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CHAPTER 8: Political Parties

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. If we chose candidates through a “top two” bipartisan primary election


a. candidates would have to appeal to a wider range of public opinion.
b. it would increase voter participation.
c. the major political parties might lose some of their influence.
d. it would be the end of the open primary system.
e. All of the above are true.
ANS: E REF: 246 NOT: Applied

2. During primary elections


a. voters chose the candidates who will represent each party in the November
general election.
b. candidates compete to be the advocate of the party’s philosophy.
c. competition between candidates results in severe polarization.
d. campaigning can result in “purity” contests.
e. All of the above are true.
ANS: E REF: 246 NOT: Conceptual

3. In primary elections
a. candidates appeal to a wide range of opinion to get votes.
b. candidates tend make moderate stands on issues.
c. partisan campaigning leads to less overall spending on campaigns.
d. candidates try to appeal to the more extreme members of their party.
e. All of the above are true.
ANS: D REF: 246 NOT: Applied

4. Today about how many voters call themselves independents?


a. 20 percent
b. 40 percent
c. 10 percent
d. 50 percent
e. 75 percent
ANS: B REF: 247 NOT: Factual

5. A voter or a candidate who does not identify with a political party is called
a. a naysayer.
b. an independent.
c. a liberal.
d. a conservative.
e. a libertarian.
ANS: B REF: 247 NOT: Conceptual

6. Political parties differ from factions in that


a. factions are large social movements.
b. factions are groups that left the party to start a new party.
c. factions are groups within parties that follow a particular leader or share an
ideological viewpoint.
d. factions are a newer phenomenon than political parties.
e. Options A and B are true.
ANS: C REF: 247 NOT: Applied

7. A political party is a group of individuals who


a. agree on all policy issues.
b. organize to win elections and operate the government.
c. pay monthly dues to an ideological organization.
d. have been elected to office and have obtained positions of power.
e. accept the decisions of the party’s leaders.
ANS: B REF: 247 NOT: Conceptual

8. A political party differs from an interest group in that


a. political parties want to operate the government and interest groups do not.
b. political parties do not want to operate the government and interest groups do.
c. individuals must pay dues to a political party but not to an interest group.
d. individuals in a political party agree on all major policy issues.
e. interest groups select candidates to run for office, political parties do not.
ANS: A REF: 247 NOT: Applied

9. The primary goal of an American political party is


a. peaceably influencing the American public.
b. signing up large numbers of deeply committed members.
c. getting the party’s candidates elected to office by winning elections.
d. collecting member dues.
e. trying to find the other party doing “bad” things.
ANS: C REF: 247 | 248 NOT: Factual

10. Functions of political parties in the United States include all of the following except
a. operating the government.
b. acting as an organized opposition to the party in power.
c. signing up large numbers of dues-paying committed members.
d. recruiting candidates for public office.
e. presenting alternative policies to the electorate.
ANS: C REF: 248 NOT: Conceptual

11. The two-party system


a. emerged as a consequence of the form of government created by the Constitution.
b. is a requirement in the Constitution.
c. emerged in the twentieth century.
d. was favored by George Washington.
e. Options A and D are true.
ANS: A REF: 248 NOT: Factual

12. The major functions of American political parties are carried out by
a. elected party leaders.
b. leaders chosen by the President.
c. a small, relatively loose-knit nucleus of party activists.
d. a large group of highly organized volunteers.
e. dues-paying members.
ANS: C REF: 248 NOT: Applied

13. A political system in which only two parties have a reasonable chance of winning is called
a. a bipartisan government.
b. a two-party system.
c. a bicameral system.
d. bifurcated government.
e. representative democracy.
ANS: B REF: 248 NOT: Factual

14. Which if the following is true?


a. Political parties organize voter registration drives.
b. Political parties recruit volunteers to work at the polls on election day.
c. Political parties raise money for campaign materials.
d. Political parties work to raise awareness for their candidates and increase voter turnout.
e. All of the above are true.
ANS: E REF: 248 NOT: Applied

15. The first partisan political division in the United States was between
a. the Democrats and the Republicans.
b. the Whigs and the Democrats.
c. the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.
d. the Whigs and the Tories.
e. the Whigs and the Republicans.
ANS: C REF: 248 | 249 NOT: Factual

16. George Washington viewed political parties as a


a. necessity for the functioning of democracy.
b. tradition from colonial times that would always exist.
c. threat to national unity and popular government.
d. legitimate means for interest groups to attempt to gain control of the government.
e. vestige of politics under Great Britain and thus a thing of the past.
ANS: C REF: 248 | 249 NOT: Applied

17. All of the following statements about the early Republican Party are true except
a. it was initially led by Thomas Jefferson.
b. it supported a strong, more active central government.
c. it was supported by artisans and farmers.
d. it supported states’ rights.
e. in office, its members acquired Louisiana and established a national bank.
ANS: B REF: 249 NOT: Conceptual

