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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..86cb483 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63910 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63910) diff --git a/old/63910-0.txt b/old/63910-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1d06429..0000000 --- a/old/63910-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6285 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Woman and the War, by Frances Evelyn -Maynard Greville, Countess of Warwick - - -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 restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it 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'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: A Woman and the War - - -Author: Frances Evelyn Maynard Greville, Countess of Warwick - - - -Release Date: November 28, 2020 [eBook #63910] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WOMAN AND THE WAR*** - - -E-text prepared by Charlene Taylor, Martin Pettit, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustration. - See 63910-h.htm or 63910-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/63910/63910-h/63910-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/63910/63910-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/womanwarwar00warw - - - - - -[Illustration: Frances Evelyn Warwick - -_Photo, Sarony & Co., Ltd._] - - -A WOMAN AND THE WAR - -by - -THE COUNTESS OF WARWICK - -Author of -"Warwick Castle and Its Earls," "Autobiography of Joseph Arch," -"An Old English Garden" - - - - - - -New York -George H. Doran Company - -Copyright, 1916, by George H. Doran Company - -Printed in the United States of America - - - - -PREFACE - - -It is not without serious reflection that I have collected these -thoughts in war time to offer in book form to those who may care to -read and ponder them. They were written for the most part on the spur -of vital moments, when some of the tendencies of the evil times through -which we are living seemed to call for immediate protest. I have felt -more strongly than ever in the past two years that we are in danger -of accepting as something outside the pale of criticism the judgments -of those who lead, and sometimes mislead us. The support or hostility -of the newspaper press--in some aspects the greatest distorting -medium in the world--is still ruled by party considerations. Loyalty -or ill-will to the men in office colours all the views of those who -praise or blame, and it happens often that a good measure is damned -for what is best or lauded for what is worst in it. Again, I have felt -that while much of the fighting spirit of the country is subject to -army discipline, the tendency of government has been to make helpless -puppets of the citizens who remain behind the forces in the field. -In the near future, if we would save what is left of our heritage of -freedom, and would even extend the comparatively narrow boundaries that -existed before the autumn of 1914, we must relieve the press of the -self-conferred duty of thinking for us. We must not give our rulers a -blank cheque; their best efforts tend more to rouse our suspicions than -to compel our confidence. - -Judging all the matters dealt with in these pages as fairly and -honestly as I can, I have found myself repeatedly in opposition to the -authorities. The legislation from which we have suffered since war -began, the efforts to relieve difficult situations and prepare for -obvious emergencies have savoured largely of panic and can boast no -more than a small element of statesmanship. So I have protested and -the protests have grown even beyond the limit of these book covers, -while an ever-swelling letter-bag has told me that I have interpreted, -however feebly, the thoughts, wishes, and aspirations of many thinking -men and women. We are on the eve of events that will demand of -evolution that it mend its paces or become revolution without more ado. -The international crisis and the national makeshifts must have proved -to the dullest that the world is out of joint. - -I make no claim to traverse the whole ground, modesty forbids, and Mr. -Zangwill has accomplished the task in his "War for the World," the -most brilliant work that has seen the light since August, 1914. I have -sought to point out where and why and how we are moving backwards. I -can command no eloquence to gild my words, I cannot pretend to have -more to say than will have occurred to every man and woman of advanced -views and normal intelligence, but it does not suffice to think; one -must make thought the prelude of action. Strong in this belief I have -not hesitated to attempt something more than mere criticism. I cannot -wave flags, abuse enemies, or extol popular idols; and consequently -those who read will please accept these and other limitations. - -FRANCES EVELYN WARWICK. - -WARWICK CASTLE, -_August, 1916_. - - - - -CONTENTS - -CHAPTER PAGE - I KING EDWARD AND THE KAISER 1 - - II THE GREATEST FIGHT OF ALL 15 - - III ENGLAND'S DRINK LEGISLATION 24 - - IV WAR AND MARRIAGE 33 - - V NURSING IN WAR TIME 40 - - VI TWO YEARS OF WAR--WOMAN'S LOSS AND GAIN 49 - - VII CHILD LABOUR ON THE LAND 56 - - VIII COMRADES 64 - - IX THE CURSE OF AUTOCRACY 72 - - X WOMAN'S WAR WORK ON THE LAND 85 - - XI GERMAN WOMEN AND MILITARISM 101 - - XII YOUTH IN THE SHAMBLES 114 - - XIII THOUGHTS ON COMPULSION 124 - - XIV WOMEN AND WAR 133 - - XV RACE SUICIDE 142 - - XVI THE LESSON OF THE PICTURE THEATRE 158 - - XVII TRUTH WILL OUT 166 - -XVIII THE CLAIM OF ALL THE CHILDREN 175 - - XIX THE PRUSSIAN IN OUR MIDST 189 - - XX THE GROWN-UP GIRLS OF ENGLAND 197 - - XXI THE SOCIAL HORIZON 205 - - XXII HOW SHALL WE MINISTER TO A WORLD DISEASED? 215 - -XXIII HOW I WOULD WORK FOR PEACE 224 - - XXIV LORD FRENCH 234 - - XXV LORD HALDANE: SOME RECOLLECTIONS AND AN ESTIMATE 243 - - XXVI GROUNDS FOR OPTIMISM 250 - -XXVII ANGLO-AMERICAN RELATIONS IN PEACE AND WAR 258 - - - - -A WOMAN AND THE WAR - - - - -I - -KING EDWARD AND THE KAISER - - -Since the war began I have read numerous extracts from the press of -Germany and from the contributions of German writers to American -papers stating in the most unequivocal terms that the late King Edward -devoted his political sagacity to the task of isolating Germany, that -he promoted alliances to that end, and that he deliberately sought to -compass the destruction of the German Empire. - -At first I took these remarks to be no more than the rather unfortunate -outpourings of the uninformed, but I have seen of late that they have -been repeated with great insistence until there is a danger that they -will become an article of faith, not alone in Germany but in other -countries where Germans have a sympathetic following. I do not choose -as a rule to discuss questions of this kind, I prefer to leave popular -error to correct itself, but, having enjoyed the confidence of King -Edward before and after he came to the throne, having heard from his -own lips scores of times his attitude towards Germany and the Germans, -it seems to be a duty to set out the plain truth. I will do so in the -endeavour to sweep away one of the most ridiculous and mischievous -conceptions engendered by the present evil condition of things. - -Had I ever imagined that the present crisis, or, for that matter, -any political development of the peaceful kind would have led to the -statements I seek to refute, how easy it would have been to jot down -the purport of conversations in which high policy was discussed! -Fortunately, I have an excellent memory and it is reinforced by letters -to which I have access, and I hope to commit the reports that have been -spread abroad to the oblivion that is their proper place. I can vouch -for the absolute truth of all I have to say, and I am writing with a -full sense of responsibility. - -In the first place the intimate relations between the English and -German courts should be remembered; one of my earliest recollections is -of being taken to visit the old Empress Augusta at the German Embassy. -This was when I was a child, and I know I went many times, so her -visits would probably have been frequent. On my writing-table is the -silver and mother-of-pearl ornament that was her wedding present to -me. Everybody respected the old Emperor William, and everybody admired -the Crown Prince Frederick. When he married Queen Victoria's eldest -daughter, the Princess Royal, who became, after the death of Princess -Alice, King Edward's favourite sister, the relations between the two -courts could hardly have been more amicable. Queen Victoria loved -Germany and the Germans, she adored her grandson. In her eyes he could -do no wrong, she even went so far as to hold him up to her eldest son -as a model. On the other hand, the Princess of Wales, being a Dane, -could not forget or forgive the theft of Schleswig Holstein; her sister -the Russian Empress shared her suspicions of German intentions, but I -never heard of one or the other originating or encouraging anti-German -intrigues. - -As the Kaiser grew up towards manhood his personality was hardly known; -his father, the Crown Prince Frederick, a far more noble figure, -monopolised attention. Beyond the fact that he was Queen Victoria's -favourite grandson nothing was known about William II. Nobody thought -that he would be called upon to rule before he was middle aged or -elderly; his father's illness was unsuspected. But if there was no ill -feeling at the English court, it is impossible to say the same of the -court at Berlin. The presence of the Princess Royal was resented; many -people believed, or affected to believe, that the marriage had been -designed to make Germany politically subservient to Great Britain. As -everybody knows, these feelings grew apace as soon as the old Emperor -William had breathed his last, and when, a few months later, the -Emperor Frederick passed away, the Anglophobia had spread throughout -the Court circles and the young Kaiser had been tainted with the Court -prejudice against his own mother. He did not treat her well; it is -not too much to say that he treated her badly. She, naturally enough, -complained to her brother, the Prince of Wales,--I have already said -that she was now his best loved sister. He was angry on her account and -spoke his mind. Relations between the young Kaiser and his uncle were -already strained. I must turn back a little to explain why. - -In the early days, when King Edward had arrived at man's estate and -married, he sought to take a legitimate interest in state affairs. -He was disposed to study and to learn, and sought, not without ample -justification, to be admitted to the company of the little group -of statesmen who advised the Queen and ruled the Empire. But Queen -Victoria would have none of it. She practically refused her son access -to the Councils of State, she instructed her Ministers to keep all -state papers from him; within the compass of a limited monarchy she was -determined to rule alone. - -Her eldest son, finding that he was not to be accepted as a worker, -decided to amuse himself. If he could not direct public policy he would -at least direct fashion, if he could not assist the Foreign Office he -could at least enable English Society to take rank among the smartest -in Europe. So the Marlborough House set came into existence, and with -its rise came the first beginnings of the Kaiser's criticism. There -were two grounds for this. - -In the first place King Edward's personal popularity was unbounded; -wherever he went he charmed women and men, and it was quite clear -that he would be a force to be reckoned with in diplomacy, when in -the fullness of time he ascended the throne; on the other hand, the -Kaiser lacked all the qualities that his uncle possessed in abundance. -Hard-working and conscientious, he was petulant, exacting, and -uncertain. Naturally, then, he found matter for grievance against the -uncle who, seemingly without effort, swayed opinion and enjoyed esteem. -Jealousy was the origin of disagreement. - -There is another side to the antagonism. The Kaiser was always a very -strict-living, sober-minded man, a model husband and father, honestly -representative of the domestic virtues in the highest degree. King -Edward, largely by force of circumstances, lived a life of gaiety -and pleasure; whatever he did he did thoroughly; as it might not be -work, it was play. He raced, yachted, shot, played cards, entertained, -visited all his friends, and had a wide field of friendships. Though -shrewd, worldly, and quick witted, he made certain mistakes, and these -gave his nephew an opportunity that was quickly taken. Perhaps the -Kaiser would utter a criticism on the spur of the moment, it would be -taken up, magnified, polished, and brought over to King Edward in the -finished and augmented state. By the way, I am referring, unless I -state the contrary, to the years when King Edward was Prince of Wales. -I use his final title to cover all the years with which I am dealing. -King Edward had great gifts, and when the time came to turn them to the -best account, they were invaluable to his country but, as I have said, -he was not infallible. He made mistakes. - -Tranby Croft provided one, his friendship for Baron Hirsch provided -another; for the Baron, though he may have been a charming -man-certainly his wife was a charming woman and a dear friend of -mine--was an unscrupulous financier who had accumulated a vast fortune -by curious and unclean methods of which the full story cannot be told, -and yet for all his faults, he was not an ignoble man, but in some -phases of his complex nature an idealist and philanthropist. - -Berlin sneered at Baron Hirsch, Vienna was actually shocked, for in the -Dual Empire a man is judged by his quarterings, and even if he should -have made a huge fortune honestly and lacks quarterings he is less than -the penniless, vicious, and brainless person of high descent. - -King Edward smiled at the rage and spite of Vienna and Berlin. He -remarked to one of his intimates that he could not allow either capital -to choose his friends for him, and in order that there might be no -mistake about his intentions he accepted an invitation from Baron -Hirsch to shoot with him on his great estates at Eichorn. I don't know -whether Baron Hirsch asked any Austrians or Germans, certainly none -accepted the invitation, and King Edward found, much to his amusement, -that all the other guests were Englishmen. He merely laughed, enjoyed -his visit, and then, after it was over, visited the Baron in Paris, -to the intense annoyance of the Jockey Club there. Perhaps it was not -altogether wise to defy the conventions, but of course English Society -has never been quite as exclusive as that of Berlin or Vienna. - -The Kaiser chafed at his uncle's association with a mushroom financier -whose record was only too well known, he chafed too when King Edward -spent long hours at Homburg with the Empress Frederick who had a castle -there in the days of her widowhood. The love between the brother and -sister was very beautiful. She confided all her troubles to him from -the early days, for oddly enough when there were family quarrels -Queen Victoria sided with her grandson against the Princess Royal, -but it is only right and fair to say that the Kaiser reciprocated -her affection, and his grief when she passed away was heartfelt. -The Homburg meetings were gall and wormwood to the Kaiser and they -renewed the old fear of his uncle's popularity. When instead of going -to Homburg in Germany, King Edward went to Marienbad in Austria there -was still more uneasiness in Berlin's governing circles, for King -Edward's extraordinary personal magnetism was known and feared, he was -credited with having the power if he chose to exercise it of seriously -disturbing the foundations of the Triple Alliance. The Kaiser need not -have been uneasy, his uncle did not enter into political conversations. - -It will be seen then that the disagreement between uncle and nephew had -been little more than a sort of family quarrel intensified by the high -standing of both parties. I have heard King Edward speak angrily of his -nephew, but only because of the way he treated his mother, the personal -gibes and criticisms did not often sting him, he merely said his nephew -was suffering from megalomania and had not learned to control a rather -unruly tongue. In all the years I have passed mentally in review I do -not remember hearing King Edward utter a single sentence of ill-will to -Germany. - -The Kaiser's visits to England in the earlier days have left no special -impression upon my memory. I remember dancing opposite to him in a -quadrille at a Court Ball in Buckingham Palace and being present at -a dinner-party given for him in a private house. His friends among -the ladies of England were the wives of members of the Royal Yacht -Squadron; among these was Lady Ormonde. She used to stay at Kiel for -the yachting festival, as guest of the Kaiser with her husband who was -then Commodore of the R.Y.S. - -In all his criticisms King Edward was scrupulously fair. Even in -discussing his sister's relations with her son he would add that -they were both strong personalities with different sympathies and -view-points, and that sustained agreement between them was probably -impossible. He admired the Kaiserin frankly, as all must who know the -gracious and kindly lady who in her own quiet and unobtrusive fashion -has filled her life with good deeds. - -Relations between King Edward and his nephew improved immensely when -Queen Victoria died. Not only did the Kaiser come over to the funeral, -but he seemed on that occasion to have laid aside the brusqueness that -had marked earlier visits. All the Court noticed it, and King Edward -commented upon it to me with very evident pleasure. The process of -improvement in relations started about 1899. Through the Boer War -events had been moving towards a reconciliation. - -The Kaiser's correct behaviour during the war, which his frenzied -telegram on the occasion of the Raid had done something to bring about, -placated King Edward, and after Queen Victoria's death relations -between the two men improved sensibly. The Kaiser either limited his -criticisms or saw to it that they were not indiscreetly uttered. The -old friendliness was resumed, and things became as they were after the -attempt on King Edward's life in Denmark when the Kaiser left Berlin -and met the royal train at the frontier station to congratulate his -uncle upon his escape and inquire after his health. King Edward wrote -to me from Sandringham on his return. After thanking me for a letter -and telegram of congratulations, he said that the Kaiser came all -the way from Berlin to meet his train at Altona and inquire after his -health. He thought that was very kind of the Kaiser. - -I remember that the Kaiser's later visits to England were quite a -success. King Edward remarked to me, when his nephew was staying at -Highcliffe in Hampshire for his health, how greatly he had improved in -manner, how courteous and considerate he was, and how much of the old -unrest and irritability seemed to have gone. Between King George, Queen -Mary, and the Kaiser, relations could not have been more friendly, -and when King Edward and Queen Alexandra went to Berlin he thoroughly -enjoyed his visit, and told me as much on his return. - -How then, it may be asked, shall we account for the Anglo-French -convention of 1904, and for the meeting between King Edward and the -Tsar at Réval when the foundations of friendship between England and -Russia were laid? In Germany it is believed that these arrangements -were aggressive in their intention and demonstrated King Edward's -hostility. In both cases King Edward, absolutely faithful to the -Constitution, followed the advice of his ministers, and did not discuss -his personal predilections at all. After the Réval meeting I asked him -his view of the political situation, and as far as my memory serves -this is what he said: "Germany is our commercial rival, she has a -magnificent business aptitude, she might develop with growing riches -and a few adventurous statesmen a rivalry of another kind. The Réval -meeting, with the French convention, will I hope put an end to the -possibility. But nothing has been done that stands in the way of a good -understanding between London and Berlin. I believe all sensible men -desire peace. We have no quarrel with Germany or any other power." - -I may add that King Edward admired Germany almost as much as he loved -France. The thoroughness of the German business method, the rejection -of everything slovenly in thought and action, impressed him greatly, -and he once made a remarkable statement to me. It was in London in the -late winter of 1909-10, a few months before he died. He came to tea -and talked of German administration. "Do you know," he said, "that if -this country could be controlled in the same way, we should be all the -better for it? If we could be ruled by Germans just long enough to -have our house put in order"--he paused, and added with a laugh--"You -know the trouble is that if we once had them we could not get rid of -them." This statement was made during our last conversation; I never -saw King Edward again, but his words should be sufficient to show that -he was not animated by an ill-feeling towards the German Empire. They -are hardly the words of a man who plotted against the land ruled over -by the son of the woman who was at once his favourite sister and most -devoted friend. - -Age, and an experience of great affairs not to be excelled by any -of his contemporaries, had made King Edward a sane and philosophic -observer. He possessed very few prejudices, and he never allowed his -feelings as a man to stand between him and his duties as a king. But if -his personal views had affected political issues it would never have -been to Germany's detriment, for every criticism that I heard him utter -over a long period of years has been set out here. He had a real love -for his French and Austrian friends and a quiet respect for his German -acquaintances. I may add that King Edward not only hated war and would -have been most reluctant to take any step that might ensue it, but -he regarded people with bellicose ideas as fit occupants of asylums. -The fine fabric of civilisation impressed him, and he saw in war the -blind force that would destroy it and leave the world laboriously and -painfully to rebuild. His real interests lay in the direction of social -reform, and he even found the trappings of state, in which as a rule -he took delight, a little heavy when he realised that they deprived -him of the right of free speech enjoyed by the humblest citizen of the -realm. He made it his business to know what Germany was doing to solve -the problems of unemployment, housing, and factory management, and -in the last years of his life his intercourse with Liberal statesmen -quickened his interest in plans for the betterment of the class that -does the work. Time out of mind he spoke of what Germany had achieved -in this direction, always with the frank admiration that only a good -sportsman can give under all circumstances. Far from seeking to bring -war about, it is with me an article of faith that had he been living -in July, 1914, there would have been no war. The immense personal -influence he wielded would have been thrown into the scales on the -side of peace, he would have reconciled differences at the eleventh -hour for he was _persona gratissima_ in every court of Europe, and -there is not among the rulers of Europe one who would not have listened -when he spoke. Those who suggest that he helped to build the pyre upon -which the best and bravest of nearly all the nations of the world are -now being consumed, do but slander the dead and testify to their own -ignorance. - - - - -II - -THE GREATEST FIGHT OF ALL - - -In his famous essay on Mr. Montgomery's poems Macaulay speaks of the -degradation to which those must submit who are resolved to write when -there are scarcely any who read. - -It seems a little idle to suggest that two years of war have availed to -reduce readers to vanishing point; indeed, editors and publishers of -daily and weekly papers testify to an increase of circulation. Paper is -harder to obtain than readers; the cause of trouble is that the written -word is all of one kind. The love of sensation, strongest amongst those -whose mental equipment is of the slightest, is being sedulously catered -for, the townsman requires tales of the slaughter of his enemies to -give a flavour to his breakfast, his lunch, and his dinner. - -Even the countryman, who with no more than one newspaper in twenty-four -hours must spread sensation over a day, seems to insist upon flamboyant -headlines and cheerful tales of slaughter. Mild-mannered folk, who -would turn vegetarians rather than help to kill the meat that is set -upon their tables, may be heard enthusiastically calculating the -enemy's losses in terms of six or seven figures, and discussing the -hairbreadth incidents of flood and field as though they themselves -carried a more dangerous weapon than an umbrella and had faced more -serious troubles in the normal day than an ill-cooked meal, an -appointment lost, or a train missed. In short, people who must stay -at home because they are no longer of fighting age, strength, or -inclination, are being encouraged to act as the audience. Happily, -perhaps, for them, they cannot see the actual performance, but they -can hear about it, and, as a rule, they are told what their minds are -best prepared to receive. Truth has received instructions to remain at -the bottom of her well or risk court-martial. Life is reduced to its -primitive elements; war, while it dignifies many of those who take an -active part in it, does little more than degrade the constant reader -of papers of the baser and most popular kind. It is to be feared that -the sane view of life is never the appealing one, the untrained eye can -see trees but never a wood, and the man in the street is nearest to the -editorial heart because his name is legion, and the advertiser says to -him, as Ruth said to Naomi, "Whither thou goest, I will go." - -In the early nineties there was a literary movement of great promise -in London; the Boer War extinguished it; in the last half-dozen years -we have seen a brisk effort towards the development of a national or -even international social programme; this war may set it back for a -generation; War is ever fatal to ideas. Men whose minds were being -turned slowly and reluctantly to questions they had been educated to -ignore are now concerned with two problems--winning the war and making -good the injuries it has entailed. The increased taxation, the business -losses, seemingly irrecoverable, will develop a certain natural -hardness of fibre, and there is a danger that the social movements, -slow in times of prosperity, will halt in the times to come. - -The season of trouble for those "resolved to write" is upon the -publicists of the social reform movement. They must be prepared for -hard knocks and for all the arts of misrepresentation and vilification. -The general reader will first denounce, then ignore and finally -listen to the survivors of the common-sense crusade. The people who -start to state facts will be the leaders of a forlorn hope, and our -brave fellow-countrymen did not face as great an odds in the retreat -from Mons. A fight for the universal reduction of armaments and for -the remodelling of the existing system of government will be met by -indignant cries for conscription and less freedom. The ubiquitous hand -of the German will be traced in every line that pleads for toleration, -good will, and the removal of all autocracies under whatever name; any -suggestion of a return to Christian teaching will be denounced as the -highest immorality. There are many who hold that a conscript Army and -a larger Navy would have saved us from this war; they cannot see that -we should have done no more than postpone the evil day until it dawned -upon Europe in a still greater magnitude of evil, if this be possible, -and that our commercial class, impeded by forced service, would have -been unable to provide the means to pay the bill. The ulcer of European -armament has burst at last, and the remedy proposed for the debilitated -body of the Western World will be a still larger ulcer to take the -place of the one that demanded so much labour to feed and so much -life-blood to cleanse it. - -In the same way the effort to make democracy articulate, to raise the -standard of the national intelligence, will be fiercely resisted by -those who believe that the way of the world in the past must be the way -of the world in the future. The attempt to improve upon the methods -of our fathers is tolerated in the worlds of science, medicine, and -commerce, the innate conservatism of government is sacrosanct. To -educate millions of able-bodied men, not to the fighting pitch but -beyond and above it, will be denounced as high treason, and will be -opposed by autocracies, bureaucracies, cannon-makers and publicans -alike. A rise to the heights of sanity is, must be, the death of vested -interests, and every force to the hands of authority will be employed -to check the dreaded movement. According to a well-established formula, -the method of attack will be to denounce very bitterly suggestions that -have never been put forward and principles that have no adherents. In -this way issues can be confused and obscured. - -To be drunk with victory or dazed by defeat is to be particularly -sensitive to the more brutal cries of war. The victor desires the -full reward of good fortune, as Germany did in 1871; the vanquished -nurses revenge, as France has done ever since the end of the struggle -that found her so ill-prepared. Counsels of moderation are declared -to be inadmissible until the _status quo ante_ has been restored, and -every force that makes for the spoliation of the simple by the worldly -wise takes the field against common sense. The appeal of the dead is -forgotten by all living save the woman whose mission it is to raise -another generation for destruction; the lessons of history cannot be -recalled by those who have never learned them. - -Against all the difficulties outlined here, and many another that need -not be set down, a small body of men and women, inspired by a great -ideal, must labour in every country that has seen war or even realised -its significance. They must speak and write in the face of fierce -opposition and contempt, for war has swept away many of the landmarks -they had already set up, together with many of those who had learned -to regard them; they must face the truth that many a genuine altruist, -shocked unutterably by the revelations of the war, is a little ashamed -of his earlier altruism and anxious to forget its existence. They must -be prepared for a certain coarsening of the nation's moral fibre, for -a long-lived return to the more brutal outlook associated with the -Napoleonic era. In some countries revenge will have become an article -of faith, in others suspicion will be a no less dominant factor. The -whole mental currency will have suffered debasement, and it will be -difficult for some vices to be recognised as anything worse than -virtues enforced upon a nation by the hazard of war. - -If the truth about the whole conflict that has laid waste so great a -portion of the civilised world could be ascertained and agreed, the -difficulties would tend to disappear, responsibility would be fixed. -Unfortunately, agreement is beyond the generation's reach; we may -remember that there are many who still regard the seizure of Silesia -by Frederick the Great as a genuine expression of Prussia's mission, -and that history is written to suit the country to which it is intended -to appeal. Limitations, whether geographical, political, or social, are -the sworn foes of truth, and in the effort to remove them an appeal to -international common sense affords the best hope of success. - -For many of the world's thinkers who stay at home to-day, neither -physically fit to fight nor financially able to succour distress, there -is this great work waiting to be done. They cannot fight soldiers, but -they can fight rancour, malice, and uncharitableness. They cannot fill -hungry bodies, but they may help to feed starved minds. They can bring -a light to those who walk in darkness and make articulate the thoughts -that stir many a heart and brain. They can give courage to those who -fear the sound of their own voices and have not the strength of mind to -say the words that may not be spoken without offence to the unthinking. -When fighting is over--and it will pass, as all tragedies must, though -it seems to fill a lifetime while it lasts--the greatest questions of -strife will clamour for a wise solution. People write glibly about the -war that is to end war, but let us remember that this issue depends -not upon statesmen but upon the democracies of all the combatant and -neutral countries. What we want is a modern Peter the Hermit or two -in every country of Europe, to preach the crusade of Christianity and -to bring home to the world at large the price of war. There is no -material reward for this service, and even recognition is likely to be -posthumous; the courage required is of the fine kind that moves alone -over uncharted ground. But, just as a kingdom at war calls for men to -man the trenches and face annihilation with the smiling cheerfulness -that robs death of half its sting and all its terror, so a return of -peace calls for its heroes of thought to do battle with all the evils -that make it possible for men who have no quarrel to assemble in their -millions for mutual destruction. - -The whole system of government that makes these conditions and must be -indicted for them is rotten to the core, but it is enthroned in power, -and will not deal lightly, or even justly, with those who assail it. - -Against this hard truth we have to remember that every evil that has -been subdued since the dawn of history has been fought in the first -instance by one man or a handful of men. If we have only a small -proportion of thinkers to-day we have more than there were of old time, -when the simplest education was the advantage of the few. Paganism -was a more terrible force than militarism in the years of the advent -of Christ, and it was overthrown by the labours of one man and his -tiny following. To-day democracy is all powerful, if and when it can -be taught to open eyes and ears. Those who will undertake the perilous -task may make this war, whatever and whenever its termination, a -fruitful thing for the generations to come, while, on the other hand, -if the lessons are not read aright, we may look to pass from tragedy to -tragedy, until all civilisation is submerged. - - - - -III - -ENGLAND'S DRINK LEGISLATION - - -It is hard to pierce the thick cloud of cant in which, as a nation, -we are all too apt to shroud ourselves. I do not think we are -hypocritical, although that charge is laid to our door by all our -ill-wishers, but I do believe we are hopelessly conventional, and -seldom muster up the courage necessary to call a spade a spade. - -I have been re-reading of late, the endless comment upon the drink -legislation, some of it frankly inspired by publicans and sinners--I -mean distillers--some of it the pure outpouring of cranks, most of it -prejudiced, or uninformed, or both. We deplore drunken habits, but -when Sir Cuthbert Quilter tried to persuade Parliament to pass a Pure -Beer Bill he met with no success. The worst crimes against the person, -the common and criminal assaults on women and children, are largely -due to drink, and of this drink raw and crude spirits are the worst -part; but we do nothing to protect our poorer classes from the poison. -To introduce "square face" gin among the black population of some of -our possessions is a deadly offence, the punishment is heavy, swift, -and certain, but to poison the workers of our great manufacturing -centres is business, and many quite worthy people believe that "when -Britain first at Heaven's command arose from out the azure main" it was -to do business, and as much of it as possible. Naturally it follows -that the fight against cant is all the harder because most of us do -not recognise cant when we hear it. I remember how when temperance -legislation was first mooted as a war measure many friends who can -afford to buy pure French wines and spirits of great age and mellowness -solemnly assured me that temperance legislation is mere foolishness, -and that they themselves are living proofs that moderation, good -health, and a wise activity march hand-in-hand. - -But of late years a certain number of women of all classes have been -drinking more than is good for them, and since the war broke out the -working women's temptations in this direction and the opportunity to -indulge them have grown side by side. - -The majority of working women are as sober as the majority of every -class, but, though there are thousands of temperate women, they -are matched by thousands of intemperate ones, the number has grown -apace, and I feel they should be saved from themselves. The sober -classes cannot resent restriction. It leaves them where they were. The -intemperate classes may resent restriction, but it remains necessary in -their own interests. - -I don't suppose many people read Harrison Ainsworth's novels to-day, -but I remember a striking passage in "Jack Sheppard," where Mrs. -Sheppard justifies herself to her friend Wood, the carpenter, who has -told her that Gin-lane is the nearest road to the churchyard. It is -worth quoting-- - -"It may be; but if it shortens the distance and lightens the journey I -care not," retorted the widow.... "The spirit I drink may be poison--it -may kill me--perhaps it is killing me, but so would hunger, cold, -misery--so would my own thoughts. I should have gone mad without it. -Gin is the poor man's friend--his sole set-off against the rich man's -luxury.... When worse than all, frenzied with want, I have yielded to -horrible temptation and earned a meal the only way I could earn one ... -I have drunk of this drink and forgotten my cares, my poverty, and my -guilt." - -The working women whose husbands are at the war have many excuses. -They are deprived of their husbands, and--though there is no need -to emphasise the point it cannot be overlooked--their lives are a -drab monotony of toil, their surroundings are often of the most -unfavourable description, the only restraint that can reach them is -self-restraint, and their training has done little to provide it. The -public-house offers companionship, a brief surcease of anxiety, light -and warmth. Many are enervated by much child-bearing, worn out by much -house or factory work. They meet temptation and succumb, but let us -remember that in classes removed from the same form of temptation there -is no lack of intemperance. A very small dose of bad spirits is enough -to provide the cheap anodyne some are seeking, and under the influence -of drink they are apt to lose their self-respect. The craving for drink -grows with what it feeds on, and in all too many cases the hold upon -self-respect falters and is lost. We have sent very many men to the -war, but enough and more than enough remain behind to take advantage of -women who have lost all or even a part of their normal control. - -In touch with serious workers in many of the fields of endeavour that -make brief oases in the deserts of industrialism, I know that both -drink and prostitution have increased since war began, and I know -that drink is the great support of prostitution, and that thousands -of women of the class we must pity most have a natural sense of shame -that drink destroys. If the demons of ruin--gin and whisky--had not -been busy pouring gold into the national treasury, day by day and year -by year, they would have been exorcised long since. But business is -business, and the gentlemen whose activity corrupts the country can -always talk of freedom and liberty, and declare to thunders of applause -that Britons never shall be slaves. The possibility of being free to -be a slave to drink never occurs to them, or if it does they forget to -mention it. - -But while I welcome legislation that will tend to keep women sober, -and believe that our sex stands in need of more sobriety by reason of -its sedentary life, I am far from thinking that the law that is good -for women is necessarily good for man. The conditions are altogether -different. The self-respecting artisan and skilled worker drink less -than ever they did. The men who are doing the country's work to-day -in all the armament manufacturing areas need a stimulant, need it far -more than the prosperous City man, the real toper of our times. He will -drink champagne and whisky with his lunch, and, having had quite enough -of both, will damn the working classes for being given to the use of -intoxicants. I have been through some of those great works in the -north, where labour at and round the furnaces is unremitting, and where -to-day the pace has been increased to the extreme limit of physical -power. To preach temperance to the armament worker is an absurdity; if -he is not to be stimulated according to his needs his hours will need -to be greatly diminished; it is impossible for him to give out unless -he takes in. Why, in the name of all that is sensible, should he not -have that which will help him? Why should he have remained so long at -the mercy of cheap, vile spirits that are a more or less effective -poison? Why should he be at the mercy of the people who, having little -hard work to do, can thrive comfortably upon lemonade and barley water? -The manufacturers spare no pains to obtain the very finest material for -their own work; if it is necessary to spend a few or many thousands of -pounds upon new plant the money is forthcoming without a murmur. Does -it pass the wit of these sapient people to give to humanity a little of -the thought they give to raw material? Can they not see that the best -and purest drink that the new regulations permit is within reach of the -workers, and that the rest is out of reach? - -It has long been the custom of the capitalist class in normal times to -give the workman bad drink with one hand and to raise the other hand -with an expression of holy horror against the sin of drunkenness, quite -ignoring the truth that the quality, rather than the quantity, that -people drink is often the deciding factor--that every class drinks, -and that if the vice looks worse in one class than another it is -because the poorer the man or woman, the viler the alcohol supplied to -them. There are so many excellent people who preach temperance and live -on the dividends of drunkenness, there are so many who believe that a -reasonable excess in matters of drink is a form of manly virtue, and -there are yet more who believe honestly in moderation, and do not see -that their good brand of claret, burgundy, or brandy should be denied -to them, seeing they have never abused it. - -For myself, I drink a glass of good wine; failing that I am content -with pure water. If we could give our working classes nothing but the -best, and at a price within their means, I should look askance at -legislation, of whatever kind; but I recognise the old truth that the -destruction of the poor is their poverty, and that the working man -and woman have always been penalised, and will continue to be, until -Government recognises its responsibilities, and rides its supporters of -the drink trade with a very tight rein. - -Above all I feel that the new legislation that has first restricted -and then diluted the working man's drink must not be regarded as an -isolated instance, but as part of the vast changes that the war will -ensue. The working man will not forego his legitimate refreshment; it -is for the Government to see that it is pure and reasonably harmless. -Good beer in moderation will not hurt anybody; bad spirits are the -foundation of disease and crime, and, in their silent fashion, are -always fighting against the best interests of the State. Sometimes, -when I read that the perpetrator of some ghastly crime has been -sentenced to death or a long term of imprisonment, with all the pomp -and circumstance of our criminal courts, I find myself wondering what -poison was administered to him in some squalid public-house, and who -among those who rejoice that justice has been done, or vengeance -executed, have actually derived financial benefit from the drink that -turned a man into a beast. We punish the poor fool with a diseased -appetite, we confer some honour or reward upon the prime offender. Then -when our enemies say that we are hypocrites we are indignant because of -their injustice, or contemptuous of their ignorance, knowing as we do, -that God is in Heaven, and that business is business. - -Finally, and quite apart from the immediate significance of the -drink question, I rejoice in any legislation that will help the -working-classes to the full possession of their faculties. If drink -helps them to forget intolerable surroundings, insufficient pay, the -deprivation of their fair share of the world's beauties, let us be -glad that it is taken from them in its worst forms. They will see with -clear eyes and with wiser heads, they will no longer be at the mercy -of those who pander to their weakness in order to keep them weak. They -will enter upon the great struggle that lies before democracy with -stronger will and stronger armour. They have surrendered much of their -power to the public-house, and the longer its shutters are up the more -leisure they will have to see that there are better things in life, the -greater will be their determination to share them with the fortunate -classes. - -There is a time of trouble in store; they cannot be too well equipped -to meet it. - - - - -IV - -WAR AND MARRIAGE - - -The problem that faces a State when it sends its best and most virile -men to kill and to be killed has certain aspects that few have the -courage to handle. For long years, while Europe was an armed camp, the -claims of love were admitted amid the demands of war, but now that -the dreaded era--which each nation was hurrying through the medium -of extravagant armaments and secret diplomacy--has come upon us, we -are without a definite plan for securing the continuity of the best -elements in the race. If I thought that this appalling war were no -more than the prelude to others, I would pray that every woman might -be sterile, but hope, our last and eternal refuge against the ills -of life, suggests that this most terrible cataclysm will strengthen -the hands of democracy and give it the strength to resist further -sacrifices in years to come. While the grass grows the horse starves, -and while we think of the generation to come, thousands, hundreds of -thousands of Europe's best and bravest lie in their hasty graves, and -the cry of Mother Earth is still "they come." What has been done by our -rulers to see that the fittest shall leave behind them some to take a -share of the white man's burden? - -Very little. The men of the middle and upper classes who happened to -be engaged have in very many cases been wise and patriotic enough to -marry, and their wives have proved themselves as full of courage as of -love. In order to marry, men have often been obliged to pay the Church -an absurd tax, for the Church has shown itself quite inadequate to the -occasion, and trumpery restrictions, meaningless in times of peace and -a scandal in time of war, have not been relaxed. The poor man cannot -afford a special license, and in many instances has married without -the aid or sanction of the Church. As we know, the State decided to -recognise the unmarried wives of the nation's brave defenders, a -courageous and proper step that evoked the wildest protests from the -narrow-minded, the "unco guid," and the fanatics who believe that man -was made for morality rather than that morality was made for man. They -did not pause to reflect that our absurd and antiquated divorce laws -are the chief cause of illicit unions, and that divorce is hardly less -hard for the poor to obtain than are decent housing, warm clothing, -and nourishing food. Happily, in making this concession to the men -who are offering their lives to their country, the genius of red tape -contrived to assert itself. Hard though it may be to realise, it was -for some time a fact that, if a man home on leave married his unmarried -wife in order that his children might bear his name, his wife's -allowance ceased because he came under the head of those who married -after enlisting! The very quintessence of stupidity could have achieved -nothing finer. - -Unfortunately the majority of those at the front are unmarried. It was -considered sufficient to find them physically sound, to vaccinate and -inoculate them and then to send them to take their chance. The question -of the years to come was never considered. There is no department -of War Office or Admiralty that embraces eugenics. I have looked in -vain through the speeches of statesmen for a single recommendation -to our defenders to marry and leave behind them some pledge of their -affection, some asset for the real national treasury that does not -consist of gold, as is popularly supposed, but of vigorous men and -women as anxious to live for their country as they are willing to die -for it. To be sure every wife would have cost the country three pounds -a month for the term of the war, and this thought may have given our -prudent legislators pause; but I venture to suggest that a wife as a -national asset is cheap, even at that price. - -The balance has been redressed to some extent, in fashion at once -inevitable and unsatisfactory. The billeting of great masses of -virile young men in various centres throughout the country, and the -opportunities that the new life has afforded resulted in an increase -in the number of illegitimate births. I have heard of this from many -quarters, and have every reason to believe, in spite of denials, that -no district in which large numbers of soldiers have been gathered -together will prove an exception to the general rule. Whatever the -moral aspect of the question, it cannot be overlooked or ignored. -I deplore the promiscuity, though I believe that a wise and daring -statesmanship, ready to meet new conditions with new remedies, would -have avoided it; but I would like to plead for the foolish mothers, -often little more than girls, and for the babes, who in many instances -will never see a father's face. - -I am not urging humanity in place of morality, for most people lack the -moral courage to listen to such a plea; it is rather in the interests -of the State that I urge the proper, and even generous, treatment of -all those who, before this year is ended, will have entered the world -unwanted and unwelcomed. They will be the children of men in the first -flush of manhood, of men not lacking in courage and character (or they -would not have joined the colours), of men whose fault was that they -could not resist temptation in its least resistible form. We must think -of the psychology of the soldier who knows that in a few short weeks he -may be among the nameless dead, who has embarked upon the greatest of -all adventures, and says, "Let me rejoice and be merry, for to-morrow -I die." Doubtless in many cases he will return and marry the mother of -his child if fate permits, often he will not return, and a soldier's -death may well clear a soldier's name. - -It should not outrage morality to see that the children, whether they -be many or few, born of men gone to the front should be looked after by -the State where the mother is unable adequately to provide for them, -and it should be possible, too, in cases where the father returns and -marries the mother of his child, that such marriage should make the -offspring legitimate. It is not a large concession; in many European -countries, France included, marriage atones for previous indiscretions, -and if this were so in England there would be a much greater tendency -to regularise irregular unions for the children's sake. If nothing is -done hundreds of young mothers who succumbed to exceptional temptation -will be outcasts. Under the most favourable normal conditions, the lot -of the little one will be hard. When this hideous war is over, I would -like the regimental officers to put the facts fairly and squarely to -their men, to ask them to remember the girls they left behind them, and -to be able to assure them, in the name of the Government, that if they -would, on their return, marry the mother of their child, that child -would become _ipso facto_ legitimate. - -I am quite sure that many excellent people will find this plea immoral, -that they will say it is condoning irregular sex union, that it is -removing the burden from those who have transgressed. I deny these -suggestions even before they are made. To my mind there is more -immorality, more glaring offence to the Creator in one battlefield full -of dead and mangled humanity, than in all the illegitimate children who -will have come crying into our tear-stricken world before the war draws -to its end. Those who rule over Europe and, being unable to settle -their differences, sent millions of men, who have no quarrel, to deface -the earth and slaughter one another, are morally responsible for every -change in the normal life of mankind. Those who replenish the earth are -better than those who destroy it. - -War is a monstrous immorality that seeks to destroy the world; the -illicit unions, to which I refer in the interest of those who pay -the penalty--the mother and the child--are a minor immorality from -which, with a little care, a little loving-kindness, and a little -fore-knowledge, much good, much deep morality may spring. - -There is not much time to lose; there will be much opposition to -overcome, and the work of helping the helpless will be widely condemned -by those who, having no feelings, are always able to control them. -But the effort is worth making, and so I plead here, first, for ample -facilities for those who wish to marry before they go abroad; secondly, -for the legitimation of the children whose fathers, now at the war, -come back and marry the mothers, and, lastly, for some special care of -the mother and children themselves. - - - - -V - -NURSING IN WAR TIME - - -Abuses cling to a crisis as barnacles to a ship, and every aspect of -war has its own peculiar abuses. While millions do their duty with -quiet heroism, there is always a minority that takes advantage, that -corrupts others--or itself. Some believe that fraud and foolishness -stay at home, that they cannot approach the field of arms, but this is -far from being the case. - -My thoughts turn back to the South African war, when certain scandals -were supposed to have reached their zenith; I look around me to-day, -listen to the well-authenticated stories brought to me by relatives and -friends, and know that South Africa did not tithe the possibilities -of folly and excess. For once I am not pleading for my own sex, I -plead for one part of it against the other, for a majority against a -minority, for those who are doing what they are paid to do, against -those who are voluntary workers. The position comes a little strangely -to me when I look at it in this light, but the highly trained, -conscientious, painstaking hospital nurse, whose patient heroism -proclaims her a true follower of Florence Nightingale, has been exposed -to scandalous annoyance for no good purpose and to no useful end, and -I feel that I must plead her cause, since she is in the last degree -unlikely to plead it for herself. - -Society women of a certain class made themselves so notorious in the -military hospitals and elsewhere during the South African war that at -least one General threatened to send them home and another refused to -allow any more to come out. As soon as the greatest struggle of our -history started in August, 1914, certain women of means and position -proceeded as silently and unostentatiously as was possible under the -circumstances to equip hospitals and to set about their self-appointed -work. They laboured conscientiously and sought no more publicity than -was necessary to enable them to collect money from philanthropists and -friends. They did their best, some were already qualified by previous -experience, others acquired their knowledge under the most trying -conditions possible. They have worked since war began, well content to -"scorn delights and live laborious days," some who are near and dear to -me have said that they have well-nigh forgotten the old life and the -comforts they deemed indispensable only a little while ago. I think it -may be claimed for them that they have played a good part, and that in -helping others they have not sought to draw attention to themselves or -minimise the credit due to the trained sisterhood of love and pity that -cheers the wounded and comforts the dying as "The Lady with the Lamp" -taught them to do in the far-off days of the great Crimean struggle. -They have made many friends and no enemies; the hero of the trenches -and the assaulting party has not given more to his country, for both -have given their all, the man his strength, the woman her practical -sympathy, and both a high degree of physical and moral courage. - -Unfortunately there is in London to-day a very large company of young -women to whom war was little more than a new sensation. They are not -old enough to understand or young enough to be restrained. In normal -times they must be "in the movement," however foolish that movement may -be, and a war that staggers the old world and the new leaves them very -much where they were before. Under the rose they have not diminished -their aforetime gaiety, dances and dinner-parties have been the order -of the hour. They have not been trumpeted by the section of the Press -that delights in recording vain things, but those who view the currents -of London's social life know that I am writing the simple truth. There -is nothing to be said; let those laugh who may and can at such a -season, their laughter proclaims them what they are. - -Unfortunately the people I have in mind have not been content to devote -themselves to brainless frivolity because they must sample every -sensation that the seasons provide, they invaded the sanctuary of the -hospital nurse. Scores found their way to the great London hospitals -in town to face what they were pleased to regard as training; I have -known some who have danced till 3 a.m. and have presented themselves -at the hospital at 8 o'clock! Everybody knows that the training of -a real hospital nurse is a very serious matter, that it makes full -demand upon physical and mental capacity, and that a long period is -required to bring the seed of efficiency to flower or fruit. The -social butterflies made no such sacrifices; they acquired a trifling -and superficial knowledge of a nurse's work, and then set their social -influence to work in order to reach some one of the base hospitals -where they might sample fresh experience. If they were really useful -there it would be unkind to offer a protest, but the general opinion is -that they did more harm than good. They subverted discipline, they were -a law to themselves, they were too highly placed or protected to be -called to order promptly, they showed neither the inclination nor the -capacity for sustained usefulness. To sit at the end of a bed and smoke -cigarettes with a wounded officer does not develop the efficiency of a -hospital. - -One heard repeatedly in the early months of the war that this girl or -that had gone to the front, and one imagined devotion, self-sacrifice, -self-restraint, and a dozen kindred virtues. Unfortunately it is -chiefly in the realm of imagination that these virtues existed. For the -rest the interlopers wanted limelight, and plenty of it, their pictures -flooded the illustrated papers, and to read what was written of them -the inexperienced person might imagine that they were bearing the heat -and burden of the day, the solitude and anxiety of the night, while in -very truth they did no more than search for fresh sensation in an area -that should be sacred. - -The type of mind that can seek refuge from self and boredom in such -surroundings cannot be stricken into seriousness; tragedy cannot reach -it. To do a very minimum of work, to attach themselves to the most -"attractive" cases, to carry small talk, gabble and gossip into places -where so many come to die, these were the main efforts of the young -society nurses, and all these outrages were carried on for months on -end. The real nurses and sisters were, I am told, bitterly indignant. -They asked no more than to be left alone to do their best; but they -knew how hard it is to make an effective protest, and they had little -or no time to do so. They recognised by reason of their training, the -full motive of the excursion into the region of suffering; that craving -for excitement, or, in bad cases, erotomania was the motive power. They -found their work impeded by the sisterhood of impostors that responds -so readily to a fashion of its own making, and their chief hope was -that this sensation might pass as so many others have passed, and that -the brainless, chattering, thoughtless, empty company, tired of blood -and wounds, would find some paramount attraction nearer home. - -If there are any who are prepared to think I have overstated the case -or have traduced the young women who were lately "somewhere in France," -let them find out from their particular heroine how much time she gave -to training, how she received her appointment, and how much real hard -work she did day by day. That a few have striven hard and nobly I -would be the last to deny, but these are not enough either to leaven -or purify the mass or to elevate the action of a class that might have -been better employed. Let us remember, too, that suffering is always -with us, and that even when war is over there will be far too much in -all the great centres of our own country. Are these butterfly nurses -prepared to remember in the future the profession they invaded? Will -they respond to the calls that are made to help, not young, attractive -and valiant men, but men, women, and children in every phase of -helplessness and hopelessness? I do not think so. There is neither -notoriety nor limelight in the sober, serious life of the hospital -nurse and sister. Above all there is a hard and necessary discipline -that calls for much moral courage to render it tolerable. Physical -courage is seldom lacking either in men or women who are well-bred, and -it may be freely granted that a certain measure was demanded even of -the butterfly nurses; but there is no redemption in this. To savour the -full sense of life without courage is impossible. One might as readily -make an omelette without breaking eggs. In this case it is courage -misdirected, energy misspent. - -I feel very strongly about this scandal--so strongly that I have not -hesitated to write what is bound to offend some of my own friends; but -there are times when it is impossible to be silent if one would live -on tolerable terms with one's self. I feel that in these days woman is -called upon to make supreme sacrifices, that what she is giving even -now is less than will be required of her later on, that her war record -and her record when peace is about to return will be scanned closely -and critically by generations of really free women yet unborn. To know -of a blot upon woman's war-time service record and to make no attempt -to erase it is impossible. The record of the real nursing sisterhood is -brilliant in the extreme. Why should it be obscured for the sake of a -few highly placed and foolish young women who sought with the minimum -of labour to make the maximum of effect? It is unjust, ungenerous, and -altogether unworthy of the representatives of families that in many -cases have earned their ample honours legitimately enough. - -Great Britain owes more than it can ever repay to the nursing -sisterhood; and it is intolerable that while their silent heroism -passes with so little recognition, any girl of good family who assumes -a uniform she has not won the right to wear should pose as the -representative of a sisterhood she is not worthy to associate with, of -whose tradition she is ignorant, of whose high discipline and complete -restraint she is intolerant. There are three classes of women in our -midst. The first earns reward and claims it, the second earns reward -and does not claim it, the last claims reward and does not earn it. Of -these classes the real nurse belongs to the second, and the butterfly -sisterhood to the third. At such a season as this there is no room in -our midst for the last, and it would be well for us all if authority -could spare a moment from manifold activities firmly and ruthlessly to -suppress its future activities. The hardship involved would be of the -slightest and the benefit serious and lasting. - - - - -VI - -TWO YEARS OF WAR--WOMAN'S LOSS AND GAIN - - -The long-drawn-out agony of strife is now two years old and, as each -day adds its tale of slaughter to the incalculable total, we women may -pause in our war work for a moment and endeavour to estimate our own -position. We are no longer as we were, "like Niobe, all tears." Niobe, -if I remember rightly, taunted the gods, and for this offence all her -children were taken from her. We women did nothing to cause our own -misfortune; on the contrary, we strove in our little way to promote -peace, and to that end, above many others, we sought a hearing in