satisfied or happy till they had made a good job of it Since then I have watched them get worse year by year till now they think of nothing but smoking cigarettes an loafing." There is no need to cite further evidence, for ther is probably an absolute consensus of opinion that the Britis workman used to be a good worker. There is probably als a similar consensus that he is so no longer. That is the effect; now as to the cause. Again the matter has been thoroughly thrashed out: direct limitation of productioni.e. an actual cult of slackness; the ridiculous theory of les work by the individual, more employment for the mass interference with liberty to work by peaceful picketing, eto

It may be well to state at once that the British working man had many grievances against his employer, and that the latter too often profited to excess by the fine power of the former, who was naturally justified in seeking redress He could, however, only hope to compete with his employe by combination; hence the trade-union system. Unfor tunately, the leaders of this movement were at first men o low education and limited outlook and wholly ignoran of political economy. They adopted therefore, according to the needs of the moment, perfectly direct and simple methods, which were uniformly successful in battles with employers, and gained thereby a series of signal successes for their clients, expressed eventually in higher wages and healthier conditions of labour and of housing.

It was during this period that the Government should have intervened. It had been treating the movement to spasmodic alternations of coddling and bullying, but had given no sign of a lead where a lead was eminently desirable With sympathy and direction from the Governments, trade union ideas could have been led into sound, yet equally profitable channels. Ministers must have clearly realized the economic unsoundness of the constant war between employers and men, yet they perpetuated the friction by laws of unequal incidence enacted under pressure, and by anything but the broad and well-founded policy, embracing future developments as well as immediate needs, which the people have a right to expect from their national leaders

The early successes of the trade unions confirmed the workmen in the belief of the soundness of their system. That system became traditional; and, though education spread and views broadened under the improved conditions, trade union leaders would, even had they so wished, have found the inauguration of new methods a difficult matter. I therefore the trade unions were the direct cause of the existing

iction and low rate of production, the blame should be mainly attributed not to them, but to the Governments nder whom they developed their programmes. The situaon is now one of an exceeding and increasing complexity, ut Governments have still the power to solve the riddle if hey handle the problem with plenty of courage and plenty sympathy.

In the first place, stress should be laid in our educational ystem on the ethics of work, its physical and moral worth or the individual, its value for the nation and the world t large. The greatest of all needs for the perfecting of uman character, for happiness, for building up the body nd the brain, for kindling the spirit and for killing desire, nds no apostle among our teachers at school and college. n fact, it is a generally accepted idea which, if teaching oes not instil, it certainly does not dispel, that work is a hing to be avoided if possible. The doctors might help he teachers by collecting statistics comparing the numbers of those who die from an excess of work with those who ie from an excess of idleness, just as they might help food conomists in comparing the deaths from surfeit of food with those due to starvation. The absence of the subject rom the ordinary curriculum is the more curious that it neither a matter of debate nor offensive to the prude. Perhaps the attitude of all and sundry in and out of school summed up in the old jest in Punch: "I eats well and I rinks well, but at the word WORK' I shivers all over." In the second place, the Government, as already stated, must solve its economical problems on broad lines and not y sectional settlements or according to the political exiencies of the moment. In the third place, if the Government has come to the conclusion that the conflict between master and man is now beyond hope, then they should look other directions for a settlement on a large scale. It is beyond the scope of this paper to consider closely ch large questions as Nationalization, Guilds, Co-operaon and Profit-sharing. It is necessary, however, to touch pon them to complete the argument, the general trend of which is to insist not only on work or production of a high standard as of vital economic importance, but also on its physical and ethical values in the building of body and mind. Tried by this test, Nationalization offers no fair prospect. The ethical side to it is that everyone is working for his own family and for the good of the State.

demigods instead of simple people if workmen were

a hankering cigarettes, beer and holidays, or if they could be kept

permanently at a high level of patriotic enthusiasm, nation alization would have a great future. Hitherto, however, has not increased production; nor is there any strong reason why it should. The men may not be suspicious of profiteering at their expense under the system, but they regard thab Government as weak compared to the old masters, as repository of endless wealth and therefore fair game Hence strikes go on as of old. The Government officials have less interest in high production than the old employers The inspiration to great work is ambition to build up a grea fortune or a great name, and it has furnished, for good o ill, much of the motive-power in history. In a well-ordered State, ambition of evil design or false orientation should be checked or redirected. To destroy ambition-that reaching for higher things-and substitute therefor the dead level of mediocre satisfaction is to murder an instrument of life. As a complement to the destruction of such a spirit there must be, as in all nature, a renaissance; but it must be sought elsewhere than in Nationalization. Possibly the solution is to be found in Co-operation or in Profit-sharing two systems alike in principle, though not in operations They have their objections: the capitalist risks and wins and becomes a profiteer; he risks and loses, and the crowd passes over his body. But what happens to the profit sharers when the profits are not, and to the co-operating workmen when their combined efforts fail? They will need State support-that is, charity-which weakens the mora fibre and power of work of the recipient. On the other hand there are great advantages: mutual confidence in place of the old distrust; co-operation to replace friction; a ful dignity of labour subservient only to the State. Here indeed, are moral assets to pit against the ambitions of los leaders. The economic relations of Capital and Labour should be ethically correct, but they are not always so, and indeed seldom appear so to the workman, whereas the Co operative system is not only just, but has the merit of appearing just. And it should ensure such hard and willing work that failures and consequent State support should be of rare occurrence. Other difficulties will arise, n doubt, but in a system that is basically sound there is eve a solution, whereas in other systems recurring trouble lead to surrender, to moral decadence, and eventually t an impasse.

