed, could prove immenser
To Mumbo Jumbo--or to HERBERT SPENCER?
Free Books? Reading provided from the Rates?
Oh, that means Freedom's ruin, and the State's!
Self-help's all right,--e'en if you rob a brother--
But human creatures must _not_ help each other!
The "Self-made Man," whom SAMUEL SMILES so praises,
Who on his fellows' necks his footing raises,
The systematic "Sweater," who sucks wealth