18. All of the following statements about the early Democratic Party are true except
a. it was an anti-slavery party.
b. it favored federal spending on internal improvements.
c. it was the party of the wealthy elites.
d. it was a branch of the Anti-Federalist Party
e. None of these statements are true.
ANS: E REF: 249 NOT: Applied

19. During the Civil War


a. the issue of slavery did not affect the political party alignment.
b. the political parties realigned to form new parties, one in support of slavery and
one opposed.
c. political parties were suspended until the end of the war.
d. the political parties unified behind President Lincoln.
e. All of the above are true.
ANS: B REF: 249 NOT: Applied

20. All of the following are true except


a. the Republican Party was founded by uniting northern Whigs, antislavery Democrats, and
members of the Free Soil Party.
b. southerners resented Republicans’ role in defeating the South in the Civil War.
c. the Republicans after the Civil War supported business interests and evangelical Protestant
cultural values.
d. the Republicans turned to supporting states’ rights after the Civil War.
e. the Republicans opposed the prohibition of alcoholic beverages after the Civil War.
ANS: D REF: 250 NOT: Conceptual

21. The presidential election of 1912 was unique because


a. the Democratic Party temporarily split in two.
b. the “Bull Moose” ticket candidate won the election.
c. the Republican Party was temporarily split that allowed Democrat Woodrow Wilson to
be elected.
d. all of the major parties opposed progressivism.
e. the Socialist candidate almost won.
ANS: C REF: 251 NOT: Factual

22. Under Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic Party


a. rejected the policies of progressivism.
b. continued to adhere to the same basic policies that it did in the nineteenth century.
c. began a radical change by endorsing the idea that government should become involved in
the economy.
d. shattered into three very distinct parties that were extraordinarily antagonistic toward
each other.
e. adopted a policy of isolating the United States from the affairs of the rest of the world.
ANS: C REF: 251 NOT: Factual

23. Progressivism was


a. a response to the growing power of corporations.
b. embraced by Teddy Roosevelt.
c. a belief that honest, impartial government could regulate the economy.
d. Options A and B are true.
e. All of the above are true.
ANS: E REF: 251 NOT: Conceptual

24. Which of the following is true?


a. The Great Depression shattered the working-class belief in Democratic
economic competence.
b. The Great Depression solidified the Republican Party as the dominant and most trusted
party in American government and politics.
c. Roosevelt’s relief programs were generally not available to African Americans, resulting
in African Americans’ antagonism toward the Democratic Party that lasted for decades.
d. The Great Depression shattered the working-class belief in Republican
economic competence.
e. Republicans held the presidency from the early 1930s until the late 1960s.
ANS: D REF: 251 NOT: Applied

25. Which is (are) true of the New Deal period?


a. President Roosevelt’s programs were open to whites and African Americans.
b. The Great Depression shattered working class voters’ confidence in the Republican Party.
c. Roosevelt’s coalition of whites and blacks was large enough to establish the Democrats as
the majority party.
d. Democrats made major interventions in the economy to combat the Great Depression.
e. All of the above are true.
ANS: E REF: 251 NOT: Factual

26. During the late 1960s,


a. economically liberal, socially conservative voters left the Republican Party.
b. the Democrats gained strength in the South.
c. the Republican ascendance came to an end..
d. Republicans gained a majority in Congress.
e. urban riots and anti-Vietnam War protests pushed many voters towards conservatism.
ANS: E REF: 251 NOT: Conceptual

27. All of the following are true of the elections of 2000 and 2004 except
a. Al Gore won the popular vote for president in 2000.
b. George W. Bush became president in 2004.
c. commentators began to use the terms “red states” for those that had voted Democratic and
“blue states” for those that voted Republican.
d. only three states changed their votes for president in 2004 from the 2000 election.
e. the Republican and Democratic Parties were very close in the number of votes each got.
ANS: C REF: 252 NOT: Factual

28. In “Wave Elections”


a. dissatisfaction with the performance of one part or another can produce a wave of support
for the other party.
b. the effects of the election results are temporary.
c. support for the major parties realign.
d. the results are landslide victories for Republicans or Democrats.
e. Options A and B are true.
ANS: E REF: 252 NOT: Applied

29. Which is true of the election of 2008?


a. The collapse of the economy in 2007 was a major factor in the election outcome.
b. President Obama won with one of the narrowest margins in recent history.
c. The Republicans gained seats in the U.S. House and Senate.
d. The Democrats obtained 51 seats in the U.S. Senate.
e. President Obama was able to capitalize on President Bush’s high approval ratings before
the election.
ANS: A REF: 253 NOT: Applied

30. In general, the Democrats have been known as the party of


a. well-educated, professional individuals.
b. economic depression.
c. the economic elite.
d. conservative political ideas.
e. states’ rights.
ANS: A REF: 254–258 NOT: Factual