And what are the prospects of the future, if production be still further limited in a world that requires repair an reconstruction over half its civilized surface? The destruc

tion of society, famine, Bolshevism, the loss of comfort and content-the "slow-bought gain" of the ages-the reduction, in fact, of the world to the lowest common denominator of pain and misery. Failure to work may not be general, but where it occurs a nation, however great her past, will lose pride of place, possibly for ever, and where there is work and recuperative effort a people will emerge triumphant in spite of suppressive influences. There were soldiers who appreciated this truth at the close of the Great War, and were anxious to impress it upon their non-professional comrades before the latter returned to civil life. During the long and monotonous period that elapsed between the Armistice and demobilization, lectures and discussions on a vast variety of subjects were arranged, where an Occasional voice was raised to urge the need of increased. production. The following may be taken as a sample of such a lecture delivered by a commanding officer:

Comrades of my old regiment! After more than four years, we as a British unit of the Great Allied Army are sharing in a great and glorious victory. But wonderful as is that victory, it is only an episode in the life of the nation. From the aims for which she fought and the splendour of her moral and material contributions to the common effort, Great Britain stands to-day the most highly honoured among the nations and on a pinnacle of fame, not gained by lust of adventure or of conquest, but in pursuit of noble ideals.

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It is for you to maintain this high station. It is for you, too, to ensure that the evil forces you have conquered do not raise their heads again as such. In war you have conquered by force of arms, but you have now to continue the combat in the lists of peace. Remember that, before the war, Germany was making tremendous strides industrially and commercially. She was gradually absorbing Britain's trade, her shipping covered the oceans, her merchandise was spreading far and wide and driving out our goods, her gold was financing ventures in almost every corner of the universe. Had she not, most foolishly, initiated this war, she would have beaten us economically long before the 11th of November, 1918; and economic defeat would have brought in its train many of the unpleasantnesses of military defeat. She saved us then by declaring war. It was a strange method of giving us another chance. Up to date we have taken advantage of this opportunity to beat her in the field. It is for us to preserve the advantage in peace.

What was the secret of the German pre-war success? Something extraordinarily simple! Just that she worked harder and for longer hours than any other nation, whether in the office, the factory or the fields. If she does that again, she will recover from her losses and beat, deservedly beat, her old enemies. The remedy is in our own hands. We must work, I am glad to be able, personally, to impress upon you the absolute necessity of a high rate of production if we are to reap the reward of victory and maintain our place as the leader of the nations; and this for several reasons. Firstly, we have soldiered long together. We know and trust each other; and you therefore know that what I may tell you I believe, rightly or wrongly, to be true and for your benefit.

Secondly, my ideas on this subject are wholly unaffected by any political

MOR

bias. It is nothing to me whether a Labour or a Conservative Governmen rules in England, provided it takes measures tending to the prosperity of the country. When you get home a number of people will want your vote. They won't dare to mention the word "work." It strikes an unpopular chord and might entail a sacrifice of votes. So if there is an election, not a word will you hear on work, though the whole world is crying aloud for it. Among the people you will meet is the tub-thumping demagogue. He will tell you not to work or to work as little as possible. That is how he earns his living. He i full of suggestions for the transfer of money from the rich to the poor without work. Then you will meet the man who thinks you ought to have a long rea after the war. Don't you believe it. A short holiday does a world of good but prolonged idleness sends a man to the devil. By the way, when you do get going, don't regard yourself as a martyr, for work, quite apart from wages PE brings its own reward in physical and moral fitness. Then your trade union or your companions will ask you to strike or ca' canny," under the insane impression that if some men work hard it leads to the unemployment of others I don't want to set you against trade unions, but I do want to warn you against anything that limits production. Think long before you strike and never go slow. You may take it from me that in the end more work means more wages and more employment.

Again, if you work hard, some of your companions will grumble that you are raising the standard-a sad affair for the idler. In fact, from the moment you leave this regiment you will find a regular conspiracy to keep you from work. It is, unfortunately, much easier to succumb to such pressure than to fight against it. Remember, however and I cannot say it too often-that work or if you like it better, production, is the greatest need of the nation and of the world to-day. Think of all the hardship and the suffering of the war, think of the gallant comrades you have lost, and ask yourselves when the pinch comes if you will allow all this sacrifice to be in vain. Just as the dogged resistance of an isolated post may decide the fate of a great campaign, so may the doughty champion in the fields of labour prevent a strike or stem the current of idleness by sturdy resistance to popular calls.

ENTRA

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The forecast of the lecturer as to the election proved only too correct. Not one political speaker mentioned the word "work." work." Even members of the Government seeking re-election, who must have known more than anyone urgent need of production, uttered not a single warning Their principal desire appeared to be the hasty demobiliza tion of thousands of men for whom no occupation could be found, and to cast to the four winds the admirable demobili zation scheme they had taken two years to prepare. The solitary public warning as to the urgency of production was uttered by the Duke of Northumberland, and appeared in the papers in tiny print in odd corners. The Press was no better than the politician. Both combined to pander to the voter until unnecessary strikes and general slackness had become a crying scandal as well as a public danger. Then the papers and the politicians all began talking about it at the same time. But it was too late. Idleness, authorized, encouraged, paid, begets vices not easily eradicated.

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