the -councils of the nations. - -But it was not to be. Our claims were ridiculed or ignored, and now -man-made war has swept over Europe like a blight, and we are left to -aid our country through the day and to mourn, when the long day's -work is done, for our fathers and brothers, our husbands and sons. -Yet perhaps the worst is not with those who mourn. The Immortals can -sport with them no longer. When the last of Niobe's twelve children had -passed, the limits of Latona's vengeance were reached. To have killed -the mother too had been a kindness. - -The woman whose son or husband has been snatched from her knows the -fullness of sorrow, but anxiety for their fate must pass her by, while -those of us whose loved ones are on the battlefield would hardly hope -for a moment's peace of mind if it were not for the duties that engage -our working hours and sometimes earn dreamless sleep. In a wonderful -procession that tramped through muddy London under the rain a year ago -I saw a great petition by women for the means not only to serve, but to -forget. - -After all, this claim to national service is no more than was advanced -in the old days when access to the heads of the Government was barred -and the hooligans of a great city were allowed to give full rein to -their impulses. Then our rulers thought they could dispense with women, -to-day we are recognised as indispensable. That is all, but it is very -much, and it sets me the question that is the title of this brief -paper--What has woman lost and what has woman gained? - -She has lost much that was dearest to her, much that life is powerless -to replace. All the springs of her being have nourished the love that -she has given to her dear ones, to the man who was her choice, to -the son who fed upon her life. In many cases she has lived almost -entirely in her children, for the ties that bind her to the active -pleasures of life grow weak in conflict with the powers of maternity. -She has forgotten the brief years in which she lived for herself and -savoured all the sweets of existence, she has lived in her children, -happy chiefly in their happiness, ambitious only for their future and -concerned with the struggle for the freedom of her sex less on account -of her own generation than on account of that which is to follow. It -is woman's _rôle_ to give, it is man's _rôle_ to take, and custom has -staled for him the infinite variety of his taking. And now he has taken -so much that made life worth living that she seeks an anodyne for her -grief in giving him all that is left to give, the labour of her hands. - -This is not only true of the women of England, it applies equally to -the women of every belligerent country, friend and foe alike, and it -may be said that between the women of the world there is a common -sacrifice and a common sympathy. All have suffered, all must continue -to suffer, on a scale that this old world of ours, with all its crimes -and tragedies beyond number and beyond belief, cannot parallel. It is -this truth that steadies our nerves and strengthens our hearts and sets -us looking, past the ultimate sacrifice, to what may lie beyond, not -for ourselves but for others. - -All that we have has been taken or is being demanded of us. Is there in -all the world something to which we may look forward with confidence, -something that may justify hope? I think there is. Without any sense -of pride we may claim that woman has at least vindicated the claims -she advanced in those peaceful days that seemingly lie so far behind -us. She claimed that she was worthy to play her part in the conduct -of national life, that she was in very truth indispensable to it; she -was told, by brutal word or brutal deed, that her ambitions outran her -capacities. One year of war has given the lie to this assertion. Woman, -even before the coming of compulsion, encouraged her dearest to go, -if needs be, to their death, in a war for which she has no shadow of -responsibility before God or man. Conventions, agreements, treaties, -alliances, in all these things she has no share, but as soon as they -materialise in war she must pay the heaviest price. - -The excitement and glory of a struggle in which the fighter feels that -he has surrendered his life to high causes is not for her, she must be -content with the pale reflex or with the tragedy. In her heart she may -know that man incurs the penalties of his ambitions or bad diplomacy or -unpreparedness for upheaval; but those penalties press heavier on women -than on men, for, even granting that the love of husband for wife and -wife for husband be equal, yet the passion of a mother for her child -and her grief when he is snatched from life in the hours when life is -unfolding all its possibilities, is something beyond the strength of -man to grasp. - -But woman has not failed on account of her griefs, she has strangled -them--or she has tried to with all the strength that has been given to -her--and she has gone out into the market-place and said, "What more -do you require of me? Ask and I will give, direct and I will obey." -Hers has been the supreme sacrifice, and now at the moment when all -that seemed worth striving for had passed, she sees suddenly a fresh -horizon, the Pisgah view of the Promised Land. - -She realises that man is at last beginning to understand and even to -acknowledge her place in the world, that the future cannot repeat the -errors of the past, that the day-dawn of her emancipation is visible. -This war, reconciling so many differences, rebuking so much pride and -bringing so many men and women face to face for the first time in their -life with life's actualities, has united all workers, irrespective -of class or sex. It is seen now that woman has a part to play in the -conduct of the State, and that there are spheres of activity in which -women might and must work for the common good. She and man together -must build up a new civilisation out of the wrecks of the old one, -not only here but throughout the strife-stricken world. Old barriers, -time-worn prejudices, a blind conservatism--what part have these in the -mental attitude of nations freed from overwhelming peril? - -The soul of my sex would be as desolate to-day as the ruined cities of -Belgium, Poland, and Servia, were it not for the certain knowledge that -our sacrifice has not been made in vain. We have the right to hope that -our share in the work of the world is to be acknowledged at last, and -that the spheres of our activity are to be widened. In this way, and -only thus, we shall be able, in years that have yet to be, to influence -thought and to influence action, to bring a humanizing note into the -great chord of life. We shall strive through the sisterhood of women -towards the brotherhood of man, and we shall be working among those who -will be able to see for themselves what one-sided rule and one-sided -domination have done for progress and civilisation after their slow -ascent to a position that at best left so much to be desired. - -The women of my generation will sow where they may not hope to reap, -but there is nothing new for woman in this experience. It is her -mission in this world to sacrifice herself, from the hour when she -accepts motherhood until the end. Her happiness is derived from the -contemplation of the happiness of others, she lives in the new lives -with which she renews the world. She will leave contentedly to others -the prizes for which she laboured in years of peace and suffered -through the season of war. It will be sufficient for her dimly to -foresee the time when those who have replaced her will give birth -to sons with no more pangs than Nature demands, and give birth to -daughters in the belief that they will not be widowed or fatherless or -childless through catastrophes of man's own making. - -So it seems to me, looking back at the cruel record of two years, -that woman, for all her losses, has gained, that what she has lost is -matter for her private sorrow, and what she has gained is matter for -universal joy. She has found the uses of adversity, she has accepted -self-sacrifice for the sake of those who will be the better able to -enjoy the rich fruits of life. In this knowledge she will labour, for -the sake of this truth she will persevere with a confidence in the -future that no shifting tides of chance can shake. And her watchword in -the coming year is, Hope. - - - - -VII - -CHILD LABOUR ON THE LAND - - -It is a commonplace that war brings in its train evils without number, -but there are certain ills that are added to the inevitable ones either -by greed of gain, indifference to progress or a determination to make -profit at the expense of the State. We have in our midst at all times -certain people who are concerned only with their own ends, and who -regard all the means to those ends as legitimate. War time reduces the -measure of restraint that the common sense of the community imposes -upon its greedier members. They find and seize their hour when normal -conditions are upset. It would be easy to multiply instances, but in -writing this paper I am concerned with one only--the employment of -children on farms. - -To the average man who does not know a swede from a turnip or the -difference between sainfoin and clover this is a small matter; to those -of us who know the land and its problems, who administer estates large -or small, who are morally if not legally responsible for the happiness -and well-being of village communities, it is a tragedy. - -I can remember hearing my elders talk of the bad old days when the -gang system prevailed all over England. The ganger was a contractor of -irregular labour. He would enter a district in charge of his wretched -company of men, women, and children, and would supply their labour at -fixed rates to the farmer who needed it. He charged so much a day for -each hand; he saw to it that one and all did their full day's work. -They were fed abominably, housed in barns and out-houses, and lived in -a promiscuity that would revolt a gipsy. At last even the thick-skinned -countryside could endure the abomination no longer, and the "ganger" -disappeared. It took years for the Legislature to discover that, apart -from the cruelty involved in the custom, it was creating fresh material -for gaols and asylums, that children needed education rather than field -labour, that the mothers could not combine maternity with hard work in -the fields, that if you deprive people of the means of living decently -they will revert to the state of savagery. - -The agricultural labourer's struggle has not been limited to the land. -He has been fighting for years to raise his miserable wage. When I -was a girl it was about a shilling a day with "small beer" of the -farmer's brewing thrown in. It is about 3_s._ 6_d._ a day now; but -against this the price of necessities has gone up between 50 and 100 -per cent. Saving is impossible, and even the old age pension that -lightens the evening of his long day hardly avails to keep him from -the workhouse--unless he has a wife of equal age or children who, out -of their tiny means, will render a little assistance. He lives in a -cottage that, if often picturesque, is nearly always overcrowded; -his food and clothing are of the roughest, and for holidays he has -Christmas Day and the wet weather, when he may sit at home--at his own -expense--for when there is no work there is no pay. But he lives in -hope; and sometimes he goes on strike, to the disgust and indignation -of his employer, and his children have been getting a better chance in -life than he had. They are supposed to be kept at school until they are -fourteen. He was rook scaring at the ripe age of ten for a penny a day. - -Rural education is a poor thing enough. Children may have to walk -two miles or more, in all weathers, to the village school. Their -father cannot afford to buy them good boots or a water-proof coat; it -is beyond his means to give them nourishing food, and so help them -to fight the diseases of childhood; but he feels that something is -being done for them, and, as a rule, he does nothing to make them -wage-earners before their time. Now they are taken from school two -years before an age that the trade unions hold to be insufficient; -they are sent on the land to work for a wage of eighteen pence a -day, in any weather, on any soil, without the proper clothing and -with insufficient food. There they will undersell the rural labour -market, they will be robbed of their childhood, they will go without -supervision at a time when they need it most. And the Bumbles of our -Education Councils have nodded thick, approving heads. - -It is hard to write patiently of such retrograde devices, put forward, -as all such proposals are, in the name of the country's needs. If -these needs be genuine, which I doubt, if there be no adequate supply -of female labour to be obtained for a fair price, why should the -children of our poorest, the little ones whose physique has never been -strengthened by sufficient nourishing food and by the hygiene of the -home, be called upon to bear the burden single-handed? Why should not -Eton and Harrow, Rugby, Marlborough, Winchester, and other schools -without number, serve the national need? The lads at these expensive -establishments can at least complete their education after the war, -they can carry health and strength to the fields, they can acquaint -themselves at first hand with the realities of labour, a knowledge -that, with the changing times ahead, will be valuable to many of -them who will inherit land in days to come. Will the farmers who -are sending to the fields the half-grown children of their ill-paid -labourers contribute their own to work by their side? I am sure that -the mere suggestion will rouse the wildest indignation; but all the -children, whatever their advantage or disadvantage, are British -citizens, and it is not too much to suggest that those who have a stake -in the country should at least do as much as those for whom fortune -provided no birthright. Let us be democratic in deeds as well as words. -I am quite sure that, if the doubtful privilege extended to the rural -labourer's children were conferred at the same time upon the children -of all patriots, the councils would expunge their fatuous resolutions -from their minute books; they would make all possible haste to forget -them. - -But it may be urged that, in pleading for the children, I have -overlooked the crying needs of the countryside, that I am ignorant of -the real need for labour to deal with the increased area of the corn -and for the late-sown spring crops, for it is clear that, as soon as -the proposal for universal child labour is made, the scheme falls to -the ground. - -I am well aware of the existing conditions--what landlord is not?--and -I have a remedy for them. It is not a popular one, but I am not -searching for popularity. In spite of the genuine sacrifices that have -been made by many classes of the community, much more remains to be -done. We have all over the country racing stables full of lads who -cannot go to the war and of men who have passed serviceable age. Hard -work in the fields from April to the time the last corn is under the -stack thatch would do them all the good in the world, and, with some -knowledge of all classes of horses, I believe that horses would survive -and the superiority of the British sires would not be lost. - -Having depleted the racing stables, even at the cost of reducing the -number of race meetings, I would turn my attention to the golf clubs: -their name is legion. What an army of "ineligible" caddies might be -recruited for the fields and given the chance of earning a living -intelligently! I go so far as to hint that thousands of the elderly -gentlemen who still pursue the golf ball might find more useful -occupation in ministering to the country's genuine needs. - -Let me pass from one monstrous suggestion to another. I would enroll -the gamekeepers and the gillies; for once I would leave the wild -pheasants to breed as they will and the grouse to work out their own -salvation. A desperate remedy, but then our disease is dangerous. We -need corn even more than pheasants, and other game birds can look after -themselves. There might be an epidemic of poaching, in which case I -would sentence every poacher to three months' hard labour--on the -land. We have in this country to-day hundreds, I might say thousands, -of sturdy middle-aged men who are now following occupations that, while -they are perfectly reasonable in times of peace, are superfluous, even -derogatory, to-day. - -There is yet another class that can be mobilised to serve the country's -need. I would like to see the last remaining footmen and the valets of -middle age allowed to enjoy a summer of useful activity. They, too, -may be in their right place at normal times; now their country needs -them more than their masters do. A little hardship would be involved, -but I do not believe there are many employers of superfluous or -ornamental labour who would, if the matter were put before them fairly -and temperately, place their own petty comforts before the country's -need for food. We hope and believe that we may rely upon our Fleet to -feed us, but why should we run risks? No war is won until it is lost, -and if by ill-fortune we experienced a shortage, I do not think that -the owners of racing stables, the renters of shooting and fishing, the -members of golf clubs and the employers of men servants could acquit -themselves of a serious responsibility. If all these sources of supply -are tapped, and it is still found that the supply of labour in the -fields is inadequate to the nation's needs, let us proclaim a national -holiday in all the schools of the country, and let the high and the low -born, the rich and the poor, seek the fields together. But until all -sources of adult labour have been exhausted let us spare the little -ones, and in any case let us see that those whose share of the good -things of life is smallest are not called upon to endure trials and -make sacrifices that we would shrink from demanding of our own children. - - - - -VIII - -COMRADES - - -In times when national emotion is deeply stirred it is possible for -the close observer to get a glimpse of the main trend of thought. -Just as a feather will show the direction of the wind, a word may -show the direction of a man's mind. It is on this account that I was -deeply moved and greatly stimulated of late by hearing that as the -gallant Frenchmen attack the enemy their rallying cry is "Camarades, -Camarades!" This is one of the most beautiful words in any language, -it is the one by which a nation may rise to the height of its greatest -achievement, whether in clearing its beloved land of a hated enemy or -clearing its administration of the abuses from which no administration -is free. One hardly dares to think of what the world might be like -to-day if war had not been needed to establish the wonderful unity the -word bespeaks. - -There is not on all the earth a more democratic army than that of -France, and to-day it is a perfect union, a veritable brotherhood. From -the highest General to the humblest "piou-piou" there is but one aim, -one ideal, prince and peasant pursue it to the end. One and all know -that if success is to be achieved against heavy odds, it is by the -help of the real brotherhood, the feeling that the accidents of birth -and fortune do not count any longer, that "a man's a man for a' that." -Other countries have caught a glimpse of the truth, our own among the -number, but it needed French clarity of vision to recognise the truth -and crystallise it in a word--a simple word with the mystic number of -letters and so powerful that, when it becomes the rallying cry in times -of peace for all civilised nations, the evils under which men and women -labour will be swept away like chaff before wind. - -For many years past I have been convinced that the enemies of mankind -are not men. Ignorance, poverty, greed, vice, disease, these are the -foes that prey upon all communities, and while those who foster them -are of no brotherhood, those who would combat them need no more than -brotherhood in order to overcome. War, in which a man makes the supreme -surrender, in which he discounts the terror of death and makes purposes -splendid by his devotion, reveals the truth even to those who have -never thought before. Will brotherhood survive war, or does it need the -exaltation born of the greatest of world tragedies to open a nation's -eyes--and keep them open? - -The history of our civilisation depends upon the answer to this -question. Nothing less than brotherhood will enable the nation to face -the widespread poverty that already exists, but will not be recognised -until peace is restored. There will be very little money left in the -countries of combatant nations, and there will be very many needs. The -care of the wounded, the maimed and the helpless, provision for the -widows and the children of war will come first. Then there are the -schools; nothing is more vital to the future generation than education, -and few great claims are more in danger of a grudging treatment. - -There are two ways of handling a nation's affairs, one is to make the -rich richer at the expense of the poor, the other is to make the poor -less poor at the expense of the rich. The peaceful solution of the -whole problem is found in the battle call of our gallant Allies. If we -are "camarades, bons camarades!" we can endure our national privations -and scarcely feel them, for we shall all be in the same boat, and it -is not poverty that galls but the contrast between poverty and wealth. -Down to the time when war began this contrast was ever present, it was -becoming one of the great dangers of our time; it has not disappeared -to-day, but it is far less noticeable, and as we continue to spend -between thirty and forty million pounds a week on war, the cases of -contrast will tend to grow less and less. I look for the time when men -and women will find it as distressing to flaunt riches as the poor find -it to display the outward and indisputable signs of poverty. One does -not envy even now the state of mind that enables a man to say that he -is "doing very well out of this war." - -Among "comrades" such a thing would be impossible, the only excuse for -making money out of national misfortune is to be found in its wise -distribution to alleviate the suffering that war renders inevitable. To -amass wealth from the country's needs, to spend it on purely personal -ends, to allow an orgie more terrible than the Black Death to fill -private coffers, this surely is the negation of brotherhood, and those -who do it are the outcasts of civilisation, even though they purchase -palaces and peerages and every honour that unscrupulous Governments -vend in semi-privacy. How will the men who have thrown their lives into -the scale tolerate the men who trafficked in the necessities of life, -or the implements of death, and demand the high places as a reward for -successful huckstering? They will not lightly reckon them in the ranks -of the "comrades"; in a world founded on brotherhood there will be no -place for them. If there be a place in the near future perhaps it will -be the nearest lamp-post. Stranger things have happened. - -Sometimes I think we could afford to lose this war, or, at least, not -to win it, if the Frenchman's battle call could become the rallying -cry of all parties and all grades in this country. Much as I loathe -war and all it stands for, I feel that an instant victory would have -been very bad for us, while a success won by waiting must at least -purge our national life of the grosser elements. The mingling of high -and low, of rich and poor, the price of strife demanded of each and -all, the community wrought by suffering and by heavy loss, all these -things are salutary for a nation grown plethoric by prosperity. It will -not greatly matter if we lose half the world and gain our own souls, -for the simple reason that an England wide-eyed, clean-limbed, and -efficient could yet achieve and retrieve, while an England besotted -by sloth and bemused by riches can only endure until the advent of a -stronger and more determined race. - -Whatever our destiny, whatever the future holds in store, we shall -be happy indeed if we can face difficulties, dangers, privation, or -supreme victory with the cry of "Comrades!" When war came, this country -was fast sinking towards civil strife, drifting for lack of the spirit -of good fellowship. A few masters, innumerable men, industry organised -into limited liability companies that the human touch, the community -between employer and employed, might cease, the wealth of the country -divided on lines that gave 90 per cent. to a tenth of the population -and divided the remaining one-tenth of the wealth between 90 per cent. -of the people who create it,--these conditions were making for a social -upheaval of bloodiest kind. Education starved, an infant mortality -greater than the present waste of war, discontent, ill-feeling, class -hatred, all these things were, all these things may be again, but not -if the cry of "Comrades!" is taken up. - -Whether we win or lose, I see civil unrest inevitable, for this war has -sounded the death-knell of the old industrial, social, and political -conditions. Nothing within the range of possibility can leave us just -where we are, and worse than the struggle with an enemy is the struggle -with a friend. Though I hold all war to be fratricidal, yet civil war -must ever remain the worst form of it. As soon as the old problems -force their way again to the fore the danger of civil strife becomes -imminent, and let us remember that the working classes that come back -from war will have forgotten what fear means. It seems to me that -salvation lies in the Frenchman's fighting cry, that in giving his -brothers a lead he has offered a lead to civilisation. He has shown us -how to make the inevitable changes peacefully. - -Idealism is out of fashion to-day because--let us not burke the -truth--our idealists were deceived about Germany's intentions, and -those in high places unconsciously misled the people. Yet let us cling -to our ideals, for they may prove our best possession, and let us -realise that the cry of "Comrades!" may, as years pass and the old -bitterness dies away, extend across frontiers and bind in a common -brotherhood the sons of the men who sought to destroy one another. Such -is the potency of a word that revivifies life, laughs at wounds and -disarms death. It sums up the aspirations of the greatest reformers -and social workers of old time, of the men, from John Ball to William -Morris, who strove for England. Only the French people, with their -innate sense of selection, could have picked upon a word that can sum -up the best of the ideals of the human race. We are their debtors for -it, and there is no nobler way of paying the debt than by developing -the cry until it resounds from one end to the other of our Empire. It -will renew our youth, it will destroy many of the old evils that were -even worse than war, it will realise the ambitions of men who lived and -died for England in times of peace, when there is no reward for social -heroism other than the consciousness of a supreme effort made on behalf -of people one may never see, people who will never understand. - -If the future of the world is with sane, wide-eyed democracies; if man -is to be free to do the world's work and develop human destiny without -turning aside at the bidding of kings and rulers; if humanity, with its -common lot and destiny, is to develop the spirit of brotherhood that -makes life beautiful,--we could have no finer rallying cry than France -has offered. I do not believe that the country capable of originating -and responding to it can be beaten by sheer weight of numbers; I -feel that it is one of the world's assets, and that somewhere in the -background the Great Force we strive to comprehend, and, comprehending, -to worship, will guard it against ultimate defeat. To doubt this -were to believe that the race is to the swift and the battle to the -strong, and that the man who can invent the most efficient machinery -can dominate God's world. Such a belief is to me the most unpardonable -form of atheism. This world was not made, was not populated, was not -instructed, that soulless machinery might hold it in thrall at last. -The French know this, hence the battle cry that thrills me as I write. - - - - -IX - -THE CURSE OF AUTOCRACY - - -In the great gale that sweeps over Europe the few rags that hide the -nakedness of monarchy flutter like scarecrows; I find myself watching -for the gust that will reveal to the gaze of the least discerning what -a dangerous and ridiculous thing the bare bones of kingship have become. - -England has filed the teeth of the serpent, it can bite no more--the -phrase is Swinburne's not mine. We keep our kings as we keep the -Regalia in the Tower, well housed and well looked after, and -between the ruler and the ruled there is a pleasant, but indefinite -relationship. Kingship for us is the focus of patriotism and loyalty, -but we should not go to war because the house of Guelph were jealous of -the house of Hapsburg, or on bad terms with the house of Hohenzollern. - -Those German pundits who believe that King Edward made the Anglo-German -war have never grasped our national attitude toward monarchy, or King -Edward's ungrudging recognition of the merits of the German people. - -With us monarchy is an abstraction, very little more. - -There was a time when it was supposed to be the fountain of honour, but -politicians have fouled the waters so much and have bought and sold -honours so unblushingly that modern royalty would be a little ashamed -to father so large an illegitimate progeny. A business nation, we have -a fixed price for everything. We pay our kings so much a year, and if -they exceeded their allowance the State would hesitate to make up the -deficit. Baronies, baronetcies, knighthoods and the rest have their -fixed price, generally, though not invariably, payable to the party -whips who consider themselves morally bound to deliver the goods. - -When we were on the brink of war in 1914, M. Poincaré wrote a touching -letter to King George, such as an old-time king might have sent -to a brother sovereign. King George signed a reply that has been -published--one would wager that nothing save the signature involved his -heart or his pen. It was no more than the letter of a greatly harassed -minister who was trying to think while he balanced himself on a high -and unstable fence. Here was ample evidence that all who run might read -of the final surrender of the monarchy, and incidentally, of the desire -of England to maintain peace. - -Nobody wants more than the shadow of kingship in this country. -Everybody with more than the most perfunctory knowledge of history -has realised that half the wars of the world have been fought for -the gratification of kings, and most of the others have been waged -in the name of religion, i.e. to demonstrate the superiority of one -orthodoxy over another. Slowly, and at such a sacrifice as the world -may well shudder to contemplate, we have come within sight of the end -of religious strife. There remain wars of kingship, the present one is -little more than that. - -Down to a few years ago the old gates were still standing at Temple Bar -to divide the City from Westminster. At Warwick Castle the drawbridge -is still raised every night. In some of the cities of Southern Spain -watchmen, armed with spears and oil lamps, still proclaim the time of -night and the state of the weather. The "Miracle" of the Sacred Fire -remains an annual spectacle at Eastertide in the Church of the Holy -Sepulchre that is in Jerusalem. - -The world, as though conscious of the ugliness of so much that is -modern, still clings to old customs and institutions even when they are -absurd. That is why autocratic kingship survives. - -The house of Hapsburg has been ruling in Europe since the thirteenth -century; in Germany as well as Austria for part of the time; the -rule of the Hohenzollerns dates from 1871. A German, Count Berthold, -is said to have originated in the eleventh century the house of Savoy -that governs Italy. In Spain we find the ubiquitous Hapsburgs and the -Bourbons sharing rule. A Hohenzollern is in Rumania, and on the distaff -side in Greece. A Princess of the Hohenzollern house was the mother of -King Albert of Belgium; Ferdinand of Bulgaria has Coburg and Bourbon -blood. - -A system of inter-marriage has retained power in the hands of a few -houses, but nature is ill-disposed toward inbreeding and has scourged -the cunning of kings with insanity and disease. While democracy has -grown in stature and in vision, while it has been claiming its own -place in the sun, the small privileged class has diminished physically, -mentally, morally, but still clings desperately to place. There are a -few brilliant exceptions, Albert of Belgium for example, but Hapsburgs, -Hohenzollerns, Coburgs, and Bourbons are, generally speaking, no longer -qualified from any standpoint to rule the destinies of free peoples. -They are a little better than well-connected anachronisms, avid of the -power that is passing from them and ready to offer any sacrifice that -their subjects are capable of making in order that their time-tarnished -prestige may shine again. - -The wishes of their people are the last thing to be considered -by autocratic monarchs. They will not stand in the scale against -the interests of their relatives, and in the courts of Europe it -is hard to find a ruler who is not a cousin of some sort to all -his fellow-sovereigns. Jealousy, ambition, ill report, dyspepsia, -disease, dementia, any one of these evils if it be backed by greed, -may avail to plunge innocent nations into the hell of war. Forces -that sway a republic are powerless in an absolute monarchy or in one -where servility and orthodoxy strive hand in hand. There are few -European rulers who have half the sagacity of the chief advisers -whom they may override at will. They are not as a rule men and women -of great culture, few if any have ideas that belong of right to the -twentieth century, their function has outgrown them, and the reverence -they demand and receive is founded very largely upon ignorance and -superstition. - -To plunge Europe into war for purely personal ends has always seemed -in the eyes of kings a reasonable action. Frederick the Great admitted -that he started the Seven Years' War by stealing Silesia from Austria -for "glory," and the records of Spain and Austria are full of similar -crimes. - -Now that Europe has been shaken from base to summit, will the sober -manhood of the twentieth century allow the present system to endure? - -On the other hand, I see a great movement toward giving kingship -a fresh lease of life, toward perpetuating secret diplomacy and -developing clericalism. But men who have stood face to face with the -living God should decide to worship henceforth after the inclination -of their own hearts. Elderly gentlemen of conservative tendencies are -already writing to warn the public that, however awful the chaos now -prevailing, democratic rule would have made it worse. I welcome such -warnings, for they are a proof that the upholders of tradition are at -last aware of the slippery places over which they must so shortly tread. - -If the democracy can see the truth, if its eyes refuse to be dazzled -by flags, medals, and uniforms and its ears will convey each plausible -speech to the brain for sober analysis, this war will not have been -waged in vain. - -I hold in all seriousness that it is a strife of kings. Gladstone -once asked anybody to tell him how the Austrian Empire had been of -any service to humanity. The aggregation of uncongenial nationalities -has been kept together for the greater glory of the effete house of -Hapsburg, a house whose true history, even since Kaiser Franz Josef -came to the throne, could not be printed. The genius of the German -people, their magnificent education, stern discipline, tireless -industry and full nurseries were conquering both hemispheres, but that -was not sufficient. Unless the German could pay tribute to the house of -Hohenzollern and increase the Imperial prestige, progress was an egg -without salt to the palate of the Potsdam hierarchy. - -The fruits of forty years of labour and a generation of child-bearing -were flung into the scale that the Hohenzollerns might stand more -directly in the limelight. - -The people whose blood was to be spilt, whose wives were to be widowed, -whose wealth was to be squandered, were wilfully deceived and were -driven to war as the Pharaohs drove their warrior-slaves. - -Their awakening must come, and with it let us hope a further accession -of strength to the Social Democracy that is the best hope of Germany. - -We know that neither England nor France desired war, that Russia, -whatever her interest in the great Slav-Teuton controversy, was not -ready for it, and the worst to be said of the Allied Powers is that, -conscious of an enormous menace, they united to destroy it. But every -thinking man knows that without the ambitions of a few soldiers, -statesmen (so-called), and officials this war had never come about. - -I have often compared the position of republics with that of -monarchies and have cited the American Republics. The United States -live in peace, even the South American States, with their mixed -population, their Spanish, Portuguese, German and Italian blood, are -seldom found long at strife. - -Royalists have spoken to me glibly about the corruption that is said -to be inherent in republics. It is about the only charge they can -formulate, and the reply is obvious. In republics corruption is hard -to hide, it comes to the surface and is visible to all. In monarchies -corruption, no less rife, is hard to expose; all the avenues to light -and free speech are closed. - -Your republic brings character and brains to the top; your monarchy -makes statesmen of courtiers and sycophants, men who will bow the knee -to the Baal of the hour. - -A republic is open to the air of heaven. A monarchy is a garden -enclosed, richer in rank weeds than flowers. If Germany had been a -republic, the Social Democrats could have learned the truth and acted -upon it; had Austria been a republic, giving equal voice to all the -interests it affects to represent, sympathy with the Slavs would have -kept the rulers from their disastrous attempt to reduce Serbia to the -status of a vassal kingdom. - -Kings have served their time. The ruler who rode to war at the head of -his troops, who could handle the heaviest sword or battle-axe, who was -both the ruler and judge of his people, belongs to a bygone era. His -last _raison d'être_ passed with the era of industry and rapid transit. -He became an anachronism when people began to realise that life is a -gift to be wisely used, and that racial antagonisms may be cured or -dispersed by close relationship. It is for kings and for kings alone -that millions of men who have no real quarrel have slaughtered one -another under conditions of horror that make description inadequate. -Until we understand that simple truth that the natural inclination -of civilised man is to live on friendly terms with his neighbour in -spite of all divisions of boundaries, whether of place, blood, or -religion, civilisation will be rendered null. Kings have ceased to -represent their people; the time has come when the people can represent -themselves. - -Unhappily they do not yet recognise their own power, and nothing is -farther from the wishes of Europe's tottering dynasties than that they -should do so. Education, their first aid to emancipation, has been -grudgingly conceded. Representation is in its infancy and is hedged -round with so many safeguards to royalty that in many countries it is -still struggling for effective existence. For all our brave talk Europe -is still in its first youth, but the tragedy through which we are -passing may yet serve to stimulate its growth as surely as the blood -shed on its fields will yield return in the fruits of the earth. - -Will democracy rise from the conflict not only strong but determined? -Will it carry destruction to the source of destruction? Will it assert -its inalienable right to the fruits of peace, progress, and utility? -I pray that it may, but I do not disguise from myself the enormous -difficulty of the task. Demos is yet so unskilled, so easily flattered, -so readily deceived, he will be met by men who have all the traditions -of humbug at their finger tips; indeed, these traditions are almost -their sole inheritance and equipment. - -Yet, "all that a man hath will he give for his life," and the democrat -will not only be fighting for his own but for his children's lives and -for the well being of the human race. He will have faced death, and -will have realised that though man may die but once, the condition -of rule that makes war possible makes the doom recurrent with every -generation. He should know that the old traditions of rule are in the -melting pot, and though all the forces of reaction will labour to shape -them again as of old, it is in his power, if it is in his will, to -frustrate their action. - -The United States looks to have a voice in the making of peace. -Doubtless it will do useful work, but I cannot conceive of any better -task for the great republicans of to-day than to give the western -world the lead that may help it most of all. Most of them have seen -monarchies at their best and worst; all of them are patriots; they -know what republicanism has done for their own fair land. Will they -stand silent now while the western world is faced by the danger of the -perpetuation of a _régime_ that has little or nothing to justify it? -If they do, they have missed the finest possible chance of spreading -the light that shone upon them when the Declaration of Independence was -signed one hundred and forty years ago. - -With the end of the war, if it does not result in the hegemony of -Germany, in which case liberty will be no more than a name, all manner -of schemes for the regeneration of Europe will be afoot. Few, if any, -will go to the root of the evils that have devastated Belgium, Poland, -and a part of France. It is safe to say that the disposition to bring -about sweeping reforms will not find ready expression. We are all too -close to events over here, the blessing of a clear, serene outlook is -denied us. The United States has stood far above the turmoil, it has -seen more of the truth than has been visible to any combatant nation, -it can survey the whole situation sanely. - -It seems to me in these circumstances that the greatest republic of -the world has a serious duty, a grave responsibility. It has thriven -on a gigantic scale without patronage or privileged classes, without -titles, without such honours as are merely honours in name. Freed by -the Atlantic from the domination of Europe, it has grown in power and -given its citizens a life removed from the worst anxieties that beset -the Continent. It knows what kingship in its absolute aspect has cost -Europe, and it embraces within its wide domain the children of every -European nation; they dwell side by side in peace and amity. The -freedom enjoyed by the republic would not be bartered for the wealth -of the world, for that freedom is the secret of its eternal youth, its -boundless energy, its untrammelled progress. - -There are men in the States to-day, men I am proud to number among my -friends, who might speak in due season the words that would encourage -Europe in the only fight that can rightly engage all nations, the -fight against the curse of kingship. We who know how much this fight -is needed, who have seen in the great republic how it welds together -the most diverse faiths and nationalities, believe that nothing but -kingship divides man from man in Europe and fills every frontier line -with the instruments of death. - -All the sympathy of the best elements in the United States is with -suffering Europe to-day, but it cannot be expressed without the use of -words that will sound harsh to some, impertinent to others, startling -to all. Yet these words will not fall upon deaf ears. They will bring -hope to many for whom the future is utterly dark, who believe that the -forces of reaction will strive desperately to overcome democracy and -that democracy needs prompt help if it is to survive. - -Granting that America has the right to be heard when the time comes for -the re-establishment of peace, she has the right to deliver the message -of her own hundred years of freedom. Is it too much to hope that she -will rise to the height of this supreme occasion? - -If she will not shrink from this duty, she will ensure a victory -beside which the ultimate conquest in this war will appear well-nigh -insignificant. - - - - -X - -WOMAN'S WAR WORK ON THE LAND - - -The cry for woman's service on the land is one I endeavoured nearly -twenty years ago to anticipate. It was at a time when the anxiety of -girls to earn their own living was making itself manifest in every -class, and when the wages paid to those who had broken away from the -conventions of purely domestic life were miserably inadequate. I had -heard how, in the Dominions overseas, English women had been forced to -learn open-air duties as best they could, I had realised the natural -instinct of many women for gardening, and I had no doubt that there -would be some whose courage would not flinch from an experiment. -Looking back to that season, I marvel at the progress feminism has -wrought in the world. Then every development that was sought for men -was in the case of woman taboo. The only thing that a girl might do -in the garden without defying the conventions was the light job that -could be accomplished without any fatigue. She might pluck roses; I -have grave doubts as to whether she might plant or prune them. She -might eat celery, but the digging of a trench or the earthing-up of -the plants would have been considered a most "unladylike" occupation. -In fact, we suffered, as a sex, under the spell of that horrible word; -life for women has not been nearly so futile since it was abolished. - -In the years when I began first to find that the urgency of social -problems was a bar to the further serenity of life, I, like other -inexperienced people with reform at their hearts, dreamed dreams and -saw visions. I had seen at Easton and Warwick the women of the working -classes enjoying the hard work of the garden and the fields; I, too, -had tried my hand, always to find that I was rewarded with a quickly -renewed sense of the joy of life. Even when weather conditions were -unfavourable, the rest after labour was in itself atonement for the -toil--it was so unlike other rest. Then I began to see an England in -which girls and young women, ceasing to be merely "ladylike," would be -healthier, happier, and more useful than they had been in the years of -which I could take count. I could not help realising that the desire -for active physical exercise could not be limited to one sex, save in -obedience to a convention that ignored human needs. It seemed to me as -though the truth would be apparent to everybody, that nobody who could -lend a helping hand would withhold it. Naturally I was soon undeceived. - -I was assured that only the children of working farmers and labourers -could possibly milk the dairy herd, that gardening work in many of -its aspects would be beyond the limits of the capacity of the gently -nurtured. The girl market gardener was voted an impossibility; as -landscape gardener, I was assured, she could never compete with a -man. Poultry-farming and stock-breeding were even voted indelicate! -Household management, to enable girls to take posts as housekeepers in -public institutions or large private houses, was regarded as something -to be acquired without training, and even the commercial side of farm -management was vetoed as a study for girls, as though a well-managed -farm would be the worse for a competent book-keeper because that -book-keeper chanced to be a daughter instead of a son of the house. I -could prolong the list of vetoes and taboos that were presented to me, -but no useful service would be served in doing so. I am only concerned -to remember now--after nearly twenty years--that I was regarded as an -unpractical dreamer, and that, as I write, there are letters on my desk -asking me if I cannot recommend lady gardeners and agriculturists of -all descriptions. I cannot: they are all fully occupied. Many are at -work in England, not a few are busy thousands of miles oversea--in -Canada, Australia, and the United States. Think of the freedom and the -fullness of their lives, never a taboo to stand between them and any -sane development! - -To-day I see a great expansion of woman's labours under the sun. The -trouble is that the demand outstrips the supply. The public, whose -apathy has given only a minimum of stimulus to the progress of the girl -agriculturist, has become suddenly clamant. It demands the impossible. -The girls' agricultural colleges are to improvise the highly trained, -skilled article. It is as though they should demand the finished -fruits of the orchard before the budding and flowering time of the -trees has been fulfilled. I am hoping that this will not lead to a -reaction, and that those whose demand for ready-made service brings -inevitably unsatisfactory results will not regard woman's work in the -light that their own thoughtlessness must shed upon it. Only those -of us who understand the curriculum, and the time required to follow -it to the appointed end, know that you must be thorough if you would -be successful. All the ordinary problems of the open-air life must -be faced in training before they can be overcome in the practice of -daily life in farm and garden. To us this is a commonplace; to those -who do not know the land and its labor it comes as a surprise and an -annoyance. - -I established the Hostel at Reading, near the great Agricultural -College, in the year 1898, and it remained there for nearly four years, -when the Reading premises began to prove inadequate to the purposes -I had in view. Even when the ridicule ceased, the girls had not been -popular at Reading, where the college students thought that they -were intruders if they ventured beyond the dairy. There were certain -advantages. For example, the heads of the house of Sutton opened their -gardens at stated times, and the girls could see the most skilled -work in operation. But I could not help thinking that, if the idea -was to grow, it must have room and a congenial atmosphere for its -development, and so it happened that the change was made. We moved -to Studley Castle, in Warwickshire, sixteen miles from Birmingham, a -rather modern place, with forty acres of gardens and pleasure grounds, -wonderful out-buildings--built originally for racing stables--and -nearly two hundred and fifty acres of farm land, with woodlands and -water in addition. In many respects this was the ideal place for the -work in hand. There are other institutions of similar kind in England -to-day, and I am not claiming any special superiority for Studley. If I -write of what is done there, it is merely because I know exactly what -work is being carried on, and the full measure of success that attends -it. Studley is now run by a limited liability company, in which I -have no interest whatever. It differs from other agricultural colleges -chiefly in the atmosphere, which is that of Girton or Newnham, and is -deliberately preserved on grounds of economic policy. - -If our victory in the world-war is to have in it the elements of -permanence, it can only be by the thorough equipment of those who go -out into the world to contend with the most highly trained nation under -the sun, and, as far as woman's education is concerned, in whatever -aspect, it has the advantage denied to the education of boys--of being -free from old and paralysing conventions. There is nothing that must -be done merely because it has been done from time immemorial, and the -agricultural colleges have been modern from their inception. - -The first thing to be considered is so to train the students that they -are able gradually to develop a measure of physical strength, and at -the same time to teach them how to obtain a maximum of result from a -minimum of effort. Many an untrained man could only accomplish with -great exertion what a trained woman can do without difficulty. In a -little while not only do the spade and the wheelbarrow lose all their -terrors, but the comparatively light modern plough can be handled, even -on fairly heavy land, without excessive fatigue. Then the balance must -be preserved between practice and theory. You will remember that the -method of combining the two is not new. Mr. Wackford Squeers taught it -at Dotheboys Hall. "W-I-N-D-E-R, a casement. Now go and clean them." -Perhaps this was the germ of the idea--who knows? The lecturer in the -college is supplemented by the expert in the field, dairy, and garden, -and the student is not limited to the grounds of the institution, ample -though they be. On outlying farms, in private gardens, market gardens, -at country flower shows and exhibitions, the pupils of this and other -colleges are expected to demonstrate their efficiency, thereby learning -how the familiar problems may vary in their incidents and application. -There is no element of secrecy. All that is taught and all that is -learned is open to the inspection of the section of the public that -is interested. The college has terms similar to those of school and -university--thirty-nine weeks of work and thirteen of holiday--and -while girls are admitted as soon as their school education is finished, -at the age of sixteen or thereabouts, women can join at any age. If -they have the energy and determination, they are never too late to -learn. For school-girls over twelve years of age who intend to take -up agricultural or garden work when school days are over, there are -holiday classes at which the 'prentice work may be studied under the -most pleasant conditions possible. Most of the school-girls who take -this course regard it as an ideal holiday. - -For the benefit of adults who desire a special study, short courses -can be arranged at all times, but it is, of course, well understood -that such courses do not make the student truly representative of the -college tuition. It has long been recognised that you cannot make -agriculturists or horticulturists in a hurry. The minimum period of -complete study is two years, but the complete course that turns out -the finished student is a full three years. It is in view of this hard -truth that I have eyed askance the suggestion that a course that is -to be practical can be crowded into three months. Such a term would -hardly avail a genius. As far as I have been able to see, the not -very considerable percentage of failures associated with agricultural -colleges is due to the inability of students to distinguish between -enthusiasm and staying power. They have not realised that work must -be done at every season and in nearly all weather, that the sun is -not always shining, and that the novelty of association with Nature -will wear away from all who are not Nature-lovers at heart and by -instinct. That is why I am afraid of short-term training. Two or three -years develop not only aptitude, but character; enthusiasms have time -to take a fresh and long lease of life. Training brings confidence -too. Girls who wish to be gardeners, agriculturists, poultry-farmers, -estate managers, and the rest, will do well to remember that the new -or the modern methods they are taught in an up-to-date institution -are not necessarily followed in the place where they get their first -engagement. If they have to control men, they must expect to find a -certain intolerance of change, a certain resentment of direction. -Unless they are thoroughly sure of themselves they cannot supervise the -work of others. - -What the student has to remember is that most of the methods she will -find outside her training college are wasteful, obsolete, or second -rate. Scientific training is unknown to the average gardener, market -gardener, dairy-farmer, and poultry-keeper. Our old countryside is -run on amasingly inept lines. Foolishness of any kind that has behind -it the sanction of a single generation is sacrosanct. If a father has -farmed or gardened foolishly, that special manner of foolishness is -sacred to his son. We have always relied upon "the foreigner." He sends -us fruit, eggs, honey, vegetables, corn, cattle food; while the seas -are open, we need never go hungry. I do not pretend that we can do -without him for everything, but we can certainly do very much more in -the future than we have done in the past, and we have been warned by -our Government to do it. That is why I have so much hope for the future -of the woman on the land. I feel that her work is no longer concerned -with hobbies and private profit; henceforward it is, in effect, a kind -of public service. The Government is avowedly anxious for the future of -the land, frankly concerned to check the annual outlay of millions of -pounds for foodstuffs that we are well able to raise at home. - -Why, for example, should we spend forty thousand pounds a year upon -honey, to name what our American friends would call "a side line," when -we have a wealth of flowers and fruit blossom that would not only yield -all that is required, but would even enable us to substitute honey for -much of the sugar that is only sold to us when it has been chemically -treated to improve appearance at the expense of quality? Why must we -gather eggs from the far ends of the earth, and bacon from countries -where pigs are fed as they are said to be fed in China? When I think -of the thousands of women who are ready, willing, and, if properly -trained, able to take a hand in the great task of feeding the people, -it seems to me that the seed I sowed in 1898, to the accompaniment of -much amusement, derision, and hostile criticism, has grown into a very -sturdy and healthy tree. I even venture to think that the fruits will -be more refreshing than those of the Insurance Act itself. As far -as the records I have been able to examine teach me, there have been -very few failures to achieve success among the women who have taken -resolutely and completely to this comparatively new walk in life. The -students have done more than merely earn a comfortable living. They -have been the disseminators of the new ideas, the modern theories of -agriculture, horticulture, and apiculture, the introducers of order -and method into realms where chaos ruled amiably and ineffectively. In -many cases they have even succeeded so far as to disarm prejudice and -to persuade omniscient man that a method is not good merely because it -is customary or easy to follow. And what they have done is small by the -side of what they may hope to do. - -What is needed just now, when the Government is really awake to -the importance of woman's work on the land, is an extension of the -agricultural colleges and a series of State grants. At present the -work is costly. The upkeep of a big institution is expensive, because -you cannot treat the land precisely as you would for utility farming. -It is there to teach pupils, to carry out demonstrations. So it is -with the glass, that is so costly to build and to heat. Then, again, -professors--the best in the country--must be asked to lecture; and -while agricultural colleges are in the heart of the country, the -professors are probably living in distant university towns, so that -their lectures are bound to be costly. Let us remember, too, quite -frankly, that there is not much money for the girl who is not able to -start a little establishment of her own or to go into partnership. -There is a happy, healthy, useful life, there is valuable service, -quite unrecorded, to the public at large, but the monetary reward is of -the slightest and the training is long. - -It is necessary, then, in view of the growing demand for the work -of woman's hands, that the Government should make grants to the -established colleges as they make grants to other educational bodies, -and it would be well if every County Council that does not conduct an -agricultural college of its own would give a few scholarships annually -in the college nearest to its county town. These steps are needed to -give an impetus to the work that is now being done. Had they been taken -when first I pleaded for them, we should have been in quite a different -position to-day. There would, at least, have been enough capable -workers to meet the most pressing demands. At present they tell me -that at Studley every post brings applications for gardeners and dairy -workers, for women competent to train others, but there is not a single -disengaged pupil. Doubtless a similar state of things obtains at the -other colleges in Kent, Worcestershire, Sussex, and elsewhere. - -It has been seen that properly trained women can do all the work of -farm and garden. Even ploughing is not beyond them, save on very stiff -clay soils. They are entirely successful in handling animals; horses, -cows, bullocks, sheep, pigs, and goats are all tractable when cared -for by women. They are taught at all well-conducted institutions to -substitute knack for force, and they have, as is admitted on all -hands, the right temperament for tasks that demand not only time, -but patience. As beekeepers they do very well, the gift of delicate -handling standing them in good stead, and in the glasshouses they -are easily first. Dr. Hamilton, the energetic and gifted Warden of -Studley, tells me that she finds that the health of girls engaged upon -the land, whether in the garden or on the farm, is good, and that many -who arrive at the College in a delicate state of health grow very much -stronger. She finds that the work makes women not only healthy, but -happy--presumably because happiness is largely a product of good health. - -Perhaps the needs of the country will be the determining factor in -sending women to the land in the summer-times before us; but we may -take it for granted that one of the results of war will be the large -extension of the realm of the woman-worker of the field and garden. We -cannot shut our eyes to the sad truth that there will be war widows in -their thousands, and countless girls whose chances of married happiness -have been destroyed. To many of these the land will supply the only -anodyne that life has to offer. In hard work and the open air they will -learn to forget; in the development of garden, or farm, or orchard they -will find something to interest them. With their advent we may look to -find a great addition to the national food supply, a great saving of -money that has gone hitherto across the Channel or the Atlantic Ocean. - -I am inclined to think that women are more likely than men to take -advantage of the homeland opportunities. Men who have lived strenuously -and dangerously may not be found content with a handful of acres and -a cartload of restrictions at home, when the far-flung Dominions -overseas have so much more with which to tempt them. I see that Sir -Harry Verney's Committee, appointed to consider the question of land -settlement for soldiers and sailors, suggested holdings of twenty-five -acres for dairy-farming, and four-acre holdings for pigs, poultry, -fruit, etc. These last are to cost £24 per annum. Consider as against -this the one hundred and sixty acre grant of the Canadian Government, -the additions made by the Canadian Pacific Railway and, perhaps, other -great corporations, whereby a settler finds a house, farm buildings, -fifty acres broken up and planted with wheat. There the rent is part -payment of the purchase price. I do not think the Government is going -to hold soldiers and sailors with anything Sir Harry Verney and his -committee-men propose to offer, but I do think that if the Government -will make a like offer to the women of England, and will arrange to -do for them what it proposes to do for the men, this latest scheme of -small holdings might well be a success. Women could and would make an -agricultural colony. They delight in doing small things well; they are -frugal and temperate; they can make much out of very little. Whatever -their war experiences and suffering, it will not have developed in them -the spirit of unrest. Their ambitions do not seek the particular kind -of achievement that appeals most to men; they find happiness where -a man might find boredom. They love the sense of independence, the -freedom and simplicity that country life affords and enjoins. - -Above all else that concerns woman's career on the land, it has clearly -been shown now that in times of crisis the men who work on the land may -be called away, and our home food supplies may be jeopardised by their -absence. In these circumstances the movement must spread. The flower -and market garden, the field, the conservatory, and the outhouse must -be recognised as providing a pleasant sphere of activity for girls and -women, and there is more than enough land in these islands to provide -small holdings for many years to come for all who have the will and the -capacity to develop them. In conclusion, let me utter a warning that -demands the attention of all who love their country. At the present -time we only produce about twenty per cent. of the food we eat. For -the rest we depend upon our mercantile marine and our power to hold, -not only the seas, but the skies above and the depths beneath. Without -any comment, it seems to me that