31. In general, the Republicans have been known as the party of


a. liberal political ideas.
b. social welfare programs.
c. business.
d. the working class.
e. racial and ethnic minorities.
ANS: C REF: 254–258 NOT: Factual

32. Republicans have emphasized


a. the need for governmental regulation of the economy.
b. the importance of the marketplace, with less emphasis on social programs.
c. social freedoms like the proposed Equal Rights Amendment.
d. the need to increase taxes on the wealthy and large corporations.
e. national authority versus the states’ authority.
ANS: B REF: 254–258 NOT: Conceptual

33. Democrats have emphasized


a. limited government.
b. a flat tax that would eliminate the progressive income tax system.
c. social welfare and protection of seniors’ benefits.
d. a major reduction in most social programs that result in direct payments to individuals.
e. conservative political ideas.
ANS: C REF: 254–258 NOT: Conceptual

34. Which of the following is false?


a. The Jewish electorate tends to be heavily Democratic.
b. Hispanics are strongly Republican.
c. Urban people tend to vote Democratic.
d. Rural voters support Republicans.
e. Union members tend to vote Democratic.
ANS: B REF: 255 NOT: Factual

35. All of the following are true except that


a. During the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, it appeared that the
parties had come to a consensus on the size of government.
b. During the Obama administration, both parties reverted to their traditional positions on the
size of government.
c. The Rise of the Tea Party may push the Republicans to maintain a strong stance on
reducing government spending.
d. President Bill Clinton increased spending by reforming the welfare system.
e. President George W. Bush increased spending by embarking in two wars and adding
prescription drug benefits for seniors to Medicare.
ANS: D REF: 255 | 256 NOT: Factual

36. In regard to cultural politics which is true?


a. Economic conservatism is associated with higher incomes.
b. Social conservatism is more common among lower income groups.
c. Cultural conservatives view themselves as embattled “ordinary Americans” under threat
from liberal, cosmopolitan elites.
d. The election of President Obama and a Democratic Congress magnified conservatives
fear, resulting in the Tea Party movement.
e. All the above are true.
ANS: E REF: 256 NOT: Conceptual

37. Which of the following is true about the 2008 elections?


a. Fourteen out of the fifteen wealthiest states tended to vote Republican.
b. Southern states voted for Democratic candidates more than for Republicans.
c. Thirteen out of the fifteen poorest states voted Republican.
d. The reverse-income effect proved that those with lower incomes usually vote for
independent candidates.
e. In the Democratic presidential primaries, working-class voters voted for Obama rather
than for Hillary Clinton.
ANS: C REF: 256 NOT: Factual

38. The elements of the reverse-income effect include a tendency for


a. wealthier states and regions to support the Democratic Party.
b. less wealthy states or regions to support the Republican Party.
c. less wealthy states and regions to support the Democratic Party.
d. wealthy states or regions to support the Republican Party.
e. Options A and B are true.
ANS: E REF: 257 NOT: Applied

39. The party-in-the-electorate is made up of


a. the members of the general public who identify with a political party.
b. the formal structure and leadership of a political party.
c. all of the elected and appointed officials who identify with a party.
d. the members of the electoral college.
e. the individuals who choose the members of the electoral college.
ANS: A REF: 258 NOT: Conceptual

40. The party organization is


a. the members of the general public who identify with a political party.
b. the formal structure and leadership of a political party.
c. all of the elected and appointed officials who identify with a party.
d. the urban machines that distribute social benefits.
e. responsible only for mundane matters such as printing signs and scheduling events.
ANS: B REF: 258 NOT: Factual
41. The party-in-government is made up of
a. the members of the general public who identify with a political party.
b. the formal structure and leadership of a political party.
c. all of the elected and appointed officials who identify with a political party.
d. pledged to support all of the party’s political positions.
e. no longer significant due to candidate-centered elections.
ANS: C REF: 258 NOT: Conceptual

42. The national convention


a. is held every two years.
b. nominates the presidential and vice-presidential candidates and develops the party
platform.
c. selects all candidates for office running on the party label.
d. gets rid of members who have failed to support the party.
e. passes legislation that will prevent the development of third parties.
ANS: B REF: 258 NOT: Factual

43. The lowest layer of official party machinery is


a. the local organization supported by district leaders, precinct or ward captains, and
party workers.
b. the state party chairperson and committees.
c. the national campaign chairperson’s volunteers.
d. the White House interns.
e. the National Convention Delegates.
ANS: A REF: 262 NOT: Applied

44. Local party organizations are still important to local campaigns today because
a. they provide foot soldiers for political campaigns.
b. local party leaders are influential in determining the party’s candidates for
national elections.
c. national parties are dependent on money from the local party leaders.
d. the local party leaders control social services.
e. they receive substantial coverage in the media.
ANS: A REF: 262 NOT: Factual