this simple and undeniable statement -should suffice to settle the career of many a sturdy country-loving -English girl. - - - - -XI - -GERMAN WOMEN AND MILITARISM - - -Reading the record of Germany's war methods, even those of us who are -endeavouring to think sanely through these evil days must be impressed -by the overwhelming evidence of their complete ruthlessness. - -We who have travelled in Germany not once, but many times, know full -well that harshness and cruelty are not associated with the majority. -There are countless Germans who could only be cruel in obedience to -orders, and, of course, every German will do what he is told, just as -the Children of Israel did when Joshua, who appears to have invented -"frightfulness," was carrying out his merciless campaign. If we admit -that the simple German of the south is not cruel at heart, that he is -rather a dreamer and a sentimentalist with strong love for domestic -pleasures, we find that the policy of "frightfulness" must be ascribed -to the military party, consisting for the most part of Prussians, with -headquarters in Berlin. - -These men are the organisers of war, and speak through the mouths -of writers like Treitschke, Bernhardi, and the rest. It is they who -have torn up the treaties and conventions that were, humanity hoped, -to decide the conduct of war. They are responsible for the curious -outburst of national hatred against this country that is at once so -startling and so silly, a revelation of the sad truth that Germany is -suffering from neurosis. - -I have been trying to trace "frightfulness" to its source, not through -the medium of books or papers, but in the light of my own knowledge -of the country and my past acquaintance with some of its leading men, -and I think that the philosophic historian of the times to come, -whose vision is not obscured by the smoke of battle or the fury of -combatants, will not hesitate to declare that the worst and saddest -features of war as waged by the Germans are due to the fact that in -their country women are kept more in the background than in the country -of any other great Power. - -The fault, as I will point out later on, is not that of the women, -but of the leaders of German faction who have deliberately suppressed -woman, and of nearly all the leaders of German thought who, being -dependent on Government favour, have subscribed to their policy of -deliberate suppression. Here and there an independent thinker has -arisen nearly always from the ranks of Social Democracy. Bebel's book -on women, for example, is a standard work, but the few lights do no -more than emphasise the surrounding darkness. - -Look round Europe for a moment. Russia is a backward empire and the -spirit of progress moves over it with slow feet, but Russia is making -vast strides, and the plough that will trace deep furrows in the virgin -soil of its social life is drawn by man and woman together. All the -professions are open to women, even those in which women are not found -here. The Russian engineer who planned the newest bridge over the -Neva was a woman. Men and women students work side by side on terms -of absolute equality, and compete for honours that often fall to the -gentler sex. - -Russian women of the educated classes are more than merely well -informed, they are brilliant. Linguists, women of affairs, they have -a grip of actualities of the empire of which they form a significant -part. In spite of autocratic rule and limited freedom there is such a -full life for the Russian woman as her German sister has never known, -except in dreams of emancipation. In Finland, be it remembered, women -sit in Parliament. - -Turn to France, and it may be declared emphatically that woman rules. -Women are doctors, barristers, and scientists; they are members of the -Goncourt Academy; they are the heads of some of the most important -business institutions; they give the most exclusive _salons_ their -distinction. Public opinion is moulded by them; their influence makes -and breaks Cabinets. Feminism is one of the strongest forces in France. -Quiescent to-day or working in quietness, this force will dominate a -France released from war. - -Even in Belgium, of whose progress we hear little, women have been -largely responsible for the organisation of the middle and working -classes, an organisation that was well-nigh complete before war broke -out, and in the slow rebuilding that is to come we may look with -confidence to the Belgian woman to play a leading _rôle_. Turn to -a group of neutral countries--Denmark, Norway, Sweden--and it will -be seen that feminism is moving with vast strides along the path -of national progress. Woman is asserting herself in all of them, -contributing her thought to her country's problems, taking an ever -important place in its councils. - -Alone of the great Powers Germany has elected to forget or to disregard -as a negligible quantity the opinion of woman, and the reason is not -far to seek. For years past the German has forgotten the respect and -reverence he owes to his own womenfolk. _Küche, Kinder, Kirche_--he -calls alliteration to his aid to express a growing contempt for the sex -and the narrowest possible view of its world function. Intoxicated -with the vision of imperial domination, he has regarded his own sex as -the one motive force in the universe. - -He has not watched the slow awakening of women in the countries around -him; he has not noted how bonds of sympathy, light as gossamer, yet -strong as steel, have stretched from country to country, binding -our sex in a large and ever widening sisterhood, inarticulate now, -or at least hardly coherent, but only waiting for their appointed -hour to assume a fuller share of the glories, the burdens and the -responsibilities of life. Woman's influence, silent, world-wide, -pervasive, has been treated by the evangels of Kultur as though it -were nonexistent, and in the hour of crisis woman as a united force -has avenged herself for years of neglect, scorn and brutality. She is -everywhere a belligerent. - -I do not know the country in Europe where women are treated as they are -in Germany. Not many countries can vie with the United States in the -attention bestowed upon the gentler sex, but as I have endeavoured to -show, they are respected more in every belligerent country than they -are in the one that sought to rest supreme in Europe. Even in Italy, -Spain, and Portugal, where women must often work as hard as men, they -stand upon a secure footing of affection and respect. The smaller -courtesies, the greater services of life are theirs. In some definite -measure they complete the home. But you cannot bring an indictment -against a whole nation, and I do not seek to do so. - -In tens of thousands of German homes the wife and daughters are loved -and honoured, but in the rank and file of military circles, even among -the men who hold official positions and boast a certain standing, woman -has been dethroned--she is regarded as an incumbrance necessary for the -production of further generations of supermen, who shall inherit the -earth. This attitude of mind reveals itself in the action that speaks -louder than words. The toleration and the contempt to which I refer are -everywhere apparent. No good-looking woman is safe in Germany from the -ill-bred stares and comments of the men with whom she must travel in -train or tram. - -If women enter a theatre or restaurant their own friends and relatives -do not rise to receive them. They are liable to be elbowed into the -road if men walking abreast can occupy the whole of the pavement. -The politeness of the few cultured Germans (pardon the discredited -adjective) merely emphasises the boorishness of the vast majority. -It might be that the German is waiting for women to be officially -recognised as human beings to whom some measure of courtesy or even -decency is due. Only when rudeness is "_verboten_" will rudeness cease. - -The country is governed by men for men and women, but according to the -marriage rubric woman is actually man's servant. The effect of these -conditions upon the morals of the country is deplorable. They give a -cachet to vices, even the most odious, and the rate of illegitimacy, -about 10 per cent. for the whole empire, is about doubled in Berlin, -where the military caste is supreme. The morals of the army are -the morals of Berlin, and account not only for the hideous stories -published about what took place in Belgium and northern France, but for -the recitals not less appalling that one gathers from officers home on -leave who have seen sights in the area of German occupation that cannot -be set down in print. - -Undoubtedly these recitals, if they could reach the heart of Germany, -would thrill tens of thousands of honest men with indignation and -disgust. I do not believe for a moment that they represent the -inclinations of the whole nation. They are rather the action of that -section of the nation which, while war endures, must have the upper -hand, and during all the years of war-like preparations has reigned -supreme. Against this aspect of German national life the women of -belligerent and neutral countries alike are arrayed. Whatever their -resources or their influence in the councils of their husbands, sons, -and brothers, it will be devoted without cease to the destruction of a -militarism that degrades and shames womankind. The German woman knows -in her heart that her men have in countless instances become perverts, -but she is dumb because she is forbidden to speak. In Prussia no woman -may organise a union that has political aims; she may not even join one. - -It is the purpose of the dominant caste to keep woman in subjection, -to restrict her activities to the kitchen, the cradle and the Church, -even to deny her the mental and the physical development that might -tend to lead her to revolt. Woman may find a limited salvation in the -conduct of a business; throughout the German Empire not far short of a -million women conduct commercial enterprises of one kind or another, -and collectively they strive with some success to better the physical -and moral conditions under which their sisters live. No effort of which -they have yet been capable has accomplished more than this, their -condition of tutelage remains complete. - -I do not pretend to be satisfied with the position of women in England: -far from it; but here, as in the countries already enumerated, it -is better far than in Germany. Women mould public opinion to an -appreciable extent; they are able to modify the life of their sex in -many important particulars, the best of them exercise sane influence, -and all are sufficiently well treated to establish a definite attitude -of mind in men. We know that no British or French troops would behave -in Germany as Germans behaved in Belgium; we know that the honour of -honourable women and of helpless children would be safe in the keeping -of the French and British officer, and that he would not be called upon -to restrain his men from acts of lust and savagery. - -We know that there is a public opinion the wide world over among free -women and women struggling to be free that will not submit to the -domination of any race that does not hold woman in respect. It is on -this account, in my opinion, that the unbridled and tolerated savagery -of the worst class of German conscript in Belgium and France has cost -Germany more than the loss of half a dozen pitched battles. Whatever -the irritation caused by the incidents of the war, the Allies know -that women the world over are and will remain on their side, for the -hegemony of a nation that treats women in peace with contempt and in -war with "frightfulness" cannot be contemplated by our sex. We know -that in fighting for the cause of the Allies we are fighting for the -most downtrodden of the highly civilised women in Europe. At present -they would resent our aid--they are patriotic--they have suffered -terribly, and in the hour of their trials they mourn and forgive those -who treated them ill. - -Later on, when peace returns, when the world is purged of violence and -its wounds begin their slow and painful process of healing, the German -women will recognise that we have been fighting for a larger cause than -our own; that we helped to force the doors that have remained barred so -long and to break the chains that bound the women of a great but erring -nation. Only the ultimate triumph of the Allies can free the women of -Germany, and in time they will realise the truth. - -The views of the wisest men are narrow, and few among them will realise -or admit even now the truth that woman is now a factor in the world's -affairs. When this war is over we shall tell in no uncertain words what -is in our hearts. At present we must needs be silent. If those dreamers -of world empire had but remembered that women, too, have minds and are -learning to use them, the story of the great world tragedy, even if it -had to be set down, would have been widely different in many of its -incidents. - -It was Germany's fatal mistake that, not content with dominating its -own womankind and suppressing them whenever and wherever possible, it -believed that the rest of the world was equally indifferent to the -treatment of its mothers, wives, and daughters. - -Every known outrage has raised fresh fighters, has strengthened the -Allies with the sure force of moral sympathy and encouragement, has -thinned the ranks of those whose sympathies were with a country whose -marvellous progress provides so much material for admiration. Who can -measure the responsibility of those guides and teachers who taught the -German to develop along material lines and to forget that woman is the -proper spiritual guide, and that as man loves and reverences her he -sees farther and deeper into the heart of things--sees life sanely and -sees it whole? - -Whatever the limitations of our knowledge we know that the one sex -completes the other; that man enlarges the vision of woman and woman -enlarges the vision of man, and that it is the peculiar gift of our sex -to control man's passions, to stimulate his humanity, to direct his -ambitions away from dangerous paths. We do not all strive as we might; -we do not always succeed as we deserve, but man is woefully incomplete -without us, and the spectacle of a nation that has despised womanhood -waging war shows that this contempt corrodes his moral fibre, leaves -him at the mercy of his worst instincts and raises up against him all -the spiritual forces against which none may strive victoriously. - -We women who have never handled weapons, whose only place in the area -of strife is among the maimed and helpless, know even better than men -that the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong. -When history has recorded the story of the world war that darkens our -lives to-day, future generations will ask how it was that Germany -could find no friends among the neutral nations. Her Ambassadors, -official and unofficial, her publicists and those of neutral countries -who were not ashamed to accept her subsidies, worked with true -German thoroughness. Truth was never allowed to stand in the way of -propaganda. No lie that might serve a useful purpose went unsanctioned, -for the great end was to sanctify all means, however vile, and yet in -the hour when even moral support and silent sympathy would have been of -the greatest value, Germany looked for it in vain. - -It was easy to declare that the whole world was jealous and -misinformed; such an excuse could hardly deceive the responsible people -who fathered it. My own view is that the women of Europe and the United -States turned against Germany when the manner in which she waged war -was first revealed to a disgusted world. Their hostility was not -merely sentimental--it was psychological. The German attitude toward -women, already questioned, was revealed as in the glare of searchlight, -and womanhood from London to Petrograd and from Copenhagen to New York -was completely, irrevocably antagonised. - - - - -XII - -YOUTH IN THE SHAMBLES - - -It becomes increasingly difficult to speak one's mind in England -to-day, even though one has no peace scheme to propound and no -efficient public servant to criticise. - -Liberty has vacated her throne, or as much of it as Privilege would -ever allow her to occupy, and the Defence of the Realm Act has taken -her place. - -Consequently it is very hard to express opinions unless they are -sufficiently platitudinous to gain universal and immediate acceptance. -Roughly speaking we are all of one mind about the conduct of this war; -the minority in opposition is so small that it can be disregarded, but -we are all at variance as to method, and on the Ship of State that -steers such an erratic course through the hurricane of strife there is -hardly a passenger who is not convinced that he could reach the goal -much more rapidly than the man at the wheel is likely to. - -Those who criticise the steering are suspect, for the national temper -is a little upset, our situation is without precedent, and an -Englishman dislikes novelty. I cannot help my belief that it is the -novelty rather than the tragedy of the hour that troubles him most. He -is giving, to the best of his capacity, blood, labour, treasure, but he -is not thinking as deeply as he should, perhaps because he understands -that when you begin to think and believe you see a great truth clearly, -you are morally bound to communicate that truth to others. Then the -Defence of the Realm comes in and you are likely to be hailed a -traitor to all good causes by the first person who--with or without -understanding your views--disagrees with them! - -Yet for all the prejudices with which the expression of opinion is -beset, it is hard to keep silent when something presents itself to the -mind in the guise of a vital truth, and now, after more than two years -of war have forced reflection and taught us to see the world tragedy as -a whole, there are things that must needs be said, protests that must -needs be made. - -Of all the iniquities that are associated with war, war as distinct -from murder I would add, there is nothing quite so horrible as the -sacrifice of young life. It is common to all the nations at war. We -read of boys of fifteen fighting in the ranks of our enemies, and, -at home, of boys who have added a year or two to their proper age to -deceive a not too inquisitive recruiting sergeant. To raw lads in -their utter ignorance, war is a great joy and adventure; they are proud -to help their country and to be redeemed from the charge of being -"slackers." So when the cup of life is hardly at their lips they go, -some to die, some to be maimed, some to return prematurely old and -broken down. - -While the plots and counter plots that made for war were being hatched, -these young warriors were in the nursery, or at school. Even now they -have reached no perception of the real forces for which men strive; -until war broke out their lives were still supposed to be under the -protection of their parents. - -But as soon as the State is beset it calls for aid, not alone upon -matured men, who understand and have a sense of responsibility, but -upon the lads whom it ought to be protecting as the one irreplaceable -asset of the next generation. - -Wise old gentlemen with a very tolerable imitation of the spirit of -prophecy in their hearts, pens in their hands, and bees in their -bonnets, wrote indignant articles in the best read organs of the press -that our downfall, if we did not introduce conscription, is merely a -matter of months. Sometimes it was weeks. The time given to us varied -according to the measure of the writers' chronic dyspepsia. - -Yet if these people would only think, they would have little -difficulty in admitting that the lads who have been well educated, well -trained and prepared with infinite labour for life are just those who -should not be surrendered to death under any normal conditions until -they have fulfilled their primary function toward the State. - -I will go farther and suggest that their elders have no right to rob -them of the few years in which they taste the joys of life. I was told -recently by a man who knew what he was talking about that under the -Mosaic Code the Jews did not allow their married men to go to war until -they had spent one year with their wives. A man who was betrothed was -instructed to marry, and even if a man married a second time he had to -remain for one year at home. In this way the continuity of the race -was assured and the Jews, eminently a fighting nation, preserved their -virility. - -There was no question of sentiment involved--it was hard, common sense -applied to war. And, horrible irony, the British Government recognises -the simple truth, but has only learned down to the present to apply -it to farm stock. I saw last year a printed notice in the country -post-offices issued to farmers by the Board of Agriculture, telling -them not to kill lamb and veal because whatever the price offered the -removal of immature stock is dangerous wastefulness which the country -cannot afford. - -Here is a copy of the notice: - - - BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES - - - SPECIAL NOTICE TO FARMERS - - - PRESERVE OUR FLOCKS AND HERDS! - - MAINTAIN OUR MEAT SUPPLY! - - The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries strongly urge all Farmers - to RAISE AS MUCH STOCK AS POSSIBLE during the war. - - Their advice to you is: - - DO NOT send breeding and immature stock to the BUTCHER simply - because prices are attractive now. - - DO NOT MARKET half-finished animals; it is wasteful of the - country's resources and is against your own interests. - - DO NOT KILL CALVES--rear them; it is well worth it. - - DO NOT REDUCE your stock; when you cannot buy stores, buy calves. - - MAINTAIN your flocks and breed your sows; it will pay you to do so. - - The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries make the above - recommendations not only for the NATIONAL WELFARE but because they - believe them to be for the ultimate benefit of BRITISH AGRICULTURE. - - -It seems almost too ridiculous to be true that the Government has more -concern for lambs or calves than for boys on the threshold of manhood, -but the facts convict them. - -For myself I would rather see a thousand of the bloodthirsty old -gentlemen who preached conscription sent to the front from their club -smoke-rooms and editorial chairs, than five hundred lads from whom -their country has something to expect! - -I do not think I am a sentimentalist, certainly I do not plead for -the exemption of mere boys from the battlefield in order that they -may have what is called a good time, though I hold that they should -not be deprived deliberately of the few halcyon years that are in one -fashion or another the reward of one and all. I would work them to the -last ounce of their capacity in seasons like these. They should have -long hours, Spartan fare, and spells of physical drill, they should -put in eight hours of labour for the Government in the factory, in the -munition works, wherever their services could be best employed. - -They might be under military rule, amenable to the same discipline as -the soldier, but they should not go into the firing line, because they -belong to the next generation. - -They are to sire it; no nation can afford to leave that responsibility -to the physically unfit, and to those who have passed fighting age. - -This duty done, they would be free to join the fighting forces for -which their drill, their labour and their self-denial would have -prepared them. My soldier relatives and friends tell me that the lad in -his teens is of little value in a prolonged campaign. He may have all -the necessary courage, but he lacks the essential stamina. He is fitter -to march and endure when he is twenty-five than when he is nineteen, -fitter still at thirty. - -But, asks my critic, where will you recruit your fighting men? I look -round at my men friends, and I find them, up to the age of fifty, -taking their chance in the forefront of things. The outcry against the -married man as combatant is valid only in so far as his family depends -upon him for support. My friends chance for the greater part to belong -to the comfortable classes. They have enjoyed the best that England -has to offer; they are prepared to pay the price, with their lives if -need be. Above all they are articulate, they have the franchise, they -can speak their mind. Collectively they support in one form and another -the conditions that make war possible. They are conscious of a certain -responsibility. - -Where, for example, on the other hand, is the responsibility of the -midshipman on the torpedoed battleship? I take his bravery for granted. -I am quite convinced that could he read my plea he would disavow any -shadow of sympathy with it, but I am concerned for the country and not -for him. He has a duty toward civilisation, he is well-bred, highly -trained, efficient. I say that the State owes him at least a few -years of manhood and should see that he is allowed to reach maturity, -although he is neither veal nor lamb! - -It is false economy that raises the outcry against married men as -soldiers. They alone in the community can be spared, they have -fulfilled, or partly fulfilled, the function upon which civilisation -depends. Potentially, if not always actually, they are fathers. -Economists insist that pensions and allowances are an extravagance -that the nation cannot afford. I reply that war is a still greater -extravagance, the wickedest form of indulgence known to mankind, -and that worse than war is the destruction of the fairest hopes of -the future, the race to come. Again, if those who light the fire -were compelled to feed the flames I believe there would be fewer -conflagrations. - -I feel that I do but set down facts that are known to thinkers, who, -as a rule, prefer to keep silence at times like these lest their -patriotism be suspect. After the war they will deplore the ruin; -trustees for the generation to come, they will see that they have -failed in their trust. They will shift the responsibility on to the -nature of things, they will declare that war was inevitable and that -destruction of all we hold most dear must follow in its wake. - -Here I join issue with them. The world is for all practical purposes -ruled by mankind. Nothing but the catastrophes like the tidal wave and -the earthquake escape man's control. Famine, disease, and mortality he -can arrest; he can increase his stature morally, mentally, physically. -If he elect to play the prodigal he does so at his own risk, but he has -no right to tamper with the vital resources of the generations that -must follow. War is delirium, or he would bear this fundamental truth -in mind. I think it has escaped him. He is immersed in the pursuit of -the end, and no means are spared. Thus we hear the outcries because the -fat money bags are growing thin, but nothing is said of the great asset -that no trading, however successful, can restore. - -We can find in some barbarous land wealth only comparable to that -which Sindbad discovered in the Valley of Diamonds, but what will that -profit a race that must depend upon old and exhausted stock to renew -its vitality? The desire for wealth is at least one of the contributory -causes of war, the thought of wealth wasted makes men forget they are -wasting what no wealth can replace. - -I am sure that women feel this eternal truth in their hearts, but all -too many fear to be thought afraid. They fear their own mankind, those -for whom they would gladly sacrifice all that life holds for them of -good. They fear to be thought jealous for their own boys, while if the -truth be told their fear is all for the young sons of all women quite -irrespective of nationality. At least this is how the situation appeals -to me, and I dare not keep silent if there be any medium of appeal to -those who think with me that will set my thoughts down. There is a -slumbering conscience of humanity only waiting the call that will break -through its dreams. I am not so bold as to believe that I can utter it, -but I may perchance stimulate some more gifted pen. - -In any case, I cannot hide my thoughts merely because they may meet no -response, for after all there is not in all the world a single great -belief that was not once the unregarded possession of a single mind. - - - - -XIII - -THOUGHTS ON COMPULSION - - -While I am firmly opposed to conscription in any form that does not -embrace national wealth and resources as well as men, or that singles -out one class of men to the exclusion of others, while I believe that, -even subject to this view of national obligation, conscription should -be treated as a war measure and blotted out of the statute book in the -month that sees the restoration of peace, I am not writing to protest -or to complain. We are told that every cloud has its silver lining, and -when the Government decided to demand the services of those unmarried -men who, far more by reason of apathy than cowardice, had remained to -be taken, I could not help thinking that much good might come of it. -Against the hideous doctrine that the end justifies the means we may -set the equally old saying that necessity knows no law, and against the -compulsory making of soldiers which is an evil, I set the waking of the -national consciousness, and that is a gain. - -For centuries England led the vanguard of the workers for freedom. -Against the will of the people the power of the great barons and -of their Kings bent and broke. There were generations in which the -people as a people were articulate, they stood up for their rights -and privileges and were a force that few dared defy. The discovery of -steam, the growth of factories, the increase of population and the -struggle for life combined to make a large section of the working -classes helpless. The hideous poverty and ugliness of life in the -great centres of wealth drove men, and women too, to shut out the -ugliness of their lives with the aid of brief spells of dissipation. -Strong drink became alike a source of revenue to the country, a source -of "honours"--generally paid for in hard cash--to the prosperous -brewer and distiller, and the source of brief forgetfulness, misery, -disease, crime and savage punishment to those who sought its dangerous -solace. National expenditure and party funds alike clamoured for -the maintenance of the evil, and those who are most concerned with -what is euphemistically called "keeping the working classes in their -places" turned a deaf ear to schemes that sought to make the places of -leisure for the worker more attractive and less dangerous. Pure Beer -Bills and legislation to restrict the sale of spirits to such spirit -as is matured, met with no effective support. Give the worker the -nineteenth and twentieth century substitutes for his old time _panem -et circenses_ and he would continue until strength failed him to sow -that others might reap and to earn the opprobrium and contempt of those -he enriched. - -Parliament, immersed in politics to the exclusion of government, -cared little for the real welfare of the people. It contrived by -skilful electioneering to stimulate their interests in things that -do not matter, and when they were not wanted at the polls their -representatives--save the mark--left them severely alone. So it -happened, as time passed, that the old interest in vital questions -was passing from a large section of the proletariat. Powerful through -the medium of their Unions they supported these great organisations -for little better than the right to live. It was so hard to improve -the conditions of a trade or a group of allied industries that the -effort to this end left them with no energies to enter into larger -fields. Those leaders of the people who have the gift of clear vision -could meet with no adequate response, they alone could see the wood, -their followers had their gaze riveted on one particular tree. England -tended more and more to become the paradise of the capitalist and the -purgatory of the working man, and because he was always protesting -against conditions that will fill future generations with wonder and -shame, conditions improved beyond recognition by the country with -which we are now engaged in a life-and-death struggle, it became the -practice of the comfortable classes to denounce the workman and all -his ambitions. He was, in their view, sent into this world to create -wealth, not to enjoy what it creates; that was the privilege of his -betters. The Englishman's natural sense of fair play has been obscured -by the newspapers that pander to him and give him all his thoughts -ready made; if anybody thinks this is an extreme statement, let him -turn to the files of the reactionary press from the time when John -Burns led the Dockers' Strike down to the outbreak of war (and since) -and see whether he can find anywhere a solitary favourable verdict for -the worker as against the employer. He will search in vain. - -There is a certain psychological aspect of the labour question that -has, I think, been overlooked. A generation or two of oppressive -conditions tends to produce a race that loses national consciousness. -The worker learns to take the view that he is no longer a part of Great -Britain, that his interests are exclusively personal, like those of his -employers, that he has no status in the country and that his business -is to get the most tolerable conditions of life that he can secure -by combination and agitation, and to ignore the trend of politics, -religion, social progress, and the rest of the life forces of -civilisation. He knows himself for one who hews wood and draws water, -it suffices him to carry a minimum of logs to the pile and buckets from -the spring. He knows that there is for him no glimpse of the larger -life and that because he is collectively a multitude there will be -keen competition to batten on his small savings or surpluses. He has -the feeling that if he loses his job he will take his place in the -ranks of a submerged tenth, ranks easy to slip into, almost impossible -to rise from. My long intercourse with those who fast that others may -feast has revealed this attitude to me in a hundred shapes, all tragic, -some dangerous. It has been the despair of those who are working for -the people and know that if they would but combine to grasp the sorry -state of things environing them they could "shatter it to pieces and -remould it nearer to the heart's desire." Unhappily it is impossible to -fight what is called _vis inertiæ_, you cannot bruise a feather pillow -or hurt a sack of sand by striking it, and while long hours, scanty -holidays, mean pleasures and continual anxiety dogged the footsteps -of the working classes, it seemed impossible to secure the unity of -action, the collective wisdom that would not only enable labour to find -its place in the sun, but would destroy the parasites that thrive upon -it. I think that the careful observer who noted the social condition of -England down to the late summer of 1914 will be disposed to agree that -I have not overstated the case or put the ugly lighting unfairly on the -foreground of the picture. - -Then came war with its strange, unmistakable revelation to the working -man and working woman. In the blinding light born of battle they saw -their country assaulted by an enemy completely trained and organised. -Women saw that their own rulers had been too immersed in the great -games of party politics and business development to give proper thought -for the safety of the country. They saw, too, that the limitations -of capitalism and capitalist were visible in the eyes of the world. -They could help, they could leaven the dough of profit-making with the -yeast of personal sacrifice, some have done so, but for the salvation -of the country they appealed to the working man. Government adopted -some of his own panaceas, they accepted schemes of pure socialism -as props for the pillars of the State, they taxed riches and laid -sacrilegious hands upon the Dagon of wealth to the infinite rage of -certain Philistines who are still grieving for the god's lost hands -and feet, but it was to the working classes Government turned in the -hour of their distress, and Labour responded nobly. Those into whose -souls the iron of corruption, disappointment and indifference had not -entered, set themselves to labour seven days a week for long hours in -evil atmosphere, or left their sweethearts and wives to strike a blow -for the country that had displayed to them more of the qualities of a -step-mother than a mother. Many have laid down their lives, and in the -hearts of those who survive national consciousness has been re-born. - -The democratic comradeship of the battlefield, embracing all classes, -has taught the working man that his foe in times of peace is not so -much the class whose representatives are of his own blood brotherhood, -but the system that dominates those who serve and those who accept -service. This lesson learned exclusively on the fields of war will -permeate the factories when war is over. One stumbling-block to -progress remained. It was, I venture to say, the presence in our midst -of hundreds of thousands of men who have been rendered listless and -apathetic by life conditions too easy or too hard. Now compulsion has -reached this class it will give them in return for unsought risks and -labour a sense of their place in the body politic. It will teach them -that whether they will or no they have a part to play in shaping the -destinies of Great Britain and that the reward will be in proportion -to the sacrifice. We must not forget that a new Britain, a new Empire, -a new Imperial outlook is being shaped over the far-flung area of war. -It will not be only to the British Empire that change will come, but -to all belligerent nations. The upheaval, sure as the succession of -day and night, is one we dare hardly contemplate, not by reason of -fear, but by reason of hope. To take advantage of the change as it -will affect our nation, all classes of the community must prepare, -and nothing could have clogged the wheels of progress in the near -future than the presence in our midst of so many thousands of men -whose inactivity would have been bitterly resented by those who have -borne the heat and burden of the day. Unity of action is a condition -precedent to the close and merciless revision of existing conditions, -the ending of privilege, the widening of the powers of democracy, the -whole peaceful solution of a question that two years ago promised to -develop into a war worse than this we are waging, a war of brother -against brother. - -I repeat that I am opposed to conscription, particularly to a -conscription that picks and chooses, and does not demand capital as -freely as it demands life; equally am I opposed to the action of -the young and unattached men who shrink from assuming their proper -responsibilities. That they would have held back if the conditions -of their life, whether favourable or unfavourable, had been the true -conditions of an enlightened citizenship, I sincerely doubt, that they -should have been forced to undertake as a duty what they should have -embraced as a privilege is matter for regret. Happily they will not go -unrewarded, they will see their errors, and they will come back to a -country they have helped to save with the keenest determination to make -it worth living in as well as worth fighting for. - - - - -XIV - -WOMEN AND WAR - - -"Why is it," wrote an editor, criticising a view of women that I had -put forward, "why is it that woman is actually a war lover at heart, an -inciter to and encourager of war? Can you explain why, while some women -condemn fighting, the great majority do not shrink from it, and even -regard the fighting man as the proper object of their admiration?" It -was a challenge, that I will answer to the best of my ability. - -In the first place, I must admit that the statement is true about -countless women. Only yesterday I had a letter from a friend to whom -I had written my sympathy; her only son was killed in the British -advance. "I need no more consolation," she wrote. "Harry's colonel has -sent me a letter telling me of my poor boy's bravery. I am proud to -think that he has lived up to our tradition--ours has always been a -fighting family, you know." - -I would not criticise a bereaved mother; I can never forget that my -eldest son has been in the fighting line, that my other boy gave up -Cambridge for the aviation school, and is now flying in France, -that my son-in-law is a soldier, and that of many friends and a few -relatives only the memory remains. But I feel, from the bottom of my -heart, that the death and glory idea is wrong; that the attraction of -medals, ribbons, stars, orders, titles and uniforms and brass buttons -is false, and that an ever-increasing number of women are conscious of -the truth, not only here but in France, Germany, Austria, Russia and -Italy. - -That consciousness cannot become fully articulate until the war is -over. For each belligerent nation the duty at this moment is clear--it -must fight for what it holds to be right, must struggle for victory -until the end. When that end comes I believe that the reign of the old -ideas will end with it, and that all women will recognise the truth -that is already clear as daylight to the minority. - -Why is woman actually a war lover at heart? The question stings me. I -am almost reluctant to answer. Yet though the fault is woman's, the -responsibility is man's. Down to only a few years ago woman was no -more than man's toy. She existed for his pleasure and convenience. If -he covered her with pretty dresses and radiant jewels it was because -she was his chattel. It seems only yesterday that a married woman's -property became her husband's when he married her; that she could not -bring an action at law. It needed the celebrated Jackson case, familiar -to students of the feminist movement, to decide that a man might not -lock his wife up in his house. - -I believe that the law enabling a man to administer "moderate -chastisement" to his wife has never been repealed. A woman cannot -divorce her drunken, dissolute husband unless he ill-uses her -physically; the law, unable to deny that woman has a body, will not -grant her the possession of a soul. Trashy novels, trivial amusement, -unending decoration, freedom from the development of mentality and -personality--these are the things that have been held to suffice women, -and though there have always been a few great women in the world, the -vast majority has been compelled to accept the conditions offered. - -I cannot help thinking that if there had not been a surplus of women -over men in countries where monogamy rules, change would have been -longer still in coming; but there have always been tens of thousands -of women for whom there is neither mate, domestic inactivity nor -child-bearing, and the educational progress, though leaden footed, has -moved. - -From the Garden of Eden to Ibsen's "Dolls' House" is a far cry, but it -was left to the great Scandinavian dramatist to open woman's eyes. -That is, I think, why he was greeted by male critics with such howls -of execration--they saw the foundation of the old order being sapped. -Man had appealed to woman's vanity, and had consequently developed it -enormously; but the motive was little higher than that which inspires -the male baboon when he goes courting. Ibsen showed woman the result of -her submission. - -Only the historian, looking at our social history when the youngest -of us "has lain for a century dead," will realise the strength and -progress of the feminist movement in the last decade or two; the -barriers it has surmounted or swept away; the barbed wire entanglements -of prejudice and convention against which it has flung itself. Yet -I am bold enough to declare that had universal war been mooted in -1934 instead of 1914 woman throughout all the countries of potential -combatants would have combined instantly to prevent it. - -At present the ranks of the thinkers are too thin; woman is divided -against herself. The worst foes of feminism are women; it is the -anti-feminists who parade the streets in khaki, who band themselves -into wholly unnecessary and sometimes disreputable anti-German leagues, -who labour as though war were a glory rather than a curse. You will -not find militarists or anti-feminists among the glorious sisterhood -of the hospitals, for they almost alone among women know what war -really is. If the propaganda of feminism could have spread, if it could -have invaded Germany, where the Church, the nursery and the kitchen -are expected to fill every woman's life, what a very different answer -would have been given to the ambitions of rulers and the blundering of -politicians! In how many million homes, where sadness reigns supreme, -would there have been the simple, harmless happiness that is the -birthright of us all? - -Is it the irony of fate that man must pay the terrible price for -having made woman what she is; for having stifled or sought to stifle -her common sense; for robbing her of the rights that she possesses -by reason of being a human being; for distracting her with gawds and -frivolities, and seeking to keep her merely as a minister to his -pleasures and a mother to his children? He has paid for the supreme -folly of generations with the price of the lives of millions of his -best and bravest, with the ruin of flourishing cities and fair country, -with the poverty of the generation to come, and with many another -bitter offering of which he is not yet fully aware. - -Doubtless there are still in our midst countless women who accept all -that is happening as inevitable; who look upon it without realising -that had the sex responded to the ideals of feminism and become -one sisterhood without boundaries and without a limited patriotism -conditioned by the accident of birth, these things could not have been. -I say, without hesitation, that the future of the world demands the -elimination of some existing types of women, the education of others, -and, in the end, the union of all. - -Man was not born merely for glorious death, he was born for glorious -life, and in the systematic and universally condoned slaughter of -man by man there is neither honour nor glory. The world, properly -administered, can produce enough food and clothing for all; it has work -and a measure of happiness for all. Our enemies are not Englishmen or -Germans, Frenchmen or Turks; they are ignorance and poverty, disease -and vice. Woman recognises the truth--that is to say, thinking and -emancipated woman recognises it--and she knows that all the strife that -tears the older world asunder is fratricidal, that a million times -Cain strikes down a million times Abel, and in so doing deliberately -obscures the Divine Event toward which all creation moves. - -Woman falters, she is young in mental growth and still very weak, -though growing stronger hour by hour. She sees nothing of war, but she -hears of moving incidents by flood and field and hairbreadth 'scapes -in the imminent deadly breach, and her sense of romance so largely -fostered by pernicious or trivial literature is stirred to its depths. -She wants for her son or her husband or her lover some of the dust of -praise, some of the ribbons and medals, some of the glory in which she -will discern some pale reflection of herself. - -She falls in love with war because she has not the least inkling of -its realities; her mourning garments are edged with pride. It has been -left to this terrible struggle to tear some of the bandages from her -eyes and to rob her of an unworthy ideal. What a supreme misfortune -that world tragedy has supervened while she is growing up, before she -has learned to grasp the power that lies to hand! In instances beyond -numbering she has passed the feminist movement by, quite content to hug -her chains as long as they are heavily gilded. She does not realise and -does not believe in her own powers, and in Central Europe, at least, -she has been kept under surveillance all the time. - -England, France, and America are the great Powers that have given -feminism a chance. Russia was beginning to follow suit, but the oak -that will in years to come defy so many storms and shelter so many -lives is as yet a sapling. We must face the bitter truth that had all -our sisters accepted feminism we would have saved man from his worst -enemy, we could have saved him from himself. - -We could have said-- - -"_We brought you into the world, we fed you at the breast, we guarded -your tender years. When you grew older we gave you inspiration and -the love that is the romance of life. We bore you children through -agonies of which you know nothing; we loved you with the love that -is woman's whole existence. You shall not destroy yourself, for you -are ours and we are yours, and we are placed on this earth to lift it -nearer to heaven, not to drag it down into hell. Your bits of shining -metal or ribbons, your uniforms, your personal bravery are as nothing -to us, if to earn the one or prove the other you are to kill and maim -our husbands and sons, our fathers and brothers. There are greater -fights to be fought, nobler victories to be won, and in the only war -worth waging we can move by your side. Love and not hate must rule the -world._" - -The time will come when woman will speak to man in this wise, and he -will listen because he must, even though in listening he remove the -strange, obscene gods of strife from his Pantheon. That the truth is -known already to noble-minded women throughout the world is to me the -most vitalising comfort that these days can yield. That so many women -still pass it by, that they praise war and magnify personal courage -and "martial glory," that they still foster and encourage the meanest -hatreds born of war, is I think worse than many a disaster. But the -lesson it enforces is plain. The time is not ripe; before she can -handle the power to which she lays claim woman must abjure her idols, -she must follow the path of pain and suffering a little longer, she -must learn for herself through bitter experience how great a curse war -is. I believe she is learning her lesson; I believe that the hosts of -the unthinking are melting, and that as the real meaning of glory, -heroism and the rest is brought home to her she will understand. - -Even men in the lands of death and desolation have been vouchsafed a -glimpse of the truth. There is nothing quite so pathetic in modern -history as that mingling of foes on Christmas Day, 1914, in a brief -truce of God. Truly the light was brief and soon withdrawn, not to be -rekindled a year later, but it was strong enough to testify to the -brotherhood of man obscured so long by kings and statesmen. - -Women can rekindle the light so that it will not be suddenly put out; -they have no nobler purpose under heaven. And in the days when they are -come to their full stature the memory of those who applauded strife -and were dazzled by some of its exterior aspects will be utterly and -happily forgotten. - - - - -XV - -RACE SUICIDE - - -I was visiting the north of England in connection with an Industrial -Congress, and I called upon a woman whose husband worked in a mine. -Her small house was scrupulously clean, she was young, vigorous, swift -in thought and movement, and gave me the impression that nothing came -into her life in the form of obstacle and surprise without finding -her ready to deal with it effectively. She showed me with a certain -pride the small collection of books on social subjects bought in -second-hand shops by her and her husband. I remember seeing John -Stuart Mill, Ruskin, William Morris, Rowntree, Henry George, and many -another familiar name. "We have read them together," she told me, -"we have educated one another since the time we first met at evening -classes." I remarked that her married life seemed to lack one thing -only, and that was a family, and I quoted the Eastern aphorism that -a house without children is a garden without flowers. She smiled a -little sadly, and then I noted how some faint lines about her mouth -tightened and hardened, robbing her of a certain charm. "Lady Warwick," -she said, "we earn between us by hard work from day to day between four -and five pounds a week. It has taken many years to reach that figure, -and there is no chance of passing beyond it. What we have endured on -the road to this comparative comfort we alone know, and we don't talk -about it. But we both believe that the game is not worth the candle. -The conditions of life in England are not worth perpetuating, and -neither of us would willingly bring children into the world to take -their chance and run their horrible risks as we did." She stopped for -a moment in order to be sure of her self-control, and then she told me -that in her view, though all her heart cried out for little children, -sterility was the only protest that could be made against the cruel -conditions of modern life under capitalism. "I know that my husband and -I are desirables from the employer's standpoint. We earn far more than -we receive, we are temperate, hard-working, punctual, reliable. But -when we have settled our rent and rates, clubs, and insurances, dressed -ourselves, paid tram fares and bought a few books, there is nothing -left but a slender margin that a few months' illness would sweep away. -For a week or ten days a year we may learn that England is not all as -hideous as this corner of it, but we shall die without a glimpse of -the world beyond and of its treasures that our books tell us about. If -we stop to think, our life is full of unsatisfied longings, and though -we don't give them free play we can't ignore them altogether. So we -will not produce any more slaves for the capitalist, _and I can tell -you that there is not one decently educated, young married woman of my -acquaintance who is not of the same mind_. You could go into a score of -houses known to me in this town alone and find strong, vigorous women -whose childlessness is their one possible protest against the existing -wage slavery." - -Years have passed since, in that gloomy little northern town with its -congeries of mean streets looking meaner than ever under the rain, -I met the speaker whose name has passed from me. She may well be -approaching the time when Nature will confirm her resolve irrevocably, -but the memory of that conversation has haunted me with the vision of -thousands of lost souls and unhappy lives. - -I know now, if I did not know it then, that the music of little -voices and the patter of little feet would have brought into that -poor worker's life many of the joys for which she sighed in vain. She -did not know, nor at that time did I, that obedience to natural law -ensures a happiness that is independent of external circumstances, -while disobedience brings in its train an ever-growing mental discord -and sows the seeds of disease and decay. Statistics can be fascinating -friends even though they be formidable acquaintances; they have a rough -eloquence of their own that is more effective than honeyed speech. - -The birth-rate of England, France, and the United States, associated -as it is in all these countries with the death-rate of the newly born, -is to me one of the most depressing signs of the times. I cannot help -realising that in many cases sterility is not the deliberate protest -of the wage slave, it is the selfish protest of the pleasure seeker, -and in a small minority of cases the genuine, yet narrow, fear of the -eugenist and his following whose enthusiasms have outrun both knowledge -and faith. Tolstoy went so far as to say that the man who enjoys -association with his wife for any purpose save procreation is guilty of -a crime. While many childless women live celibate lives, particularly -in America, the great majority do not. In Milton's stately words they -"of love and love's delight take freely," as though the power that -rules and guides the world could in the long run be outwitted by what -it has created. - -To-day the civilised world is at the parting of the ways. War has riven -asunder the ranks of the best and bravest, and has left in the hearts -of the survivors so vivid a sense of the horrors of life that many a -man will hesitate to become a father lest his sons have to take their -place in time to come on the fields of war and his daughters chance -to be among the dwellers in a conquered city. All classes have been -gathered to battle, one and all will feel the responsibility attending -the failure of our civilisation. While many will believe they are -responding to a high instinct when they elect to follow the line of -least resistance and leave the world a little poorer, the cumulative -effect of such a decision is positively terrible to contemplate. - -There are some lines in _Coriolanus_ that might have been addressed not -to those who banished him from Rome, but to the women of the world's -most highly civilised countries:-- - - - "Have the power still - To banish your defenders; till at length - Your ignorance, which finds not till it feels, - Making not reservation of yourselves, - Still your own foes, deliver you as most - Abated captives to some nation - That won you without blows." - - -If these lines are really as appropriate as they seem to me, it is -because the women of the civilised world and the more leisured section -of it are on their trial. There is going to be an unimagined shortage -among the best elements of the most highly civilised population, a -shortage due in part to the fashion in which responsible women have -neglected their duties hitherto. If the pleasure lovers decline their -share of child-bearing on the ground that it robs them of long periods -of amusement, and if the finest type of women workers refuse on the -other grounds raised earlier in this paper, what will be the result? -There will be a sharp social cleavage, the few clever exploiters will -enchain the unfit who are produced so rapidly, we shall develop a small -class that governs and a large class that is ruled, all progress will -come to an end, while the conditions obtaining when the industrial -era was opened by steam power will be revived with all the attendant -horrors in some new and unsuspected guise. - -It is well to remember how, following the first trumpet call of war, -our hard-won liberties were stripped from us. Some of my American -friends say it is because our free institutions were not very deeply -rooted, but I am well convinced that if the United States were -involved, the results would be much the same. War always dethrones -Liberty, and the nation that can set her up again when peace is -restored may be congratulated. As a rule the struggle has to begin -all over again, for the State advances claims that are incompatible -with any kind of freedom that is worth having. Only the will of the -people can gain liberty, and to make that will sufficiently strong and -effective it must be expressed by the best human material, the children -of the best types. So it seems to me that race suicide, evil at all -times, becomes in seasons like this an act of treason, not only to the -nation but to civilisation and all those ideals upon which civilisation -waits. - -In the town to which I referred on the first page of this paper, the -women who deliberately discarded motherhood might between them have -raised a strong company to fight for the rights of the next generation. -They were shocked to consider the travail that brought them beyond the -reach of want, had they lost sympathy with those who succumbed by the -way? Is not the fate of these last the more tragic? - -The faults and failures of life are not a divine dispensation. -Providence has placed us in a marvellous world, capable of raising far -more than is needed to supply the reasonable wants of one and all. That -there are misery, injustice, want and inequality must not be charged to -the account of Providence, but to the foolishness and immortal greed -of man, who cannot deal equitably with the resources of which he is -the trustee. The world waxes richer year by year, for we are gathering -the power to increase production and to distribute the surplus of -one region to supply the deficiency of another. It is a very fair and -beautiful world, and we need no more than that all should be permitted -to share what is produced. To enforce this distribution, to see that -it is enjoyed in peace and tranquillity is the appointed task of a -strong and vigorous democracy. The primal duty of women is to give this -democracy to the world and keep its strength renewed. - -Some may fear that women "condemned to fertility" as one phrased it in -my hearing recently, may be unable to take their part in the struggle -for emancipation. But surely motherhood enforces the qualifications of -women, justifies their claims and provides them with the material to -train for future triumphs. Olive Schreiner, in her magnificent book -"Woman and Labour," in which, however, she wrote of the birth-rate and -its incidents without visualising the possibilities of world war, says -that some birds have raised the union of the sexes to a far higher -level than humanity has reached. The male and the female share the -nest building, the incubation and the feeding of the young, and it was -impossible for that fine observer to note any difference in the task of -the sexes. So it should be with us and will be when we have developed -to that standard. The labours and responsibilities of the home, and -the daily work will be a part of the common contract and bond of men -and women, and no woman will be disqualified by the fulfilment of her -duties in the home more than the man is disqualified by reason of his -labours beyond it. We are all conscious of evils that throng the world, -we all strive to better them in a degree, few of the most careless -fail altogether to be kind in some fashion, however haphazard, but if -the women who take life seriously will not only fulfil the commandment -to be fruitful and multiply, but will do their best to urge their -reluctant sisters, a single generation may avail to restore the balance -of sanity, equity and progress throughout civilisation. - -This social disease of race suicide has not been long established. It -came into France, I believe, as a result of the law that divides the -inheritance of the parents among the children equally, it has crept -into England and America chiefly as a product of overmuch luxury and -wealth. Apart from such a reason as calculated protest against social -inequalities, it is due to the methods of life that soften women and -make child-bearing a terror. I have been told by my travelled friends, -the men and women who have been to the far ends of the earth, that -in the lands where women are hardy, healthy, and vigorous, there is -no trouble for the mother at these critical times. She recovers her -full strength in a few days. At Easton, in Essex, where I was born -and brought up, and at Warwick, where I have lived so much since my -marriage, I have seen that the workers' wives who live frugally and -actively are able to rear large families and retain not only their -health, but their good looks. Casting my memory back I can recall the -time when great families were the rule, and not the exception, among -the leisured classes. The women who entertained in great houses that -they administered in every detail, brought their six, eight, or ten -children into the world and lived long, healthy, happy lives. The -modern fashion is of recent date, and now that the war has stirred the -heights and depths of human consciousness the old bad custom should -pass, for the sake of a world that the madmen of mankind have made -desolate. At no period in the history of Western civilisation, has -it been more necessary for the women who count as factors in world -progress to consider their duty and fulfil it to the extreme limit of -their power. - -I think that the need of the United States is not less than our own, -for it sees the influx day by day of the most diverse elements, and -knows well enough that the genius of rule belongs to the Anglo-Saxon. -The negroid element does not forget its duty, and the honest class -of immigrant that seeks to share the benefit of an enlightened -civilisation is hardly less prolific. Against all the problems that my -American friends, and they are many, have set out, there is no surer -safeguard than an ever increasing birth-rate of the best elements. - -I have never felt disposed to join in the cry of the Yellow Peril, nor -to think well of those who raise it wantonly, but certain facts stand -out in a very bright light shed upon them by the war. In the first -place the Allied powers of the Entente have sought the services of both -yellow and black races, and have by so doing proclaimed the dawn of -a new era in which all questions of equality must come to the front. -Japan is very wide awake, and China is still a slumbering giant. Given -sanitary science and a great gift of organisation, she might rule all -Asia. The Berbers, Arabs, and negroid races of Africa have lined our -trenches and taken part in our attacks; one and all, to say nothing of -the Indian soldiers, have learned more of war in the past year or so -than they had ever known before. They have seen the weakness as well as -the strength of the white man. - -Black and yellow races alike are extraordinarily prolific; there is -among their women no shirking of duty in that regard. Very soon the -white man will realise that he cannot maintain his old position unless -he is fully prepared to accept responsibilities far greater than those -of his forebears. If the rate of his progression falls while that of -the other races rises, there can only be one solution in the end, -such a solution as "Coriolanus" speaks of in the scathing lines I have -quoted. In short, if the white man's burden is to be borne there must -be sufficient white men to bear it. Statesmen will labour in vain and -the friends of progress will strive to no end if the start that the -other races have gained is to be increased, and the white women of the -world must decide whether or no they are content that not only their -own nation but the whole standard of life for which they stand is to -be submerged, or whether by a generous interpretation of the duties of -motherhood they will enable their people to remain in the future as -they have been in the past. We cannot tell what the final harvest of -war will amount to, but with the dead, the diseased and the disabled, -it will probably run into ten figures, more than five times the measure -of human sacrifice demanded by all the great wars that shook the world -from Blenheim to Omdurman. Even these monstrous figures do not tell the -whole tale, for there will be among the dead, thousands of men whose -talent might have developed into genius, and there will be hundreds of -thousands of widows left in the full flush of womanhood, with all their -possibilities unfulfilled, and, in countless cases, beyond the reach of -fulfilment. To put it brutally, our civilisation that stands in bitter -need of its best breeding stock has deliberately slaughtered a very -large percentage of it. - -This, indeed, is race suicide in its worst form, and just as woman -hopes by her emancipation to dam the tide of war, so she must step into -the breach and dam the tide of loss. Emancipation will do very little -for women if when they have obtained it they find the best elements -of the white races increasingly unable to stand the strain imposed by -war. They will not forget that the black man's women are bought to tend -his land and enable him to live in ease or that the Mohammedan in the -enforced seclusion of the harem may share his favours among four lawful -wives and as many concubines as his purse can furnish. As the standard -of civilisation declines, woman, by reason of her physical weakness, -must pay an ever increasing penalty; only when it has risen to heights -unreached before the war may she hope to come into her own and to -realise ambitions that, dormant or active, have been with her through -the centuries. The whole question of her future has been brought by the -war outside the domain of personal or even national interests, suddenly -it has become racial. - -Down to a little while ago the solution was not in woman's hands, -to-day it belongs to her, she has to decide not only for herself, but -for all white mankind. It is not too much to say that civilisation, as -we know it, will soon be waiting upon her verdict. If this statement -seems too far reaching, if it seems to challenge probability, let -those who think so turn to any good history of the world and see for -themselves how each civilisation has been overwhelmed as soon as it -reached the limits of its efficiency and endurance. In the history of -this planet, changes no less sweeping than that which I have indicated -have been recorded, the Providence that has one race or colour in -its special keeping is but the offspring of our own conceit. The -real Providence that dominates the universe treats all the races on -their merits. If, and only if, the best types of women will embrace -motherhood ardently, bravely content to endure the discomforts and -discover for themselves the infinite pleasure, can the earth, as we -know it, survive the terrible shock it has received. Even then the -recovery will be slow, and the price to be paid will be bitter beyond -imagining, but we shall in the end win through, though I who write and -you who read may well have settled our account with mortality before -the season of full recovery dawns upon a wasted world. Should we fail -in our duty then we must pass as Babylon and Egypt and Rome passed -before us, to become no more than mere shadows of a name. - -The least among us may dream dreams and see visions. My own dream and -my own vision are of woman as the saviour of the race. I see her -fruitful womb replenish the wasted ranks, I hear her wise counsels -making irresistibly attractive the flower-strewn ways of peace. I see -the few women who encourage war turning from the error of their ways, -and those who have spurned motherhood realising before it is too late -the glory of their neglected burden. And I believe with a faith that -nothing can shake that with these two changes and a wise recognition -that the fruits of the earth were given to us all not in accordance -with our gifts, but in the measure of our needs, a new season may come -to this distracted world. Should all the high hopes of our noblest -suffer eclipse, should all the travail of the Christian era be brought -to nothingness? I have too much faith in my sex to believe it will -let the world perish if the real meaning and significance of its duty -can be brought home to it. We have been ill educated, we have been -spoilt, we have been corrupted, but for all that there is a certain -soundness at the heart of woman. She has not shrunk from the duties she -understands, even the lapse from grace that recent years have revealed -will not outlive this understanding. - -The responsibility for spreading the truth rests upon all who recognise -it. There are countless women throughout the world who by sheer force -of character can influence their women friends and have learned that -the vital problem of sex is not rightly to be treated as though it -were not fit for discussion. They are scattered over all the cities of -the world; the cumulative effect of their labours would be immense, -irresistible. I am sure that the perils I have outlined are known -and feared in the Old World and the New, that they are mentioned in -the highest quarters of London, Paris, and Washington, and that the -transitional period separating words from deeds must needs be brief -because the problem does not brook delay. Many women will respond -without questioning to the call of duty. Some, whose life struggle can -be understood only by those who share it, may ask first that their -offspring shall be treated as what they are, State assets, and not -abandoned to all the evils of poverty. Others will want to know that -they are not raising sons to become the "cannon fodder" of kings and -statesmen. In the light of the needs of the white man's world, and the -weight of the white man's burden, are even these assurances too much to -ask? - - - - -XVI - -THE LESSONS OF THE PICTURE THEATRE - - -It came upon me with a sudden sense of revelation, for when I went into -the theatre my thoughts were heavy with the weight of war. The friend -with whom I had dined had insisted, and though at first I had refused, -she had compromised with my objections. "Come and see some pictures, -if you cannot face a three-act play," she had said. "I can promise you -something quite remarkable, and when you have had enough, just rise and -I will follow." But in the end it was my friend who suggested leaving, -because she had a long day's work before her and knew that I too had -an engagement nearly two hundred miles from town. And when I told her -that she had shown me more than she herself had seen, and that I would -not have missed that couple of hours' illumination on any account, she -merely said she would not attempt to understand, but was very glad. - -I have been greatly concerned with problems of peace and war from -the woman's view-point. So many women have written to me about the -question, some from far-away corners of the States, others from -remote English country-sides. I feel the ferment in the blood of every -thinking woman; I know how surely and inevitably the time is coming -when men and women must face the problem of world control side by side. -It has seemed to me that only one force can avail to end war, and that -is the force of education supplementing the efforts and strengthening -the bands of brotherhood. But how should one make the dry bones of -education live for those to whom education is now no more than dry -bones? We can reach the children whose imagination is yet immature, how -reach the grown up, immersed in the struggle for life and bringing even -to their leisure the harassed mind and tired brain? How make the path -clear, how stir to the depths their slumbering sense of the world that -lies beyond their working day? When I went into the Scala Theatre in -London the problem was a baffling one, when I had seen "The Birth of -a Nation" I realised the truth that such pictures in the hands of men -with insight and vision may yet move the world. - -We of England may well forget the follies of our forebears, and the -American with Anglo-Saxon blood in his veins may well forgive them, -while both tingle with pride at the accomplishment of those "Mayflower" -Pilgrims who paved the way for the coming of a nation destined I think -in the near future to become the wealthiest, most powerful, and, one -hopes, the most progressive on the face of the earth. But who realised, -save in a vague and uncertain fashion, the true glory of America's -brief history? Who could visualise the scenes to which statesmen and -orators recur from time to time? Of the general public few indeed if -any, to the rank and file the experience of seeing the past flower into -life before them must have been such a one as Keats describes-- - - - "Then felt I like some watcher of the skies - When a new planet swims into his ken, - Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes - He star'd at the Pacific--and all his men - Look'd at each other with a wild surmise - Silent, upon a peak in Darien." - - -A few deep thinkers, men with vivid minds, must of course have seen -beyond the limited vision of the multitude, or nothing so sweepingly -comprehensive, so splendidly realistic, so artistically complete as -"The Birth of a Nation" could have been devised. It is poetry almost -in the sense that Hardy's "Dynasts" is poetry, while its educational -value, appealing as it can to young and old, learned and illiterate -alike, is very real. Whatever the commercial value, and this I am glad -to think must be great, the value of the spectacle as a force for the -promotion of the highest order of patriotism is greater still. I can -only feel delighted to think that such a task could be so carefully -undertaken and so satisfactorily achieved. - -A picture play may not seem at first sight a very great medium for -presenting the truth about history or even a single facet of the great -diamond of life; at least if I am honest with myself this would have -been my own opinion down to the date of my visit to "The Birth of a -Nation." I had misjudged the scope of the picture play in the light -of the hoardings, vulgar, fantastic, or silly, that make the streets -of even the small provincial towns more than necessarily offensive. -I did not understand that in the hands of capable and imaginative -artists, not only the present can be put before us, but the past can -be reconstructed, and the future suggested. How it would help us to -understand not only ourselves, but others of the great group of nations -if we could see the history of all countries presented with something -of the skill and sincerity that have gone to these graphic outlines of -America's past! Often in Warwick Castle, as I have pondered some of the -records of bygone time and half-forgotten history, I have marvelled at -the pageant that is suggested, but never realised by the pages before -me. If we could bring our history before ourselves would it not teach -us more of our triumphs and mistakes than any book? And if the history -of the struggles and endeavours of other nations could be faithfully -presented, would there not be in the vision something to make us more -sympathetic, more ready to realise that we are all passing along the -same road, a narrow bridge of consciousness spanning the river of life -that flows through eternity, with dreamless sleep or life beyond our -ken on either hand? Would it not help to teach us that for the people -of every race that brief spell of consciousness is associated with so -many self-made troubles that the hell of the obsolete theologians is -rendered quite superfluous? We cannot in normal times hate the men, -women, and children of another race merely because they are not of our -own. The same virtues, the same strivings, the same uprising towards -the elusive light are shared in common. So, too, are the prejudices and -errors with which we strive. Presented with sympathy, and, above all, -with humility, the history of the birth and subsequent struggle of all -the nations would be a potent force for peace, because it would be the -first aid to understanding. - -I think that the men and women who have paid their vows to peace, -those who, while realising that the present war must go on to the end, -will make any sacrifice to deprive it of a successor, may find in -the picture play, carefully conditioned to the needs of our fateful -times, the fulcrum that will enable them to move the world. I can -see it passing from the domain of the theatre to the lecture hall. I -can see the best features of the enterprise enlarged and developed -until at last the benefits of travel and a knowledge of history are -put before those who under normal conditions--or rather the conditions -that the Moloch of commercialism has made normal--would never be able -to enjoy either. I hold and shall always hold, that the ultimate -power of directing their lives is in the hands of the people, it is -not rightly in the gift of Kings or Kaisers, diplomats, statesmen, or -soldiers. The sunrise of peace waits upon the dawn of knowledge, of -knowledge that can be acquired by men, women and grown-up children of -the working classes, the classes that accomplish all that is worth -accomplishing, and pay the fullest penalty of the greed and vanity of -those who live upon their labours. But, as I have so often insisted, -the workers are inarticulate, particularly in the southern counties -and round the metropolis of England; they do not breathe the fresh air -of the north, and it is notorious that London ruins the breed of the -workers. The greater the city, the greater the unemployment, the keener -the competition, the readier the acceptance of conditions that make -men the slaves instead of the masters of their task, the smaller the -leisure to think or to study the curious and manifold complexities of -existing conditions. Only by making that study easy and by giving it -the form of relaxation, by stimulating the tired brain, can the worker -be roused. It is a matter of fact rather than of conjecture, that the -picture "palace" is beginning to claim his scanty leisure, and his tiny -surplus over the paramount demands of a minimum of food and clothing. -Democratic in its essence and secure in its appeal, it seems to me -that the picture theatre can be developed to the most instructive and -useful ends. It can teach the working man the history of his own career -and long struggle towards fairer conditions of life and labour, it -can show the world's workers all aiming to reach the same legitimate -goal and it can enforce the lesson that a unity of ideals, and a stern -rejection of the counsels of those who would make mankind his enemies -rather than his friends will make war impossible. It may be that in -America, that great melting-pot, as Mr. Zangwill calls it, of all -jarring nationalities, the lesson is more obvious and more quickly -mastered, but there is a work well-nigh as great to be done in England, -where if the mixing of the nationalities is less noticeable, the need -for knowledge is still greater. The States, wealthy beyond the dreams -of avarice, entirely self-supporting, and utterly unchallenged by any -Power within striking distance, may well laugh in the face of those -who would impose upon them the extravagant horrors of militarism. - -We shall have to face militarism over here; it has had its advocates -for many years, and--why deny it?--their position will be immensely -strengthened by the war. We know by now that our rulers cannot save us, -that if we would be saved it must be by ourselves, and we know too that -salvation will be born of knowledge and of knowledge alone. I regard -the picture theatre as the finest medium for the spread of knowledge -now before the public, and I am confident that if the great engineers -of enterprise will devote their energies to the sane peace propaganda -that consists in showing not only the history but the aims of the great -majority of civilised people, the lesson will travel far and sink -deep. "The Birth of a Nation" reveals the infinite capacity of the -master film makers, their resource and resources, the measure of skill -they can command. It also shows by reason of its success the immense -public interest, the desire to learn, and to make use of knowledge. -It is not often that a venture avowedly commercial in its aims can -perform a world-wide service, and I am optimistic enough to believe -that those in charge of such a work as that which is responsible for -my own conversion and enthusiasm will be quick to see that in serving -themselves they can serve humanity. - - - - -XVII - -TRUTH WILL OUT - - -It seems only a few years since Truth, if not precisely popular, -enjoyed a certain reputation, a little definite vogue. To tell the -truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth was not only a nominal -obligation in the courts of law, but a tradition among a certain -class, small but not negligible, of English men and women. Truth was -found in all sorts of places, you met it sometimes in Parliament, -generally on the back benches, now and again it was seen or suspected -in the Press; it frequented the Pulpit, and was not unknown upon -the public platform if the gathering was not one of the political -rallies that it resolutely ignored. To be sure when intended for the -appreciation or admiration of sensitive folk, it was always dressed up -in garments that hid a part of its native ugliness, and over the hard, -unrelenting features a certain veil, enforcing a decent obscurity, was -scrupulously drawn. The higher Truth climbed in the social scale, the -more the trappings, the thicker the veil, while on the lowest rungs -of the social ladder there were none to supply dress or wrappings, -and Truth stood revealed in such an ugly guise that only the strong -minded dared to look. When they told what they had seen, all those -who lived on any of the rungs above them deplored at the top of their -voices the indecency of the revelation and devised thicker veils and -heavier drapery. And yet for all men and all women, according to their -capacity for looking courageously before them, Truth existed. Among -most of those who live in comfort there was a tradition that Truth had -borrowed the head of Medusa the Gorgon lady who incontinently turned -to stone all those who looked upon her, and was ultimately tricked -out of life and activity by Perseus; on the other hand, the people of -the underworld, the world that does the rough work, had looked upon -Truth and found the cold implacable eyes had in them more of stimulus -than death. They even went so far as to hope that in times yet to come -the robing and veiling of Truth would be regarded as an offence and -the duty of looking Truth straight in the face, would be obligatory -upon kings, statesmen, clergymen, county and district councillors, -journalists and lawyers alike. Against the gross indelicacy of this -democratic suggestion there was not unnaturally a revolt, as many -of those people just mentioned had every reason to fear that such -a decision would rob them of occupations that, if not actually -profitable to their fellow-men, were at least sometimes dignified and -very often lucrative. - -Then came War, and the people of all combatant countries formed -amid and despite their bitter antagonisms an unwritten, unsigned -compact to the effect that whatever the divergence of their aims and -policies, they would at least conduct one part of their campaign in -common, against a common foe. Agreements having lost their validity, -it was impossible to reduce this one to writing, and they knew, too, -that actions speak louder than words. So with unanimity that forgot -all causes of dispute, the fighting powers found time and means and -occasion in the midst of their awful traffic to wage war against Truth. -In this country the naked Truth may no longer find a resting place, -if the well in which Truth is said to dwell could be located it would -incontinently be filled up and no material would be regarded as too -poisonous for the purpose. As the well cannot be located, the Defence -of the Realm Act has, in these islands instituted sumptuary laws so -strict that Truth is now robed, veiled, and manacled past recognition. -The delight of those who have suffered from the constant fear of -the apparition, who have found their enjoyment of the feast of life -constantly menaced by the report that Truth was in the neighbourhood, -is unbounded. It is admitted by every government that Truth is one of -the greatest obstacles to the proper progress of universal destruction -and all Governments have substituted in the interests of public -digestion Fiction, a far more popular creation and more palatable too. -They call it by the title of Official Report. If one Report contradicts -and is contradicted by all the others, you can at least pay your money -and take your choice and the task of selection is eased by the certain -knowledge that Truth is not admitted to any. - -In the Parliaments of the world responsible speakers have but to -declare that the irresponsible ones are endeavouring to bring back -Truth to the high assembly, and every one of Fiction's countless -adherents will rise in his place to protest. In the pulpit, to which -Truth still seeks admittance, the veil has become a mask, and the -garments have a double thickness, but in the Courts of whatever kind -and in Fleet Street it has been found that the precautions in vogue -before the war are sufficiently adequate. - -To any mortal such persecution had been fatal, but Truth is immortal -and persists. Not even the Jews whose sufferings are eternal, or the -Belgians, Poles, Armenians, Servians, and others whose persecution -though intolerable is temporary, strive to recover their vanished -freedom as resolutely as Truth. The harder you use it, the greater -its persistence. Drive it out at the door it returns by the window, an -indefatigable, untiring immortal, seemingly unconscious of the loss -of popularity, convinced that it has a place in the great scheme of -things. It whispers to kings on their thrones, and to chancellors in -their studies, to statesmen on Government and opposition benches, to -clergymen in their pulpits, lawyers in their consulting rooms; passing -by janitor, secretary, and a sub-editorial array, it even invades the -editor's desk, persistent though ignored. Trampled upon, cast aside, -ignored, eviscerated, turned inside out, confuted, obscured, denied, -perverted, misunderstood and damned, it still labours, powerful as in -the days when old Thomas Carlyle watched its progress through the world -and hailed it alone immortal. With a striking disregard of the laws of -emergency and confusion, it declines to be regarded as an enemy alien. -With an utter contempt for a Fiction entrenched behind all the barbed -wires of popularity, it whispers the most disconcerting statements to -those who hoped or believed that it was dead. None can say what form -the instructions, warnings, and admonitions take, but all may guess -them, and the temptation so to do is ever present. - -I think that the one outstanding fact upon which Truth insists is that -until it is allowed to prevail there can be no peace in the world, -that even victories must be unavailing while the hard-won lessons -they bring are taught in terms of fiction. Truth tells us that the -fog of war is hardly more horrible than the fog of falsehood; product -of a poison gas that is manufactured by every country alike. To the -Prussians who are in our midst striving to fasten upon us the fetters -fashioned by our enemies for the control of all liberty, comes the -secret warning that such fetters will not fit the Anglo-Saxon people, -that the rivets will not hold, that they will be torn asunder and even -used as weapons against all forgers. Truth will tell those who seek to -effect economies at the expense of education that only sound training -and diligent application to every form of activity can enable us to -hold our own against Germany, whether the defeat of that country be -whole or partial. Truth says the will of the people is being forged as -of wrought iron upon the fields of war, and that the days of privilege -are numbered. Truth whispers that the burdens imposed upon those yet -unborn, not only in Great Britain, but in every belligerent country can -only be met if they are shared by one and all, not with any sense of -precedence or class distinction but in a brotherhood that embraces all -who labour whether with hand or brain to the common end. Truth will -whisper to those who shrink before strong, whole-hearted and courageous -methods necessary to bring all classes into line that the needs of -the time are paramount and that those who will not steer the ship of -State to a safe harbour because of the adverse winds and storming -waves that lie ahead, must yield to other pilots cast in sterner -mould. It will point out that the old days of political trifling and -dalliance are numbered, that right and wrong, bravery and cowardice, -energy and inaction, whatever their future, can no longer be weighed -in the unjust balances of the party system. Truth will say that our -empire needs the best service, not only of every man, but of every -woman, and in consequence, that both must be rendered fit to serve and -allowed to express themselves to the State's best advantage without -reference to pedigree or sex. It will declare that an England in which -the labours of six men out of seven are valued at three pounds a week -or under, cannot endure for the simple reason that under the present -social system, hundreds of thousands of really capable people who could -deserve well of their country are doomed by poverty to ineffectiveness. -Truth will say bluntly that the future demands statesmen rather than -politicians, men in their prime rather than men in their decline. It -will whisper of the vigorous democracies that the genius of empire -has brought into being, the democracies that have striven so nobly to -save the empire and must--not for reasons of sentiment alone--play -their part in administering it. There will not be wanting the reminder -that the season in which crises, military, social, political, can be -smothered in platitudes is past, not in our time to return. - -If Truth were to proclaim these facts duly pointed and applied, -together with many another of like weight and significance from the -house-tops, the Defence of the Realm Act would intervene promptly, -strongly and passionately on behalf of Fiction; but the Act has -limitations. The Still Small Voice evades the Act every time, it speaks -less from the lips than to the hearts of men. There is no humbug so -highly placed as to be able to shut it out, there is no man or woman so -befogged or bewildered by the horror of the hour that he cannot hear -the silences made audible. For Truth is not cast out of life, it is -but despised and rejected by the world's rulers and even they cannot -shut out the voice that whispers through all their waking hours, for -while many men can deceive others, few, if any, are permitted entirely -to deceive themselves in times like these. So many soft conventions -have fallen by the way, so many of life's excuses and subterfuges -have fallen into everlasting nothingness. Before the horror-stricken -eyes of authority the world over, Truth, muzzled, bedraped, masked, -and shrouded appears again like the skeleton at the feast, like the -grinning skull that accompanied the Roman Emperors on their Triumphs -to remind them that they too were mortal. Slowly yet with deliberation -Truth is beginning to shed the coverings that officialdom had heaped in -such designed profusion. The day is not far distant when the fetters -will fall from the limbs, the shroud from the dread face, and in that -hour not all the Acts and Proscriptions will avail to frame a covering. -Europe, bleeding, sore, wounded, poverty-stricken, shattered beyond -recognition, will see Truth face to face. And then----? - - - - -XVIII - -THE CLAIM OF ALL THE CHILDREN - - -I have been trying to look through the clouds of war to what lies -behind. Quite resolutely I have closed my ears to certain empty -cries about the commercial conquest of Germany, about the coming of -Protection, about all the panaceas of political and other quacks. -Most of us who take the trouble to think can trace these cries to -their source. I have endeavoured to look to the time when this old -country of ours will be faced by a new set of conditions, by forces yet -incalculable that war has brought into being. People have talked and -written glibly about changes of heart, of the fraternising of capital -and labour, of sin and crime and disease exorcised by some supreme -spirit of good will, but I have my doubts. "CÅ“lum non animum mutant," -wrote Horace, two thousand years ago. - -Men have always made good resolutions in times of stress; they range -from the nation's ideals voiced by its spokesmen down to the promise -of candles for the shrine of some saint. The mind can follow the road -that connects our English House of Commons or the Russian home of the -Duma with the church of Notre Dame de la Garde whereto the men who -traffic in the mighty waters of the Gulf of Lyons pay with knick-knacks -for their real or imaginary protection. I have no faith in the power -of good intentions to act automatically. When this war is over and -we are faced with a victory, an indecisive result, or a defeat, the -tendency of our insularity will be to interfere as little as may be -with pre-existing conditions. Men who serve in high places will be -overwrought; you do not carry a part of the burden of the British -Empire upon your shoulders without a maximum of strain. The tendency -will, I fear, be to declare that the evil of the day is sufficient, -that the nation must be kept secure from new ideas. There will be few -to make excursion in search of trouble. Yet there can be very few -students of social progress who will not admit that the only way in -which we can make good the losses of war, is by turning to the best -possible account the assets left to us at its conclusion. And the -supreme asset of a State is its children. - -Let us leave aside for the moment all the other burning social -questions of the time. They are not the less poignant because a great -patriotic impulse has kept so much suffering silent. The question of -the future of our great Empire is one that must be decided in a large -measure by those who are children to-day. We have to ask ourselves -what we are doing to prepare them for their labours, and how far such -preparation can bear comparison with that made by the nations which -will be our competitors. We are the trustees of the British Empire, -Unlimited. What manner of estate are we going to bequeath to our -children? - -Down to the summer of 1914, we had every means of doing well for -the generation that must grasp the reins when at Time's bidding we -relinquish them. That we had misused those means goes without saying. -As far as education goes it was said years ago of our richest schools -that a vast sum of money was expended on education, and that a beggarly -account of empty brains was the result. That indictment holds good -to-day. The education of the children of the wealthy is both costly -and ineffective. Much that is taught bears no relation to the needs -of twentieth-century life. Middle class education is better without -being good, while the State education that, as far as the poor is -concerned, is both obligatory and free, is worth what it costs. -Secondary Education is pursued if at all under conditions of the -greatest difficulty. Boys and girls too under our present evil economic -conditions are turned into wage-earners at the earliest possible -moment. County Council classes, often capably conducted and well within -the reach of the great majority, cannot find adequate support for -many reasons. One is that the primary education of the poor does not -encourage the habit of study. The ill-fed children of the slums look -upon school as a necessary evil, redeemed to a small extent by the gift -of free meals, over which, we, the richest nation of the earth, haggled -so long. When the children of the poor have reached the standard or -the age that sets them free, the struggle for life begins and finds -them too jaded at the end of the normal day's work to seek fresh -instruction, even if they have an inclination or ambition to improve -their minds. Untrained, undisciplined, condemned in many instances to -blind-alley employment, what better is to be expected? Again we are -face to face with the demand for cheap labour, the labour that enriches -the employer and even gives an illusory benefit to the State. Save in -the direction of making laws, most of them foolish, and raising money, -much of it ill spent, the State follows a policy of _laissez faire_. -The effort to make primary education compulsory has seemingly left it -without the energy to see that it should also be sound and effective. -The latter-day squabbles between Church and State in the schoolroom -have always been regarded as more interesting than education itself. -Legislators by the score have shown in Parliament that the question of -feeding hungry children so that they may be physically fit to learn, -is the only side of education over which they are prepared to spend any -thought, and that in order to oppose action. So these things were down -to the time when England went to war, so they will be after England -returns to peace unless the great body of public opinion in the country -will realise that no victory can be enduring if countries anxious -to compete with us in the future give a genuine education to their -children while we remain content with a spurious one for ours. The -issue cannot be evaded; the responsibility cannot be shirked. French -education, German, Dutch, Danish, and Swiss are better than ours. They -take into account the needs of the times. They are not founded upon old -and obsolete prejudices. The technical side of educational needs is -fairly and fully met. The State equipment is better. The teachers know -that there are people in the world who do not speak English, and that -several European languages not only have a claim to consideration, but -must be taught by competent masters; that is to say, by men and women -with a liberal education born in the land whose language they teach. -Travelling scholarships should be the first reward of those who excel -at school. The incentive would be immense, and the contribution to the -forces of peace immeasurable. - -Even our cousins across the Atlantic, who have made their educational -system a living thing, have failed to teach us. Andrew Carnegie, -remembering the land of his birth, has liberally endowed Scottish -University Education with the gold of Pittsburg. Harvard, Yale, -Princeton, and other American colleges are an example to the world, in -Canada the lesson has been learned, in Toronto, Montreal and elsewhere, -and will soon be fully applied. But here in England those who cannot -go to Oxford or Cambridge will find that, for the most part, they must -be external students in pursuit of the higher education, with little -of the joyous intercourse that kindles ambitions and ideals. We look -a little askance at education. For the man in the street the really -great representatives of Cam and Isis are those who can row from -Putney to Mortlake in the early spring, and those who can shine at the -cricket ground in Marylebone about midsummer. Scholarship is something -in the nature of a harmless eccentricity, calling less for rebuke -than for derision. For this view-point our hopeless system of primary -education is responsible. To be effective in this country education -must be revised to meet the times we live in, made popular and finally -democratised. As I write we are waging war at the price of some four or -five million pounds a day. We must wage peace with as fine a disregard -for inevitable expenditure. The cost of one week's war will maintain -an entirely different system of national education for a year. I would -like to deal in brief broad outline with what might be attempted. - -It is only necessary to concede in the first instance that a sane -Government recognises the paramount claims of the children, the -terrible loss of much of the country's best blood, and the consequent -need of bringing what is left to us to the highest pitch of public -utility. These premises should surely stand beyond controversy. Why -should not every slum child have its share of public-school life free -of all charge? If we have come to the conclusion that this is the best -thing for the future of the country, why should the majority of the -little ones be left out? Does anybody hold that we do not require the -best that all the children can do for England? To those who suggest -that such a simple matter is revolutionary, or that it will cost too -much, one reply is that our children are our greatest national asset. -Upon our capacity to rear them well and wisely and to educate them to -the needs of the time, the whole future of the British Empire depends. -There is really nothing revolutionary about the proposal, for, if you -come to think of it, we give free education and even free meals, and -the most hardened Conservative will acknowledge freely enough that -the slum is not a good training ground for the rising generation. You -cannot clear slums away in a hurry. The owners of such places are -regarded if not with affection, at least with respect by the law and -the law makers, but you can run up boarding establishments that will -be infinitely superior to slums, and you can gather within them the -outcasts of the capitalistic system for proper feeding, clothing, -education, and training. If children go wrong they are sent to special -schools. All that is necessary is that instead of the children going -wrong, the grown-ups shall go right, that they shall recognise how -little their politics, prejudices and preconceptions matter by the -side of one child's welfare. I go as far as to declare that it is the -bounden duty of the State to make its gift of education effective, that -in making education compulsory it recognised certain paramount duties -that remain fulfilled only in the letter, and not in the spirit. One -does not advocate change, however beneficial, for the mere sake of a -nobler and wider life, such pleas do not gain prompt acceptance. Rather -let it be stated quite frankly that, unless we turn the best aptitudes -and capacities of the rising generation to the fullest account, we -cannot hope to maintain our position in the face of competition. As a -nation we handicap ourselves lamentably when we endeavour to hold our -own in the world with no more than a small part of our national assets -realised or realisable. Children are our assets, and between the infant -mortality on the one hand, blind product of ignorance, poverty, and -apathy, and indifferent education on the other hand, we stand a very -bad chance in the battle for supremacy. If we would increase, preserve, -and train child life we could look to the future without misgiving. - -Edmund Burke, who will not be found to have given many hostages to -socialism, declared that the citizens of a State are a partnership, -that every member of such partnership has a right to a fair portion of -all that society with all its combinations of skill and force can do in -his favour, and that he has a right to the fruits of his own industry -and the improvement of his own offspring. Let us be content to leave -the case as Burke stated it in the time of George III., it will be seen -that we have not yet gained for the average man the minima that the -most eloquent statesman of his time prescribed. It is also clear that -this claim for a full and free education is not the claim for charity, -but the claim for a right that should be deemed inalienable. The grant -of this right enriches while appearing to impoverish the State, and -a step that some will deem socialistic and others revolutionary is -fairly defined as common-sense procedure. We have at last reached the -stage of agreeing that child life must be increased, preserved, and -cultivated to the best ends, but there is a fatal inclination in this -country to regard the theoretical acceptance of a principle as the -equivalent of its complete practical development. When you discuss the -whole vital question with sensible people they prove, almost without -exception, in accord, but as soon as you say, "_therefore let us endow -maternity, pass Pure Milk Bills, protect the mother from wrongful -labour before and after confinement, and the child from mal-nutrition, -educate the child when it is old enough to be educated, submit it to -reasonable discipline and prepare it physically, morally, and mentally -to fill the place for which it is best fitted in the workshop of the -world_," the theorists are unable to follow. Some constitutional -timidity holds them. They will not gallop across country to reach -their goal, fences and ditches frighten them, and all gates must be -unfastened. It is well for those of us whose ambitions for England -are inexhaustible, and who watch the shadow on Life's Dial moving -inexorably towards the sunset that we dare not despair of humanity. The -pen, however ill we may wield it, gives us courage. We know that when -our views are issued broadcast they resemble the seed in the Parable of -the Sower, and that some worker who in days yet unborn will lead the -children of the poor to their safe harbour out of the troubled waters -on which their helpless lives are tossed, will have gathered a part -of his inspiration and force from the thoughts of those who have gone -before. - -What is it that taints our physical bravery as a nation with so much -moral cowardice? Why is it that countless thousands will face shot and -shell and wounds horrible beyond imagining with quiet heroism, and -will yet shrink from the display of moral courage required to tell -their rulers that, until the poorest child of England has its rights -and its chance, they have failed in their duty, and that they must put -the national house in order? I would wager that a majority, a large -majority of both Houses of Parliament would be prepared to admit in -private conversation all the claims I have put forward on behalf of -the little ones, and that they would in public find a score of excuses -for not pressing them. The most frequent excuse will of course be that -after this war we shall lack the means. But I protest that whatever -the date of peace, if it be a peace that meets our hopes, we shall be -in a state in which we could find the means for at least another year -of war if need be. Who will deny that it is better to create, cherish, -and equip life than to devote our vast resources to its destruction? -Equality, liberty, and fraternity are the first-fruits of liberal -education, the fine flower of progress. The war found our wealth -accumulating and our people deteriorating, so slowly to be sure that -they were able to pull themselves together and appeal with certainty to -the favourable verdict of world history, but yet deteriorating. Slums, -prostitution, crime, insanity, drink, irresponsible wealth, all these -evils were beginning to fester in the body politic, and war has applied -the surgeon's knife to the open sore. Is peace to see it extirpated -or allowed to grow again? I think in all honesty and sincerity that -our treatment of the children will decide. If we will learn from our -neighbours on the continent and our kinsmen across the Atlantic we may -renew our strength. We may even justify the sacrifice of those who by -reason of their love of England will never return to us. - -There is another and a sacred ground for this appeal. Let us remember -the nameless dead, those whose heroism is expressed in part of a -crowded line of small print, who had nothing but their lives to offer -to their country, who had no chance in life and who when the bands -of the body were breaking gave their last anxious thoughts to little -ones doomed under our harsh system of social life to drift where and -how they can. Who among those they died to leave in security and a -sufficiency of the world's goods would come forward and say, "In -spite of all these dead men did for me I will oppose a measure that -will give their children useful and honourable lives, because what is -left to me of life will be passed without some luxuries I have enjoyed -hitherto?" I venture to say there are none who would put this sentiment -in words. Yet there are thousands, tens of thousands whose deeds will -say it for them, not because they are utterly selfish, callous, or -hard-hearted, but because they lack the saving grace of imagination. -The most of the evil that disfigures the earth is due to this inability -to see beyond our own needs. In the labour, the upheaval, the expense -of a movement needed to equip the generation that will so soon succeed -our own, we overlook the salient truth that it is no more than the -fulfilment of a solemn duty, a pledge that binds us to the dead though -it was never given. For who will suggest that the poor men, the bulk -of those who fought and died for England, faced their fate to maintain -the slum and the gin palace and the labour of the poor prostitute who -sells her body that she may eat to live, or drink to forget how she -is living? Surely they died for the faith that was in them, with some -dim fore-knowledge of happier days for those they left behind. We are -the executors of their unwritten testament. If, as so many believe, -there is some form of consciousness in the unknown world of which they -are the sudden denizens, will they not be looking even now to see if -we whose debt is so great have determined to pay it? And what better -faith can we keep than by giving to the lives they have left behind the -simple rights that were denied to them? Every rich man, every member of -the comfortable classes claims these benefits for his children, and if -the war has given birth to a true spirit of brotherhood, the children -of the poor cannot be forgotten. They lack the means, we have them. -From this simple truth and the consequent, inexorable duty there is no -escape with a clean conscience. - - - - -XIX - -THE PRUSSIAN IN OUR MIDST - - -War throws a blinding light upon the strength and the weakness of -nations, and in England we may claim that we have faced the light -without any revelations of which we need feel ashamed. Our mistakes -have been rather of temperament than character, and whether in -mustering our millions on the voluntary system or surrendering our -hard-won liberties to an authority that has shown no sign of suffering -from wisdom in excess, or giving fully and freely of our resources -to the national cause, we may claim to have shown in our collective -capacity a generous response to the most varied and unexpected -demands. Incidentally we have discovered in our midst a body of men, -happily small in number, and not too significant in position, who -would fain embody in our national life the worst vices that we are -said to be fighting in the one foe that counts. These men, whose -political sagacity exists in inverse ratio to their prejudices, are -ever prompting the worst elements in our rulers and threatening and -intriguing against the others. - -To them war is no frightful necessity imposed upon a free and peaceful -people, but a providential opportunity for taking occasion by the hand; -the voice is the voice of Prussia, but the hands are English hands. - -Our Prussians have always been in evidence, but, while the government -of the empire was trusted to their friends, they were content to be -quietly active. It is now nearly ten years since a Liberal Government -came into power, and with the advent of Radical legislation our -Prussians--they call them Tories over here--became active. - -When taxation threatened their superfluous wealth, they called heaven -and earth to witness that such an outrage had no sanction. When the -House of Lords, long the supreme force of obstruction, was threatened -they grew frantic, and at many a well-spread board declared themselves -ready to dine--I mean die--in the last ditch before submitting to the -indignity of democratic government. - -When Home Rule was on the tapis they declared for revolution and civil -war, and it needed Armageddon to burst the bladder of Sir Edward -Carson's threats. In justice be it said that when the tocsin sounded -the Tories responded to the nation's need, and forgot for a time their -ineffective selves. - -But as soon as the gravity of the task was revealed they decided -that the authorities were useless without their judgment in aid. -Cabal succeeded criticism, plots of exquisite silliness were hatched, -matched, and dispatched. Then came the call for more soldiers, and our -Prussians turned Conscriptionists. - -The suggestion that conscription of men should be associated with -conscription of wealth was dismissed as an impertinence, it sufficed if -all that others possess were sacrificed for the State. Our Prussians -talked incessantly of men and duty, but where finance was concerned -they were content to warn the worker not to squander his extra wages -earned by unremitting labour during a week seven days long. They saw -with clear vision the iniquity of depriving the capitalist of half the -wealth he is amassing as a result of the bloodiest war in history, -and have protested almost in unison against the decree. They forgot -with amazing ease that conscription is the force that has set the -Prussian Jack-boot above all law human and divine; they clamoured for -it here, doubtless with an eye upon the possibilities of coercing in -days to come a proletariat of toilers forced to live under military -law in time of peace. Disguised as patriots they thundered from a -hundred platforms, they thumped a thousand tubs, while their hirelings -in the Press wrote stodgily in admiration and support, pointing out -that certain hard-jawed, soulless politicians would alone avail to -save England from itself. As though England would endure to-day the -undiluted political opinions of a Carson, a Milner, a Halsbury, or a -Walter Long. Excellent men, no doubt, but never in their lives less -than half a century behind the times. - -Politicians and papers were aided by the truth that even the voluntary -system has its flaws and hardships, its inequalities and petty -tyrannies, and the Prussian remedy for the whip of voluntary service is -the scorpion of conscription. - -Those who do not agree with our Prussians are traitors to the height, -although if our Prussians are patriots Dr. Johnson's definition of -patriotism becomes dangerously true. - -The question of peace discussion has been the latest consideration of -these gentry. Personally I have no use for peace until we have won our -victory or suffered our defeat. I believe we shall win, and that our -first duties as victors will be to take whatever steps are needed to -give peace permanence. - -But I cannot follow our Prussians over one yard of their mile-long way. -They would impose the methods of Berlin and Vienna upon all who dare -to have opinions of their own, they would repress individuality, they -would out Herod the Herods of the censorship who daily murder so much -childishness, they would in fact reduce free men to the level of the -citizens who serve their rulers for "cannon fodder." - -In one of the reactionary dailies written by Tories for Tories I have -been reading with infinite disgust a tribute of admiration to the -"Stern Methods" of the Central Empires in dealing with "War Cranks," -_i.e._ with people whose sense of what they, rightly or wrongly, -believe to be truth is so strong that they will sacrifice position, -even life, to tell the truth when they see it. "Hungarians," writes our -Prussian, "who were only suspected of not approving of the war were -interned or publicly shot." Such a policy has more to justify it "than -have the liberties which are accorded to certain sects who with their -ideas form an insignificant, and almost negligible minority." These -sentiments are even worse than the English used to express them. One -Hungarian publicist, M. Pazmaudy, aged sixty-nine, went to prison for -three months for writing an unpublished letter to a newspaper in which -he denounced the war as wholesale murder. A teacher who pointed out to -his class that war is the fruit of rulers' jealousy rather than of the -people's animosities, a statement that is probably true of nine-tenths -of the war recorded by history, was condemned to three years' hard -labour. Our anonymous Prussian rejoices in these barbarities, and a -paper supposed to represent the educated classes of England is not -ashamed to print this revelation of an unsound or distorted mind. - -In the early days of the war, Bernard Shaw reminded us that we, too, -have our Junkers, and his statement has been proved up to the hilt. -Our soldiers and sailors are fighting the Prussians abroad, and it is -the duty of those of us who cannot help beyond England's boundaries, -to fight the Prussians at home, for it is abundantly clear that we -have them in our midst, those who are working night and day to give -us Militarism, Absolutism, and every form of Central European slavery -under another name. They desire an England of conscript workmen, they -seek the destruction of Trade Unionism, and the abolition of socialism, -though it is only by adopting that dread creed that the Government -contrived to save our credit and to feed us. They wish to destroy the -German militarism, and what it stands for, but only to take over the -whole business, lock, stock, and barrel as a going concern. The truth -is that the Tories can no more change their skin than the leopard his -spots. - -It is to them the ideal, merely the ideal, in the wrong hands. They -see beyond the horizon of war the dawning of a democratic era that -shall destroy privilege, and make our national freedom greater than it -has ever been, and the prospect is more bitter to them than defeat. -So while our men, so recently civilians, are proving the strength and -resources of comparative freedom--what has been done is as little with -what still remains to be done--our Prussians are putting forward all -manner of chains for unfettered limbs, and are declaring that without -them nothing can save the Empire. It is pleasant to reflect that -after this war comes to its appointed close the vigorous democracies -of Canada and Australia that have followed the United States along -the road of political freedom will be finding representatives at the -Council Board of Empire, and that they will be alert and vigorous to -put an end to the machinations of our Prussians whose attack upon -liberty will not readily be forgotten. When we attempt to measure the -sacrifices that have been made in freedom's name since August, 1914, -when we remember the spirit that has led men contentedly into the -jaws of death, when we understand what our fighters have fought for, -there is an indescribable sense of loathing for the men who, secure in -England, are plotting to transfer Prussian principles across the North -Sea. Their failure to achieve anything commensurate with the villainy -of the attempt is neither palliation nor excuse. - -Every one who has studied social conditions knows that our national -ability to pit the unprepared British Empire against Germany armed to -the teeth, has been due to the fact that our Empire holds millions who -believe from the bottom of their hearts that it is worth living in and -dying for. What would the Prussians make of our Empire if they were -allowed to direct it? A happy hunting-ground for Junkers and a hell -upon Earth for free men is the very best that they could accomplish. - -Political insight, democratic foresight, prevision of the inevitable -march of events, all these gifts are denied them. They have no sympathy -with any freedom that could exist beyond the realms of the privileged -classes, they are too blind to see the writing on the wall that tells -them they have been found wanting. - -This war has witnessed plenty of mistakes, some trivial, some serious; -it has witnessed the birth of a certain number of oppressive and -retrograde measures, and the death of national liberties of which we -look with hope, even with certainty for the joyful resurrection. - -Whatever has been bad, retrograde, or dangerous to democracy has won -the unstinted approval of our Prussians; every other act of our rulers -they have condemned. - - - - -XX - -THE GROWN-UP GIRLS OF ENGLAND - - -Before the war, I heard some shrewd feminists say that the frivolity -associated with the life of women at the time when they have ceased -to be girls and have "come out," is a matter of environment rather -than choice. They went so far as to assert that if a worthier goal -were offered, a majority would seek it without a moment's hesitation. -For all my sympathy with feminism, despite my heartfelt conviction -that man needs woman's help in the task of administering the world -that lies beyond the home, I had doubts, grave doubts. I thought -that those who said these things had gone a little beyond their -brief, and I remembered the French aphorism, "_la jeunesse n'a qu'un -jour_." It seemed to me that an innate knowledge of the time-limit was -the foundation of frivolity, and here, perhaps, I was looking back -thirty years or more to the radiant season of my own _début_, and was -remembering how the girls who became matrons were expected to play the -rest of their part in the life symphony on muted strings. True it is -that I helped to post-date the passing of the girl and the coming of -the matron, but in those feverish times we all thought that the race -was to the swift. - -It may be that this conviction coloured my views; I believed that -for the vast majority of young girls with prospects of a good time, -there would be no pleasure in serious endeavour of any kind: that a -sense of responsibility could not precede the State recognition of -women and a sweeping measure of educational reform. As recently as the -summer season of 1914, I found the new players feverishly excited by -the old, old game, and pleasure instead of losing its savour seemed -to have widened its boundaries and assumed shapes more fantastic than -ever. I heard girls who were standing on the threshold of their career -prattling of the joys to come as though life did not compass within its -horizon one solitary sorrow or disappointment. Women of experience are, -I think, stirred by these enthusiasms in their sisters or daughters, or -young friends: they have learned a part of life's lesson, and know glad -memories for an inalienable possession. It follows that they rejoice -to see those who are near and dear to them treading the primrose path -in the spring of their years, realising that when they look over the -old road in the autumn days, their memory will help to gladden it -with even fairer blossoms. If we know youth for the season of mental -intoxication, we are not the less grateful to the gods who grant it to -one and all, and if we are quite honest with ourselves we have been -rather a little sorry for the girls who are serious before their time. -But, while so many happy children, for after all they were little more, -were bringing their healthy appetite to the banquet of life, "dawn was -at hand to strike the loud feast dumb." - -The effect of the upheaval upon the girls who had been presented -in 1914, or would in the ordinary course of events have made their -_début_ since, has been startling, and it has taught me that not only -are the working classes sound at the core--I never doubted this--but -the leisured classes are in no whit inferior. Only an insignificant -minority pursue pleasure at any price, and find in the horrors of our -time a medium for publicity or dissipation. Over the not inconsiderable -circle that I have the opportunity of observing there came, in the vast -majority of cases, a startling change. The opportunities for frivolity -under the rose were accepted only by a few who are constitutionally and -irretrievably decadent, or actually vicious. The others passed pleasure -by, sought duty wherever it was to be found, and became supremely happy -in its pursuit. They taught me to realise that my feminist friends were -right, and that environment which could have moulded their plastic -natures in one mould, had no trouble in moulding them in another. - -To do full justice to the fortunately circumstanced girls of England, -for I take it that what is true of London and many country homes will -apply elsewhere, it is necessary to remember that they have known less -of the horrors of war than their sisters of almost all belligerent -countries. Some, very few, have heard one or two bombs dropped from -air-ships, the rest have seen no more than the wounded men who are -sufficiently well to be brought over to England. They cannot even have -visualised the full tragedy of the struggle as French and Belgian -girls must have done, and, above all, they are seldom imaginative, but -just as they were prepared less than two years ago to enjoy as good a -time as life could afford, they are now committed to the hardest tasks -within their competence. What they have lost in pleasure, they have -gained in self-respect, and a sense of true citizenship; above all, -they realise that they are of signal use to the State in the hour of -its exceeding great need. Part of the _rôle_ so long denied to them -they have assumed, not only without challenge, but with acclamation. - -They have one additional advantage in their new sphere: they have never -known the pursuits of normal times. While the doors of the ball-room -and all that lies beyond were still shut, the doors of the Temple of -Janus were torn asunder. They have no regrets, they do not miss the -flavour of what they have never tasted. Life is so full for them that -if pleasure were within their grasp they would lack the leisure as -well as the inclination to grasp it. The example of fathers, brothers, -boy friends, is an unending stimulus; all those they love best are -looking to them with a gratitude or admiration that no pursuit of -pleasure could have evoked. They have realised the high tension of the -hour, they have risen silently and unostentatiously to the heights. -Such tragedy as has come into their lives--and the mourning that so -many wear is eloquent beyond all speech--has increased rather than -diminished their labours; it has brought them nearer to the actuality -of things. Where one hoped that all would gather roses many have -gathered rue, but they have learned to know it by the older name, -herb-of-grace. They wear it as they work, and it has become one of the -symbols of the bond that binds those who serve with those who suffer. - -I have seen the girls of whom I write labouring with deft yet -unaccustomed hands in the canteens, undertaking in the hospitals the -menial work that falls to those who are yet untrained, giving to pain -longer hours than they would have given to pleasure in happy times. -They bring to their tasks the subtle indefinite charm that is the gift -of their hour and was intended for a setting so different. Is it a part -of their reward that their lives should not lack a generous gift of -high romance? I cannot recall in any season over which my memory has -control so many engagements and marriages as there have been of late. -The old huckstering conditions would seem to have passed, the girls are -no longer weighing chances, the men are no longer calculating coldly. -Each sees the other at best. The girl knows that the lad who has given -all and risked all for his country must be sound at heart, and that -his scars are honourable; the young man knows that he cannot go wrong -in choosing a girl who has left pleasure for duty, who has found high -ideals and pursues them. These unions coming about in hours of deepest -uncertainty, when the bride of one month may be the widow of the next, -are calculated to bring out what is best in both, for the natural -affection is leavened by mutual respect. I have heard worldly minded -parents grieve, some have brought their tales of woe to my utterly -unsympathetic ear; I rejoice in these marriages, and believe they are -of happiest augury for the State. Surely those who wed under these -conditions may hope to live on the high plane of idealism longer than -those whose unions have been dictated by what is mis-called prudence, -while the fruits of unions consummated in such solemn hours when the -future of Europe trembles in the balances of God, will be a source -of strength in the years to come. They will surely not be like the -offspring of exaggerated comfort or monstrous luxury. - -It seems to me, reviewing the accomplishment of so many girls I know -best, that war, for all its tragedy, may well leave the poor remains -of our civilisation better than it was in the season of our opulence. -Without regard