45. Divided government


a. reflects a situation when a person votes for candidates of two parties for different offices.
b. exists when the presidency and Congress are controlled by different parties.
c. is another name for federalism.
d. increases the control of the winning party in an election.
e. is a strong indication of the emergence of a new third party.
ANS: B REF: 262 | 263 NOT: Conceptual

46. Most candidates for public office in the United States are chosen
a. by party “bosses.”
b. by dues-paid party members.
c. as a result of the candidate’s hard work and personal organization.
d. at party conventions.
e. in such a way that the party leadership can be sure that the candidates will support the
party’s platform.
ANS: C REF: 263 NOT: Factual

47. Examples of party polarization include all of the following except


a. party-line voting.
b. the end of overlapping party ideologies.
c. the rise of extreme ideology in the Republican Party.
d. the rise of liberal Republicans.
e. All of the above are true.
ANS: D REF: 263 NOT: Conceptual

48. The two-party system has dominated the American political landscape for all of the following
reasons except
a. political socialization and practical considerations.
b. the winner-take-all electoral system.
c. state and federal laws favor the two major parties.
d. historical foundations of the system.
e. third parties are illegal in many jurisdictions.
ANS: E REF: 264 NOT: Conceptual

49. A major reason for the two-party system is the electoral system, which is based on
a. the winner-take-all, or plurality, system.
b. proportional representation.
c. one-party dominance of elections.
d. majoritarianism.
e. multi-member constituencies.
ANS: A REF: 264 NOT: Conceptual

50. In the winner-take-all system,


a. the candidate that gets the most votes wins.
b. one must get a majority of votes cast to win.
c. votes are allocated on a proportional basis.
d. only parties receiving more than five percent of the vote are allocated seats.
e. a party must have competed in a previous election to be placed on the ballot.
ANS: A REF: 264 | 265 NOT: Factual

51. Which is true of federal and state laws?


a. They have encouraged third parties to get candidates on the ballot.
b. They let third parties get fewer signatures to place their candidates on the ballot than major
parties.
c. The two major parties have a clear advantage because the laws have fewer obstacles for
them.
d. The federal laws have made it easy for third or minor-party candidates to get federal
matching funds.
e. All of the above are true.
ANS: C REF: 266 NOT: Applied

52. Many political scientists contend that third parties


a. have consistently failed because they never reflect the political mood of the nation.
b. serve as a safety valve for dissident political groups, preventing major confrontations and
political unrest.
c. can only come into existence if they are organized around a single charismatic leader.
d. can only come into existence if they split off from one of the major political parties.
e. are incapable of being formed from scratch by individuals who are committed to a
particular issue or ideology.
ANS: B REF: 266 NOT: Conceptual

53. Third parties


a. are minor parties.
b. can act as critics of the major parties.
c. can be spoilers in an election.
d. often start because of an idea or person.
e. All the above are true.
ANS: E REF: 266–269 NOT: Factual

54. Third parties have influenced American politics by


a. refusing to allow their policies to be adopted by a major party.
b. sometimes determining whether the Republicans or Democrats win an election.
c. focusing their efforts on getting judges appointed to the bench rather than winning
elections for the executive or legislative branches.
d. winning elections to state legislative bodies.
e. gaining control of several municipal governments.
ANS: B REF: 266–269 NOT: Factual

55. Which of the following is true about third parties?


a. The Green Party favors globalization.
b. The Libertarian Party favors governmental intervention into overseas conflicts.
c. The Progressive Party was an advocate of federal regulation to protect consumers.
d. The Socialist Party favors small business interests and is growing in size.
e. The Populist Party was initiated by businessman Ross Perot in an effort to combat federal
budget deficits
ANS: C REF: 267 NOT: Conceptual

56. Realignment
a. is of necessity tied to specific elections.
b. takes place when a substantial group of voters switches party allegiance.
c. takes place when one dominant party replaces another one.
d. took place on schedule in 2004.
e. has been predicted as inevitable in the foreseeable future.
ANS: B REF: 269 | 270 NOT: Conceptual

57. One example of realignment was when


a. antislavery Republicans left to join the Democratic Party before the Civil War.
b. working-class voters abandoned the Republican Party in 1896 due to the Republicans’
populist politics.
c. the New Deal Democratic Coalition brought African Americans and ardent segregationists
into the same party in 1932.
d. cultural conservatives abandoned the Republicans in 1968, especially in the South.
e. evangelical Christians abandoned the Republican Party and voted for Jimmy Carter
in 1976.
ANS: C REF: 270 NOT: Applied
58. Which is true?
a. Straight-ticket voting is now nearly universal.
b. The number of people identifying as independents has grown in recent years.
c. Party identification has been increasing.
d. The rise in Democratic identification may be because of the southern voter.
e. Split-ticket voting is declining.
ANS: B REF: 270 | 271 NOT: Factual