to money or to good looks some of the best elements -of the race have mated, each partner to the union understanding in -fashion hitherto unimaginable not only that the Empire is worth the -best we have to offer, but that one and all, regardless of the world's -favours, are bringing their sacrifice. The minorities, noisy or silent, -with which we must hereafter deal, the residue of profit-hunters and -pleasure-seekers, pass almost out of mind as one sees the extraordinary -transformation that war has wrought in a class that was supposed to be -utterly deaf to any call save the call of amusement. That there have -been larger tributes to the national cause is a commonplace, that there -has been a more striking one I, at least, deny. - -Who was the cynic who said that woman was the last animal that man -would civilise? I hope and believe he has not lived as long as his -libel, and yet I could wish that somewhere in the realms reserved for -liars he could be permitted to see a few at least of the sights that -have gladdened and stimulated me in the past twelve months, ever since -the women workers in the Empire's cause became fully representative of -every class in the realm. - - - - -XXI - -THE SOCIAL HORIZON - - -Very early in the war, almost before the Expeditionary Force was under -arms, the Government was forced by the grave urgency of the national -case to apply the principles of socialism to certain outstanding -problems. To name only one instance, we may mention the work of the -railways. Socialists have always urged that the railroads should be -taken over by Government in the national interest, and countless -reams of paper have been wasted by individualists to demonstrate -the impossibility. But needs grew paramount, and the Government, by -a stroke of the pen, took the railroads into its inexpert keeping. -Nothing has happened to make the country regret the change. The fashion -in which our railways (with a few notable exceptions) are conducted -is so utterly bad and so profoundly inefficient, that Government, in -giving precedence to Government business, made them very little worse. -Fares are a trifle higher, trains rather less frequent, carriages -dirtier than heretofore, but Government's proper needs and unpractised -handling could do little or nothing to depress the normal standard. As -the war progressed, and various common-sense measures were required -to deal with war profits, war contracts, and war crises generally, it -was recognised with something akin to dismay by the hierarchy that -lives behind the times that in many instances socialism had anticipated -common-sense. Then a strange thing happened. In a very unguarded -moment, Mr. Runciman, that bright young man whose statesmanlike -qualities and keen sympathy with our poor shipowners have endeared him -to a small minority at least of English-speaking people, was heard -to declare before a pained and startled House of Commons that where -Socialism was practical and met the needs of the hour, he was prepared -to adopt it. In other words, he would not discard a useful measure -because it was socialistic in origin or tendencies! What magnanimity; -what a sterling recognition of a nation's needs! - -Nobody perhaps quite knows what measure of concession to hard truth -was here intended, but as a statement made by a President of the Board -of Trade, the utterance deserved more attention than it received. -Perhaps the Press Bureau asked newspapers to take no marked notice of a -hard-worked "statesman's" slip of the tongue. One would wager that it -did not pass altogether unrebuked by those descendants of the wise men -of Gotham, who would rather see the Empire lost by party politicians -than saved by Socialists or Socialism. - -It is a curious fact, and one that the historian of the future will -surely acknowledge, that Individualism has been discredited by the war, -and that the appeal of both our leaders and misleaders, whatever the -colour of their party-political opinions, has been to the principles -underlying Socialism. Even in Russia, an autocracy, a land in which -the Tsar comes in the popular mind very near to God, the appeal to -the nation has been an appeal, however unconsciously, to Socialism. -The root principle of Socialism lies in a great National Act. The -nation must work together for the national good. So far has this idea -developed that in the last days of February, a reputed reactionary, M. -Markoff, rose in the Duma to implore the Government "to withdraw its -shield from the old gang of officials who look upon their country's -adversities merely as a favourable opportunity for increasing their -perquisites" (_Daily Telegraph_, Feb. 28th). Here, under the pressure -of giant circumstance, we find an appeal made for the united action -and the national act. In Germany, as all our responsible, and not a -little of the irresponsible, Press has frankly admitted, the Socialist -party is the only one that has kept its head, and endeavoured in very -difficult circumstances to preserve ideals. The _Vorwarts_, leading -organ of German Socialism, though it regards the war as an evil for -which Germany was not responsible, has courageously opposed all the -actions of the governing class that have tended to lower the character -of the German people, and I have heard some of the best informed -students of European politics declare that, had Social Democracy been -allowed another ten years of peaceful development throughout the German -Empire, no German ruler would have dared provoke a war for the hegemony -of Europe. They cannot deny that Socialism, in its International -aspect, was making for the brotherhood of man. No other force in -national life was working with any approach to equal strength and -sincerity along the same road and in pursuit of the same goal. - -Unfortunately, under the conditions that beset and damn all Europe, the -people have no voice in the supreme decision of war. Their privilege -is to fight those with whom they have no quarrel. Theirs, too, to -sacrifice in appalling numbers their fathers, husbands, brothers, -and sons, to give up their homes and savings, to acquiesce blindly -in every evil that marches in the wake of strife. Just as the men -ordered from the trenches to be mown down by shot and shell are given -or offered some form of raw spirit to stimulate and even intoxicate -them, so before war is declared, Governments, through the medium of a -docile Press, circulate the lies best calculated to make the imminent -enormity appear inevitable and just. As soon as the declaration of -war is made, the common patriotism of nations obscures every other -issue. Men must fight for hearth and home, for fatherland and all -that it implies. Primal necessity is speaking, and on every banner of -every nation the ominous words "Væ victis" are inscribed. The people -who make war and, somewhere out of Death's ample range direct it, -understand the psychology of nations; their skill in all the arts of -deception is unrivalled. Yet of all the lessons enforced by the war -there is none that has come with greater force to all whose minds are -not hermetically sealed than the lesson that Individualism has failed -completely in the hour of the world's extremist need. The price we have -paid for it within the compass of two brief years is the total loss -of millions of lives, the future ineffectiveness of still more, the -sheer, brutal waste of wealth more than sufficient to have solved all -the economic troubles of Europe. Countless thinkers in all belligerent -countries have been forced to the conclusion that Socialism is the only -force capable of rendering what is left of Europe capable and adequate -to the demands upon it. Great Britain, insular by act of God and the -general tendency of the population, is fully prepared to accept -Socialism as long as it is not called by that name, for such is the -state of our mental development that we judge all political goods by -their labels. In other countries, where social, political, and economic -conditions are not merely discussed, but understood, where the people's -representatives are required to have some minimum of knowledge in -addition to birth, money, and influence, these concessions to popular -ignorance and prejudice have been swept aside. The recognition of the -necessity for sweeping changes is made without fear. Even in Germany, -when Dr. Frank, the eminent Socialist, was reported killed, a statement -was published to the effect that the Kaiser had expressed his regrets -at the death of a man whose gifts would have helped the country in the -days when schemes of reconstruction are under consideration. - -This may have been no more than a sop to the social Democrats, of whom -upwards of two millions have been called to the colours, but even if -this be so, the sop is a significant one, and could not have been -lightly given. - -In stricken Belgium, the man who comes next to King Albert in sheer -patriotic endeavour and in the gift of inspiring the nation to hold up -its head under conditions hard for any of us to realise, is the famous -Socialist leader, Emile Vandervelde. He is not only at the head of the -Belgian Ministry of War, but is King Albert's most trusted adviser; his -gifts overshadow those of his equally devoted and patriotic colleagues. -The thrill of horror and shame that ran through France when Jean Jaurés -fell to the assassin's bullet in the opening days of war, was felt far -beyond the French borders. Even in the tense excitement of that unhappy -season, the French Government, after voting the murdered patriot a -public funeral, posted in every Commune throughout the country its -expression of horror and regret. To-day, a Socialist Prime Minister -directs with rare skill and courage the fortunes of the Republic; -the French National Council has not hesitated to summon to its ranks -such an uncompromising foe of Individualism in whatever form as Jules -Guesde. None, having eyes to see, ears to hear with, and even a modest -gift of comprehension, can fail to gather from this the tendency of -the great Power with which we are now so closely allied. Of all the -European nations there is none in which the gift of political sagacity -is so strongly marked as it is in France, none to which the gifts of -political foresight and courage have been granted in equal measure. -What Paris thinks to-day, London must be at least prepared to discuss -in the very near future. - -There is no secret about the cause of the action that France and -Belgium have taken of set purpose. The whole essence of a successful -struggle is unity--unity of purpose, of feeling and of thought. The -working classes, now as ever, are bearing in every country the bulk of -the burden of war. Sane Governments must needs endeavour to secure for -labour an adequate representation in their midst. Knowing that their -proper interests are being subordinated, if at all, to the national -cause, and not for private profit or exploitation, labour feels that -it is secure, and will give all it has to give with a generosity -that may be rivalled, but can never be excelled. The white flame of -patriotism is only kept glowing if it is fed by the efforts of a whole -community. This result will never be quite realised here in England -until all interests are united in a Cabinet that stands just now for -very little more than the propertied classes. I admit, Mr. Henderson, -Mr. Brace, and Mr. Wardle, have all been given some office to placate -the great Trade Unions from which so much is demanded to-day. But this -is not enough. Our Cabinet of aged ostriches still hides its head -in the bushes of precedent and prejudice, content to believe that -what it does not wish to see can have no existence, and fortified -in this strange method, that would be comic if it were not tragic, -by all sections of the capitalistic Press. International Socialism -is gathering its forces throughout Europe, and in the United States -as well, to impose permanent peace on kings and other anachronisms. -Thinking people in all the centres of civilisation agree that this war -is sounding the knell of privilege. But England remains content to be -ruled by lawyers, professional politicians, mid-Victorian relics, and -doctrinaires. Socialism, the master force of the immediate future, is -deliberately ignored. Well might Father Adderley (Canon the Honourable -James Adderley, so beloved in the slums of Plaistow and Birmingham) -deplore in his recently published memoirs, the absence from Parliament -or from the Government itself, of H. M. Hyndman, the Nestor of English -Socialism. The astonishing part of our national attitude towards this -crisis is that the men who really guide and influence our public -opinion, the live men of letters, are for the most part Socialists, -and make no secret of their principles, nor have they ever hesitated -to voice their suspicion of what Matthew Arnold called "the unelastic -pedantry of theorising Liberalism." Does this Government think that all -this teaching has fallen or is falling on deaf ears? Does it forget -that it was the French Encyclopædists who made the French Revolution? -They taught a discontented and unhappy people to think and the people -did the rest. Our rulers have always moved respectfully behind the -times, but, to do them what justice we may, be it remembered that they -never expected to live through seasons that impel the times to move -with giant and sudden strides. - -Now, even in the latter days, all these things have come upon them. -Will they, can they, rise to the height of the occasion? - - - - -XXII - -HOW SHALL WE MINISTER TO WORLD DISEASED? - - -It is not without a certain significance that, while French and German -soldiery were sacrificing themselves by their thousands to the Gods of -War in and around the blood-stained village street of Douaumont, while -our soldiers were holding on to the line of the Tigris, near whose -source Russian forces were marching southward to the rescue, the Royal -Commission appointed to investigate what is euphemistically called -"Social Disease," issued its report. The coincidence from certain -view-points is startling. - -The report, definitely limited as to its scope, sober in its statement, -and appalling in its revelation, is a solemn reminder to the world of -civilised men that there are enemies equally deadly and more insidious -than those with whom any belligerent is concerned. The victims of the -diseases discussed probably outnumber, in Great Britain alone, all her -defenders on sea and land. Four millions of our population, with power -to add to their number, are at grips with a deadly enemy in various -stages of its virulence; an enemy who will "visit the sins of the -fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation." Nay -more, the Commissioners whose trained minds lend solid value to their -every utterance, assure us that after a war an excessive incidence -of disease is certain to occur, even in districts previously free. -There are other significant comments. "Our evidence," they tell us, -"tends to show that the communication of disease is frequently due -to intoxicants, and there is no doubt that the growth of temperance -among the population would help to bring about an amelioration. We are -also conscious of the fact that overcrowded and insanitary dwellings -contribute to the spread of disease, and from improvements in this -direction we should expect some diminution of its prevalence." - -Let us consider the full meaning of these vivid comments. When war is -over, we shall celebrate the coming of peace throughout the length and -breadth of these islands. Countless offerings will be laid before the -altar of the brewer and the distiller; it will be almost dangerous to -be an abstainer. For a time, at least, the barriers of restraint will -be torn down. Something known as "good fellowship" will at once dictate -and excuse an orgie. The discipline that weak minds require will be -honoured in the breach rather than the observance, and "an excessive -incidence of disease is certain to occur, even in districts previously -free." - -When a town is successfully invaded, and a soldiery, grown reckless -after lying cheek by jowl with death flings his self-discipline, -mercy, and restraint to the winds, the world that has not lost its -reason is sick at heart. When peace is proclaimed, and the return to -civil life is associated with a licence that outrages the living and -damns the unborn, there is apparently no authority that can intervene, -no public opinion capable of making itself felt. The living, and -those upon whom the heaviest burden of life is to be imposed, are -alike unprotected. Not only is this so, but the conditions that must -make for their undoing are cultivated in the interests of those who -flood the land with spirits and malt liquors. What if our slums help -infection to spread? Are not slum-owners often men of repute, some -of whom sit in the high seats of judgment and help to administer a -world they are willing to degrade still further in the sacred name -of rent? Do we not make a man a Peer if he can brew sufficient beer? -The Commissioners know better than to plead for an England sober -or an England adequately housed. Theirs not to presume to attack -vested interests. They have dared greatly in pointing out what the -slum and the gin palaces contribute to the spread of most loathsome -diseases under heaven. There they must stop. They know their public. -"Improvement in the social conditions and in the moral standard may be -slow." They have realised what our modern political conditions stand -for throughout Great Britain. They even admit that there may be no -money for improvement; European civilisation, however inadequate to -human needs, however imperfect and incomplete, can only be destroyed -at heavy expense. The destruction demands the best life-blood of every -belligerent nation and all available financial resources. What can be -left to combat "social disease," cancer, consumption, drink, slums, -and the other evils that destroy even more than war, but have nothing -arresting or spectacular in their methods? The Commissioners plead, it -would seem, with more of earnestness than hope. - -Perhaps the most appalling side of "social disease" is due to its -utter absence of respect for persons. We could wish in the interests -of humanity as at present constituted that the germs could themselves -be inoculated with genuine English snobbery, so that they would -refrain from attacking "high personages." Apparently, germs are -untutored things. They ignore class distinctions. They attack with -equal impartiality the drunken soldier of a garrison town, the sailor -set free, after a long voyage, in an evil seaport with money burning -holes in his pocket, and the crowned head who, in the days of his -indiscretion, lived as lewdly as the soldier or sailor without the -excuse of either. The wages of sin is death. "Social disease" affects -the ordered function of the brain, and when that brain is in the skull -of one who controls the destinies of Empire, the dread death-wages -must be paid by the rank and file of his subjects. Nobody has dared -yet to write fully and freely of the influence of social disease upon -the decrees of European rulers. Though the hideous facts are known -well enough in certain circles, they are hardly discussed. Perhaps the -scandal is one from which the sharpest pen shrinks appalled. Consider -the _cercle privé_ from which Europe's dynasts spring, the tendencies -of upbringing, the intermarriage, the temptation, the effect upon -narrow minds and exhausted stocks. The light is beginning to shine -upon thrones. The world is beginning to ask why so much of madness is -manifest in the ranks of rulers, and whether in the wide interests of -humanity the breed is not of more importance than the blood. At present -the question is asked _sotto voce_, the time is surely coming when it -will ring through Europe. But for the moment there is a still larger -question at stake. - -The publication of the Royal Commission's Report is a warning and a -challenge to the democracy, not only of Great Britain, but of the -world. It tells them that the real, the enduring enemy, is not the -German, the Briton, the Frenchman, or the Russian. The enemy is not -on the battlefield, but in the homeland, in the street, perhaps in -the house. He has invaded every country in Europe without exception. -Battleships, heavy ordnance, elaborate trenches, are of no avail. -Treaties of peace cannot be made effective until they are signed -between a vigilant and victorious democracy on the one hand and a -defeated, privileged class on the other. - -The national resources required to meet a foul disease are taken from -us to-day in measure beyond precedent to meet an expenditure for which -the demand was created by kings and statesmen. There was no reference -to the will of the people; until such time as that will could be -neither logical nor effective. The world's working men, decimated -to satisfy the ambitions of their misrulers, must return in greatly -diminished numbers and with lives crippled and wasted by the million, -to find the old enemies at their gate and the worst and ugliest of -these enemies prepared to take advantage of peace by waging more deadly -war. And those who will administer their shattered dynasties will -include members of families that are notoriously tainted by "social -disease." Surely viler prospect were hard to find. - -Yet there is not under heaven an evil for which there is no remedy. -If the people sacrificed to armament makers, diplomats, and dynasts -will join hands across the world they can overcome the enemies without -and within. Their strength, if they will but put it forward, is -irresistible, far greater than they know. They should have no more -illusions. They are many; those who exploit them are few. Before -the war the great international movement was growing. A series of -ultimatums, of frenzied calls to patriotism, racial prejudice and fear, -frosted the ripening blossoms, but could not reach the root that lies -deep down in the heart of suffering humanity. Internationalism will -rise again. Those who have a finger upon the pulse of the workers the -world over, know that the life forces, depressed for a time, are giving -a growing vigour to the beat. Already they see the rulers of the world -deploring the catastrophe that they brought about, becoming conscious -that their hands drip blood. Already they see that normal evils are -not merely remaining unabated but are actually growing, that a world -returned to sanity and humility will find more vileness to combat and -fewer means to its aid. It will look for a lead. - -That is why there is so much reason to hope that the United States -will not be drawn into war. There, the workers of Europe are already -beginning to look for guidance, direction, help, and actual -co-operation in the ultimate struggle for freedom, that when war is -over they may combat the yet worse evils around them. Our thoughts turn -to the New World, redeemed from kings and popes and the tragic remains -of feudalism, and, largely on that account, at peace. Consider the -vile, naked truth that we in England may lack the means adequately to -conquer the "social disease," the white scourge, the slum problem, and -other shames of man's own making because our national resources are -being sacrificed to such destruction as sun, moon, and stars have never -looked upon since first they lit the earth. - -Our rulers, our statesmen, our parliaments, our laws alike, have -failed us. Judge them by their fruits, as hereafter surely they -must be judged. There is nothing left between Europe and the abyss -but the solidarity of the working classes, the spread of democracy, -the overthrow of every effete institution that exists for no better -reason than that it has been allowed to exist so long. We, the -Internationalists, look to the United States, that island of sanity -set in a raging sea of madness. We look to it for light and leading, -for encouragement and support. It is the only great power left to read -the lessons of world-war without prejudice. I would like the terrible -indictment penned against our modern civilisation by the Royal -Commission to be read by every thinking American of whose political -faith democracy is the vital essence.[1] - - - "This is that Blossom on our human tree - Which opens once in many myriad years - But opened, fills the world with Wisdom's scent - And Love's dropped honey." - - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] I would like it studied in the red light of war, that our cousins -oversea with their generous instincts, quick judgment and resourceful -minds may be stimulated to assist the workers of all nations when once -this terrible chapter of our life is closed. United action will make -impossible in the future all wars save that which is waged against -disease, privilege, and ineffectiveness. - - - - -XXIII - -HOW I WOULD WORK FOR PEACE - - -For a long time past, ever since it was realised that the countless -campaigns to which we are committed would be long in following their -appointed course, costly in progress and revolting in detail, all -manner of people have come forward to explain that they have mastered -the causes and the cure of war. Belligerent and neutral countries -alike have put forward their panaceas, and Great Britain has held some -particularly active groups, perhaps because, while strife fills her -horizon, only Zeppelins have succeeded in bringing the actualities home -to those who are not serving. Then, too, we have always had in the -country a number of men and women who believe honestly that war is a -madness and crime, that their contention can be proved by argument, and -that because they imagine war does not really benefit anybody, nobody -really wants war. - -There are others who do not go quite so far as this, being content -to saddle policies or individuals with the responsibility. Secret -diplomacy is, we are assured, a fruitful source of wars, and we are -invited to place our cards on the table, and instruct our diplomats -to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Out -of these theories are born societies like the Union of Democratic -Control, and many unnecessary speeches by people who are apt to confuse -martyrdom and unpopularity. - -War gives rise to optimists, like Mr. Henry Ford, who, quite oblivious -to gibes and sneers, charters a steamer and proceeds to Europe, that he -may call upon belligerents to cease their quarrels, because even from -the distant city of Detroit, he can see how foolishly they are behaving. - -It may be easy to laugh or to sneer at these manifestations. I find it -impossible to do either. In every one of these efforts, great or small, -notable or ludicrous, something of the spirit that is helping the -world to progress is made manifest. If men and women who have little -in life except the respect of their circle, deliberately sacrifice -that precious asset for the sake of saying what they believe to be the -truth, they are worthy of regard, and let us remember that most of us -are amongst those who would rather be stoned than laughed at. - -If I have criticism for panaceas that are to rid the nation of war as -patent medicine-vendors offer to rid the individual of disease, if I -look a little askance at all schemes of international betterment by -will of the people, it is because all equality of reasoning power, all -movement towards higher things, is conditioned by education. - -We are very much like our fruit-trees. If you plant one hundred trees -of equally good appearance and quality on a good soil, and you attend -to fifty, and leave the other fifty to look after themselves, what is -going to happen? The trees that have clean soil round the roots, that -are pruned and washed and shaped in the way they should go will yield -abundantly, look well, and live long; the others will be uncertain in -their growth, unattractive in aspect, and liable to fail or become -diseased. - -In England we pay scant heed to the prosperity of the race, we are -far more concerned with the prosperity of the race-course. We have -been taught to care less for the well-being of the public than of the -publican. - -I do not write in any bitterness of spirit, but I remember how long, -and successfully the race-course struggled against the war, how -definitely Mr. Lloyd George's attempt to end the drink traffic was -defeated by the "trade," and how, on the other hand, certain alleged -economies in our schools, designed to save a few pounds at the cost of -efficiency, have been accepted with hardly a protest. - -If we wish to raise another generation that may benefit by the lessons -we have learned and paid so dearly for, we must educate it, and -education must be recognised as a necessity, something as necessary -to us as the bread we eat, and more important than professional -politicians, public-houses, race-courses, theatres, and motor-cars; -more vital to our welfare than all the amusements of the rich and the -poor put together. - -Without education, the best ideas, the highest ideals must be lost -and, as things are here, so they are elsewhere. In Europe the only -belligerent countries that have developed education all over their -territory are France and Germany. In some of the other countries, -the schoolmaster does not cover a tithe of the domain, and rulers do -not wish to see the area of activity enlarged, partly because they -understand it is easier to deceive, divide, and rule the ignorant, and -partly because they know that the rank and file will not be able to -keep pace with the enlightened intelligences to which the most restless -elements in the State will be attracted. Autocratic rule cannot endure -indefinitely in countries where the proletariat has been to school, -even military domination might in time be questioned. - -But what bearing has this upon world war? you may ask, and I reply that -it has a considerable bearing upon the whole question, because the -great majority of those who ensue peace are preaching just now to the -converted. - -Those who make the next war may be despotic or unconstitutional rulers, -if Europe is of a mind to endure such people after this, but they will -depend largely upon the uneducated classes, or upon an iron discipline -that makes every man a slave of him who represents the State. Education -is the one reliable antidote to absolute monarchy, and despite its -complete failure in July and August, 1914, I am still inclined to -have faith in the International. It failed then, for each belligerent -country called out that it was in danger, and in that hour when the -social democracy might have saved Europe from the loss of millions of -promising lives, the savings of one generation and the progress of two, -it failed. But nobody will recognise more completely than the social -democrat the price of failure; he will see that democracy must be in -future as independent of boundaries as is art or science. - -I believe that scores of men and women have the right peace methods, -that there are many plans by which peace might be assured to the world, -but no one of these can possibly become effective unless it can appeal -to the men who constitute the rank and file of the world's armies, and -to their wives and sweethearts. - -The only other way out of the tangle is for victory to fall upon the -side of those who are really concerned to keep the peace, and there -is more than a little danger in this, for those who are concerned only -with peace are apt to forget war altogether--to neglect necessary -precautions, cut down reasonable expenditure, and in short, to give the -war-loving, but weaker races, a chance of challenging peace afresh. A -union of the world's democracies is the cure for war, and this union is -not possible until a certain standard of education has been reached by -one and all. Only then will the man to whom fighting is the breath of -life understand that he must control his murderous instincts or perish -by them. - -This war cost many years of preparation, part of it secret, and it is -hard to see that peace can be more than a state of neutrality enforced -by poverty and exhaustion. To make it abiding will need something more -than the skill and cunning of diplomats, it will require the consent -of the people themselves, and this they will give when they have -knowledge, and not before. - -Educate! Use all the modern developments of our civilisation to that -end. Let every child in Europe be taught to read and be supplied with -books; let every new railway line be hailed as an ambassador of peace. -Let interchange of visits be arranged between the workers of all -countries, so that they may learn that antagonisms belong to their -rulers and not to them.[2] It would be a fine thing to have a panacea -that acted as quickly as quack medicines claim to act, but we all know -that such cures do not exist. You cannot accomplish in a few months the -work that thousands of years have left unfinished. After all that has -been said, let us remember that war has been allowed to be the rule of -life for countless generations. We in England have hardly suffered, -the United States have kept free from actual invasion, but nearly all -the other great Powers have known its horrors within the comparatively -brief period of our lifetime. - -On the Continent, war is one of the incidents of normal life. Men -are trained to take part in it as a completion of their education, -women are encouraged to applaud it as the source of all honours and -distinction. England and America, the two least threatened countries, -would hardly appear in a good light as peace propagandists on the -Continent, for war is received in a certain false perspective there. -Thousands glory in the thoughts of a campaign, proud to have taken part -in one as our grandfathers were to empty two or three bottles at a -sitting. This false perspective is the greatest danger we have to face -in educating the people: it must be destroyed before war will be seen -as the thing it is. - -Human nature being hard to move, the work must progress slowly, but -it is not the less worth undertaking on that account. Sane peace -propaganda, accompanied by encouragement of physical fitness and -explanation of the significance of life, need offend none, and will -benefit all. - -The real facts of war must be within reach of everybody, the camera -should preserve the records of trench, battlefield, and sacked town. -Every city should engrave its list of dead where all may read, and in -the cities that have suffered from invasion the full details of the -horror should be preserved. The taxation that will grip Europe for many -a year to come should always be associated with its prime cause, and -every device should be sought to impress upon the children who will now -be growing up into an impoverished world, the folly and helplessness of -their parents who were unable to keep what they had inherited, whether -of freedom or worldly wealth. - -We who are middle-aged will be hardly called upon to see war again, the -generation captured in its prime between the summers of 1914 and 1916, -will have been ruined, the rule of the world will wait upon those who -are just leaving school. - -Here the propagandists must work, and as there is hardly a big family -in belligerent Europe that has not contributed life or fortune in some -degree, the foundation for the work will stand prepared. - -If I were asked how to develop sane peace propaganda, I would call -upon those who have gone through the war to tell the full story to -those who have remained behind. All should unite to this end when war -is over. Not only should the Englishman tell of frozen trenches and -waterless deserts, but Germans and Austrians should tell of the retreat -in Galicia and the advance to the marshes of Poland and Russia. The -Servian retreat to Albania and the nameless horrors of Armenia should -be recorded by survivors, women for choice, and men of all belligerent -countries should speak of the horrors of the man-of-war that sinks -blazing into the depths. - -The camera has a tale to tell of devastated country-side and ruined -city, of all the havoc and waste of war. Let that tale be told. - -Let the maimed, the crippled, the blind, the physically useless, come -forward--our eyes will learn their lesson. - -Let the Churches speak, not at the bidding of authority, but in -response to the plea of humanity. - -Let War, divorced from the physical training incumbent upon men and -women alike, take its place by the side of cancer, cholera, and plague. - -Let the authorities tell us the loss of all communities in material -wealth, and the eugenist speak of the blow to civilisation. - -Let all the accumulated facts be on record in every public library in -the world, and let them be available even to the illiterate. - -Here, then, when the greatest of world-tragedies draws to its appointed -close, is the means I would choose to render its repetition impossible, -believing as I do that ignorance is the root from which all evil -springs. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[2] A schoolmaster in Austria for saying as much as this was sentenced -to several years' hard labour. - - - - -XXIV - -LORD FRENCH - - -My first meeting with Field-Marshal Viscount French, so long -Commander-in-Chief of the "contemptible little army" that has made -history, dates back to the South African War. My latest meeting with -him before he returned from France, was in August, 1914. On each -occasion he was on the point of leaving for the front. - -In the wide space that separates the Boer War from the great -international conflict, we met very often; he was frequently our guest, -and we visited him at Government House, Aldershot. I have had many -opportunities of hearing his views of the world problem that confronts -us now, for he had seen it coming nearer and nearer, and had laboured -night and day to meet it. Other men had doubts; he found no room for -any. - -It was at Claridge's Hotel in town that we met during the Boer War. -My eldest son, Guy, had then arrived at the ripe age of seventeen, -and still at Eton, had sold all his personal effects, including his -fur coat and jewellery given him by family and friends, to provide -himself with the means of getting to the front and equipping himself -when there. We only learned his intentions when it was too late to stop -them, and I do not think that either my husband or myself was really -anxious to keep him from serving his country. The only difficulty was -to find him something useful to do, and Sir John French offered to take -him on his staff as galloper. - -I recall Lord French as I saw him at Claridge's--firm-mouthed, curt in -manner, briefly incisive in speech, saying no more than was absolutely -necessary, and looking at me with the curious glance that bespeaks the -man of action who dreams and sees visions. A strong, resolute figure, -with an iron will behind it, a human war machine in perfect order--that -was my first impression. - -Many of my soldier friends were with him in South Africa, where his -gifts as a cavalry leader roused enthusiasm. Writing home from the -front, they told me he had but one fault as a commanding officer--he -could not realise that horses do not respond as readily as soldiers to -human emotions. He could overdrive his men, and they did their utmost -for him, as they did for another martinet, the late General Gatacre, -because in each case they had implicit belief in their leader's -direction and unbounded faith in his skill, but he over-worked his -horses, and kept the remount department in despair. - -He came back to England wearing all the laurels of a successful -general, and I met him several times in town. "The dust of praise that -is blown everywhere" was no more to John French than any other dust. -He brushed it sharply away, and devoted all his leisure to considering -the problems of the inevitable struggle with Germany. He believed then, -with that curious gift of divination, that it must come, and he came -near to fixing the date, for many years have passed since he assured me -that it would not be later than 1915. - -When the Entente Cordiale was in the air and there was a chance that -Great Britain and France would work side by side, he was delighted. -Such an arrangement was for him an ideal one, and he was, I may say, -one of the first, if not the very first, of our leading military men -who showed a full appreciation of its value. Unfortunately, though a -well-educated and, in a strictly professional sense, a deeply read man, -he had no knowledge of the French language, and he could not rest until -that defect was remedied. So in the Summer of 1906--I think this was -the year--he settled in the little village of La Boulé, near Rouen, and -lived for three months in absolute retirement, mastering the language. -He would not claim to have acquired the Parisian accent, but he can at -least speak fluently. - -We were motoring through France that summer and stayed in the little -hotel he had chosen for his headquarters. He was extremely anxious to -take me on a motor tour over the scene of Napoleon's last campaign, -an ambition of long standing only now possible of fulfilment. We came -very near to going with him, but unfortunately, something intervened. -Even Lord French cannot make war anything but unspeakably horrible to -me, but I am yet free to confess that his vast knowledge and soul-deep -convictions make it fearfully interesting. - -We could not manage the motor tour, which would have covered Waterloo, -but later, when in Paris, I was able to put his views before the -then Premier, M. Clemenceau, whom I knew well. I had a very long and -intimate conversation about the Entente with the "Tiger," as they -called him in France, and I remember how he wheeled round in his chair -and said to me in the frank, outspoken way that his opponents hate and -fear, "Lady Warwick, the Entente is of no use to us unless your country -can put 400,000 soldiers into France in the hour of need." I may remark -that the French army was not then in its present state of efficiency. - -I pointed out that I was not in the confidence of our War Office, and -that his application should be made to other quarters, and went on to -ask him to meet General French to talk over the matters in question. -"I'll do that with pleasure," said M. Clemenceau. "I regard your -General French as one of the few soldiers who understand military -problems from their roots upwards." So the two men met, and I think -they liked and respected one another. - -I remember reporting the gist of their conversation in a long letter to -King Edward, who in his reply told me his interest in the military side -of the Entente had been greatly strengthened. In the following year -several of the leading generals of France were invited over to attend -the military manÅ“uvres and were the guests of Sir John and Lady French -at Government House, Aldershot. I was asked to meet them, and heard at -first hand the discussion of many difficulties that are staring us in -the face as I write. I do not think I have ever had more occasion to be -glad that I was taught some foreign languages properly. - -On his return to England Sir John French divided his work into -sections. First and foremost came the German question, for he knew -perfectly well, in the light of the ample information that came to him, -how, sooner or later, Germany would fling down the gauntlet, perhaps -before Europe, certainly before Great Britain. His other task was -concerned with the possible invasion of India by Russia. In early days -he had seen service in India, and I have by me now a copy of his own -plans for the defence of our great empire there. - -King Edward took Lord French with him when he went to meet the Czar -at Réval, and this visit, at which the foundation of Anglo-Russian -good-fellowship was laid, had a most reassuring effect upon his mind. -Thereafter he devoted himself whole heartedly to the study of the -Anglo-German danger. - -Taking for his motto the well-known maxim that it is allowable to learn -even from an enemy--he adapted what he thought was best from the German -methods, and it is well known that he and his close and trusted friend, -Sir Douglas Haig, in making the British Army the perfect machine that -it is, bore well in mind the lessons to be gathered from the German -manÅ“uvres. - -He objected strongly to the German close formation, holding it -wasteful and unwise. He had grafted South African experience on his -stock of tactical knowledge, and if the drilling of our men was -terribly hard, he and Sir Douglas found the ripe fruits of it in that -wonderful retreat from Mons and in the battles round Ypres. For German -thoroughness he had a generous and unstinted admiration. Prejudice can -find no place in his mind. - -His prevision of the course of the present campaign startles me as I -recall it now. He told me years ago much that has happened since the -greatest world struggle of history began. - -A born soldier, he is merciless to the inefficient. He broke a high -officer, who was also a personal friend, because that officer made a -bad blunder. Private considerations were swept aside, as they always -are with him. He spares nobody, least of all himself, but his men love -him almost as much as they trust him, and he watches over their proper -comforts with a jealous eye. They are the component parts of the war -machine, and must be at their best. - -Lord French has not much in common with his gifted sister, Mrs. -Despard, who was prominently before the public when the suffrage -question came near to rivalling Home Rule in its claim on public -attention, for Mrs. Despard's life is one of self-sacrifice to lighten -the sorrows of others. But to one well acquainted with brother and -sister, there are the qualities of calm resolution in the face of -danger and of commanding will to be associated with each. - -I do not think he reads much, save books dealing with military -questions. He does not hunt or shoot, or play polo or, indeed, -acknowledge any form of sport. He stands professionally as far apart -from the ordinary mundane interests of life as any professor in the -cloistered peace of an old university town, and yet he is full to the -brim of vitalising enthusiasms not to be overlooked by his friends -because they are controlled. - -He lives in his profession and breathes the very air of it; soldiering -claims his every thought, and yet he is in no aspect the "beau sabreur" -of the Ouida novels. If you were to drive with him through the most -exquisite landscape, his mind's eye would at once select the salient -points of attack and defence, he would grasp every military possibility -of what lay before him, but the surrounding beauty would pass him by. -Sometimes we have talked of war. "I hate war as much as you do," he has -said to me more than once, "but----" There it ends, and he is looking -with far-seeing eyes at encounters yet to be. - -In the conventional sense he has no religion, and yet I regard him -as one of the most religious men I know. His views of the hereafter -are clear; he is confidently assured of the soul's survival, its -reincarnation, the fulfilment of its ambitions. He is an idealist, an -enthusiast, a man who could not act dishonestly if he tried, faithful -to the bitter end to those in whom he trusts. - -Much of the recent gossip in London has endeavoured to suggest that -he has been a party to the intrigues of others. I venture to say that -nobody who understands Lord French could make such a foolish mistake. -The personal interests and trickery of small natures have no meaning -for him. First and last and all the time he is a soldier, probably the -one soldier who could have overcome the enormous difficulties by which -he has been faced. He is the type of the leader of men, an example of -the power of concentration driving a single purpose to its end. I think -Frederick the Great would have made much of him and that his chief hero -in a military sense, the first Napoleon, would have kept him by his -side. - -He has been sorely tried. It is to be hoped that Sir Douglas Haig, who -in a military sense is his creation, will realise his teacher's dreams -and ambitions. - - - - -XXV - -LORD HALDANE: SOME RECOLLECTIONS AND AN ESTIMATE - - -In the library this morning I came by chance upon a book that should -not have been there--a "Life of Lassalle" that Lord Haldane lent me -some years ago, and which I had forgotten to return. It chanced that -within the hour I had thrown aside in disgust the Tory daily paper that -held a vulgar and rancorous attack upon the Ex-War Minister. Perhaps it -was the coincidence that set me thinking. - -My mind travelled back to the day not so many years ago--King Edward -had lately ascended the throne--when I met Lord Haldane for the first -time. It was at Dalmeny, Lord Rosebery's home on the Firth of Forth. -I forget who was of the party, at least I can remember only Winston -Churchill, then coming under our host's political influence. My first -recollection of Mr. Haldane as he was in those days was meeting him in -the Library. He was busy arranging his host's treasures to the best -advantage and was very little concerned with the house party's social -side. He would appear at table, create an immediate impression by -reason of his illuminating conversation, and, the meal taken, would -slip back again to his beloved books. I carried away from Dalmeny the -impression of one of the most interesting men I had ever met--a man -with massive head, twinkling eye and witty speech that stimulated -all and hurt none. He was that _rara avis_ a lawyer without guile, a -philosopher untainted by the Courts. We met again, and again I was -immensely attracted by his personality. In the world we met in, men -and women were seeking success of some sort all the time. Wealth, -prestige, political power, social influence, whatever our weakness it -rose to the surface like a cork. Of all these things Mr. Haldane seemed -supremely unconscious, he swam through the social waters like a kindly -triton among minnows. Even in those days he had long been a devout -student and an ardent admirer of what was best in Germany, and I think -it was because I too was interested in the marvellous progress of that -Empire that we found something in common. And he lent me the "Life of -Lassalle," the book that lies before me as I write. - -I have sincere belief in the intuitive perception of women. I believe -that their instinct is stronger than their reasoning faculty, and -that in the great majority of cases they are justified in their -belief, even if they call it a prejudice. From the beginning of our -acquaintance it seemed to me that Lord Haldane would in any large -affairs of life be misjudged by his countrymen. In the first place he -is a great intellect, and as a nation we hold all knowledge suspect. -Secondly, he lacked the proper qualifications of the parliamentarian: -he had nothing of the divine gift of push. He did not enjoy the -limelight, and as for advertising himself, I think he would not have -known how to begin. I do not believe he ever wished to enter the -political arena, he never was a politician in the party sense, but he -succumbed to the influence of Lord Rosebery and Mr. Asquith who saw -that so great an intelligence would be of infinite value to the Liberal -party. To me it always seemed a pity to drag the kindly philosopher -from his study and to bring him upon the shabby stage whereon the -tragi-comedy of party politics is played for the bemusement of the -general public. Perhaps Lord Haldane's long and intimate study of -the best side of German life led the Liberal leaders to believe that -he would be _persona grata_ in circles that could curb the worst. -Perhaps they too were fascinated by the breadth of his views, the -range of his knowledge, the serenity of his outlook, and the clarity -of his judgments. There is no doubt that he used all his powers to -come to such a friendly arrangement with Germany as could be reached -without detriment to any of the interests of our friends and allies in -Europe. There is no doubt that he was face to face for years with the -conditions that reached their climax in July, 1914, and that he did all -that was possible to preserve peace while preparing for the defence of -the country. - -Our Tories demanded a scapegoat; the Lilliputians of Westminster and -Fleet Street have flung a thousand venomed darts at Gulliver. I am -grateful to think that I know the real man whose aspect they have -succeeded for a little while in distorting. Quite steadfastly he -opposed German militarism, quite hopefully he clung to the belief -that he would succeed in his great quest of peace. Perhaps he was too -confident. Perhaps he underrated the forces that were opposed to him -not only abroad but at home. - -We are too near the history of our own time to tell, but I remember -one incident that revealed to me the seriousness of the struggle in -which he was engaged. There was a meeting to develop the Territorial -movement in the county town, and I found myself sitting by his side at -the luncheon. Following it he made one of the most stimulating speeches -I have ever listened to, appealing to territorials to come forward and -prepare themselves to help their country. For simple direct eloquence, -for a call to the highest and noblest feelings without one vulgar -thought or unworthy expression, I have never heard a speech to equal -it. Only a great statesman and a man full of the loftiest patriotism -could have spoken as he spoke. Those who are well informed know what we -owe to the system of training devised by this lawyer-philosopher and -how wonderfully it has borne expansion to meet the sudden needs. His -critics have never paused to remember that he was a loyal member of a -Cabinet that imposed its collective will upon the people; they have not -realised how largely the decisions of the Foreign Office would have -availed to control his own views. It is so easy to say that, rather -than submit to any reduction of our forces he should have resigned. -Those who know Lord Haldane are well aware that pride of place would -never have kept him in an office that absorbed all his leisure. -Thoughtful people will realise that one of the tenets held by a loyal -Cabinet minister is subordination of personal views to the collective -views of the ministry. If every man who could not follow his chief -along a given road were to resign he would not only lose all chance -of giving effect to his purposes but he would make Cabinet rule an -impossibility. - -While preparing the country for defence, Lord Haldane had to fight the -militarism that has at last run wild through Europe; while providing -for the worst, he had, in the highest interests of his countrymen, to -seek the best and, if possible, to ensue it. His Territorial scheme -was countered from first to last by the conscriptionists, they sought -by every overt and covert act to render all his efforts nugatory. -I venture to say, not without sound knowledge, that he occupied a -position of hideous responsibility with a measure of courage, fortitude -and altruism to which those who are best qualified to judge will always -pay tribute. One thing he would not do. He would not descend into the -arena of sordid controversy to gladden the hearts and stimulate the -conceit of petty politicians. If he failed, he was a glorious failure; -but I venture to say that when the impartial historian, depending on -knowledge to which the general public cannot yet gain access, surveys -the years that led to destruction, he will rescue Lord Haldane's name -and fame from the accumulation of dirt and rubbish that have been -heaped upon it by men whom none will desire to remember. - -I regard it as a great privilege to know the real man and to lay my -little tribute before him, though to one so amply dowered with the hate -and scorn of scorn, defenders against such imputations as have been -levelled at him may well be superfluous. But I owe a great debt to his -master mind. Of all the distinguished men I have been privileged to -meet none has had higher qualities of heart and brain, and it seems to -me that this is the season in which such a debt should be acknowledged. - - - - -XXVI - -GROUNDS FOR OPTIMISM - - -Those of us who find in the stress and storm through which the world -is passing an irresistible appeal for strenuous action and clear -thought, must realise the dangerous tendencies of the time, but it is -not right to look upon them as the sum-total of the present upheaval. -The present has its tragedies that pierce to the heart of our normal -self-restraint; we have to think of the future as well and see whether -there is at our door any indication of the unity and brotherhood for -which millions have waged a war from which many of the best and bravest -will never return. Is there any indication that in the times lying -before us, all classes of the community will unite to share the burdens -of the State? I think there is. - -In many directions the lessons of life and death are not yet learned, -but there is one feature of our social life that is truly encouraging. -To sum it up in a phrase I would say that people whose example is -a considerable force in the national life, have decided that it is -neither a vice nor a crime to be poor. A modest establishment in -England to-day is more fashionable than an extravagant one; those of -us who are burdened by very large places are the objects of sympathy -rather than envy. - -The flunkey has been redeemed from base servitude, never again I -hope and believe, to return. The descendant of Jeames de la Pluche, -immortalised by Thackeray, is with the British Expeditionary Force or -qualifying to go there. He has discovered that he too is a man. The -butler, where he still lingers, is too old for service, the footmen, -if any, have been rejected by the army doctor, or have played a part -and returned home wounded and unfit as yet for a more strenuous life. -They do not propose to remain in a discredited service. Even the -maid-servants are reduced to the minimum that is compatible with a -fair day's necessary work. The lady's-maid, that last infirmity of -conscientious minds, is allowed ample time for helping the nation. -The cook gives the benefit of her skill not only to the home but the -hospital. The sons of the house are at the front if they are old enough -and not too old to be of use, the daughters have found something better -than they had imagined possible to do with their time. They have flung -themselves as far in the pursuit of duty as they travelled formerly in -the pursuit of pleasure. - -If one entertains nowadays, it is the working party or the committee -of which one is a member that is received. Simplicity is the order -of the hour among friends and one does not entertain acquaintances. -The young men have gone from stables and garage, from woods and -garden. I think the expensive dressmakers, jewellers, restaurateurs, -hairdressers, and the rest of those who catered for the days of our -vanity, are having a bad time. I think they will see a worse one. There -are still thoughtless women in our midst. I recognise them at once, -for they clothe themselves in the furs of harmless animals and wear -hats decked with the bodies or nuptial plumage of innocent birds, as if -pride of power, vanity, and lust of slaughter had not brought enough -injury to the world and vanity must still take toll of life. But these -women are a minority and belong to the class that nothing short of -ostracism can reach. I think it will reach them, and soon. There has -been such an orgie of cruelty in the world of late that the period to -be put upon it must be a full one. - -The special interest in the changes briefly outlined above, and the -list might be continued indefinitely, lies in the approximation at home -to the conditions in the field of war. There the struggle for mastery -is tending, on every front, to the obliteration of class distinctions. -Many of these that in the days before August, 1914, were rigid as -Hindu caste are now dead as well as damned. Mankind has recognised -something of its essential brotherhood out there, and now womankind's -sisterhood is recognised too. This is almost the more important change, -because so many men who remain in England waging the money war that -is ever with us are far too immersed in the pursuit of pelf to care -about anything else. Against them even our defenders might fail in -times of peace if they were left unaided by the other sex. Women have -always been the creators and supporters of extravagance, though the -fault rests with the men who have until quite recent times refused -to allow them any interests that will vie with money-spending and -aimless pleasure-seeking. I do not think that even this war could have -brought about the change I recognise so gladly and record with so much -pleasure, had it not been for the feminist movement. This taught tens -of thousands of women to think and thousands to make their thoughts -articulate. War faced them with a sense of the value of the work they -had undertaken, the urgent need of its pursuit in the interests of the -world at large. I feel it is in no small part due to their influence -that so much that is unworthy in the life of the modern woman has been -voluntarily laid aside and that so much of infinite value has been -chosen to replace it. - -Just as men have mingled on the battlefield, women have mingled at -home, understanding perhaps for the first time in our social history -the view-point of classes other than their own, seeing the best in each -other's lives and sharing anxieties and burdens as perhaps only women -can. But if the good understanding was to be permanent it was essential -that privilege should be laid aside. People can enjoy riches without -a thought and suffer poverty without a murmur, but contrasts build -barriers. It is the sense of sharp contrast that is the undoing of so -many girls, that makes for so much bitterness among women. All too -often the rich do not understand, the poor are painfully suspicious or -self-conscious. There could not be any common meeting ground until all -were rich or all were poor. It is not possible under existing social -conditions--soon one hopes to be amended--for all to live in comfort. -Thank God, it is at least possible for all to be poor. - -Not by what we have, but by what we are, let us be judged, and for -those who had great possessions there will be a certain satisfaction in -the new conditions that money could not purchase. - -Flattery, adulation, jealousy, envy, malice and all uncharitableness -could be provoked by wealth even though it was wisely dispensed; -gratitude was always hard to gain in the genuine form. Love, affection, -simple unaffected candour, these were rarely vouchsafed to those -whose material prosperity was considerable. It is intolerable that one -should patronise or endure patronage, frank and simple relations cannot -endure in an atmosphere of inequalities. In England the infection of -snobbery was eating into our national life. A considerable section of -the press caters for snobs and thrives in the catering. In the United -States and in the British Dominions Overseas the state of the public -mind is far healthier. It may be that our plight had come about through -our insularity, by reason of our super-abundant national riches, by -the force of our habit of despising the creator of national wealth and -honouring only those who squander it. Whatever the cause the effect was -ugly. War has taken drastic steps to abate the evil by depriving of -their _locus standi_ those who stood for great possessions. They are -poorer and better. We shall have a certain number of plutocrats in our -midst; out of a war expenditure of four or five millions a day somebody -must make money. But the money spinners will find that while the hand -of the State will weigh heavily upon them, any lavish expenditure will -be eyed askance by the moderate-minded men and women of all classes. -The eyes of the majority are opened. Above all, English women of the -leisured classes have deliberately laid aside many of the habits and -indulgences to which their practice gave a sanction. This tendency -is still in its infancy, but the tragedy of war has enforced and will -continue to enforce it. All, or at least the greater part of Europe, -after this war will be a house of mourning. Death leads the van of -a procession in which Poverty brings up the rear. As in a flash the -world that lived almost without a serious care two years ago sees its -own real needs and duties and the terrible inadequacy of the means to -fulfil and perform them. - -We find to-day that our national needs are greater than we knew, our -resources less than they have been for many years. The only true -satisfaction to be gathered from the prospect is that we recognise -it. For once in our history it is not left to a few courageous men -to preach an unpopular gospel in the ears of indifferent wealth -and vanity-stricken fashion. The people who are alive to the truth -of our national state are not devoting anxious hours to keeping up -appearances. Shams that our life seemed full of so recently, are known -for what they are. For the first time in the social history of our -generation it suffices to be an Englishman or an Englishwoman and to -have filled the _rôle_, however modest, that the fates have assigned -in this world crisis. Shall we miss the old luxuries of life? Will -those of us who accepted them without thought or comment as part of -the natural order of things, forego them without a qualm? I think we -shall, because we shall all have a serious and definite occupation. -The landowner must develop