59. Tipping takes place


a. when a substantial group of voters switches party allegiance.
b. when increasing numbers of voters call themselves “independents.”
c. when a group that is becoming more numerous over time grows large enough to change
the political balance in a state.
d. as a result of immigration or differential birth rates.
e. only in countries that employ a multiparty system.
ANS: C REF: 271 NOT: Conceptual

60. Which is true about independents?


a. True independents, those that are open to candidates of both parties, make up a relatively
large share of the voters.
b. In times of economic crisis, the independent vote can decide elections.
c. All independents tend to stick with one party despite claiming to be open to all viewpoints.
d. Independents helped elect President Obama.
e. Options B and D are true.
ANS: E REF: 272 NOT: Factual

ESSAY

1. Which do you consider yourself—a Democrat, Republican, or Independent? Explain your answer by
discussing your viewpoints on the issues that align with one of the above ideologies.

ANS:
Answers may vary.

2. Describe the different functions of political parties in our system.

ANS:
Answers may vary.

3. Describe the history of political parties in the United States.

ANS:
Answers may vary.

4. Explain the phenomenon of “wave” elections and provide examples.

ANS:
Answers may vary.

5. Contrast the two major parties in the United States today.


ANS:
Answers may vary.

6. Analyze the role of cultural politics in recent elections.

ANS:
Answers may vary.

7. Explain the differences between the party-in-the-electorate, the party organization, and the
party-in-government.

ANS:
Answers may vary.

8. Why do we only have two major parties? Explain the circumstances that have perpetuated the
two-party system.

ANS:
Answers may vary.

9. Explore the role played by third parties in the United States.

ANS:
Answers may vary.

10. Explain the activities of political parties at the national, state, and local levels.

ANS:
Answers may vary.

11. Describe the importance of independent voters and provide examples of their impact in
recent elections.

ANS:
Answers may vary.

12. How can an individual voter become involved with a political party? Outline some party activities that
are available for individual voters.

ANS:
Answers may vary.
Another random document with
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Catherine
herself
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Catherine herself

Author: James Hilton

Release date: October 3, 2023 [eBook #71786]

Language: English

Original publication: London: T. Fisher Unwin Ltd, 1920

Credits: Laura Natal Rodrigues (Images generously made available


by The Internet Archive.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CATHERINE


HERSELF ***
CATHERINE
HERSELF
By JAMES HILTON

T. FISHER UNWIN LTD


LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE

First published in 1920

(All rights reserved)


CONTENTS
chapter page
I. prelude 11
II. jeunesse 26
III. the first trant episode 41
IV. nocturne 51
V. disillusionments 64
VI. crescendo 77
VII. tragedy 91
VIII. post-mortem 101
IX. nothing but the truth 113
X. accelerando 125
XI. the second trant episode 141
XII. discontent 159
XIII. loneliness 174
XIV. hope enters 179
XV. success 192
XVI. allegro con fuoco 202
XVII. the crisis 236
XVIII. débâcle 244
XIX. afterwards 253
XX. still falling 270
XXI. fallen 276
XXII. mr. hobbs 284
XXIII. once again 295
XXIV. the last phase 302
CATHERINE HERSELF
CHAPTER I
PRELUDE

§1
CATHERINE thought: Day is white, Night is black, but sometimes it
is half-white and half-black.... There were five knobs on the brass rail
of the bed: one of them would come off.... The baker came to the
door every night and said: “And how is Cathie?” ...
It was cold, and blue flames flickered on top of the coals in the
fire-grate. They said: “Lappappappap....” The Man tore off his collar
from the stud—“plock”—then he screwed off his boots—“Hr-rooch—
flop ... Hr-rooch—flop.” ... The mother said: “Cathie’s asleep: don’t
make such a noise.” ...
Then her mother carried her past the brown banisters up to
bed.... It was nearly black. The pumping-engine at the water-works
went: “Chug-chug ... chug-chug ... chug-chug-chug....”
There were five knobs on the brass rail of the bed....

§2
The Man was Father.
Every morning mother called upstairs: “John: come on! Past
eight”... and father said: “Just about to.” The sun fell in a slant over
the table and climbed up the wall. Father ate porridge and milk: he
went “Ooflip-oorooflip.”
The sunlight slid off the table on to the floor. There was nothing to
do except listen to the clock. It went “tick-tock—tick-tock”—then it
went “ticky-ticky.” ... The milkman said: “Mornin’, m’m. Lavly mornin’.
Thenk you, m’m. Mornin’, m’m.” ...
The sunlight ran away....
The face of the man next door had a big bulge. Mother said it
was called a goitre. You had them in Derbyshire. The man’s name
was Jopson. All the street-children used to follow him singing “Old
father Jopson”—like this:

There were other fathers besides old father Jopson. There was
one whom Catherine had never seen. He was called “Ch-artinevin,”
but he was not like old father Jopson....
Every night her mother sang:

Now the day is over,


Nighties drawing nigh.

and made her talk to our father, Ch-artinevin. Only Ch-artinevin


never said anything in reply.
There were two places where little girls went to. One was
heaven, the other was hell. Hell was hot, heaven was cold. Heaven
was full of white tiles and marble-slabs, like a fish-shop. But hell
would be far too hot for you even if you were feeling cold. It would be
a pity to go to hell, especially in the warm weather. Sometimes her
father said: “O Hell!” ...

§3
Father was an elementary school teacher at the Downlands Road
Council School. In winter and on wet nights in summer he sat
indoors and put great sprawling ticks and crosses on exercise-
books. Sometimes he frowned while he was working: Catherine used
to watch him.
He was a little man and he wore cycling stockings under his
trousers. Every fine night he put on an old Norfolk tweed jacket and
went out into the garden with the two ends of the waistband dangling
behind him. He would bend down and make minute examinations of
plants. He would twine sweet-pea tendrils round their sticks.
Sometimes he would pounce upon a weed and remove it with cruel
precision.... On Saturday afternoons he took a bucket and went into
the roads to collect horse-manure. To Catherine Saturday afternoon
was always signalized by the hard scraping of the kitchen shovel on
the gritty surface of the roadway.
Mother was big and billowy. She kept her hair in papers during
the mornings and wore stays whose ribbed outline showed through
the back of her blouse. She talked more than father. At the Duke
Street Methodist Chapel she appeared in the front row of the choir,
whilst father took round the collection-plate. She was vaguely
religious and vaguely patriotic and vaguely sentimental. When she
said “John!” very slowly, father knew he had better be careful.
Catherine sat in the front pew on a Sunday morning, and
wondered what it was all about. Why had mother got her hat on? ...
Why did everybody come here once a week? What was the man in
the round box talking about? Her mother had said, “About God,
Cathie.” But he didn’t say God; he said Gahd. Sometimes Ch-
artinevin was mentioned and Catherine caught the words with
enthusiasm. It was plain that Ch-artinevin was a well-known
personage.
The little boy next to her had curly hair. He was eating
peppermints. During the prayer he kept taking them out of his mouth
to see if they got smaller. Once he gave her one. It was very nice,
but she cracked it during the benediction, and it was a loud crack.
Father stood at the door shaking hands with people. He said:
“Good evening, Mrs. Lawson”—“Good evening, Ethel”—“Good
evening, Miss Picksley, shall we be seeing you at the Band of Hope
on Tuesday?”
And to Catherine he said:
“Go and wait in the back pew; there’s a Kermunion.”
A Kermunion, at any rate, was interesting....

§4
Father, being an elementary schoolteacher, did not send
Catherine to an elementary school. She went to Albany House
(principal, Miss Leary, L.R.C.P.). Miss Leary wore her hair in a knob
and said to Catherine: “Darling, if you do that again I shall have to
smack you hard.”
Catherine learnt: Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived;
Gibraltar belongs to England; the fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom; Henry the First never smiled again; three barleycorns one
inch; the messenger rushed up to Wolfe saying, “They run, they
run!”—“Who run, who run?” cried Wolfe....
On wet winter days the fireguard was hung with steaming
clothes. The row of benches was a mere misty vista of wet noses
and pocket-handkerchiefs. Everywhere was the stench of damp
mackintoshes. Catherine sat by the window and looked through the
streaming panes. She could see Polly, who brought them cups of
cocoa in the middle of the morning, washing up the breakfast things
in the kitchen. Every now and then the water gurgled out of the
slopstone into the sink and made Jack, the black retriever dog,
cautiously open one eye in his kennel. Catherine liked Jack. He was
very staid and solemn, his sole dissipation being the crunching of
snails. Miss Leary said: “Catherine, I do declare you are looking out
of that window again! How often have I told you ...” etc., etc.
Every Friday afternoon as a special treat they had reading out of
a reading-book. It was not like “Pat sat on the mat: is that Pat’s
mat?” and the sentences about the cat and rat; it was a real book of
adventures, the adventures of a boy and his uncle at the seaside.
The avuncular relationship seemed to consist entirely in a readiness
to return prompt and plausible answers to all sorts of questions.
Uncle Tom and his nephew carried between them a complete outfit
of odds and ends, marbles, pieces of string, oranges, scissors, card-
board, cubes and prisms, even jars and glass-funnels, and it was
their custom to perform experiments with these upon all suitable
occasions, wherever they might chance to be. The observations of
passers-by, including park-keepers and bath-chairmen, were not
recorded. Local byelaws seemed never to impede them from digging
up roots and defacing flower-beds.