a good business faculty or go under, the -mistress of a large establishment must learn all the domestic arts that -her grandmothers practised to perfection or she will not be able to -keep it together. The younger sons will not be brought up to look upon -loafing as a career, and the girls will be trained to take a part in -the world's work, fortified by the knowledge that the State no longer -regards them as a negligible quantity. In the near future the British -Empire will be demanding more of its sons and daughters and giving -them less reward for it, but such a condition encourages the national -virtues. We are rather a flint-like people. If we are properly struck -we emit light. - -Decidedly the world is out of joint, and it is possible to survey -the situation and find ample material for pessimism. But we who have -made the mistakes or inherited them can set the crooked straight if -we recognise the nature of the task. And I see on all sides of me men -and women who do. They are preparing the ground on which the virtues -engendered by a struggle for national existence may blossom and bear -fruit. - - - - -XXVII - -ANGLO-AMERICAN RELATIONS IN PEACE AND WAR - - -The Anglo-Saxon race is on its trial just now, and, however strenuous -the times, they do not deny us a measure of leisure in which to -estimate the forces upon which we may rely. With battleships and -regiments woman has nothing to do, she does but bring painfully into -the world those who serve both. It is her mission to shield them with -her love and devotion in the season of their helplessness and wait, -watch, and pray while the battles join. Hers too it is to do what may -be done to heal the wounds of battle, to comfort and to minister, -to know the anxiety without the excitement of conflict, to see much -of the horror and little of the glory. Yet, far outside the area of -strife, woman plays no negligible part in controlling the destinies of -nations, for there is a field of social diplomacy in which she labours -persistently and the measure of Anglo-Saxon unity that obtains to-day -is in no small measure the fruit of her effort. - -It will be remembered that before there was an Anglo-American social -life, relations between the mother country and the United States -were the reverse of cordial. Many people in the States regarded this -country with suspicion, many in this country looked upon the States -with the contempt born of ignorance. Emerson, James Russell Lowell, -Oliver Wendell Holmes, and others helped Englishmen to understand -Americans, but perhaps the best work was done by women. As soon as they -began to understand one another the divergent standpoints were brought -into line, old prejudices were seen to lie no deeper than the surface -of things. The freshness and vigour of American manhood, the honest, -unconventional outlook of the country's womanhood were instantly -recognised when social intercourse had been established and visitors -from the States began to realise that in coming to England they were -but returning to the land of their fathers. Mistakes are not immortal. -The worst blunderer of a hundred years ago and the people who suffered -most by the blunders have long been one in the dust to which all that -is mortal of us must return. Latent and underlying sympathies have -declared themselves. For thirty years I have watched the slow conquest -of prejudice, the steady discovery of points of sympathy, the dismissal -of the old stereotyped ideas that made for antagonism. To-day, when we -are fighting for our life against a Power that has sworn to dominate -civilisation or perish in the attempt, we find ourselves rich in the -sympathy and moral support of all the North American continent, not -only the British born of Canada are with us, but in the United States, -despite the multitude of foreign influences and the great admixture -of interests the general tone is manifestly sympathetic. The German -menace has stirred Anglo-Saxon blood throughout the whole world. The -observance of a strict and proper neutrality is no bar to American -goodwill, our cousins know that this struggle has been forced upon us -and that we would have avoided it had not honour forbade. - -In the brief intervals of the work of organising the woman's service -in my native county of Essex I have been trying to estimate the forces -that have brought the changed conditions about, and I think I can see -most of them. I have met most if not all the leading men and women of -America, both in their own country and here, and no subject has been -more completely canvassed in our conversations than the future that the -Anglo-Saxon race may hope to share. My views, right or wrong, are my -own, and I ask nobody to accept any responsibility for them; if they -are correct they should help to explain the present and to indicate -lines that the future may follow. - -First and foremost among the forces that have improved Anglo-American -relations I place the Anglo-American marriages that should go far to -improve not only the finances but the breed of our English aristocracy. -Byron writes of mixed marriages that they "ruin the blood but much -improve the breed." I accept only the latter proposition. I think the -young generation born of these marriages will be powerful, mentally -and physically, that it may even be in time to stand in the breach and -save the class to which it will belong from submersion. Certainly our -aristocracy, enfeebled by intermarriage and circumscribed financially -by modern taxation and the depreciation in agricultural values, -degraded by the sale of "honours," would be bound to go under in the -struggle with democracy, and if it is possible to predicate any of the -results of the present cataclysm I should say that the democracy will -issue from it as the dominating force in Europe. Another section of a -royalty that tends ever to diminish has been weighed in the balances of -war and will, I imagine, be found wanting. - -Anglo-American marriages have given our cousins of the New World an -interest in the old firm's business, have made them, even if in a -limited sense, partners in the British Empire unlimited. I said as much -at the dinner-table the other night and was promptly challenged until -I reminded my critic that an ex-First Lord of the Admiralty, to whose -genius all, including Lord Charles Beresford, now pay tribute, is as -much American as English. Miss Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill, was one -of the first recruits to the ranks of the British aristocracy and has -played no small part in English social life. Winston Churchill has had -time to grow up, there are dozens of Anglo-American lads to whom in the -course of time opportunity will be given. Who shall say that they too -will not prove worthy? - -The American girl, married into the wide circle of Britain's -comfortable classes, finds many interests that unite the country of her -adoption with the land of her birth. Visited by her family and friends, -giving introductions for use in the United States to her husband's -relatives, she has been powerful in spreading social intercourse and -in establishing the vital truth that, in face of many of the great -world problems, England and America see eye to eye and may work hand -in hand. Philanthropy and social service are the finest solvents of -prejudice between people speaking one language and, when that prejudice -is not founded on fundamental disagreement, and is dependent for its -maintenance upon ignorance, suspicion and the absence of intercourse, -it cannot long survive under modern conditions. Every Atlantic Liner -is a missionary of Anglo-American good-will. London and New York can -exchange their thoughts in a few moments, the great sundering force of -the Atlantic grows ever less, and the American girl has played a part -in unifying Anglo-Saxon thought and sympathy that makes her social -reward seem but a small payment for a great service. - -Perhaps the great antagonising force in America has been the Irishman. -Our administration of the Sister Island has left scars that had been -past healing but for Mr. Gladstone and his successors in the office of -Liberalism. Happily to-day we stand upon the brink of wiser times, a -sane policy has promised to realise the national ambitions of Ireland -and a grave danger has united in resistance to foreign aggression the -two antagonistic camps. They will meet in the service of a common -cause, they will face danger side by side, happily they may learn -the full lesson of toleration and mutual respect. It is better I -think, much as I hate war, that a thousand Home Rulers and Ulstermen -should fall side by side resisting foreign aggression than that fifty -should fall in civil strife each by the other's hands. The effect in -America of Home Rule, and a union of hearts and hands in the national -defence, cannot but be significant. The powerful Irish contingent, -as generous as it is quick to anger, almost as prompt to forgive an -injury for which atonement has been made as to resent one that is -not repaired, will cease to be a hostile factor. Conscious that the -old country has done its best to right a grave and lasting wrong, it -will forget, as the American born citizen is forgetting, the days of -Lords North and Castlereagh. All these quarrels, however serious, have -been family quarrels, in the face of foreign aggression the old wounds -are healed. I was struck by the splendid action of all parties to the -labour disputes when war broke out. In twenty-four hours there were no -disputants. - -To-day the Anglo-American influences at which I have hinted find no -opposing factors in their path. Good will is well-nigh universal, -moral support and encouragement are freely ours at this grave moment -when we stand so much in need of them. I have always thought, when -I have been in America and when I have been entertained by or have -entertained Americans at home, that there is a little feeling of pride -in the old country. If our short-sighted policy of the third Georgian -era turned friends to foes we have paid the price in full and to-day -the Anglo-American marriages are giving our trans-Atlantic cousins the -material for a noble revenge. They are coming to the relief of the -class that persecuted them of old time, renewing its blood, refilling -its coffers and preparing through it to administer the world's -greatest Empire. It is no unworthy ambition that animates the American -girl to-day when she quits the land of her fathers for the land of -her grandparents and their forebears, and she has shown herself well -able to fulfil it. The pages of Debrett bear witness to what she has -done, while those who have been brought into constant and intimate -association with her realise that she has shown exceptional capacity -in adapting herself to the new environment, in mastering the rather -formidable etiquette, in modifying old points of view, and in fitting -herself to fill the rather exacting _rôle_ she has undertaken. - -When I look round social London and see the many-sided work of the -American women I feel that they will cover the whole ground. Their -energy and resource are admirable and many of their houses are centres -of philanthropic as well as social life. Think of the reflex action -of all this energy in the States, think of the tens of thousands of -American visitors to London in the course of the year and of the -hundreds who see English social life as it is and partake of it, and -the sympathy and understanding that are ours to-day can be accounted -for and understood. - -I have long been cognisant of the two great forces that were working, -side by side though independently, to destroy Anglo-American -friendship. The first was Irish-American resentment, a perfectly -natural expression of feeling. Home Rule for Ireland was the only -possible permanent cure, and the time for palliatives has long passed. -With the coming of the cure we may look for the end of the complaint. -The other force was more subtle, and was founded upon the presence in -the States of tens of thousands of the Kaiser's subjects. They have -carried across the Atlantic their old mischievous motto, "Deutschland -über Alles," and have lost no opportunity of giving it effect. A -powerful press, a great financial group, direct encouragement from the -Kaiser, whose policy--a relic of Bismarck's day--was to sow ill-will -between Great Britain and the United States under all circumstances, -have been their weapons. To conciliate the States, to flatter them, to -suggest that they needed German help against British intrigue, to show -their leading representatives every courtesy, even to affect a sympathy -with democracy, all this was the part of a settled programme. It lacked -nothing but success. - -This is not the time to go into details of deliberate attempts made -to undermine Anglo-American good will. On a more fitting occasion I -may reveal some. At the moment it does not seem right to increase the -prevailing bitterness, but I may say that many social intrigues have -come to my own notice and have left me wondering at Teuton pertinacity, -at the persistence with which large and small matters alike are -pursued, and at the curious psychological failing that nearly always -loses count of the human element. Theoretically, logically perhaps, the -German advances should have been entirely successful. Unhappily for -the Kaiser's ambitions, it was always fairly obvious that behind every -courtesy, however extravagant, behind every diplomatic action, however -grave or trivial, there lay an Anglophobe bias. It was not perhaps -always conscious to its originators; the state of mind towards Great -Britain in Germany is largely inherited, and I sometimes think it is -well-nigh sub-conscious. Indeed, I would venture the proposition that -it is more obvious to an American than it is to the German possessors -of it. The United States is of course the world's melting pot; happily -for us, and I think for the world at large, the Anglo-Saxon element -is dominant. In such an environment Anglophobia cannot thrive, and -I think the Kaiser's representatives have mistaken the actualities -of the situation. Anglo-American squabbles are the little family -quarrels with which we are all familiar; if one were to come from the -outside and seek to take part in them, he would soon learn that such -an intrusion was unwarranted and unwelcome. Instead of extending the -area of the original quarrel it would reduce it to vanishing point. -In Anglo-American relations the Kaiser must remain an "outsider," -accepted while he behaves himself, but known all the time for the -representative of a proud, powerful nation that is avid of world power -and will shrink from no effort to obtain it, a nation that, if it is -to be judged by its rulers, holds that the result justifies the cause, -and that kindness, deceit, generosity, cajolery, persuasion, threats, -candour, and deceit are all weapons that find a proper place in the -armoury of a subtle diplomacy and may be called upon in turn. There -is a world in which this standard of things passes current, the world -of the company promoter, the international financier, the Jesuit who -holds that the end justifies if it cannot sanctify. On the other hand, -all these mental processes are abhorrent to the Anglo-Saxon. He is -by nature plain and blunt, subtleties are foreign to him. It is his -ambition to play the game, and he requires the game to be clean that -it may be worth the playing. He likes to place his cards on the table, -you will not find them in his sleeve or his boot. We know that the -sowing of mistrust between the United States and Great Britain has -been one of the chief pre-occupations of German diplomacy, we know too -that it has failed as signally as the early and vital attacks upon -the Liége forts failed. To accomplish its destiny the Anglo-Saxon race -must stand together. We need not interfere in each other's quarrels, -we need not model our lives to a pattern that is not sanctified by use -and custom, but we will not allow any other nation to come between us -and our friendship, or to interfere with that slow, sure growth of -understanding and good feeling that may bring to generations unborn the -blessing of universal good-fellowship and peace. - -In all human probability the Teuton has postponed his own day for -generations. The triumphs of more than forty years of peaceful -progress have been bartered and have been used as gambling counters, -and I believe that a double menace is now in slow course of removal, -first from this little island whose sons and great grandsons in their -millions are looking, anxious to see how we acquit ourselves, and from -those South American Republics that purpose by grace of Providence -to work out their own salvation without either the help or the -permission of the Kaiser and his legions. When we have succeeded in -our present struggle--I do not admit the possibility of a doubt about -the issue--the way will be open for the triumphs of peace and for the -passing of armaments and tyrannies. Surely in these great changes so -long looked for, so eagerly anticipated on both sides of the Atlantic, -the whole voice of the United Anglo-Saxon Race will speak in unison. I -believe we shall play no small part in the re-shaping and rebuilding -of a shattered and exhausted world, and that the genuine friendliness -of our relations will make the task as pleasant as it is responsible. -Side by side we have sought peace and ensued it, the overwhelming -tragedy may have shown that "man is one and the Fates are three," but -it will not alter our national and racial belief that we must develop -the tranquillity of the world, that we must develop the arts of peace -and arm for defence rather than defiance. Through the gloom and murk -of the present hour I find myself looking with assured confidence to -the world's future, and whatever the Vision I see the whole Anglo-Saxon -race massing irresistible forces for the service of the world. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WOMAN AND THE WAR*** - - -******* This file should be named 63910-0.txt or 63910-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/3/9/1/63910 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: A Woman and the War</p> -<p>Author: Frances Evelyn Maynard Greville, Countess of Warwick</p> -<p>Release Date: November 28, 2020 [eBook #63910]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WOMAN AND THE WAR***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by Charlene Taylor, Martin Pettit,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (https://www.pgdp.net)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (https://archive.org)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/womanwarwar00warw - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/frontis.jpg" alt="frontispiece" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/front.jpg" alt="front" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> - -<h1>A WOMAN <br />AND THE WAR</h1> - -<p class="bold space-above">BY</p> - -<p class="bold2">THE COUNTESS OF WARWICK</p> - -<p class="bold2">AUTHOR OF<br />"WARWICK CASTLE AND ITS EARLS," "AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSEPH ARCH,"<br /> -"AN OLD ENGLISH GARDEN"</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">NEW YORK<br />GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">COPYRIGHT, 1916,<br />BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</p> - -<p class="center space-above">PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>PREFACE</h2> - -<p>It is not without serious reflection that I have collected these -thoughts in war time to offer in book form to those who may care to -read and ponder them. They were written for the most part on the spur -of vital moments, when some of the tendencies of the evil times through -which we are living seemed to call for immediate protest. I have felt -more strongly than ever in the past two years that we are in danger -of accepting as something outside the pale of criticism the judgments -of those who lead, and sometimes mislead us. The support or hostility -of the newspaper press—in some aspects the greatest distorting -medium in the world—is still ruled by party considerations. Loyalty -or ill-will to the men in office colours all the views of those who -praise or blame, and it happens often that a good measure is damned -for what is best or lauded for what is worst in it. Again, I have felt -that while much of the fighting spirit of the country is subject to -army discipline, the tendency of government has been to make helpless -puppets of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span> the citizens who remain behind the forces in the field. -In the near future, if we would save what is left of our heritage of -freedom, and would even extend the comparatively narrow boundaries that -existed before the autumn of 1914, we must relieve the press of the -self-conferred duty of thinking for us. We must not give our rulers a -blank cheque; their best efforts tend more to rouse our suspicions than -to compel our confidence.</p> - -<p>Judging all the matters dealt with in these pages as fairly and -honestly as I can, I have found myself repeatedly in opposition to the -authorities. The legislation from which we have suffered since war -began, the efforts to relieve difficult situations and prepare for -obvious emergencies have savoured largely of panic and can boast no -more than a small element of statesmanship. So I have protested and -the protests have grown even beyond the limit of these book covers, -while an ever-swelling letter-bag has told me that I have interpreted, -however feebly, the thoughts, wishes, and aspirations of many thinking -men and women. We are on the eve of events that will demand of -evolution that it mend its paces or become revolution without more ado. -The international crisis and the national makeshifts must have proved -to the dullest that the world is out of joint.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> - -<p>I make no claim to traverse the whole ground, modesty forbids, and Mr. -Zangwill has accomplished the task in his "War for the World," the -most brilliant work that has seen the light since August, 1914. I have -sought to point out where and why and how we are moving backwards. I -can command no eloquence to gild my words, I cannot pretend to have -more to say than will have occurred to every man and woman of advanced -views and normal intelligence, but it does not suffice to think; one -must make thought the prelude of action. Strong in this belief I have -not hesitated to attempt something more than mere criticism. I cannot -wave flags, abuse enemies, or extol popular idols; and consequently -those who read will please accept these and other limitations.</p> - -<p class="right">FRANCES EVELYN WARWICK.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Warwick Castle</span>,<br /><span class="s3"> </span><i>August, 1916</i>.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="CONTENTS"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="left"><span class="smaller">CHAPTER</span></td> - <td><span class="smaller">PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>I </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">King Edward and the Kaiser</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>II </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Greatest Fight of All</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>III </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">England's Drink Legislation</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>IV </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">War and Marriage</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>V </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Nursing in War Time</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VI </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Two Years of War—Woman's Loss and Gain</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Child Labour on the Land</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VIII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Comrades</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>IX </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Curse of Autocracy</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>X </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Woman's War Work on the Land</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XI </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">German Women and Militarism</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Youth in the Shambles</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XIII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Thoughts on Compulsion</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XIV </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Women and War</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XV </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Race Suicide</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XVI </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Lesson of the Picture Theatre</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XVII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Truth will out</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XVIII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Claim of All the Children</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XIX </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Prussian in Our Midst</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XX </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Grown-Up Girls of England</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_197">197</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XXI </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Social Horizon</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XXII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">How Shall We Minister to a World Diseased?</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XXIII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">How I Would Work for Peace</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XXIV </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Lord French</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_234">234</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XXV </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Lord Haldane: Some Recollections and an Estimate</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_243">243</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XXVI </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Grounds for Optimism</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_250">250</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XXVII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Anglo-American Relations in Peace and War</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_258">258</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">A WOMAN<br /> AND THE WAR</p> - -<h2><span>I</span> <span class="smaller">KING EDWARD AND THE KAISER</span></h2> - -<p>Since the war began I have read numerous extracts from the press of -Germany and from the contributions of German writers to American -papers stating in the most unequivocal terms that the late King Edward -devoted his political sagacity to the task of isolating Germany, that -he promoted alliances to that end, and that he deliberately sought to -compass the destruction of the German Empire.</p> - -<p>At first I took these remarks to be no more than the rather unfortunate -outpourings of the uninformed, but I have seen of late that they have -been repeated with great insistence until there is a danger that they -will become an article of faith, not alone in Germany but in other -countries where Germans have a sympathetic following. I do not choose -as a rule to discuss questions of this kind,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> I prefer to leave popular -error to correct itself, but, having enjoyed the confidence of King -Edward before and after he came to the throne, having heard from his -own lips scores of times his attitude towards Germany and the Germans, -it seems to be a duty to set out the plain truth. I will do so in the -endeavour to sweep away one of the most ridiculous and mischievous -conceptions engendered by the present evil condition of things.</p> - -<p>Had I ever imagined that the present crisis, or, for that matter, -any political development of the peaceful kind would have led to the -statements I seek to refute, how easy it would have been to jot down -the purport of conversations in which high policy was discussed! -Fortunately, I have an excellent memory and it is reinforced by letters -to which I have access, and I hope to commit the reports that have been -spread abroad to the oblivion that is their proper place. I can vouch -for the absolute truth of all I have to say, and I am writing with a -full sense of responsibility.</p> - -<p>In the first place the intimate relations between the English and -German courts should be remembered; one of my earliest recollections is -of being taken to visit the old Empress Augusta at the German Embassy. -This was when I was a child, and I know I went many times, so her -visits would probably have been frequent. On my writing-table <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>is the -silver and mother-of-pearl ornament that was her wedding present to -me. Everybody respected the old Emperor William, and everybody admired -the Crown Prince Frederick. When he married Queen Victoria's eldest -daughter, the Princess Royal, who became, after the death of Princess -Alice, King Edward's favourite sister, the relations between the two -courts could hardly have been more amicable. Queen Victoria loved -Germany and the Germans, she adored her grandson. In her eyes he could -do no wrong, she even went so far as to hold him up to her eldest son -as a model. On the other hand, the Princess of Wales, being a Dane, -could not forget or forgive the theft of Schleswig Holstein; her sister -the Russian Empress shared her suspicions of German intentions, but I -never heard of one or the other originating or encouraging anti-German -intrigues.</p> - -<p>As the Kaiser grew up towards manhood his personality was hardly known; -his father, the Crown Prince Frederick, a far more noble figure, -monopolised attention. Beyond the fact that he was Queen Victoria's -favourite grandson nothing was known about William II. Nobody thought -that he would be called upon to rule before he was middle aged or -elderly; his father's illness was unsuspected. But if there was no ill -feeling at the English court, it is impossible to say the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> same of the -court at Berlin. The presence of the Princess Royal was resented; many -people believed, or affected to believe, that the marriage had been -designed to make Germany politically subservient to Great Britain. As -everybody knows, these feelings grew apace as soon as the old Emperor -William had breathed his last, and when, a few months later, the -Emperor Frederick passed away, the Anglophobia had spread throughout -the Court circles and the young Kaiser had been tainted with the Court -prejudice against his own mother. He did not treat her well; it is -not too much to say that he treated her badly. She, naturally enough, -complained to her brother, the Prince of Wales,—I have already said -that she was now his best loved sister. He was angry on her account and -spoke his mind. Relations between the young Kaiser and his uncle were -already strained. I must turn back a little to explain why.</p> - -<p>In the early days, when King Edward had arrived at man's estate and -married, he sought to take a legitimate interest in state affairs. -He was disposed to study and to learn, and sought, not without ample -justification, to be admitted to the company of the little group -of statesmen who advised the Queen and ruled the Empire. But Queen -Victoria would have none of it. She practically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> refused her son access -to the Councils of State, she instructed her Ministers to keep all -state papers from him; within the compass of a limited monarchy she was -determined to rule alone.</p> - -<p>Her eldest son, finding that he was not to be accepted as a worker, -decided to amuse himself. If he could not direct public policy he would -at least direct fashion, if he could not assist the Foreign Office he -could at least enable English Society to take rank among the smartest -in Europe. So the Marlborough House set came into existence, and with -its rise came the first beginnings of the Kaiser's criticism. There -were two grounds for this.</p> - -<p>In the first place King Edward's personal popularity was unbounded; -wherever he went he charmed women and men, and it was quite clear -that he would be a force to be reckoned with in diplomacy, when in -the fullness of time he ascended the throne; on the other hand, the -Kaiser lacked all the qualities that his uncle possessed in abundance. -Hard-working and conscientious, he was petulant, exacting, and -uncertain. Naturally, then, he found matter for grievance against the -uncle who, seemingly without effort, swayed opinion and enjoyed esteem. -Jealousy was the origin of disagreement.</p> - -<p>There is another side to the antagonism. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> Kaiser was always a very -strict-living, sober-minded man, a model husband and father, honestly -representative of the domestic virtues in the highest degree. King -Edward, largely by force of circumstances, lived a life of gaiety -and pleasure; whatever he did he did thoroughly; as it might not be -work, it was play. He raced, yachted, shot, played cards, entertained, -visited all his friends, and had a wide field of friendships. Though -shrewd, worldly, and quick witted, he made certain mistakes, and these -gave his nephew an opportunity that was quickly taken. Perhaps the -Kaiser would utter a criticism on the spur of the moment, it would be -taken up, magnified, polished, and brought over to King Edward in the -finished and augmented state. By the way, I am referring, unless I -state the contrary, to the years when King Edward was Prince of Wales. -I use his final title to cover all the years with which I am dealing. -King Edward had great gifts, and when the time came to turn them to the -best account, they were invaluable to his country but, as I have said, -he was not infallible. He made mistakes.</p> - -<p>Tranby Croft provided one, his friendship for Baron Hirsch provided -another; for the Baron, though he may have been a charming -man-certainly his wife was a charming woman and a dear friend of -mine—was an unscrupulous financier<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> who had accumulated a vast fortune -by curious and unclean methods of which the full story cannot be told, -and yet for all his faults, he was not an ignoble man, but in some -phases of his complex nature an idealist and philanthropist.</p> - -<p>Berlin sneered at Baron Hirsch, Vienna was actually shocked, for in the -Dual Empire a man is judged by his quarterings, and even if he should -have made a huge fortune honestly and lacks quarterings he is less than -the penniless, vicious, and brainless person of high descent.</p> - -<p>King Edward smiled at the rage and spite of Vienna and Berlin. He -remarked to one of his intimates that he could not allow either capital -to choose his friends for him, and in order that there might be no -mistake about his intentions he accepted an invitation from Baron -Hirsch to shoot with him on his great estates at Eichorn. I don't know -whether Baron Hirsch asked any Austrians or Germans, certainly none -accepted the invitation, and King Edward found, much to his amusement, -that all the other guests were Englishmen. He merely laughed, enjoyed -his visit, and then, after it was over, visited the Baron in Paris, -to the intense annoyance of the Jockey Club there. Perhaps it was not -altogether wise to defy the conventions, but of course English Society -has never been quite as exclusive as that of Berlin or Vienna.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Kaiser chafed at his uncle's association with a mushroom financier -whose record was only too well known, he chafed too when King Edward -spent long hours at Homburg with the Empress Frederick who had a castle -there in the days of her widowhood. The love between the brother and -sister was very beautiful. She confided all her troubles to him from -the early days, for oddly enough when there were family quarrels -Queen Victoria sided with her grandson against the Princess Royal, -but it is only right and fair to say that the Kaiser reciprocated -her affection, and his grief when she passed away was heartfelt. -The Homburg meetings were gall and wormwood to the Kaiser and they -renewed the old fear of his uncle's popularity. When instead of going -to Homburg in Germany, King Edward went to Marienbad in Austria there -was still more uneasiness in Berlin's governing circles, for King -Edward's extraordinary personal magnetism was known and feared, he was -credited with having the power if he chose to exercise it of seriously -disturbing the foundations of the Triple Alliance. The Kaiser need not -have been uneasy, his uncle did not enter into political conversations.</p> - -<p>It will be seen then that the disagreement between uncle and nephew had -been little more than a sort of family quarrel intensified by the high<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> -standing of both parties. I have heard King Edward speak angrily of his -nephew, but only because of the way he treated his mother, the personal -gibes and criticisms did not often sting him, he merely said his nephew -was suffering from megalomania and had not learned to control a rather -unruly tongue. In all the years I have passed mentally in review I do -not remember hearing King Edward utter a single sentence of ill-will to -Germany.</p> - -<p>The Kaiser's visits to England in the earlier days have left no special -impression upon my memory. I remember dancing opposite to him in a -quadrille at a Court Ball in Buckingham Palace and being present at -a dinner-party given for him in a private house. His friends among -the ladies of England were the wives of members of the Royal Yacht -Squadron; among these was Lady Ormonde. She used to stay at Kiel for -the yachting festival, as guest of the Kaiser with her husband who was -then Commodore of the R.Y.S.</p> - -<p>In all his criticisms King Edward was scrupulously fair. Even in -discussing his sister's relations with her son he would add that -they were both strong personalities with different sympathies and -view-points, and that sustained agreement between them was probably -impossible. He admired the Kaiserin frankly, as all must who know the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> -gracious and kindly lady who in her own quiet and unobtrusive fashion -has filled her life with good deeds.</p> - -<p>Relations between King Edward and his nephew improved immensely when -Queen Victoria died. Not only did the Kaiser come over to the funeral, -but he seemed on that occasion to have laid aside the brusqueness that -had marked earlier visits. All the Court noticed it, and King Edward -commented upon it to me with very evident pleasure. The process of -improvement in relations started about 1899. Through the Boer War -events had been moving towards a reconciliation.</p> - -<p>The Kaiser's correct behaviour during the war, which his frenzied -telegram on the occasion of the Raid had done something to bring about, -placated King Edward, and after Queen Victoria's death relations -between the two men improved sensibly. The Kaiser either limited his -criticisms or saw to it that they were not indiscreetly uttered. The -old friendliness was resumed, and things became as they were after the -attempt on King Edward's life in Denmark when the Kaiser left Berlin -and met the royal train at the frontier station to congratulate his -uncle upon his escape and inquire after his health. King Edward wrote -to me from Sandringham on his return. After thanking me for a letter -and telegram of congratulations, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> said that the Kaiser came all -the way from Berlin to meet his train at Altona and inquire after his -health. He thought that was very kind of the Kaiser.</p> - -<p>I remember that the Kaiser's later visits to England were quite a -success. King Edward remarked to me, when his nephew was staying at -Highcliffe in Hampshire for his health, how greatly he had improved in -manner, how courteous and considerate he was, and how much of the old -unrest and irritability seemed to have gone. Between King George, Queen -Mary, and the Kaiser, relations could not have been more friendly, -and when King Edward and Queen Alexandra went to Berlin he thoroughly -enjoyed his visit, and told me as much on his return.</p> - -<p>How then, it may be asked, shall we account for the Anglo-French -convention of 1904, and for the meeting between King Edward and the -Tsar at Réval when the foundations of friendship between England and -Russia were laid? In Germany it is believed that these arrangements -were aggressive in their intention and demonstrated King Edward's -hostility. In both cases King Edward, absolutely faithful to the -Constitution, followed the advice of his ministers, and did not discuss -his personal predilections at all. After the Réval meeting I asked him -his view of the political<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> situation, and as far as my memory serves -this is what he said: "Germany is our commercial rival, she has a -magnificent business aptitude, she might develop with growing riches -and a few adventurous statesmen a rivalry of another kind. The Réval -meeting, with the French convention, will I hope put an end to the -possibility. But nothing has been done that stands in the way of a good -understanding between London and Berlin. I believe all sensible men -desire peace. We have no quarrel with Germany or any other power."</p> - -<p>I may add that King Edward admired Germany almost as much as he loved -France. The thoroughness of the German business method, the rejection -of everything slovenly in thought and action, impressed him greatly, -and he once made a remarkable statement to me. It was in London in the -late winter of 1909-10, a few months before he died. He came to tea -and talked of German administration. "Do you know," he said, "that if -this country could be controlled in the same way, we should be all the -better for it? If we could be ruled by Germans just long enough to -have our house put in order"—he paused, and added with a laugh—"You -know the trouble is that if we once had them we could not get rid of -them." This statement was made during our last conversation; I never -saw King Edward again, but his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> words should be sufficient to show that -he was not animated by an ill-feeling towards the German Empire. They -are hardly the words of a man who plotted against the land ruled over -by the son of the woman who was at once his favourite sister and most -devoted friend.</p> - -<p>Age, and an experience of great affairs not to be excelled by any -of his contemporaries, had made King Edward a sane and philosophic -observer. He possessed very few prejudices, and he never allowed his -feelings as a man to stand between him and his duties as a king. But if -his personal views had affected political issues it would never have -been to Germany's detriment, for every criticism that I heard him utter -over a long period of years has been set out here. He had a real love -for his French and Austrian friends and a quiet respect for his German -acquaintances. I may add that King Edward not only hated war and would -have been most reluctant to take any step that might ensue it, but -he regarded people with bellicose ideas as fit occupants of asylums. -The fine fabric of civilisation impressed him, and he saw in war the -blind force that would destroy it and leave the world laboriously and -painfully to rebuild. His real interests lay in the direction of social -reform, and he even found the trappings of state, in which as a rule -he took delight, a little heavy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> when he realised that they deprived -him of the right of free speech enjoyed by the humblest citizen of the -realm. He made it his business to know what Germany was doing to solve -the problems of unemployment, housing, and factory management, and -in the last years of his life his intercourse with Liberal statesmen -quickened his interest in plans for the betterment of the class that -does the work. Time out of mind he spoke of what Germany had achieved -in this direction, always with the frank admiration that only a good -sportsman can give under all circumstances. Far from seeking to bring -war about, it is with me an article of faith that had he been living -in July, 1914, there would have been no war. The immense personal -influence he wielded would have been thrown into the scales on the -side of peace, he would have reconciled differences at the eleventh -hour for he was <i>persona gratissima</i> in every court of Europe, and -there is not among the rulers of Europe one who would not have listened -when he spoke. Those who suggest that he helped to build the pyre upon -which the best and bravest of nearly all the nations of the world are -now being consumed, do but slander the dead and testify to their own ignorance.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>II</span> <span class="smaller">THE GREATEST FIGHT OF ALL</span></h2> - -<p>In his famous essay on Mr. Montgomery's poems Macaulay speaks of the -degradation to which those must submit who are resolved to write when -there are scarcely any who read.</p> - -<p>It seems a little idle to suggest that two years of war have availed to -reduce readers to vanishing point; indeed, editors and publishers of -daily and weekly papers testify to an increase of circulation. Paper is -harder to obtain than readers; the cause of trouble is that the written -word is all of one kind. The love of sensation, strongest amongst those -whose mental equipment is of the slightest, is being sedulously catered -for, the townsman requires tales of the slaughter of his enemies to -give a flavour to his breakfast, his lunch, and his dinner.</p> - -<p>Even the countryman, who with no more than one newspaper in twenty-four -hours must spread sensation over a day, seems to insist upon flamboyant -headlines and cheerful tales of slaughter. Mild-mannered folk, who -would turn vegetarians rather than help to kill the meat that is set -upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> their tables, may be heard enthusiastically calculating the -enemy's losses in terms of six or seven figures, and discussing the -hairbreadth incidents of flood and field as though they themselves -carried a more dangerous weapon than an umbrella and had faced more -serious troubles in the normal day than an ill-cooked meal, an -appointment lost, or a train missed. In short, people who must stay -at home because they are no longer of fighting age, strength, or -inclination, are being encouraged to act as the audience. Happily, -perhaps, for them, they cannot see the actual performance, but they -can hear about it, and, as a rule, they are told what their minds are -best prepared to receive. Truth has received instructions to remain at -the bottom of her well or risk court-martial. Life is reduced to its -primitive elements; war, while it dignifies many of those who take an -active part in it, does little more than degrade the constant reader -of papers of the baser and most popular kind. It is to be feared that -the sane view of life is never the appealing one, the untrained eye can -see trees but never a wood, and the man in the street is nearest to the -editorial heart because his name is legion, and the advertiser says to -him, as Ruth said to Naomi, "Whither thou goest, I will go."</p> - -<p>In the early nineties there was a literary movement of great promise -in London; the Boer War<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> extinguished it; in the last half-dozen years -we have seen a brisk effort towards the development of a national or -even international social programme; this war may set it back for a -generation; War is ever fatal to ideas. Men whose minds were being -turned slowly and reluctantly to questions they had been educated to -ignore are now concerned with two problems—winning the war and making -good the injuries it has entailed. The increased taxation, the business -losses, seemingly irrecoverable, will develop a certain natural -hardness of fibre, and there is a danger that the social movements, -slow in times of prosperity, will halt in the times to come.</p> - -<p>The season of trouble for those "resolved to write" is upon the -publicists of the social reform movement. They must be prepared for -hard knocks and for all the arts of misrepresentation and vilification. -The general reader will first denounce, then ignore and finally -listen to the survivors of the common-sense crusade. The people who -start to state facts will be the leaders of a forlorn hope, and our -brave fellow-countrymen did not face as great an odds in the retreat -from Mons. A fight for the universal reduction of armaments and for -the remodelling of the existing system of government will be met by -indignant cries for conscription and less freedom. The ubiquitous hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> -of the German will be traced in every line that pleads for toleration, -good will, and the removal of all autocracies under whatever name; any -suggestion of a return to Christian teaching will be denounced as the -highest immorality. There are many who hold that a conscript Army and -a larger Navy would have saved us from this war; they cannot see that -we should have done no more than postpone the evil day until it dawned -upon Europe in a still greater magnitude of evil, if this be possible, -and that our commercial class, impeded by forced service, would have -been unable to provide the means to pay the bill. The ulcer of European -armament has burst at last, and the remedy proposed for the debilitated -body of the Western World will be a still larger ulcer to take the -place of the one that demanded so much labour to feed and so much -life-blood to cleanse it.</p> - -<p>In the same way the effort to make democracy articulate, to raise the -standard of the national intelligence, will be fiercely resisted by -those who believe that the way of the world in the past must be the way -of the world in the future. The attempt to improve upon the methods -of our fathers is tolerated in the worlds of science, medicine, and -commerce, the innate conservatism of government is sacrosanct. To -educate millions of able-bodied men, not to the fighting pitch but -beyond and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> above it, will be denounced as high treason, and will be -opposed by autocracies, bureaucracies, cannon-makers and publicans -alike. A rise to the heights of sanity is, must be, the death of vested -interests, and every force to the hands of authority will be employed -to check the dreaded movement. According to a well-established formula, -the method of attack will be to denounce very bitterly suggestions that -have never been put forward and principles that have no adherents. In -this way issues can be confused and obscured.</p> - -<p>To be drunk with victory or dazed by defeat is to be particularly -sensitive to the more brutal cries of war. The victor desires the -full reward of good fortune, as Germany did in 1871; the vanquished -nurses revenge, as France has done ever since the end of the struggle -that found her so ill-prepared. Counsels of moderation are declared -to be inadmissible until the <i>status quo ante</i> has been restored, and -every force that makes for the spoliation of the simple by the worldly -wise takes the field against common sense. The appeal of the dead is -forgotten by all living save the woman whose mission it is to raise -another generation for destruction; the lessons of history cannot be -recalled by those who have never learned them.</p> - -<p>Against all the difficulties outlined here, and many another that need -not be set down, a small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> body of men and women, inspired by a great -ideal, must labour in every country that has seen war or even realised -its significance. They must speak and write in the face of fierce -opposition and contempt, for war has swept away many of the landmarks -they had already set up, together with many of those who had learned -to regard them; they must face the truth that many a genuine altruist, -shocked unutterably by the revelations of the war, is a little ashamed -of his earlier altruism and anxious to forget its existence. They must -be prepared for a certain coarsening of the nation's moral fibre, for -a long-lived return to the more brutal outlook associated with the -Napoleonic era. In some countries revenge will have become an article -of faith, in others suspicion will be a no less dominant factor. The -whole mental currency will have suffered debasement, and it will be -difficult for some vices to be recognised as anything worse than -virtues enforced upon a nation by the hazard of war.</p> - -<p>If the truth about the whole conflict that has laid waste so great a -portion of the civilised world could be ascertained and agreed, the -difficulties would tend to disappear, responsibility would be fixed. -Unfortunately, agreement is beyond the generation's reach; we may -remember that there are many who still regard the seizure of Silesia -by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> Frederick the Great as a genuine expression of Prussia's mission, -and that history is written to suit the country to which it is intended -to appeal. Limitations, whether geographical, political, or social, are -the sworn foes of truth, and in the effort to remove them an appeal to -international common sense affords the best hope of success.</p> - -<p>For many of the world's thinkers who stay at home to-day, neither -physically fit to fight nor financially able to succour distress, there -is this great work waiting to be done. They cannot fight soldiers, but -they can fight rancour, malice, and uncharitableness. They cannot fill -hungry bodies, but they may help to feed starved minds. They can bring -a light to those who walk in darkness and make articulate the thoughts -that stir many a heart and brain. They can give courage to those who -fear the sound of their own voices and have not the strength of mind to -say the words that may not be spoken without offence to the unthinking. -When fighting is over—and it will pass, as all tragedies must, though -it seems to fill a lifetime while it lasts—the greatest questions of -strife will clamour for a wise solution. People write glibly about the -war that is to end war, but let us remember that this issue depends -not upon statesmen but upon the democracies of all the combatant and -neutral countries. What we want is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> modern Peter the Hermit or two -in every country of Europe, to preach the crusade of Christianity and -to bring home to the world at large the price of war. There is no -material reward for this service, and even recognition is likely to be -posthumous; the courage required is of the fine kind that moves alone -over uncharted ground. But, just as a kingdom at war calls for men to -man the trenches and face annihilation with the smiling cheerfulness -that robs death of half its sting and all its terror, so a return of -peace calls for its heroes of thought to do battle with all the evils -that make it possible for men who have no quarrel to assemble in their -millions for mutual destruction.</p> - -<p>The whole system of government that makes these conditions and must be -indicted for them is rotten to the core, but it is enthroned in power, -and will not deal lightly, or even justly, with those who assail it.</p> - -<p>Against this hard truth we have to remember that every evil that has -been subdued since the dawn of history has been fought in the first -instance by one man or a handful of men. If we have only a small -proportion of thinkers to-day we have more than there were of old time, -when the simplest education was the advantage of the few. Paganism -was a more terrible force than militarism in the years of the advent -of Christ, and it was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>overthrown by the labours of one man and his -tiny following. To-day democracy is all powerful, if and when it can -be taught to open eyes and ears. Those who will undertake the perilous -task may make this war, whatever and whenever its termination, a -fruitful thing for the generations to come, while, on the other hand, -if the lessons are not read aright, we may look to pass from tragedy to -tragedy, until all civilisation is submerged.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>III</span> <span class="smaller">ENGLAND'S DRINK LEGISLATION</span></h2> - -<p>It is hard to pierce the thick cloud of cant in which, as a nation, -we are all too apt to shroud ourselves. I do not think we are -hypocritical, although that charge is laid to our door by all our -ill-wishers, but I do believe we are hopelessly conventional, and -seldom muster up the courage necessary to call a spade a spade.</p> - -<p>I have been re-reading of late, the endless comment upon the drink -legislation, some of it frankly inspired by publicans and sinners—I -mean distillers—some of it the pure outpouring of cranks, most of it -prejudiced, or uninformed, or both. We deplore drunken habits, but -when Sir Cuthbert Quilter tried to persuade Parliament to pass a Pure -Beer Bill he met with no success. The worst crimes against the person, -the common and criminal assaults on women and children, are largely -due to drink, and of this drink raw and crude spirits are the worst -part; but we do nothing to protect our poorer classes from the poison. -To introduce "square face" gin among the black <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>population of some of -our possessions is a deadly offence, the punishment is heavy, swift, -and certain, but to poison the workers of our great manufacturing -centres is business, and many quite worthy people believe that "when -Britain first at Heaven's command arose from out the azure main" it was -to do business, and as much of it as possible. Naturally it follows -that the fight against cant is all the harder because most of us do -not recognise cant when we hear it. I remember how when temperance -legislation was first mooted as a war measure many friends who can -afford to buy pure French wines and spirits of great age and mellowness -solemnly assured me that temperance legislation is mere foolishness, -and that they themselves are living proofs that moderation, good -health, and a wise activity march hand-in-hand.</p> - -<p>But of late years a certain number of women of all classes have been -drinking more than is good for them, and since the war broke out the -working women's temptations in this direction and the opportunity to -indulge them have grown side by side.</p> - -<p>The majority of working women are as sober as the majority of every -class, but, though there are thousands of temperate women, they -are matched by thousands of intemperate ones, the number has grown -apace, and I feel they should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> be saved from themselves. The sober -classes cannot resent restriction. It leaves them where they were. The -intemperate classes may resent restriction, but it remains necessary in -their own interests.</p> - -<p>I don't suppose many people read Harrison Ainsworth's novels to-day, -but I remember a striking passage in "Jack Sheppard," where Mrs. -Sheppard justifies herself to her friend Wood, the carpenter, who has -told her that Gin-lane is the nearest road to the churchyard. It is -worth quoting—</p> - -<p>"It may be; but if it shortens the distance and lightens the journey I -care not," retorted the widow.... "The spirit I drink may be poison—it -may kill me—perhaps it is killing me, but so would hunger, cold, -misery—so would my own thoughts. I should have gone mad without it. -Gin is the poor man's friend—his sole set-off against the rich man's -luxury.... When worse than all, frenzied with want, I have yielded to -horrible temptation and earned a meal the only way I could earn one ... -I have drunk of this drink and forgotten my cares, my poverty, and my -guilt."</p> - -<p>The working women whose husbands are at the war have many excuses. -They are deprived of their husbands, and—though there is no need -to emphasise the point it cannot be overlooked—their lives are a -drab monotony of toil, their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>surroundings are often of the most -unfavourable description, the only restraint that can reach them is -self-restraint, and their training has done little to provide it. The -public-house offers companionship, a brief surcease of anxiety, light -and warmth. Many are enervated by much child-bearing, worn out by much -house or factory work. They meet temptation and succumb, but let us -remember that in classes removed from the same form of temptation there -is no lack of intemperance. A very small dose of bad spirits is enough -to provide the cheap anodyne some are seeking, and under the influence -of drink they are apt to lose their self-respect. The craving for drink -grows with what it feeds on, and in all too many cases the hold upon -self-respect falters and is lost. We have sent very many men to the -war, but enough and more than enough remain behind to take advantage of -women who have lost all or even a part of their normal control.</p> - -<p>In touch with serious workers in many of the fields of endeavour that -make brief oases in the deserts of industrialism, I know that both -drink and prostitution have increased since war began, and I know -that drink is the great support of prostitution, and that thousands -of women of the class we must pity most have a natural sense of shame -that drink destroys. If the demons of ruin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>—gin and whisky—had not -been busy pouring gold into the national treasury, day by day and year -by year, they would have been exorcised long since. But business is -business, and the gentlemen whose activity corrupts the country can -always talk of freedom and liberty, and declare to thunders of applause -that Britons never shall be slaves. The possibility of being free to -be a slave to drink never occurs to them, or if it does they forget to -mention it.</p> - -<p>But while I welcome legislation that will tend to keep women sober, -and believe that our sex stands in need of more sobriety by reason of -its sedentary life, I am far from thinking that the law that is good -for women is necessarily good for man. The conditions are altogether -different. The self-respecting artisan and skilled worker drink less -than ever they did. The men who are doing the country's work to-day -in all the armament manufacturing areas need a stimulant, need it far -more than the prosperous City man, the real toper of our times. He will -drink champagne and whisky with his lunch, and, having had quite enough -of both, will damn the working classes for being given to the use of -intoxicants. I have been through some of those great works in the -north, where labour at and round the furnaces is unremitting, and where -to-day the pace has been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>increased to the extreme limit of physical -power. To preach temperance to the armament worker is an absurdity; if -he is not to be stimulated according to his needs his hours will need -to be greatly diminished; it is impossible for him to give out unless -he takes in. Why, in the name of all that is sensible, should he not -have that which will help him? Why should he have remained so long at -the mercy of cheap, vile spirits that are a more or less effective -poison? Why should he be at the mercy of the people who, having little -hard work to do, can thrive comfortably upon lemonade and barley water? -The manufacturers spare no pains to obtain the very finest material for -their own work; if it is necessary to spend a few or many thousands of -pounds upon new plant the money is forthcoming without a murmur. Does -it pass the wit of these sapient people to give to humanity a little of -the thought they give to raw material? Can they not see that the best -and purest drink that the new regulations permit is within reach of the -workers, and that the rest is out of reach?</p> - -<p>It has long been the custom of the capitalist class in normal times to -give the workman bad drink with one hand and to raise the other hand -with an expression of holy horror against the sin of drunkenness, quite -ignoring the truth that the quality, rather than the quantity, that -people drink<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> is often the deciding factor—that every class drinks, -and that if the vice looks worse in one class than another it is -because the poorer the man or woman, the viler the alcohol supplied to -them. There are so many excellent people who preach temperance and live -on the dividends of drunkenness, there are so many who believe that a -reasonable excess in matters of drink is a form of manly virtue, and -there are yet more who believe honestly in moderation, and do not see -that their good brand of claret, burgundy, or brandy should be denied -to them, seeing they have never abused it.