§5
Day followed on day and Catherine grew. As she walked by the
sides of brick walls her eye ran along the lines of mortar tapering into
the distance. Even she noticed how she kept rising brick by brick
until the mortar-line that her eye followed was somewhere between
four and five feet high. She left off her very childish habits, such as
walking on the cracks of the pavements.... She ceased to ask absurd
unanswerable questions about trams and buses; she stopped
lamenting if she failed to secure a window-seat in the train. But she
was still a child. She still sang out after old father Jopson.
She discovered that the second line of the hymn was not
“Nighties drawing nigh,” as she had naturally supposed, but “Night is
drawing nigh.” The discovery was a disappointment.
She began to read. She read Alice in Wonderland and The
Walrus and the Carpenter. She even began to write. At Albany
House she wrote in large copybook style: “Honesty is the best
policy.” Once also she wrote on the back of a birthday card: “Dear
Auntie Ethel, Many Happy Returns of the Day, from Your Affectionate
Niece, Catherine.” ... And on the wooden fence at the end of the
road she wrote in chalk: “Freddy McKellar is a Soppy Fool.”
She began to do naughty things. She played in the game of “last
across”; she hung on to the backs of passing motor-lorries. She
danced in the streets to the tune of itinerant barrel-organs.
Something may here be said of her appearance. She had hair of a
rich and fiery red, and eyes of a fierce compound of brown and
green. In the summer-time her face was freckles all over. She was
not good-looking, and few people would have called her even pretty.
But she was known everywhere in the vicinity of Kitchener Road as
“Cathie Weston, that red-haired girl.”

§6
In the Co-operative Stores the shopman kept her waiting out of
her turn. He had seen her sticking “transfers” on his shop-window
and he did not like her. The Bockley and Upton Rising Friendly Co-
operative and Industrial Society was an imposing institution with
patent bacon-slicers and profuse calendar-distributing habits. Behind
the polished mahogany counter the shopman fluttered about, all
sleek and dapper, and in front stood Catherine, tired and impatient.
There was a large co-operative almanac on the wall, and this she
used to peruse diligently, supplementing therefrom the meagre
knowledge of English history given her at Albany House. The
almanac introduced a sort of miscellaneous historical calendar—for
example: September 22nd. Battle of Zutphen, 1586. September
23rd. Massacres in Paris, 1789. Then in great staring red letters:
September 24th. Opening of the Head Office of the Bockley and
Upton Rising Friendly Co-operative and Industrial Society by Lord
Fitzroy, 1903. With absolutely no sense of historical perspective at
all, Catherine was quite prepared to believe that the last of these
was the most prominent because it was also the most important.
When Kitchener Road was first built, in the full-flood of the
Soudanese war-fever, it was for a time drowsily suburban. Then a
too enterprising religious organization built a tin-mission at one end
of it. The mission had a corrugated iron roof. Until then Kitchener
Road had not quite decided whether it would tend in the social sense
to rise or to fall. The corrugated iron roof forced a decision. Kitchener
Road fell, and fell rapidly. From drowsiness it degenerated into
frowsiness. A sleek off-licence appeared, with yellow-glazed tiles and
an ungrammatical notice board: “No beer to be drank on the
premises nor on the public highway.” Passing the tarred fence at the
upper end the pedestrian ran the whole gamut of flippancy and
indecency. And on the gate of the corner house could be seen—a
final tribute to disappointed hopes—that sultry hall-mark of
respectability: “No Hawkers, No Circulars, No Canvassers.” When
the headmaster of the Downsland Road Council School heard that
an intending pupil lived in Kitchener Road, he generally said: “I am
very sorry, but we have no more room. If I were you I should try at
Cubitt Lane.” ... The headmaster of the Downsland Road Council
School did not like the headmaster of the Cubitt Lane Council
School.... And on all the tram-standards in Bockley a handbill
declared that “On July 11th, at the Upton Rising Petty Sessions,
Gabriel Handcote, 21, and Richard Moulton, 19, both of Kitchener
Road, Bockley, were fined 40s. and costs for travelling on a
tramway-car with intent to avoid payment of fare.”

§7
Bockley was a sprawling urban district on the edge of the
metropolitan area. Itself and Upton Rising had spread till they
touched like adjacent blobs of ink on blotting-paper. But Upton Rising
was aristocratic, plutocratic.... Its inhabitants had first-class season-
tickets, wore spats, and read The Times on the 9.27 “Up.” They
became district councillors, bazaar-openers, hospital-subscribers
and such like. They wrote letters to the Bockley and Upton Rising
Advertiser complaining of municipal apathy in the matter of water-
carts. They said “Bockley must have a park to keep it out of
mischief,” and lo! Bockley had one, with “keep-off-the-grass” notices
and geometrical flower-beds, and a code of byelaws half a yard long,
and a constant clientele of old-age pensioners and children flying
paper windmills....
And in the meantime Bockley became conscious of its destiny. It
bore all the unmistakable signs of a township that expects to be
great some day—insurance agencies out of all proportion to the
population, a Carnegie library, and a melancholy statue outside the
Town Hall....
The origin of Bockley is simple and unconfusing.
Somewhere early on in the latter half of the nineteenth century
the Great Eastern Railway Company, seeking parliamentary sanction
to extend its suburban lines to Bockley, was compelled by law to
carry workmen to and from Bockley and the City for twopence.... It
was that twopence which made Bockley....

§8
In the front room of No. 24, Kitchener Road there was a Collard
and Collard piano. It had jaundiced keys and a bosom of yellow silk
interlaced with fretwork. Most of the lower notes said “Hanng-g-g,”
and the five bottom ones all said the same “hang-g-g.” ... The piano-
tuner came. He was of the “ping-ping-wrench” and the “see-what-
can-be-done” variety. He said:
“It’s bin a good interment in its time.... Pity the dampness got in
it.”
Catherine watched him as he tightened the wires and prodded
the notes. At the end he played Thalberg’s “Home, Sweet Home,”
with variations.
That night Mrs. Weston said: “Now that the pianer’s bin tuned you
might start havin’ lessons.... I’ll see Mr. Monkhouse about it to-
morrer.”
And Catherine bought a shilling instruction book and learned: E G
B D F—Every Good Boy Deserves Favour....
Mr. Monkhouse was a versatile man. In the Bockley Advertiser he
announced: “Mr. Reginald Monkhouse has still a few dates vacant
during April and May for engagements as entertainer, expert
conjurer, pianist, accompanist or children’s lecturer Write Box 77.” At
Masonic dinners Mr. Monkhouse sang “Where did you get that hat?”
and other relics of the Victorian music-hall stage. Every evening from
8 till 11 he played the piano and conducted the orchestra at the
Victoria Hall, Bockley, vamping with his left hand and beating time
with the first finger of his right. And on Saturdays and at odd times
whenever possible he gave pianoforte tuition at the rate of sixpence
a lesson.... He was always shabbily-dressed, always good-
humoured, patient and not too conscientious. The little front parlour
where he lodged in Cubitt Lane was full of playbills and concert
programmes and signed menu-cards....
He gave Catherine a piece called “White Wings,” and initiated her
into a few elementary five-finger exercises. She was not particularly
apt in picking them up, but at the end of forty-five minutes he said:
“Good-night, my dear. You’ll be a female Paderewski before
long....”
Those were the days when a pianist had achieved the signal
distinction of becoming known to the man-in-the-street. Paderewski
was as well known as Krüger.

§9
Freddie McKellar and Catherine Weston were seated side by
side in the back bench of the Duke Street Schoolroom. The occasion
was a Band of Hope entertainment. Mr. Weston was on the platform,
surrounded by weird articles of glass and metal.
“I want you all to notice carefully,” he said. “Here I have a jar of
clean pure water. The little fellow who is gambolling about so
playfully inside it is a stickleback. He is having a fine time because
the water is so pure and fresh.... Now watch ... here I have a flask of
whisky.... I pour it into the water ... so.... I want you to watch very
carefully....”
Freddie McKellar, aged fifteen, bent his head slightly to the left in
order to see round the corner of Mrs. Mole’s hat. In doing so he felt
the soft spray-like touch of Catherine’s hair against his ear.... It was
not unpleasant.
Catherine was dreamily conscious that something tense was
going to happen.
“It doesn’t always work,” she whispered, vaguely, “some
sticklebacks like it.” ... She bent her head slightly to the right to
circumvent the obstruction of Mr. Mole’s shiny hairless head. To
Freddie McKellar it seemed that this time, instead of his ear touching
her hair, her hair had performed the more positive act of brushing
against his ear. The difference, though subtle, was not to be ignored.
“Now,” cried Mr. Weston, brandishing aloft his jar with the
stickleback inside it either dead or drunk or in some way
incapacitated for further movement, “if the effect of this foul spirit
upon this tiny animal is ...”
“There’s refreshments afterwards, ain’t there?” said Freddie,
sotto voce.
“Yes,” she whispered, hoarsely. The tragedy of the dying
stickleback, “butchered to make a Roman holiday,” had made her
unwontedly solemn.
... “Now,” proceeded Mr. Weston, “if somebody will kindly lower
the lights, I will show you on the screen some of the effects of strong
drink.... First of all, perhaps you would care to have a look at a drop
of whisky as it is seen through the lens of a microscope....”
The lights went out in successive “pops.”
Freddie McKellar’s left hand slowly closed over Catherine’s right
one.
“Ugh,” said Catherine, presumably at the horrible picture on the
screen. Then the thought came to her (she had had no experience of
such matters)—“He must be flirting with me.”
Simultaneously there came to Freddie McKellar (who, for his age,
had had considerable experience of such matters) the thought: “She
must be flirting with me.”
And at the same time Gladys Stockwell nudged Bessie Millar and
whispered: “Just look at Cathie Weston and Freddie McKellar ... at
their age, too....” (Gladys was twenty-three and unbeautiful.)
In the refreshment room afterwards Catherine and Freddie sat
together on a bench munching ham-sandwiches. You were only
expected to take one ham-sandwich, but Catherine had already

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