</p> - -<p>For myself, I drink a glass of good wine; failing that I am content -with pure water. If we could give our working classes nothing but the -best, and at a price within their means, I should look askance at -legislation, of whatever kind; but I recognise the old truth that the -destruction of the poor is their poverty, and that the working man -and woman have always been penalised, and will continue to be, until -Government recognises its responsibilities, and rides its supporters of -the drink trade with a very tight rein.</p> - -<p>Above all I feel that the new legislation that has first restricted -and then diluted the working man's drink must not be regarded as an -isolated instance, but as part of the vast changes that the war will -ensue. The working man will not forego<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> his legitimate refreshment; it -is for the Government to see that it is pure and reasonably harmless. -Good beer in moderation will not hurt anybody; bad spirits are the -foundation of disease and crime, and, in their silent fashion, are -always fighting against the best interests of the State. Sometimes, -when I read that the perpetrator of some ghastly crime has been -sentenced to death or a long term of imprisonment, with all the pomp -and circumstance of our criminal courts, I find myself wondering what -poison was administered to him in some squalid public-house, and who -among those who rejoice that justice has been done, or vengeance -executed, have actually derived financial benefit from the drink that -turned a man into a beast. We punish the poor fool with a diseased -appetite, we confer some honour or reward upon the prime offender. Then -when our enemies say that we are hypocrites we are indignant because of -their injustice, or contemptuous of their ignorance, knowing as we do, -that God is in Heaven, and that business is business.</p> - -<p>Finally, and quite apart from the immediate significance of the -drink question, I rejoice in any legislation that will help the -working-classes to the full possession of their faculties. If drink -helps them to forget intolerable surroundings, insufficient pay, the -deprivation of their fair share of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> world's beauties, let us be -glad that it is taken from them in its worst forms. They will see with -clear eyes and with wiser heads, they will no longer be at the mercy -of those who pander to their weakness in order to keep them weak. They -will enter upon the great struggle that lies before democracy with -stronger will and stronger armour. They have surrendered much of their -power to the public-house, and the longer its shutters are up the more -leisure they will have to see that there are better things in life, the -greater will be their determination to share them with the fortunate -classes.</p> - -<p>There is a time of trouble in store; they cannot be too well equipped -to meet it.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>IV</span> <span class="smaller">WAR AND MARRIAGE</span></h2> - -<p>The problem that faces a State when it sends its best and most virile -men to kill and to be killed has certain aspects that few have the -courage to handle. For long years, while Europe was an armed camp, the -claims of love were admitted amid the demands of war, but now that -the dreaded era—which each nation was hurrying through the medium -of extravagant armaments and secret diplomacy—has come upon us, we -are without a definite plan for securing the continuity of the best -elements in the race. If I thought that this appalling war were no -more than the prelude to others, I would pray that every woman might -be sterile, but hope, our last and eternal refuge against the ills -of life, suggests that this most terrible cataclysm will strengthen -the hands of democracy and give it the strength to resist further -sacrifices in years to come. While the grass grows the horse starves, -and while we think of the generation to come, thousands, hundreds of -thousands of Europe's best and bravest lie in their hasty graves,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> and -the cry of Mother Earth is still "they come." What has been done by our -rulers to see that the fittest shall leave behind them some to take a -share of the white man's burden?</p> - -<p>Very little. The men of the middle and upper classes who happened to -be engaged have in very many cases been wise and patriotic enough to -marry, and their wives have proved themselves as full of courage as of -love. In order to marry, men have often been obliged to pay the Church -an absurd tax, for the Church has shown itself quite inadequate to the -occasion, and trumpery restrictions, meaningless in times of peace and -a scandal in time of war, have not been relaxed. The poor man cannot -afford a special license, and in many instances has married without -the aid or sanction of the Church. As we know, the State decided to -recognise the unmarried wives of the nation's brave defenders, a -courageous and proper step that evoked the wildest protests from the -narrow-minded, the "unco guid," and the fanatics who believe that man -was made for morality rather than that morality was made for man. They -did not pause to reflect that our absurd and antiquated divorce laws -are the chief cause of illicit unions, and that divorce is hardly less -hard for the poor to obtain than are decent housing, warm clothing, -and nourishing food. Happily, in making this <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>concession to the men -who are offering their lives to their country, the genius of red tape -contrived to assert itself. Hard though it may be to realise, it was -for some time a fact that, if a man home on leave married his unmarried -wife in order that his children might bear his name, his wife's -allowance ceased because he came under the head of those who married -after enlisting! The very quintessence of stupidity could have achieved -nothing finer.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately the majority of those at the front are unmarried. It was -considered sufficient to find them physically sound, to vaccinate and -inoculate them and then to send them to take their chance. The question -of the years to come was never considered. There is no department -of War Office or Admiralty that embraces eugenics. I have looked in -vain through the speeches of statesmen for a single recommendation -to our defenders to marry and leave behind them some pledge of their -affection, some asset for the real national treasury that does not -consist of gold, as is popularly supposed, but of vigorous men and -women as anxious to live for their country as they are willing to die -for it. To be sure every wife would have cost the country three pounds -a month for the term of the war, and this thought may have given our -prudent legislators pause; but I venture to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>suggest that a wife as a -national asset is cheap, even at that price.</p> - -<p>The balance has been redressed to some extent, in fashion at once -inevitable and unsatisfactory. The billeting of great masses of -virile young men in various centres throughout the country, and the -opportunities that the new life has afforded resulted in an increase -in the number of illegitimate births. I have heard of this from many -quarters, and have every reason to believe, in spite of denials, that -no district in which large numbers of soldiers have been gathered -together will prove an exception to the general rule. Whatever the -moral aspect of the question, it cannot be overlooked or ignored. -I deplore the promiscuity, though I believe that a wise and daring -statesmanship, ready to meet new conditions with new remedies, would -have avoided it; but I would like to plead for the foolish mothers, -often little more than girls, and for the babes, who in many instances -will never see a father's face.</p> - -<p>I am not urging humanity in place of morality, for most people lack the -moral courage to listen to such a plea; it is rather in the interests -of the State that I urge the proper, and even generous, treatment of -all those who, before this year is ended, will have entered the world -unwanted and unwelcomed. They will be the children of men in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> first -flush of manhood, of men not lacking in courage and character (or they -would not have joined the colours), of men whose fault was that they -could not resist temptation in its least resistible form. We must think -of the psychology of the soldier who knows that in a few short weeks he -may be among the nameless dead, who has embarked upon the greatest of -all adventures, and says, "Let me rejoice and be merry, for to-morrow -I die." Doubtless in many cases he will return and marry the mother of -his child if fate permits, often he will not return, and a soldier's -death may well clear a soldier's name.</p> - -<p>It should not outrage morality to see that the children, whether they -be many or few, born of men gone to the front should be looked after by -the State where the mother is unable adequately to provide for them, -and it should be possible, too, in cases where the father returns and -marries the mother of his child, that such marriage should make the -offspring legitimate. It is not a large concession; in many European -countries, France included, marriage atones for previous indiscretions, -and if this were so in England there would be a much greater tendency -to regularise irregular unions for the children's sake. If nothing is -done hundreds of young mothers who succumbed to exceptional temptation -will be outcasts. Under the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> most favourable normal conditions, the lot -of the little one will be hard. When this hideous war is over, I would -like the regimental officers to put the facts fairly and squarely to -their men, to ask them to remember the girls they left behind them, and -to be able to assure them, in the name of the Government, that if they -would, on their return, marry the mother of their child, that child -would become <i>ipso facto</i> legitimate.</p> - -<p>I am quite sure that many excellent people will find this plea immoral, -that they will say it is condoning irregular sex union, that it is -removing the burden from those who have transgressed. I deny these -suggestions even before they are made. To my mind there is more -immorality, more glaring offence to the Creator in one battlefield full -of dead and mangled humanity, than in all the illegitimate children who -will have come crying into our tear-stricken world before the war draws -to its end. Those who rule over Europe and, being unable to settle -their differences, sent millions of men, who have no quarrel, to deface -the earth and slaughter one another, are morally responsible for every -change in the normal life of mankind. Those who replenish the earth are -better than those who destroy it.</p> - -<p>War is a monstrous immorality that seeks to destroy the world; the -illicit unions, to which I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>refer in the interest of those who pay -the penalty—the mother and the child—are a minor immorality from -which, with a little care, a little loving-kindness, and a little -fore-knowledge, much good, much deep morality may spring.</p> - -<p>There is not much time to lose; there will be much opposition to -overcome, and the work of helping the helpless will be widely condemned -by those who, having no feelings, are always able to control them. -But the effort is worth making, and so I plead here, first, for ample -facilities for those who wish to marry before they go abroad; secondly, -for the legitimation of the children whose fathers, now at the war, -come back and marry the mothers, and, lastly, for some special care of -the mother and children themselves.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>V</span> <span class="smaller">NURSING IN WAR TIME</span></h2> - -<p>Abuses cling to a crisis as barnacles to a ship, and every aspect of -war has its own peculiar abuses. While millions do their duty with -quiet heroism, there is always a minority that takes advantage, that -corrupts others—or itself. Some believe that fraud and foolishness -stay at home, that they cannot approach the field of arms, but this is -far from being the case.</p> - -<p>My thoughts turn back to the South African war, when certain scandals -were supposed to have reached their zenith; I look around me to-day, -listen to the well-authenticated stories brought to me by relatives and -friends, and know that South Africa did not tithe the possibilities -of folly and excess. For once I am not pleading for my own sex, I -plead for one part of it against the other, for a majority against a -minority, for those who are doing what they are paid to do, against -those who are voluntary workers. The position comes a little strangely -to me when I look at it in this light, but the highly trained, -conscientious, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>painstaking hospital nurse, whose patient heroism -proclaims her a true follower of Florence Nightingale, has been exposed -to scandalous annoyance for no good purpose and to no useful end, and -I feel that I must plead her cause, since she is in the last degree -unlikely to plead it for herself.</p> - -<p>Society women of a certain class made themselves so notorious in the -military hospitals and elsewhere during the South African war that at -least one General threatened to send them home and another refused to -allow any more to come out. As soon as the greatest struggle of our -history started in August, 1914, certain women of means and position -proceeded as silently and unostentatiously as was possible under the -circumstances to equip hospitals and to set about their self-appointed -work. They laboured conscientiously and sought no more publicity than -was necessary to enable them to collect money from philanthropists and -friends. They did their best, some were already qualified by previous -experience, others acquired their knowledge under the most trying -conditions possible. They have worked since war began, well content to -"scorn delights and live laborious days," some who are near and dear to -me have said that they have well-nigh forgotten the old life and the -comforts they deemed indispensable only a little while ago. I think it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> -may be claimed for them that they have played a good part, and that in -helping others they have not sought to draw attention to themselves or -minimise the credit due to the trained sisterhood of love and pity that -cheers the wounded and comforts the dying as "The Lady with the Lamp" -taught them to do in the far-off days of the great Crimean struggle. -They have made many friends and no enemies; the hero of the trenches -and the assaulting party has not given more to his country, for both -have given their all, the man his strength, the woman her practical -sympathy, and both a high degree of physical and moral courage.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately there is in London to-day a very large company of young -women to whom war was little more than a new sensation. They are not -old enough to understand or young enough to be restrained. In normal -times they must be "in the movement," however foolish that movement may -be, and a war that staggers the old world and the new leaves them very -much where they were before. Under the rose they have not diminished -their aforetime gaiety, dances and dinner-parties have been the order -of the hour. They have not been trumpeted by the section of the Press -that delights in recording vain things, but those who view the currents -of London's social life know that I am writing the simple truth. There -is nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> to be said; let those laugh who may and can at such a -season, their laughter proclaims them what they are.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately the people I have in mind have not been content to devote -themselves to brainless frivolity because they must sample every -sensation that the seasons provide, they invaded the sanctuary of the -hospital nurse. Scores found their way to the great London hospitals -in town to face what they were pleased to regard as training; I have -known some who have danced till 3 a.m. and have presented themselves -at the hospital at 8 o'clock! Everybody knows that the training of -a real hospital nurse is a very serious matter, that it makes full -demand upon physical and mental capacity, and that a long period is -required to bring the seed of efficiency to flower or fruit. The -social butterflies made no such sacrifices; they acquired a trifling -and superficial knowledge of a nurse's work, and then set their social -influence to work in order to reach some one of the base hospitals -where they might sample fresh experience. If they were really useful -there it would be unkind to offer a protest, but the general opinion is -that they did more harm than good. They subverted discipline, they were -a law to themselves, they were too highly placed or protected to be -called to order promptly, they showed neither the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> inclination nor the -capacity for sustained usefulness. To sit at the end of a bed and smoke -cigarettes with a wounded officer does not develop the efficiency of a -hospital.</p> - -<p>One heard repeatedly in the early months of the war that this girl or -that had gone to the front, and one imagined devotion, self-sacrifice, -self-restraint, and a dozen kindred virtues. Unfortunately it is -chiefly in the realm of imagination that these virtues existed. For the -rest the interlopers wanted limelight, and plenty of it, their pictures -flooded the illustrated papers, and to read what was written of them -the inexperienced person might imagine that they were bearing the heat -and burden of the day, the solitude and anxiety of the night, while in -very truth they did no more than search for fresh sensation in an area -that should be sacred.</p> - -<p>The type of mind that can seek refuge from self and boredom in such -surroundings cannot be stricken into seriousness; tragedy cannot reach -it. To do a very minimum of work, to attach themselves to the most -"attractive" cases, to carry small talk, gabble and gossip into places -where so many come to die, these were the main efforts of the young -society nurses, and all these outrages were carried on for months on -end. The real nurses and sisters were, I am told, bitterly indignant. -They asked no more than to be left alone to do their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> best; but they -knew how hard it is to make an effective protest, and they had little -or no time to do so. They recognised by reason of their training, the -full motive of the excursion into the region of suffering; that craving -for excitement, or, in bad cases, erotomania was the motive power. They -found their work impeded by the sisterhood of impostors that responds -so readily to a fashion of its own making, and their chief hope was -that this sensation might pass as so many others have passed, and that -the brainless, chattering, thoughtless, empty company, tired of blood -and wounds, would find some paramount attraction nearer home.</p> - -<p>If there are any who are prepared to think I have overstated the case -or have traduced the young women who were lately "somewhere in France," -let them find out from their particular heroine how much time she gave -to training, how she received her appointment, and how much real hard -work she did day by day. That a few have striven hard and nobly I -would be the last to deny, but these are not enough either to leaven -or purify the mass or to elevate the action of a class that might have -been better employed. Let us remember, too, that suffering is always -with us, and that even when war is over there will be far too much in -all the great centres of our own country. Are these butterfly nurses -prepared to remember in the future<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> the profession they invaded? Will -they respond to the calls that are made to help, not young, attractive -and valiant men, but men, women, and children in every phase of -helplessness and hopelessness? I do not think so. There is neither -notoriety nor limelight in the sober, serious life of the hospital -nurse and sister. Above all there is a hard and necessary discipline -that calls for much moral courage to render it tolerable. Physical -courage is seldom lacking either in men or women who are well-bred, and -it may be freely granted that a certain measure was demanded even of -the butterfly nurses; but there is no redemption in this. To savour the -full sense of life without courage is impossible. One might as readily -make an omelette without breaking eggs. In this case it is courage -misdirected, energy misspent.</p> - -<p>I feel very strongly about this scandal—so strongly that I have not -hesitated to write what is bound to offend some of my own friends; but -there are times when it is impossible to be silent if one would live -on tolerable terms with one's self. I feel that in these days woman is -called upon to make supreme sacrifices, that what she is giving even -now is less than will be required of her later on, that her war record -and her record when peace is about to return will be scanned closely -and critically by generations of really free women yet <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>unborn. To know -of a blot upon woman's war-time service record and to make no attempt -to erase it is impossible. The record of the real nursing sisterhood is -brilliant in the extreme. Why should it be obscured for the sake of a -few highly placed and foolish young women who sought with the minimum -of labour to make the maximum of effect? It is unjust, ungenerous, and -altogether unworthy of the representatives of families that in many -cases have earned their ample honours legitimately enough.</p> - -<p>Great Britain owes more than it can ever repay to the nursing -sisterhood; and it is intolerable that while their silent heroism -passes with so little recognition, any girl of good family who assumes -a uniform she has not won the right to wear should pose as the -representative of a sisterhood she is not worthy to associate with, of -whose tradition she is ignorant, of whose high discipline and complete -restraint she is intolerant. There are three classes of women in our -midst. The first earns reward and claims it, the second earns reward -and does not claim it, the last claims reward and does not earn it. Of -these classes the real nurse belongs to the second, and the butterfly -sisterhood to the third. At such a season as this there is no room in -our midst for the last, and it would be well for us all if authority -could spare a moment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> from manifold activities firmly and ruthlessly to -suppress its future activities. The hardship involved would be of the -slightest and the benefit serious and lasting.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>VI</span> <span class="smaller">TWO YEARS OF WAR—WOMAN'S LOSS AND GAIN</span></h2> - -<p>The long-drawn-out agony of strife is now two years old and, as each -day adds its tale of slaughter to the incalculable total, we women may -pause in our war work for a moment and endeavour to estimate our own -position. We are no longer as we were, "like Niobe, all tears." Niobe, -if I remember rightly, taunted the gods, and for this offence all her -children were taken from her. We women did nothing to cause our own -misfortune; on the contrary, we strove in our little way to promote -peace, and to that end, above many others, we sought a hearing in the -councils of the nations.</p> - -<p>But it was not to be. Our claims were ridiculed or ignored, and now -man-made war has swept over Europe like a blight, and we are left to -aid our country through the day and to mourn, when the long day's -work is done, for our fathers and brothers, our husbands and sons. -Yet perhaps the worst is not with those who mourn. The Immortals can -sport with them no longer. When the last of Niobe's twelve children had -passed, the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>limits of Latona's vengeance were reached. To have killed -the mother too had been a kindness.</p> - -<p>The woman whose son or husband has been snatched from her knows the -fullness of sorrow, but anxiety for their fate must pass her by, while -those of us whose loved ones are on the battlefield would hardly hope -for a moment's peace of mind if it were not for the duties that engage -our working hours and sometimes earn dreamless sleep. In a wonderful -procession that tramped through muddy London under the rain a year ago -I saw a great petition by women for the means not only to serve, but to -forget.</p> - -<p>After all, this claim to national service is no more than was advanced -in the old days when access to the heads of the Government was barred -and the hooligans of a great city were allowed to give full rein to -their impulses. Then our rulers thought they could dispense with women, -to-day we are recognised as indispensable. That is all, but it is very -much, and it sets me the question that is the title of this brief -paper—What has woman lost and what has woman gained?</p> - -<p>She has lost much that was dearest to her, much that life is powerless -to replace. All the springs of her being have nourished the love that -she has given to her dear ones, to the man who was her choice, to -the son who fed upon her life. In many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> cases she has lived almost -entirely in her children, for the ties that bind her to the active -pleasures of life grow weak in conflict with the powers of maternity. -She has forgotten the brief years in which she lived for herself and -savoured all the sweets of existence, she has lived in her children, -happy chiefly in their happiness, ambitious only for their future and -concerned with the struggle for the freedom of her sex less on account -of her own generation than on account of that which is to follow. It -is woman's <i>rôle</i> to give, it is man's <i>rôle</i> to take, and custom has -staled for him the infinite variety of his taking. And now he has taken -so much that made life worth living that she seeks an anodyne for her -grief in giving him all that is left to give, the labour of her hands.</p> - -<p>This is not only true of the women of England, it applies equally to -the women of every belligerent country, friend and foe alike, and it -may be said that between the women of the world there is a common -sacrifice and a common sympathy. All have suffered, all must continue -to suffer, on a scale that this old world of ours, with all its crimes -and tragedies beyond number and beyond belief, cannot parallel. It is -this truth that steadies our nerves and strengthens our hearts and sets -us looking, past the ultimate sacrifice, to what may lie beyond, not -for ourselves but for others.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> - -<p>All that we have has been taken or is being demanded of us. Is there in -all the world something to which we may look forward with confidence, -something that may justify hope? I think there is. Without any sense -of pride we may claim that woman has at least vindicated the claims -she advanced in those peaceful days that seemingly lie so far behind -us. She claimed that she was worthy to play her part in the conduct -of national life, that she was in very truth indispensable to it; she -was told, by brutal word or brutal deed, that her ambitions outran her -capacities. One year of war has given the lie to this assertion. Woman, -even before the coming of compulsion, encouraged her dearest to go, -if needs be, to their death, in a war for which she has no shadow of -responsibility before God or man. Conventions, agreements, treaties, -alliances, in all these things she has no share, but as soon as they -materialise in war she must pay the heaviest price.</p> - -<p>The excitement and glory of a struggle in which the fighter feels that -he has surrendered his life to high causes is not for her, she must be -content with the pale reflex or with the tragedy. In her heart she may -know that man incurs the penalties of his ambitions or bad diplomacy or -unpreparedness for upheaval; but those penalties press heavier on women -than on men, for, even granting that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> love of husband for wife and -wife for husband be equal, yet the passion of a mother for her child -and her grief when he is snatched from life in the hours when life is -unfolding all its possibilities, is something beyond the strength of -man to grasp.</p> - -<p>But woman has not failed on account of her griefs, she has strangled -them—or she has tried to with all the strength that has been given to -her—and she has gone out into the market-place and said, "What more -do you require of me? Ask and I will give, direct and I will obey." -Hers has been the supreme sacrifice, and now at the moment when all -that seemed worth striving for had passed, she sees suddenly a fresh -horizon, the Pisgah view of the Promised Land.</p> - -<p>She realises that man is at last beginning to understand and even to -acknowledge her place in the world, that the future cannot repeat the -errors of the past, that the day-dawn of her emancipation is visible. -This war, reconciling so many differences, rebuking so much pride and -bringing so many men and women face to face for the first time in their -life with life's actualities, has united all workers, irrespective -of class or sex. It is seen now that woman has a part to play in the -conduct of the State, and that there are spheres of activity in which -women might and must work for the common good. She and man together -must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> build up a new civilisation out of the wrecks of the old one, -not only here but throughout the strife-stricken world. Old barriers, -time-worn prejudices, a blind conservatism—what part have these in the -mental attitude of nations freed from overwhelming peril?</p> - -<p>The soul of my sex would be as desolate to-day as the ruined cities of -Belgium, Poland, and Servia, were it not for the certain knowledge that -our sacrifice has not been made in vain. We have the right to hope that -our share in the work of the world is to be acknowledged at last, and -that the spheres of our activity are to be widened. In this way, and -only thus, we shall be able, in years that have yet to be, to influence -thought and to influence action, to bring a humanizing note into the -great chord of life. We shall strive through the sisterhood of women -towards the brotherhood of man, and we shall be working among those who -will be able to see for themselves what one-sided rule and one-sided -domination have done for progress and civilisation after their slow -ascent to a position that at best left so much to be desired.</p> - -<p>The women of my generation will sow where they may not hope to reap, -but there is nothing new for woman in this experience. It is her -mission in this world to sacrifice herself, from the hour when she -accepts motherhood until the end. Her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> happiness is derived from the -contemplation of the happiness of others, she lives in the new lives -with which she renews the world. She will leave contentedly to others -the prizes for which she laboured in years of peace and suffered -through the season of war. It will be sufficient for her dimly to -foresee the time when those who have replaced her will give birth -to sons with no more pangs than Nature demands, and give birth to -daughters in the belief that they will not be widowed or fatherless or -childless through catastrophes of man's own making.</p> - -<p>So it seems to me, looking back at the cruel record of two years, -that woman, for all her losses, has gained, that what she has lost is -matter for her private sorrow, and what she has gained is matter for -universal joy. She has found the uses of adversity, she has accepted -self-sacrifice for the sake of those who will be the better able to -enjoy the rich fruits of life. In this knowledge she will labour, for -the sake of this truth she will persevere with a confidence in the -future that no shifting tides of chance can shake. And her watchword in -the coming year is, Hope.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>VII</span> <span class="smaller">CHILD LABOUR ON THE LAND</span></h2> - -<p>It is a commonplace that war brings in its train evils without number, -but there are certain ills that are added to the inevitable ones either -by greed of gain, indifference to progress or a determination to make -profit at the expense of the State. We have in our midst at all times -certain people who are concerned only with their own ends, and who -regard all the means to those ends as legitimate. War time reduces the -measure of restraint that the common sense of the community imposes -upon its greedier members. They find and seize their hour when normal -conditions are upset. It would be easy to multiply instances, but in -writing this paper I am concerned with one only—the employment of -children on farms.</p> - -<p>To the average man who does not know a swede from a turnip or the -difference between sainfoin and clover this is a small matter; to those -of us who know the land and its problems, who administer estates large -or small, who are morally if not legally responsible for the happiness -and well-being of village communities, it is a tragedy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> - -<p>I can remember hearing my elders talk of the bad old days when the -gang system prevailed all over England. The ganger was a contractor of -irregular labour. He would enter a district in charge of his wretched -company of men, women, and children, and would supply their labour at -fixed rates to the farmer who needed it. He charged so much a day for -each hand; he saw to it that one and all did their full day's work. -They were fed abominably, housed in barns and out-houses, and lived in -a promiscuity that would revolt a gipsy. At last even the thick-skinned -countryside could endure the abomination no longer, and the "ganger" -disappeared. It took years for the Legislature to discover that, apart -from the cruelty involved in the custom, it was creating fresh material -for gaols and asylums, that children needed education rather than field -labour, that the mothers could not combine maternity with hard work in -the fields, that if you deprive people of the means of living decently -they will revert to the state of savagery.</p> - -<p>The agricultural labourer's struggle has not been limited to the land. -He has been fighting for years to raise his miserable wage. When I -was a girl it was about a shilling a day with "small beer" of the -farmer's brewing thrown in. It is about 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> a day now; but -against this the price of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>necessities has gone up between 50 and 100 -per cent. Saving is impossible, and even the old age pension that -lightens the evening of his long day hardly avails to keep him from -the workhouse—unless he has a wife of equal age or children who, out -of their tiny means, will render a little assistance. He lives in a -cottage that, if often picturesque, is nearly always overcrowded; -his food and clothing are of the roughest, and for holidays he has -Christmas Day and the wet weather, when he may sit at home—at his own -expense—for when there is no work there is no pay. But he lives in -hope; and sometimes he goes on strike, to the disgust and indignation -of his employer, and his children have been getting a better chance in -life than he had. They are supposed to be kept at school until they are -fourteen. He was rook scaring at the ripe age of ten for a penny a day.</p> - -<p>Rural education is a poor thing enough. Children may have to walk -two miles or more, in all weathers, to the village school. Their -father cannot afford to buy them good boots or a water-proof coat; it -is beyond his means to give them nourishing food, and so help them -to fight the diseases of childhood; but he feels that something is -being done for them, and, as a rule, he does nothing to make them -wage-earners before their time. Now they are taken from school two -years before an age<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> that the trade unions hold to be insufficient; -they are sent on the land to work for a wage of eighteen pence a -day, in any weather, on any soil, without the proper clothing and -with insufficient food. There they will undersell the rural labour -market, they will be robbed of their childhood, they will go without -supervision at a time when they need it most. And the Bumbles of our -Education Councils have nodded thick, approving heads.</p> - -<p>It is hard to write patiently of such retrograde devices, put forward, -as all such proposals are, in the name of the country's needs. If -these needs be genuine, which I doubt, if there be no adequate supply -of female labour to be obtained for a fair price, why should the -children of our poorest, the little ones whose physique has never been -strengthened by sufficient nourishing food and by the hygiene of the -home, be called upon to bear the burden single-handed? Why should not -Eton and Harrow, Rugby, Marlborough, Winchester, and other schools -without number, serve the national need? The lads at these expensive -establishments can at least complete their education after the war, -they can carry health and strength to the fields, they can acquaint -themselves at first hand with the realities of labour, a knowledge -that, with the changing times ahead, will be valuable to many of -them who will inherit land in days to come. Will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> the farmers who -are sending to the fields the half-grown children of their ill-paid -labourers contribute their own to work by their side? I am sure that -the mere suggestion will rouse the wildest indignation; but all the -children, whatever their advantage or disadvantage, are British -citizens, and it is not too much to suggest that those who have a stake -in the country should at least do as much as those for whom fortune -provided no birthright. Let us be democratic in deeds as well as words. -I am quite sure that, if the doubtful privilege extended to the rural -labourer's children were conferred at the same time upon the children -of all patriots, the councils would expunge their fatuous resolutions -from their minute books; they would make all possible haste to forget -them.</p> - -<p>But it may be urged that, in pleading for the children, I have -overlooked the crying needs of the countryside, that I am ignorant of -the real need for labour to deal with the increased area of the corn -and for the late-sown spring crops, for it is clear that, as soon as -the proposal for universal child labour is made, the scheme falls to -the ground.</p> - -<p>I am well aware of the existing conditions—what landlord is not?—and -I have a remedy for them. It is not a popular one, but I am not -searching for popularity. In spite of the genuine sacrifices that have -been made by many classes of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> community, much more remains to be -done. We have all over the country racing stables full of lads who -cannot go to the war and of men who have passed serviceable age. Hard -work in the fields from April to the time the last corn is under the -stack thatch would do them all the good in the world, and, with some -knowledge of all classes of horses, I believe that horses would survive -and the superiority of the British sires would not be lost.</p> - -<p>Having depleted the racing stables, even at the cost of reducing the -number of race meetings, I would turn my attention to the golf clubs: -their name is legion. What an army of "ineligible" caddies might be -recruited for the fields and given the chance of earning a living -intelligently! I go so far as to hint that thousands of the elderly -gentlemen who still pursue the golf ball might find more useful -occupation in ministering to the country's genuine needs.</p> - -<p>Let me pass from one monstrous suggestion to another. I would enroll -the gamekeepers and the gillies; for once I would leave the wild -pheasants to breed as they will and the grouse to work out their own -salvation. A desperate remedy, but then our disease is dangerous. We -need corn even more than pheasants, and other game birds can look after -themselves. There might be an epidemic of poaching, in which case I -would sentence every poacher<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> to three months' hard labour—on the -land. We have in this country to-day hundreds, I might say thousands, -of sturdy middle-aged men who are now following occupations that, while -they are perfectly reasonable in times of peace, are superfluous, even -derogatory, to-day.</p> - -<p>There is yet another class that can be mobilised to serve the country's -need. I would like to see the last remaining footmen and the valets of -middle age allowed to enjoy a summer of useful activity. They, too, -may be in their right place at normal times; now their country needs -them more than their masters do. A little hardship would be involved, -but I do not believe there are many employers of superfluous or -ornamental labour who would, if the matter were put before them fairly -and temperately, place their own petty comforts before the country's -need for food. We hope and believe that we may rely upon our Fleet to -feed us, but why should we run risks? No war is won until it is lost, -and if by ill-fortune we experienced a shortage, I do not think that -the owners of racing stables, the renters of shooting and fishing, the -members of golf clubs and the employers of men servants could acquit -themselves of a serious responsibility. If all these sources of supply -are tapped, and it is still found that the supply of labour in the -fields is inadequate to the nation's needs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> let us proclaim a national -holiday in all the schools of the country, and let the high and the low -born, the rich and the poor, seek the fields together. But until all -sources of adult labour have been exhausted let us spare the little -ones, and in any case let us see that those whose share of the good -things of life is smallest are not called upon to endure trials and -make sacrifices that we would shrink from demanding of our own children.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>VIII</span> <span class="smaller">COMRADES</span></h2> - -<p>In times when national emotion is deeply stirred it is possible for -the close observer to get a glimpse of the main trend of thought. -Just as a feather will show the direction of the wind, a word may -show the direction of a man's mind. It is on this account that I was -deeply moved and greatly stimulated of late by hearing that as the -gallant Frenchmen attack the enemy their rallying cry is "Camarades, -Camarades!" This is one of the most beautiful words in any language, -it is the one by which a nation may rise to the height of its greatest -achievement, whether in clearing its beloved land of a hated enemy or -clearing its administration of the abuses from which no administration -is free. One hardly dares to think of what the world might be like -to-day if war had not been needed to establish the wonderful unity the -word bespeaks.</p> - -<p>There is not on all the earth a more democratic army than that of -France, and to-day it is a perfect union, a veritable brotherhood. From -the highest General to the humblest "piou-piou" there is but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> one aim, -one ideal, prince and peasant pursue it to the end. One and all know -that if success is to be achieved against heavy odds, it is by the -help of the real brotherhood, the feeling that the accidents of birth -and fortune do not count any longer, that "a man's a man for a' that." -Other countries have caught a glimpse of the truth, our own among the -number, but it needed French clarity of vision to recognise the truth -and crystallise it in a word—a simple word with the mystic number of -letters and so powerful that, when it becomes the rallying cry in times -of peace for all civilised nations, the evils under which men and women -labour will be swept away like chaff before wind.</p> - -<p>For many years past I have been convinced that the enemies of mankind -are not men. Ignorance, poverty, greed, vice, disease, these are the -foes that prey upon all communities, and while those who foster them -are of no brotherhood, those who would combat them need no more than -brotherhood in order to overcome. War, in which a man makes the supreme -surrender, in which he discounts the terror of death and makes purposes -splendid by his devotion, reveals the truth even to those who have -never thought before. Will brotherhood survive war, or does it need the -exaltation born of the greatest of world tragedies to open a nation's -eyes—and keep them open?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> - -<p>The history of our civilisation depends upon the answer to this -question. Nothing less than brotherhood will enable the nation to face -the widespread poverty that already exists, but will not be recognised -until peace is restored. There will be very little money left in the -countries of combatant nations, and there will be very many needs. The -care of the wounded, the maimed and the helpless, provision for the -widows and the children of war will come first. Then there are the -schools; nothing is more vital to the future generation than education, -and few great claims are more in danger of a grudging treatment.</p> - -<p>There are two ways of handling a nation's affairs, one is to make the -rich richer at the expense of the poor, the other is to make the poor -less poor at the expense of the rich. The peaceful solution of the -whole problem is found in the battle call of our gallant Allies. If we -are "camarades, bons camarades!" we can endure our national privations -and scarcely feel them, for we shall all be in the same boat, and it -is not poverty that galls but the contrast between poverty and wealth. -Down to the time when war began this contrast was ever present, it was -becoming one of the great dangers of our time; it has not disappeared -to-day, but it is far less noticeable, and as we continue to spend -between thirty and forty million pounds a week on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> war, the cases of -contrast will tend to grow less and less. I look for the time when men -and women will find it as distressing to flaunt riches as the poor find -it to display the outward and indisputable signs of poverty. One does -not envy even now the state of mind that enables a man to say that he -is "doing very well out of this war."</p> - -<p>Among "comrades" such a thing would be impossible, the only excuse for -making money out of national misfortune is to be found in its wise -distribution to alleviate the suffering that war renders inevitable. To -amass wealth from the country's needs, to spend it on purely personal -ends, to allow an orgie more terrible than the Black Death to fill -private coffers, this surely is the negation of brotherhood, and those -who do it are the outcasts of civilisation, even though they purchase -palaces and peerages and every honour that unscrupulous Governments -vend in semi-privacy. How will the men who have thrown their lives into -the scale tolerate the men who trafficked in the necessities of life, -or the implements of death, and demand the high places as a reward for -successful huckstering? They will not lightly reckon them in the ranks -of the "comrades"; in a world founded on brotherhood there will be no -place for them. If there be a place in the near future perhaps it will -be the nearest lamp-post. Stranger things have happened.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> - -<p>Sometimes I think we could afford to lose this war, or, at least, not -to win it, if the Frenchman's battle call could become the rallying -cry of all parties and all grades in this country. Much as I loathe -war and all it stands for, I feel that an instant victory would have -been very bad for us, while a success won by waiting must at least -purge our national life of the grosser elements. The mingling of high -and low, of rich and poor, the price of strife demanded of each and -all, the community wrought by suffering and by heavy loss, all these -things are salutary for a nation grown plethoric by prosperity. It will -not greatly matter if we lose half the world and gain our own souls, -for the simple reason that an England wide-eyed, clean-limbed, and -efficient could yet achieve and retrieve, while an England besotted -by sloth and bemused by riches can only endure until the advent of a -stronger and more determined race.</p> - -<p>Whatever our destiny, whatever the future holds in store, we shall -be happy indeed if we can face difficulties, dangers, privation, or -supreme victory with the cry of "Comrades!" When war came, this country -was fast sinking towards civil strife, drifting for lack of the spirit -of good fellowship. A few masters, innumerable men, industry organised -into limited liability companies that the human touch, the community -between employer and employed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> might cease, the wealth of the country -divided on lines that gave 90 per cent. to a tenth of the population -and divided the remaining one-tenth of the wealth between 90 per cent. -of the people who create it,—these conditions were making for a social -upheaval of bloodiest kind. Education starved, an infant mortality -greater than the present waste of war, discontent, ill-feeling, class -hatred, all these things were, all these things may be again, but not -if the cry of "Comrades!" is taken up.</p> - -<p>Whether we win or lose, I see civil unrest inevitable, for this war has -sounded the death-knell of the old industrial, social, and political -conditions. Nothing within the range of possibility can leave us just -where we are, and worse than the struggle with an enemy is the struggle -with a friend. Though I hold all war to be fratricidal, yet civil war -must ever remain the worst form of it. As soon as the old problems -force their way again to the fore the danger of civil strife becomes -imminent, and let us remember that the working classes that come back -from war will have forgotten what fear means. It seems to me that -salvation lies in the Frenchman's fighting cry, that in giving his -brothers a lead he has offered a lead to civilisation. He has shown us -how to make the inevitable changes peacefully.</p> - -<p>Idealism is out of fashion to-day because—let us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> not burke the -truth—our idealists were deceived about Germany's intentions, and -those in high places unconsciously misled the people. Yet let us cling -to our ideals, for they may prove our best possession, and let us -realise that the cry of "Comrades!" may, as years pass and the old -bitterness dies away, extend across frontiers and bind in a common -brotherhood the sons of the men who sought to destroy one another. Such -is the potency of a word that revivifies life, laughs at wounds and -disarms death. It sums up the aspirations of the greatest reformers -and social workers of old time, of the men, from John Ball to William -Morris, who strove for England. Only the French people, with their -innate sense of selection, could have picked upon a word that can sum -up the best of the ideals of the human race. We are their debtors for -it, and there is no nobler way of paying the debt than by developing -the cry until it resounds from one end to the other of our Empire. It -will renew our youth, it will destroy many of the old evils that were -even worse than war, it will realise the ambitions of men who lived and -died for England in times of peace, when there is no reward for social -heroism other than the consciousness of a supreme effort made on behalf -of people one may never see, people who will never understand.</p> - -<p>If the future of the world is with sane, wide-eyed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>democracies; if man -is to be free to do the world's work and develop human destiny without -turning aside at the bidding of kings and rulers; if humanity, with its -common lot and destiny, is to develop the spirit of brotherhood that -makes life beautiful,—we could have no finer rallying cry than France -has offered. I do not believe that the country capable of originating -and responding to it can be beaten by sheer weight of numbers; I -feel that it is one of the world's assets, and that somewhere in the -background the Great Force we strive to comprehend, and, comprehending, -to worship, will guard it against ultimate defeat. To doubt this -were to believe that the race is to the swift and the battle to the -strong, and that the man who can invent the most efficient machinery -can dominate God's world. Such a belief is to me the most unpardonable -form of atheism. This world was not made, was not populated, was not -instructed, that soulless machinery might hold it in thrall at last. -The French know this, hence the battle cry that thrills me as I write.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>IX</span> <span class="smaller">THE CURSE OF AUTOCRACY</span></h2> - -<p>In the great gale that sweeps over Europe the few rags that hide the -nakedness of monarchy flutter like scarecrows; I find myself watching -for the gust that will reveal to the gaze of the least discerning what -a dangerous and ridiculous thing the bare bones of kingship have become.</p> - -<p>England has filed the teeth of the serpent, it can bite no more—the -phrase is Swinburne's not mine. We keep our kings as we keep the -Regalia in the Tower, well housed and well looked after, and -between the ruler and the ruled there is a pleasant, but indefinite -relationship. Kingship for us is the focus of patriotism and loyalty, -but we should not go to war because the house of Guelph were jealous of -the house of Hapsburg, or on bad terms with the house of Hohenzollern.</p> - -<p>Those German pundits who believe that King Edward made the Anglo-German -war have never grasped our national attitude toward monarchy, or King -Edward's ungrudging recognition of the merits of the German people.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> - -<p>With us monarchy is an abstraction, very little more.</p> - -<p>There was a time when it was supposed to be the fountain of honour, but -politicians have fouled the waters so much and have bought and sold -honours so unblushingly that modern royalty would be a little ashamed -to father so large an illegitimate progeny. A business nation, we have -a fixed price for everything. We pay our kings so much a year, and if -they exceeded their allowance the State would hesitate to make up the -deficit. Baronies, baronetcies, knighthoods and the rest have their -fixed price, generally, though not invariably, payable to the party -whips who consider themselves morally bound to deliver the goods.</p> - -<p>When we were on the brink of war in 1914, M. Poincaré wrote a touching -letter to King George, such as an old-time king might have sent -to a brother sovereign. King George signed a reply that has been -published—one would wager that nothing save the signature involved his -heart or his pen. It was no more than the letter of a greatly harassed -minister who was trying to think while he balanced himself on a high -and unstable fence. Here was ample evidence that all who run might read -of the final surrender of the monarchy, and incidentally, of the desire -of England to maintain peace.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> - -<p>Nobody wants more than the shadow of kingship in this country. -Everybody with more than the most perfunctory knowledge of history -has realised that half the wars of the world have been fought for -the gratification of kings, and most of the others have been waged -in the name of religion, i.e. to demonstrate the superiority of one -orthodoxy over another. Slowly, and at such a sacrifice as the world -may well shudder to contemplate, we have come within sight of the end -of religious strife. There remain wars of kingship, the present one is -little more than that.</p> - -<p>Down to a few years ago the old gates were still standing at Temple Bar -to divide the City from Westminster. At Warwick Castle the drawbridge -is still raised every night. In some of the cities of Southern Spain -watchmen, armed with spears and oil lamps, still proclaim the time of -night and the state of the weather. The "Miracle" of the Sacred Fire -remains an annual spectacle at Eastertide in the Church of the Holy -Sepulchre that is in Jerusalem.</p> - -<p>The world, as though conscious of the ugliness of so much that is -modern, still clings to old customs and institutions even when they are -absurd. That is why autocratic kingship survives.</p> - -<p>The house of Hapsburg has been ruling in Europe since the thirteenth -century; in Germany as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> well as Austria for part of the time; the -rule of the Hohenzollerns dates from 1871. A German, Count Berthold, -is said to have originated in the eleventh century the house of Savoy -that governs Italy. In Spain we find the ubiquitous Hapsburgs and the -Bourbons sharing rule. A Hohenzollern is in Rumania, and on the distaff -side in Greece. A Princess of the Hohenzollern house was the mother of -King Albert of Belgium; Ferdinand of Bulgaria has Coburg and Bourbon -blood.</p> - -<p>A system of inter-marriage has retained power in the hands of a few -houses, but nature is ill-disposed toward inbreeding and has scourged -the cunning of kings with insanity and disease. While democracy has -grown in stature and in vision, while it has been claiming its own -place in the sun, the small privileged class has diminished physically, -mentally, morally, but still clings desperately to place. There are a -few brilliant exceptions, Albert of Belgium for example, but Hapsburgs, -Hohenzollerns, Coburgs, and Bourbons are, generally speaking, no longer -qualified from any standpoint to rule the destinies of free peoples. -They are a little better than well-connected anachronisms, avid of the -power that is passing from them and ready to offer any sacrifice that -their subjects are capable of making in order that their time-tarnished -prestige may shine again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> - -<p>The wishes of their people are the last thing to be considered -by autocratic monarchs. They will not stand in the scale against -the interests of their relatives, and in the courts of Europe it -is hard to find a ruler who is not a cousin of some sort to all -his fellow-sovereigns. Jealousy, ambition, ill report, dyspepsia, -disease, dementia, any one of these evils if it be backed by greed, -may avail to plunge innocent nations into the hell of war. Forces -that sway a republic are powerless in an absolute monarchy or in one -where servility and orthodoxy strive hand in hand. There are few -European rulers who have half the sagacity of the chief advisers -whom they may override at will. They are not as a rule men and women -of great culture, few if any have ideas that belong of right to the -twentieth century, their function has outgrown them, and the reverence -they demand and receive is founded very largely upon ignorance and -superstition.</p> - -<p>To plunge Europe into war for purely personal ends has always seemed -in the eyes of kings a reasonable action. Frederick the Great admitted -that he started the Seven Years' War by stealing Silesia from Austria -for "glory," and the records of Spain and Austria are full of similar -crimes.</p> - -<p>Now that Europe has been shaken from base to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> summit, will the sober -manhood of the twentieth century allow the present system to endure?</p> - -<p>On the other hand, I see a great movement toward giving kingship -a fresh lease of life, toward perpetuating secret diplomacy and -developing clericalism. But men who have stood face to face with the -living God should decide to worship henceforth after the inclination -of their own hearts. Elderly gentlemen of conservative tendencies are -already writing to warn the public that, however awful the chaos now -prevailing, democratic rule would have made it worse. I welcome such -warnings, for they are a proof that the upholders of tradition are at -last aware of the slippery places over which they must so shortly tread.</p> - -<p>If the democracy can see the truth, if its eyes refuse to be dazzled -by flags, medals, and uniforms and its ears will convey each plausible -speech to the brain for sober analysis, this war will not have been -waged in vain.</p> - -<p>I hold in all seriousness that it is a strife of kings. Gladstone -once asked anybody to tell him how the Austrian Empire had been of -any service to humanity. The aggregation of uncongenial nationalities -has been kept together for the greater glory of the effete house of -Hapsburg, a house whose true history, even since Kaiser Franz Josef -came to the throne, could not be printed. The genius of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> German -people, their magnificent education, stern discipline, tireless -industry and full nurseries were conquering both hemispheres, but that -was not sufficient. Unless the German could pay tribute to the house of -Hohenzollern and increase the Imperial prestige, progress was an egg -without salt to the palate of the Potsdam hierarchy.</p> - -<p>The fruits of forty years of labour and a generation of child-bearing -were flung into the scale that the Hohenzollerns might stand more -directly in the limelight.</p> - -<p>The people whose blood was to be spilt, whose wives were to be widowed, -whose wealth was to be squandered, were wilfully deceived and were -driven to war as the Pharaohs drove their warrior-slaves.</p> - -<p>Their awakening must come, and with it let us hope a further accession -of strength to the Social Democracy that is the best hope of Germany.</p> - -<p>We know that neither England nor France desired war, that Russia, -whatever her interest in the great Slav-Teuton controversy, was not -ready for it, and the worst to be said of the Allied Powers is that, -conscious of an enormous menace, they united to destroy it. But every -thinking man knows that without the ambitions of a few soldiers, -statesmen (so-called), and officials this war had never come about.</p> - -<p>I have often compared the position of republics<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> with that of -monarchies and have cited the American Republics. The United States -live in peace, even the South American States, with their mixed -population, their Spanish, Portuguese, German and Italian blood, are -seldom found long at strife.</p> - -<p>Royalists have spoken to me glibly about the corruption that is said -to be inherent in republics. It is about the only charge they can -formulate, and the reply is obvious. In republics corruption is hard -to hide, it comes to the surface and is visible to all. In monarchies -corruption, no less rife, is hard to expose; all the avenues to light -and free speech are closed.</p> - -<p>Your republic brings character and brains to the top; your monarchy -makes statesmen of courtiers and sycophants, men who will bow the knee -to the Baal of the hour.</p> - -<p>A republic is open to the air of heaven. A monarchy is a garden -enclosed, richer in rank weeds than flowers. If Germany had been a -republic, the Social Democrats could have learned the truth and acted -upon it; had Austria been a republic, giving equal voice to all the -interests it affects to represent, sympathy with the Slavs would have -kept the rulers from their disastrous attempt to reduce Serbia to the -status of a vassal kingdom.</p> - -<p>Kings have served their time. The ruler who rode to war at the head of -his troops, who could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> handle the heaviest sword or battle-axe, who was -both the ruler and judge of his people, belongs to a bygone era. His -last <i>raison d'être</i> passed with the era of industry and rapid transit. -He became an anachronism when people began to realise that life is a -gift to be wisely used, and that racial antagonisms may be cured or -dispersed by close relationship. It is for kings and for kings alone -that millions of men who have no real quarrel have slaughtered one -another under conditions of horror that make description inadequate. -Until we understand that simple truth that the natural inclination -of civilised man is to live on friendly terms with his neighbour in -spite of all divisions of boundaries, whether of place, blood, or -religion, civilisation will be rendered null. Kings have ceased to -represent their people; the time has come when the people can represent -themselves.</p> - -<p>Unhappily they do not yet recognise their own power, and nothing is -farther from the wishes of Europe's tottering dynasties than that they -should do so. Education, their first aid to emancipation, has been -grudgingly conceded. Representation is in its infancy and is hedged -round with so many safeguards to royalty that in many countries it is -still struggling for effective existence. For all our brave talk Europe -is still in its first youth, but the tragedy through which we are -passing may yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> serve to stimulate its growth as surely as the blood -shed on its fields will yield return in the fruits of the earth.</p> - -<p>Will democracy rise from the conflict not only strong but determined? -Will it carry destruction to the source of destruction? Will it assert -its inalienable right to the fruits of peace, progress, and utility? -I pray that it may, but I do not disguise from myself the enormous -difficulty of the task. Demos is yet so unskilled, so easily flattered, -so readily deceived, he will be met by men who have all the traditions -of humbug at their finger tips; indeed, these traditions are almost -their sole inheritance and equipment.</p> - -<p>Yet, "all that a man hath will he give for his life," and the democrat -will not only be fighting for his own but for his children's lives and -for the well being of the human race. He will have faced death, and -will have realised that though man may die but once, the condition -of rule that makes war possible makes the doom recurrent with every -generation. He should know that the old traditions of rule are in the -melting pot, and though all the forces of reaction will labour to shape -them again as of old, it is in his power, if it is in his will, to -frustrate their action.</p> - -<p>The United States looks to have a voice in the making of peace. -Doubtless it will do useful work,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> but I cannot conceive of any better -task for the great republicans of to-day than to give the western -world the lead that may help it most of all. Most of them have seen -monarchies at their best and worst; all of them are patriots; they -know what republicanism has done for their own fair land. Will they -stand silent now while the western world is faced by the danger of the -perpetuation of a <i>régime</i> that has little or nothing to justify it? -If they do, they have missed the finest possible chance of spreading -the light that shone upon them when the Declaration of Independence was -signed one hundred and forty years ago.</p> - -<p>With the end of the war, if it does not result in the hegemony of -Germany, in which case liberty will be no more than a name, all manner -of schemes for the regeneration of Europe will be afoot. Few, if any, -will go to the root of the evils that have devastated Belgium, Poland, -and a part of France. It is safe to say that the disposition to bring -about sweeping reforms will not find ready expression. We are all too -close to events over here, the blessing of a clear, serene outlook is -denied us. The United States has stood far above the turmoil, it has -seen more of the truth than has been visible to any combatant nation, -it can survey the whole situation sanely.</p> - -<p>It seems to me in these circumstances that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> greatest republic of -the world has a serious duty, a grave responsibility. It has thriven -on a gigantic scale without patronage or privileged classes, without -titles, without such honours as are merely honours in name. Freed by -the Atlantic from the domination of Europe, it has grown in power and -given its citizens a life removed from the worst anxieties that beset -the Continent. It knows what kingship in its absolute aspect has cost -Europe, and it embraces within its wide domain the children of every -European nation; they dwell side by side in peace and amity. The -freedom enjoyed by the republic would not be bartered for the wealth -of the world, for that freedom is the secret of its eternal youth, its -boundless energy, its untrammelled progress.</p> - -<p>There are men in the States to-day, men I am proud to number among my -friends, who might speak in due season the words that would encourage -Europe in the only fight that can rightly engage all nations, the -fight against the curse of kingship. We who know how much this fight -is needed, who have seen in the great republic how it welds together -the most diverse faiths and nationalities, believe that nothing but -kingship divides man from man in Europe and fills every frontier line -with the instruments of death.</p> - -<p>All the sympathy of the best elements in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> United States is with -suffering Europe to-day, but it cannot be expressed without the use of -words that will sound harsh to some, impertinent to others, startling -to all. Yet these words will not fall upon deaf ears. They will bring -hope to many for whom the future is utterly dark, who believe that the -forces of reaction will strive desperately to overcome democracy and -that democracy needs prompt help if it is to survive.</p> - -<p>Granting that America has the right to be heard when the time comes for -the re-establishment of peace, she has the right to deliver the message -of her own hundred years of freedom. Is it too much to hope that she -will rise to the height of this supreme occasion?</p> - -<p>If she will not shrink from this duty, she will ensure a victory -beside which the ultimate conquest in this war will appear well-nigh insignificant.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>X</span> <span class="smaller">WOMAN'S WAR WORK ON THE LAND</span></h2> - -<p>The cry for woman's service on the land is one I endeavoured nearly -twenty years ago to anticipate. It was at a time when the anxiety of -girls to earn their own living was making itself manifest in every -class, and when the wages paid to those who had broken away from the -conventions of purely domestic life were miserably inadequate. I had -heard how, in the Dominions overseas, English women had been forced to -learn open-air duties as best they could, I had realised the natural -instinct of many women for gardening, and I had no doubt that there -would be some whose courage would not flinch from an experiment. -Looking back to that season, I marvel at the progress feminism has -wrought in the world. Then every development that was sought for men -was in the case of woman taboo. The only thing that a girl might do -in the garden without defying the conventions was the light job that -could be accomplished without any fatigue. She might pluck roses; I -have grave doubts as to whether she might plant or prune them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> She -might eat celery, but the digging of a trench or the earthing-up of -the plants would have been considered a most "unladylike" occupation. -In fact, we suffered, as a sex, under the spell of that horrible word; -life for women has not been nearly so futile since it was abolished.</p> - -<p>In the years when I began first to find that the urgency of social -problems was a bar to the further serenity of life, I, like other -inexperienced people with reform at their hearts, dreamed dreams and -saw visions. I had seen at Easton and Warwick the women of the working -classes enjoying the hard work of the garden and the fields; I, too, -had tried my hand, always to find that I was rewarded with a quickly -renewed sense of the joy of life. Even when weather conditions were -unfavourable, the rest after labour was in itself atonement for the -toil—it was so unlike other rest. Then I began to see an England in -which girls and young women, ceasing to be merely "ladylike," would be -healthier, happier, and more useful than they had been in the years of -which I could take count. I could not help realising that the desire -for active physical exercise could not be limited to one sex, save in -obedience to a convention that ignored human needs. It seemed to me as -though the truth would be apparent to everybody, that nobody who could -lend a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> helping hand would withhold it. Naturally I was soon undeceived.</p> - -<p>I was assured that only the children of working farmers and labourers -could possibly milk the dairy herd, that gardening work in many of -its aspects would be beyond the limits of the capacity of the gently -nurtured. The girl market gardener was voted an impossibility; as -landscape gardener, I was assured, she could never compete with a -man. Poultry-farming and stock-breeding were even voted indelicate! -Household management, to enable girls to take posts as housekeepers in -public institutions or large private houses, was regarded as something -to be acquired without training, and even the commercial side of farm -management was vetoed as a study for girls, as though a well-managed -farm would be the worse for a competent book-keeper because that -book-keeper chanced to be a daughter instead of a son of the house. I -could prolong the list of vetoes and taboos that were presented to me, -but no useful service would be served in doing so. I am only concerned -to remember now—after nearly twenty years—that I was regarded as an -unpractical dreamer, and that, as I write, there are letters on my desk -asking me if I cannot recommend lady gardeners and agriculturists of -all descriptions. I cannot: they are all fully occupied. Many are at -work in England, not a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> are busy thousands of miles oversea—in -Canada, Australia, and the United States. Think of the freedom and the -fullness of their lives, never a taboo to stand between them and any -sane development!</p> - -<p>To-day I see a great expansion of woman's labours under the sun. The -trouble is that the demand outstrips the supply. The public, whose -apathy has given only a minimum of stimulus to the progress of the girl -agriculturist, has become suddenly clamant. It demands the impossible. -The girls' agricultural colleges are to improvise the highly trained, -skilled article. It is as though they should demand the finished -fruits of the orchard before the budding and flowering time of the -trees has been fulfilled. I am hoping that this will not lead to a -reaction, and that those whose demand for ready-made service brings -inevitably unsatisfactory results will not regard woman's work in the -light that their own thoughtlessness must shed upon it. Only those -of us who understand the curriculum, and the time required to follow -it to the appointed end, know that you must be thorough if you would -be successful. All the ordinary problems of the open-air life must -be faced in training before they can be overcome in the practice of -daily life in farm and garden. To us this is a commonplace; to those -who do not know the land and its labor it comes as a surprise and an -annoyance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> - -<p>I established the Hostel at Reading, near the great Agricultural -College, in the year 1898, and it remained there for nearly four years, -when the Reading premises began to prove inadequate to the purposes -I had in view. Even when the ridicule ceased, the girls had not been -popular at Reading, where the college students thought that they -were intruders if they ventured beyond the dairy. There were certain -advantages. For example, the heads of the house of Sutton opened their -gardens at stated times, and the girls could see the most skilled -work in operation. But I could not help thinking that, if the idea -was to grow, it must have room and a congenial atmosphere for its -development, and so it happened that the change was made. We moved -to Studley Castle, in Warwickshire, sixteen miles from Birmingham, a -rather modern place, with forty acres of gardens and pleasure grounds, -wonderful out-buildings—built originally for racing stables—and -nearly two hundred and fifty acres of farm land, with woodlands and -water in addition. In many respects this was the ideal place for the -work in hand. There are other institutions of similar kind in England -to-day, and I am not claiming any special superiority for Studley. If I -write of what is done there, it is merely because I know exactly what -work is being carried on, and the full measure of success that attends -it. Studley is now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> run by a limited liability company, in which I -have no interest whatever. It differs from other agricultural colleges -chiefly in the atmosphere, which is that of Girton or Newnham, and is -deliberately preserved on grounds of economic policy.</p> - -<p>If our victory in the world-war is to have in it the elements of -permanence, it can only be by the thorough equipment of those who go -out into the world to contend with the most highly trained nation under -the sun, and, as far as woman's education is concerned, in whatever -aspect, it has the advantage denied to the education of boys—of being -free from old and paralysing conventions. There is nothing that must -be done merely because it has been done from time immemorial, and the -agricultural colleges have been modern from their inception.</p> - -<p>The first thing to be considered is so to train the students that they -are able gradually to develop a measure of physical strength, and at -the same time to teach them how to obtain a maximum of result from a -minimum of effort. Many an untrained man could only accomplish with -great exertion what a trained woman can do without difficulty. In a -little while not only do the spade and the wheelbarrow lose all their -terrors, but the comparatively light modern plough can be handled, even -on fairly heavy land, without excessive fatigue. Then the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> balance must -be preserved between practice and theory. You will remember that the -method of combining the two is not new. Mr. Wackford Squeers taught it -at Dotheboys Hall. "W-I-N-D-E-R, a casement. Now go and clean them." -Perhaps this was the germ of the idea—who knows? The lecturer in the -college is supplemented by the expert in the field, dairy, and garden, -and the student is not limited to the grounds of the institution, ample -though they be. On outlying farms, in private gardens, market gardens, -at country flower shows and exhibitions, the pupils of this and other -colleges are expected to demonstrate their efficiency, thereby learning -how the familiar problems may vary in their incidents and application. -There is no element of secrecy. All that is taught and all that is -learned is open to the inspection of the section of the public that -is interested. The college has terms similar to those of school and -university—thirty-nine weeks of work and thirteen of holiday—and -while girls are admitted as soon as their school education is finished, -at the age of sixteen or thereabouts, women can join at any age. If -they have the energy and determination, they are never too late to -learn. For school-girls over twelve years of age who intend to take -up agricultural or garden work when school days are over, there are -holiday classes at which the 'prentice work<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> may be studied under the -most pleasant conditions possible. Most of the school-girls who take -this course regard it as an ideal holiday.</p> - -<p>For the benefit of adults who desire a special study, short courses -can be arranged at all times, but it is, of course, well understood -that such courses do not make the student truly representative of the -college tuition. It has long been recognised that you cannot make -agriculturists or horticulturists in a hurry. The minimum period of -complete study is two years, but the complete course that turns out -the finished student is a full three years. It is in view of this hard -truth that I have eyed askance the suggestion that a course that is -to be practical can be crowded into three months. Such a term would -hardly avail a genius. As far as I have been able to see, the not -very considerable percentage of failures associated with agricultural -colleges is due to the inability of students to distinguish between -enthusiasm and staying power. They have not realised that work must -be done at every season and in nearly all weather, that the sun is -not always shining, and that the novelty of association with Nature -will wear away from all who are not Nature-lovers at heart and by -instinct. That is why I am afraid of short-term training. Two or three -years develop not only aptitude, but character; enthusiasms have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> time -to take a fresh and long lease of life. Training brings confidence -too. Girls who wish to be gardeners, agriculturists, poultry-farmers, -estate managers, and the rest, will do well to remember that the new -or the modern methods they are taught in an up-to-date institution -are not necessarily followed in the place where they get their first -engagement. If they have to control men, they must expect to find a -certain intolerance of change, a certain resentment of direction. -Unless they are thoroughly sure of themselves they cannot supervise the -work of others.</p> - -<p>What the student has to remember is that most of the methods she will -find outside her training college are wasteful, obsolete, or second -rate. Scientific training is unknown to the average gardener, market -gardener, dairy-farmer, and poultry-keeper. Our old countryside is -run on amasingly inept lines. Foolishness of any kind that has behind -it the sanction of a single generation is sacrosanct. If a father has -farmed or gardened foolishly, that special manner of foolishness is -sacred to his son. We have always relied upon "the foreigner." He sends -us fruit, eggs, honey, vegetables, corn, cattle food; while the seas -are open, we need never go hungry. I do not pretend that we can do -without him for everything, but we can certainly do very much more in -the future than we have done in the past,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> and we have been warned by -our Government to do it. That is why I have so much hope for the future -of the woman on the land. I feel that her work is no longer concerned -with hobbies and private profit; henceforward it is, in effect, a kind -of public service. The Government is avowedly anxious for the future of -the land, frankly concerned to check the annual outlay of millions of -pounds for foodstuffs that we are well able to raise at home.</p> - -<p>Why, for example, should we spend forty thousand pounds a year upon -honey, to name what our American friends would call "a side line," when -we have a wealth of flowers and fruit blossom that would not only yield -all that is required, but would even enable us to substitute honey for -much of the sugar that is only sold to us when it has been chemically -treated to improve appearance at the expense of quality? Why must we -gather eggs from the far ends of the earth, and bacon from countries -where pigs are fed as they are said to be fed in China? When I think -of the thousands of women who are ready, willing, and, if properly -trained, able to take a hand in the great task of feeding the people, -it seems to me that the seed I sowed in 1898, to the accompaniment of -much amusement, derision, and hostile criticism, has grown into a very -sturdy and healthy tree. I even venture to think that the fruits will -be more <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>refreshing than those of the Insurance Act itself. As far -as the records I have been able to examine teach me, there have been -very few failures to achieve success among the women who have taken -resolutely and completely to this comparatively new walk in life. The -students have done more than merely earn a comfortable living. They -have been the disseminators of the new ideas, the modern theories of -agriculture, horticulture, and apiculture, the introducers of order -and method into realms where chaos ruled amiably and ineffectively. In -many cases they have even succeeded so far as to disarm prejudice and -to persuade omniscient man that a method is not good merely because it -is customary or easy to follow. And what they have done is small by the -side of what they may hope to do.</p> - -<p>What is needed just now, when the Government is really awake to -the importance of woman's work on the land, is an extension of the -agricultural colleges and a series of State grants. At present the -work is costly. The upkeep of a big institution is expensive, because -you cannot treat the land precisely as you would for utility farming. -It is there to teach pupils, to carry out demonstrations. So it is -with the glass, that is so costly to build and to heat. Then, again, -professors—the best in the country—must be asked to lecture; and -while agricultural colleges are in the heart of the country,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> the -professors are probably living in distant university towns, so that -their lectures are bound to be costly. Let us remember, too, quite -frankly, that there is not much money for the girl who is not able to -start a little establishment of her own or to go into partnership. -There is a happy, healthy, useful life, there is valuable service, -quite unrecorded, to the public at large, but the monetary reward is of -the slightest and the training is long.</p> - -<p>It is necessary, then, in view of the growing demand for the work -of woman's hands, that the Government should make grants to the -established colleges as they make grants to other educational bodies, -and it would be well if every County Council that does not conduct an -agricultural college of its own would give a few scholarships annually -in the college nearest to its county town. These steps are needed to -give an impetus to the work that is now being done. Had they been taken -when first I pleaded for them, we should have been in quite a different -position to-day. There would, at least, have been enough capable -workers to meet the most pressing demands. At present they tell me -that at Studley every post brings applications for gardeners and dairy -workers, for women competent to train others, but there is not a single -disengaged pupil. Doubtless a similar state of things<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> obtains at the -other colleges in Kent, Worcestershire, Sussex, and elsewhere.</p> - -<p>It has been seen that properly trained women can do all the work of -farm and garden. Even ploughing is not beyond them, save on very stiff -clay soils. They are entirely successful in handling animals; horses, -cows, bullocks, sheep, pigs, and goats are all tractable when cared -for by women. They are taught at all well-conducted institutions to -substitute knack for force, and they have, as is admitted on all -hands, the right temperament for tasks that demand not only time, -but patience. As beekeepers they do very well, the gift of delicate -handling standing them in good stead, and in the glasshouses they -are easily first. Dr. Hamilton, the energetic and gifted Warden of -Studley, tells me that she finds that the health of girls engaged upon -the land, whether in the garden or on the farm, is good, and that many -who arrive at the College in a delicate state of health grow very much -stronger. She finds that the work makes women not only healthy, but -happy—presumably because happiness is largely a product of good health.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the needs of the country will be the determining factor in -sending women to the land in the summer-times before us; but we may -take it for granted that one of the results of war will be the large -extension of the realm of the woman-worker <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>of the field and garden. We -cannot shut our eyes to the sad truth that there will be war widows in -their thousands, and countless girls whose chances of married happiness -have been destroyed. To many of these the land will supply the only -anodyne that life has to offer. In hard work and the open air they will -learn to forget; in the development of garden, or farm, or orchard they -will find something to interest them. With their advent we may look to -find a great addition to the national food supply, a great saving of -money that has gone hitherto across the Channel or the Atlantic Ocean.</p> - -<p>I am inclined to think that women are more likely than men to take -advantage of the homeland opportunities. Men who have lived strenuously -and dangerously may not be found content with a handful of acres and -a cartload of restrictions at home, when the far-flung Dominions -overseas have so much more with which to tempt them. I see that Sir -Harry Verney's Committee, appointed to consider the question of land -settlement for soldiers and sailors, suggested holdings of twenty-five -acres for dairy-farming, and four-acre holdings for pigs, poultry, -fruit, etc. These last are to cost £24 per annum. Consider as against -this the one hundred and sixty acre grant of the Canadian Government, -the additions made by the Canadian Pacific <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>Railway and, perhaps, other -great corporations, whereby a settler finds a house, farm buildings, -fifty acres broken up and planted with wheat. There the rent is part -payment of the purchase price. I do not think the Government is going -to hold soldiers and sailors with anything Sir Harry Verney and his -committee-men propose to offer, but I do think that if the Government -will make a like offer to the women of England, and will arrange to -do for them what it proposes to do for the men, this latest scheme of -small holdings might well be a success. Women could and would make an -agricultural colony. They delight in doing small things well; they are -frugal and temperate; they can make much out of very little. Whatever -their war experiences and suffering, it will not have developed in them -the spirit of unrest. Their ambitions do not seek the particular kind -of achievement that appeals most to men; they find happiness where -a man might find boredom. They love the sense of independence, the -freedom and simplicity that country life affords and enjoins.</p> - -<p>Above all else that concerns woman's career on the land, it has clearly -been shown now that in times of crisis the men who work on the land may -be called away, and our home food supplies may be jeopardised by their -absence. In these circumstances the movement must spread. The flower<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> -and market garden, the field, the conservatory, and the outhouse must -be recognised as providing a pleasant sphere of activity for girls and -women, and there is more than enough land in these islands to provide -small holdings for many years to come for all who have the will and the -capacity to develop them. In conclusion, let me utter a warning that -demands the attention of all who love their country. At the present -time we only produce about twenty per cent. of the food we eat. For -the rest we depend upon our mercantile marine and our power to hold, -not only the seas, but the skies above and the depths beneath. Without -any comment, it seems to me that this simple and undeniable statement -should suffice to settle the career of many a sturdy country-loving -English girl.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XI</span> <span class="smaller">GERMAN WOMEN AND MILITARISM</span></h2> - -<p>Reading the record of Germany's war methods, even those of us who are -endeavouring to think sanely through these evil days must be impressed -by the overwhelming evidence of their complete ruthlessness.</p> - -<p>We who have travelled in Germany not once, but many times, know full -well that harshness and cruelty are not associated with the majority. -There are countless Germans who could only be cruel in obedience to -orders, and, of course, every German will do what he is told, just as -the Children of Israel did when Joshua, who appears to have invented -"frightfulness," was carrying out his merciless campaign. If we admit -that the simple German of the south is not cruel at heart, that he is -rather a dreamer and a sentimentalist with strong love for domestic -pleasures, we find that the policy of "frightfulness" must be ascribed -to the military party, consisting for the most part of Prussians, with -headquarters in Berlin.</p> - -<p>These men are the organisers of war, and speak<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> through the mouths -of writers like Treitschke, Bernhardi, and the rest. It is they who -have torn up the treaties and conventions that were, humanity hoped, -to decide the conduct of war. They are responsible for the curious -outburst of national hatred against this country that is at once so -startling and so silly, a revelation of the sad truth that Germany is -suffering from neurosis.</p> - -<p>I have been trying to trace "frightfulness" to its source, not through -the medium of books or papers, but in the light of my own knowledge -of the country and my past acquaintance with some of its leading men, -and I think that the philosophic historian of the times to come, -whose vision is not obscured by the smoke of battle or the fury of -combatants, will not hesitate to declare that the worst and saddest -features of war as waged by the Germans are due to the fact that in -their country women are kept more in the background than in the country -of any other great Power.</p> - -<p>The fault, as I will point out later on, is not that of the women, -but of the leaders of German faction who have deliberately suppressed -woman, and of nearly all the leaders of German thought who, being -dependent on Government favour, have subscribed to their policy of -deliberate suppression. Here and there an independent thinker has -arisen nearly always from the ranks of Social Democracy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> Bebel's book -on women, for example, is a standard work, but the few lights do no -more than emphasise the surrounding darkness.</p> - -<p>Look round Europe for a moment. Russia is a backward empire and the -spirit of progress moves over it with slow feet, but Russia is making -vast strides, and the plough that will trace deep furrows in the virgin -soil of its social life is drawn by man and woman together. All the -professions are open to women, even those in which women are not found -here. The Russian engineer who planned the newest bridge over the -Neva was a woman. Men and women students work side by side on terms -of absolute equality, and compete for honours that often fall to the -gentler sex.</p> - -<p>Russian women of the educated classes are more than merely well -informed, they are brilliant. Linguists, women of affairs, they have -a grip of actualities of the empire of which they form a significant -part. In spite of autocratic rule and limited freedom there is such a -full life for the Russian woman as her German sister has never known, -except in dreams of emancipation. In Finland, be it remembered, women -sit in Parliament.</p> - -<p>Turn to France, and it may be declared emphatically that woman rules. -Women are doctors, barristers, and scientists; they are members of the -Goncourt Academy; they are the heads of some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> of the most important -business institutions; they give the most exclusive <i>salons</i> their -distinction. Public opinion is moulded by them; their influence makes -and breaks Cabinets. Feminism is one of the strongest forces in France. -Quiescent to-day or working in quietness, this force will dominate a -France released from war.</p> - -<p>Even in Belgium, of whose progress we hear little, women have been -largely responsible for the organisation of the middle and working -classes, an organisation that was well-nigh complete before war broke -out, and in the slow rebuilding that is to come we may look with -confidence to the Belgian woman to play a leading <i>rôle</i>. Turn to -a group of neutral countries—Denmark, Norway, Sweden—and it will -be seen that feminism is moving with vast strides along the path -of national progress. Woman is asserting herself in all of them, -contributing her thought to her country's problems, taking an ever -important place in its councils.</p> - -<p>Alone of the great Powers Germany has elected to forget or to disregard -as a negligible quantity the opinion of woman, and the reason is not -far to seek. For years past the German has forgotten the respect and -reverence he owes to his own womenfolk. <i>Küche, Kinder, Kirche</i>—he -calls alliteration to his aid to express a growing contempt for the sex -and the narrowest possible view of its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> world function. Intoxicated -with the vision of imperial domination, he has regarded his own sex as -the one motive force in the universe.</p> - -<p>He has not watched the slow awakening of women in the countries around -him; he has not noted how bonds of sympathy, light as gossamer, yet -strong as steel, have stretched from country to country, binding -our sex in a large and ever widening sisterhood, inarticulate now, -or at least hardly coherent, but only waiting for their appointed -hour to assume a fuller share of the glories, the burdens and the -responsibilities of life. Woman's influence, silent, world-wide, -pervasive, has been treated by the evangels of Kultur as though it -were nonexistent, and in the hour of crisis woman as a united force -has avenged herself for years of neglect, scorn and brutality. She is -everywhere a belligerent.</p> - -<p>I do not know the country in Europe where women are treated as they are -in Germany. Not many countries can vie with the United States in the -attention bestowed upon the gentler sex, but as I have endeavoured to -show, they are respected more in every belligerent country than they -are in the one that sought to rest supreme in Europe. Even in Italy, -Spain, and Portugal, where women must often work as hard as men, they -stand upon a secure footing of affection and respect. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> smaller -courtesies, the greater services of life are theirs. In some definite -measure they complete the home. But you cannot bring an indictment -against a whole nation, and I do not seek to do so.</p> - -<p>In tens of thousands of German homes the wife and daughters are loved -and honoured, but in the rank and file of military circles, even among -the men who hold official positions and boast a certain standing, woman -has been dethroned—she is regarded as an incumbrance necessary for the -production of further generations of supermen, who shall inherit the -earth. This attitude of mind reveals itself in the action that speaks -louder than words. The toleration and the contempt to which I refer are -everywhere apparent. No good-looking woman is safe in Germany from the -ill-bred stares and comments of the men with whom she must travel in -train or tram.</p> - -<p>If women enter a theatre or restaurant their own friends and relatives -do not rise to receive them. They are liable to be elbowed into the -road if men walking abreast can occupy the whole of the pavement. -The politeness of the few cultured Germans (pardon the discredited -adjective) merely emphasises the boorishness of the vast majority. -It might be that the German is waiting for women to be officially -recognised as human beings to whom some measure of courtesy or even -decency is due.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> Only when rudeness is "<i>verboten</i>" will rudeness cease.</p> - -<p>The country is governed by men for men and women, but according to the -marriage rubric woman is actually man's servant. The effect of these -conditions upon the morals of the country is deplorable. They give a -cachet to vices, even the most odious, and the rate of illegitimacy, -about 10 per cent. for the whole empire, is about doubled in Berlin, -where the military caste is supreme. The morals of the army are -the morals of Berlin, and account not only for the hideous stories -published about what took place in Belgium and northern France, but for -the recitals not less appalling that one gathers from officers home on -leave who have seen sights in the area of German occupation that cannot -be set down in print.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly these recitals, if they could reach the heart of Germany, -would thrill tens of thousands of honest men with indignation and -disgust. I do not believe for a moment that they represent the -inclinations of the whole nation. They are rather the action of that -section of the nation which, while war endures, must have the upper -hand, and during all the years of war-like preparations has reigned -supreme. Against this aspect of German national life the women of -belligerent and neutral countries alike are arrayed. Whatever their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>resources or their influence in the councils of their husbands, sons, -and brothers, it will be devoted without cease to the destruction of a -militarism that degrades and shames womankind. The German woman knows -in her heart that her men have in countless instances become perverts, -but she is dumb because she is forbidden to speak. In Prussia no woman -may organise a union that has political aims; she may not even join one.</p> - -<p>It is the purpose of the dominant caste to keep woman in subjection, -to restrict her activities to the kitchen, the cradle and the Church, -even to deny her the mental and the physical development that might -tend to lead her to revolt. Woman may find a limited salvation in the -conduct of a business; throughout the German Empire not far short of a -million women conduct commercial enterprises of one kind or another, -and collectively they strive with some success to better the physical -and moral conditions under which their sisters live. No effort of which -they have yet been capable has accomplished more than this, their -condition of tutelage remains complete.</p> - -<p>I do not pretend to be satisfied with the position of women in England: -far from it; but here, as in the countries already enumerated, it -is better far than in Germany. Women mould public opinion to an -appreciable extent; they are able<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> to modify the life of their sex in -many important particulars, the best of them exercise sane influence, -and all are sufficiently well treated to establish a definite attitude -of mind in men. We know that no British or French troops would behave -in Germany as Germans behaved in Belgium; we know that the honour of -honourable women and of helpless children would be safe in the keeping -of the French and British officer, and that he would not be called upon -to restrain his men from acts of lust and savagery.</p> - -<p>We know that there is a public opinion the wide world over among free -women and women struggling to be free that will not submit to the -domination of any race that does not hold woman in respect. It is on -this account, in my opinion, that the unbridled and tolerated savagery -of the worst class of German conscript in Belgium and France has cost -Germany more than the loss of half a dozen pitched battles. Whatever -the irritation caused by the incidents of the war, the Allies know -that women the world over are and will remain on their side, for the -hegemony of a nation that treats women in peace with contempt and in -war with "frightfulness" cannot be contemplated by our sex. We know -that in fighting for the cause of the Allies we are fighting for the -most downtrodden of the highly civilised women in Europe. At <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>present -they would resent our aid—they are patriotic—they have suffered -terribly, and in the hour of their trials they mourn and forgive those -who treated them ill.</p> - -<p>Later on, when peace returns, when the world is purged of violence and -its wounds begin their slow and painful process of healing, the German -women will recognise that we have been fighting for a larger cause than -our own; that we helped to force the doors that have remained barred so -long and to break the chains that bound the women of a great but erring -nation. Only the ultimate triumph of the Allies can free the women of -Germany, and in time they will realise the truth.</p> - -<p>The views of the wisest men are narrow, and few among them will realise -or admit even now the truth that woman is now a factor in the world's -affairs. When this war is over we shall tell in no uncertain words what -is in our hearts. At present we must needs be silent. If those dreamers -of world empire had but remembered that women, too, have minds and are -learning to use them, the story of the great world tragedy, even if it -had to be set down, would have been widely different in many of its -incidents.</p> - -<p>It was Germany's fatal mistake that, not content with dominating its -own womankind and suppressing them whenever and wherever possible, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> -believed that the rest of the world was equally indifferent to the -treatment of its mothers, wives, and daughters.</p> - -<p>Every known outrage has raised fresh fighters, has strengthened the -Allies with the sure force of moral sympathy and encouragement, has -thinned the ranks of those whose sympathies were with a country whose -marvellous progress provides so much material for admiration. Who can -measure the responsibility of those guides and teachers who taught the -German to develop along material lines and to forget that woman is the -proper spiritual guide, and that as man loves and reverences her he -sees farther and deeper into the heart of things—sees life sanely and -sees it whole?</p> - -<p>Whatever the limitations of our knowledge we know that the one sex -completes the other; that man enlarges the vision of woman and woman -enlarges the vision of man, and that it is the peculiar gift of our sex -to control man's passions, to stimulate his humanity, to direct his -ambitions away from dangerous paths. We do not all strive as we might; -we do not always succeed as we deserve, but man is woefully incomplete -without us, and the spectacle of a nation that has despised womanhood -waging war shows that this contempt corrodes his moral fibre, leaves -him at the mercy of his worst instincts and raises up against him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> all -the spiritual forces against which none may strive victoriously.</p> - -<p>We women who have never handled weapons, whose only place in the area -of strife is among the maimed and helpless, know even better than men -that the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong. -When history has recorded the story of the world war that darkens our -lives to-day, future generations will ask how it was that Germany -could find no friends among the neutral nations. Her Ambassadors, -official and unofficial, her publicists and those of neutral countries -who were not ashamed to accept her subsidies, worked with true -German thoroughness. Truth was never allowed to stand in the way of -propaganda. No lie that might serve a useful purpose went unsanctioned, -for the great end was to sanctify all means, however vile, and yet in -the hour when even moral support and silent sympathy would have been of -the greatest value, Germany looked for it in vain.</p> - -<p>It was easy to declare that the whole world was jealous and -misinformed; such an excuse could hardly deceive the responsible people -who fathered it. My own view is that the women of Europe and the United -States turned against Germany when the manner in which she waged war -was first revealed to a disgusted world. Their hostility was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> not -merely sentimental—it was psychological. The German attitude toward -women, already questioned, was revealed as in the glare of searchlight, -and womanhood from London to Petrograd and from Copenhagen to New York -was completely, irrevocably antagonised.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XII</span> <span class="smaller">YOUTH IN THE SHAMBLES</span></h2> - -<p>It becomes increasingly difficult to speak one's mind in England -to-day, even though one has no peace scheme to propound and no -efficient public servant to criticise.</p> - -<p>Liberty has vacated her throne, or as much of it as Privilege would -ever allow her to occupy, and the Defence of the Realm Act has taken -her place.</p> - -<p>Consequently it is very hard to express opinions unless they are -sufficiently platitudinous to gain universal and immediate acceptance. -Roughly speaking we are all of one mind about the conduct of this war; -the minority in opposition is so small that it can be disregarded, but -we are all at variance as to method, and on the Ship of State that -steers such an erratic course through the hurricane of strife there is -hardly a passenger who is not convinced that he could reach the goal -much more rapidly than the man at the wheel is likely to.</p> - -<p>Those who criticise the steering are suspect, for the national temper -is a little upset, our situation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> is without precedent, and an -Englishman dislikes novelty. I cannot help my belief that it is the -novelty rather than the tragedy of the hour that troubles him most. He -is giving, to the best of his capacity, blood, labour, treasure, but he -is not thinking as deeply as he should, perhaps because he understands -that when you begin to think and believe you see a great truth clearly, -you are morally bound to communicate that truth to others. Then the -Defence of the Realm comes in and you are likely to be hailed a -traitor to all good causes by the first person who—with or without -understanding your views—disagrees with them!</p> - -<p>Yet for all the prejudices with which the expression of opinion is -beset, it is hard to keep silent when something presents itself to the -mind in the guise of a vital truth, and now, after more than two years -of war have forced reflection and taught us to see the world tragedy as -a whole, there are things that must needs be said, protests that must -needs be made.</p> - -<p>Of all the iniquities that are associated with war, war as distinct -from murder I would add, there is nothing quite so horrible as the -sacrifice of young life. It is common to all the nations at war. We -read of boys of fifteen fighting in the ranks of our enemies, and, -at home, of boys who have added a year or two to their proper age to -deceive a not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> too inquisitive recruiting sergeant. To raw lads in -their utter ignorance, war is a great joy and adventure; they are proud -to help their country and to be redeemed from the charge of being -"slackers." So when the cup of life is hardly at their lips they go, -some to die, some to be maimed, some to return prematurely old and -broken down.</p> - -<p>While the plots and counter plots that made for war were being hatched, -these young warriors were in the nursery, or at school. Even now they -have reached no perception of the real forces for which men strive; -until war broke out their lives were still supposed to be under the -protection of their parents.</p> - -<p>But as soon as the State is beset it calls for aid, not alone upon -matured men, who understand and have a sense of responsibility, but -upon the lads whom it ought to be protecting as the one irreplaceable -asset of the next generation.</p> - -<p>Wise old gentlemen with a very tolerable imitation of the spirit of -prophecy in their hearts, pens in their hands, and bees in their -bonnets, wrote indignant articles in the best read organs of the press -that our downfall, if we did not introduce conscription, is merely a -matter of months. Sometimes it was weeks. The time given to us varied -according to the measure of the writers' chronic dyspepsia.</p> - -<p>Yet if these people would only think, they would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> have little -difficulty in admitting that the lads who have been well educated, well -trained and prepared with infinite labour for life are just those who -should not be surrendered to death under any normal conditions until -they have fulfilled their primary function toward the State.</p> - -<p>I will go farther and suggest that their elders have no right to rob -them of the few years in which they taste the joys of life. I was told -recently by a man who knew what he was talking about that under the -Mosaic Code the Jews did not allow their married men to go to war until -they had spent one year with their wives. A man who was betrothed was -instructed to marry, and even if a man married a second time he had to -remain for one year at home. In this way the continuity of the race -was assured and the Jews, eminently a fighting nation, preserved their -virility.</p> - -<p>There was no question of sentiment involved—it was hard, common sense -applied to war. And, horrible irony, the British Government recognises -the simple truth, but has only learned down to the present to apply -it to farm stock. I saw last year a printed notice in the country -post-offices issued to farmers by the Board of Agriculture, telling -them not to kill lamb and veal because whatever the price offered the -removal of immature<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> stock is dangerous wastefulness which the country -cannot afford.</p> - -<p>Here is a copy of the notice:</p> - -<div class="box"> -<blockquote><p class="center">BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES</p> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Special Notice to Farmers</span></p> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Preserve our Flocks and Herds!</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Maintain our Meat Supply!</span></p> - -<p>The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries strongly urge all Farmers -to <span class="smaller">RAISE AS MUCH STOCK AS POSSIBLE</span> during the war.</p> - -<p>Their advice to you is:</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Do not</span> send breeding and immature stock to the -<span class="smcap">Butcher</span> simply because prices are attractive now.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Do not Market</span> half-finished animals; it is wasteful of -the country's resources and is against your own interests.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Do not kill Calves</span>—rear them; it is well worth it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Do not reduce</span> your stock; when you cannot buy stores, buy -calves.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Maintain</span> your flocks and breed your sows; it will pay you -to do so.</p> - -<p>The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries make the above -recommendations not only for the <span class="smcap">National Welfare</span> but -because they believe them to be for the ultimate benefit of -<span class="smcap">British Agriculture</span>.</p></blockquote></div> - -<p>It seems almost too ridiculous to be true that the Government has more -concern for lambs or calves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> than for boys on the threshold of manhood, -but the facts convict them.</p> - -<p>For myself I would rather see a thousand of the bloodthirsty old -gentlemen who preached conscription sent to the front from their club -smoke-rooms and editorial chairs, than five hundred lads from whom -their country has something to expect!</p> - -<p>I do not think I am a sentimentalist, certainly I do not plead for -the exemption of mere boys from the battlefield in order that they -may have what is called a good time, though I hold that they should -not be deprived deliberately of the few halcyon years that are in one -fashion or another the reward of one and all. I would work them to the -last ounce of their capacity in seasons like these. They should have -long hours, Spartan fare, and spells of physical drill, they should -put in eight hours of labour for the Government in the factory, in the -munition works, wherever their services could be best employed.</p> - -<p>They might be under military rule, amenable to the same discipline as -the soldier, but they should not go into the firing line, because they -belong to the next generation.</p> - -<p>They are to sire it; no nation can afford to leave that responsibility -to the physically unfit, and to those who have passed fighting age.</p> - -<p>This duty done, they would be free to join the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> fighting forces for -which their drill, their labour and their self-denial would have -prepared them. My soldier relatives and friends tell me that the lad in -his teens is of little value in a prolonged campaign. He may have all -the necessary courage, but he lacks the essential stamina. He is fitter -to march and endure when he is twenty-five than when he is nineteen, -fitter still at thirty.</p> - -<p>But, asks my critic, where will you recruit your fighting men? I look -round at my men friends, and I find them, up to the age of fifty, -taking their chance in the forefront of things. The outcry against the -married man as combatant is valid only in so far as his family depends -upon him for support. My friends chance for the greater part to belong -to the comfortable classes. They have enjoyed the best that England -has to offer; they are prepared to pay the price, with their lives if -need be. Above all they are articulate, they have the franchise, they -can speak their mind. Collectively they support in one form and another -the conditions that make war possible. They are conscious of a certain -responsibility.</p> - -<p>Where, for example, on the other hand, is the responsibility of the -midshipman on the torpedoed battleship? I take his bravery for granted. -I am quite convinced that could he read my plea he would disavow any -shadow of sympathy with it, but I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> concerned for the country and not -for him. He has a duty toward civilisation, he is well-bred, highly -trained, efficient. I say that the State owes him at least a few -years of manhood and should see that he is allowed to reach maturity, -although he is neither veal nor lamb!</p> - -<p>It is false economy that raises the outcry against married men as -soldiers. They alone in the community can be spared, they have -fulfilled, or partly fulfilled, the function upon which civilisation -depends. Potentially, if not always actually, they are fathers. -Economists insist that pensions and allowances are an extravagance -that the nation cannot afford. I reply that war is a still greater -extravagance, the wickedest form of indulgence known to mankind, -and that worse than war is the destruction of the fairest hopes of -the future, the race to come. Again, if those who light the fire -were compelled to feed the flames I believe there would be fewer -conflagrations.</p> - -<p>I feel that I do but set down facts that are known to thinkers, who, -as a rule, prefer to keep silence at times like these lest their -patriotism be suspect. After the war they will deplore the ruin; -trustees for the generation to come, they will see that they have -failed in their trust. They will shift the responsibility on to the -nature of things, they will declare that war was inevitable and that -destruction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> of all we hold most dear must follow in its wake.</p> - -<p>Here I join issue with them. The world is for all practical purposes -ruled by mankind. Nothing but the catastrophes like the tidal wave and -the earthquake escape man's control. Famine, disease, and mortality he -can arrest; he can increase his stature morally, mentally, physically. -If he elect to play the prodigal he does so at his own risk, but he has -no right to tamper with the vital resources of the generations that -must follow. War is delirium, or he would bear this fundamental truth -in mind. I think it has escaped him. He is immersed in the pursuit of -the end, and no means are spared. Thus we hear the outcries because the -fat money bags are growing thin, but nothing is said of the great asset -that no trading, however successful, can restore.</p> - -<p>We can find in some barbarous land wealth only comparable to that -which Sindbad discovered in the Valley of Diamonds, but what will that -profit a race that must depend upon old and exhausted stock to renew -its vitality? The desire for wealth is at least one of the contributory -causes of war, the thought of wealth wasted makes men forget they are -wasting what no wealth can replace.</p> - -<p>I am sure that women feel this eternal truth in their hearts, but all -too many fear to be thought afraid. They fear their own mankind, those -for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> whom they would gladly sacrifice all that life holds for them of -good. They fear to be thought jealous for their own boys, while if the -truth be told their fear is all for the young sons of all women quite -irrespective of nationality. At least this is how the situation appeals -to me, and I dare not keep silent if there be any medium of appeal to -those who think with me that will set my thoughts down. There is a -slumbering conscience of humanity only waiting the call that will break -through its dreams. I am not so bold as to believe that I can utter it, -but I may perchance stimulate some more gifted pen.</p> - -<p>In any case, I cannot hide my thoughts merely because they may meet no -response, for after all there is not in all the world a single great -belief that was not once the unregarded possession of a single mind.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XIII</span> <span class="smaller">THOUGHTS ON COMPULSION</span></h2> - -<p>While I am firmly opposed to conscription in any form that does not -embrace national wealth and resources as well as men, or that singles -out one class of men to the exclusion of others, while I believe that, -even subject to this view of national obligation, conscription should -be treated as a war measure and blotted out of the statute book in the -month that sees the restoration of peace, I am not writing to protest -or to complain. We are told that every cloud has its silver lining, and -when the Government decided to demand the services of those unmarried -men who, far more by reason of apathy than cowardice, had remained to -be taken, I could not help thinking that much good might come of it. -Against the hideous doctrine that the end justifies the means we may -set the equally old saying that necessity knows no law, and against the -compulsory making of soldiers which is an evil, I set the waking of the -national consciousness, and that is a gain.</p> - -<p>For centuries England led the vanguard of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> workers for freedom. -Against the will of the people the power of the great barons and -of their Kings bent and broke. There were generations in which the -people as a people were articulate, they stood up for their rights -and privileges and were a force that few dared defy. The discovery of -steam, the growth of factories, the increase of population and the -struggle for life combined to make a large section of the working -classes helpless. The hideous poverty and ugliness of life in the -great centres of wealth drove men, and women too, to shut out the -ugliness of their lives with the aid of brief spells of dissipation. -Strong drink became alike a source of revenue to the country, a source -of "honours"—generally paid for in hard cash—to the prosperous -brewer and distiller, and the source of brief forgetfulness, misery, -disease, crime and savage punishment to those who sought its dangerous -solace. National expenditure and party funds alike clamoured for -the maintenance of the evil, and those who are most concerned with -what is euphemistically called "keeping the working classes in their -places" turned a deaf ear to schemes that sought to make the places of -leisure for the worker more attractive and less dangerous. Pure Beer -Bills and legislation to restrict the sale of spirits to such spirit -as is matured, met with no effective support. Give the worker the -nineteenth and twentieth century<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> substitutes for his old time <i>panem -et circenses</i> and he would continue until strength failed him to sow -that others might reap and to earn the opprobrium and contempt of those -he enriched.</p> - -<p>Parliament, immersed in politics to the exclusion of government, -cared little for the real welfare of the people. It contrived by -skilful electioneering to stimulate their interests in things that -do not matter, and when they were not wanted at the polls their -representatives—save the mark—left them severely alone. So it -happened, as time passed, that the old interest in vital questions -was passing from a large section of the proletariat. Powerful through -the medium of their Unions they supported these great organisations -for little better than the right to live. It was so hard to improve -the conditions of a trade or a group of allied industries that the -effort to this end left them with no energies to enter into larger -fields. Those leaders of the people who have the gift of clear vision -could meet with no adequate response, they alone could see the wood, -their followers had their gaze riveted on one particular tree. England -tended more and more to become the paradise of the capitalist and the -purgatory of the working man, and because he was always protesting -against conditions that will fill future generations with wonder and -shame, conditions improved beyond <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>recognition by the country with -which we are now engaged in a life-and-death struggle, it became the -practice of the comfortable classes to denounce the workman and all -his ambitions. He was, in their view, sent into this world to create -wealth, not to enjoy what it creates; that was the privilege of his -betters. The Englishman's natural sense of fair play has been obscured -by the newspapers that pander to him and give him all his thoughts -ready made; if anybody thinks this is an extreme statement, let him -turn to the files of the reactionary press from the time when John -Burns led the Dockers' Strike down to the outbreak of war (and since) -and see whether he can find anywhere a solitary favourable verdict for -the worker as against the employer. He will search in vain.</p> - -<p>There is a certain psychological aspect of the labour question that -has, I think, been overlooked. A generation or two of oppressive -conditions tends to produce a race that loses national consciousness. -The worker learns to take the view that he is no longer a part of Great -Britain, that his interests are exclusively personal, like those of his -employers, that he has no status in the country and that his business -is to get the most tolerable conditions of life that he can secure -by combination and agitation, and to ignore the trend of politics, -religion, social progress, and the rest of the life forces of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> -civilisation. He knows himself for one who hews wood and draws water, -it suffices him to carry a minimum of logs to the pile and buckets from -the spring. He knows that there is for him no glimpse of the larger -life and that because he is collectively a multitude there will be -keen competition to batten on his small savings or surpluses. He has -the feeling that if he loses his job he will take his place in the -ranks of a submerged tenth, ranks easy to slip into, almost impossible -to rise from. My long intercourse with those who fast that others may -feast has revealed this attitude to me in a hundred shapes, all tragic, -some dangerous. It has been the despair of those who are working for -the people and know that if they would but combine to grasp the sorry -state of things environing them they could "shatter it to pieces and -remould it nearer to the heart's desire." Unhappily it is impossible to -fight what is called <i>vis inertiæ</i>, you cannot bruise a feather pillow -or hurt a sack of sand by striking it, and while long hours, scanty -holidays, mean pleasures and continual anxiety dogged the footsteps -of the working classes, it seemed impossible to secure the unity of -action, the collective wisdom that would not only enable labour to find -its place in the sun, but would destroy the parasites that thrive upon -it. I think that the careful observer who noted the social condition of -England down to the late<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> summer of 1914 will be disposed to agree that -I have not overstated the case or put the ugly lighting unfairly on the -foreground of the picture.</p> - -<p>Then came war with its strange, unmistakable revelation to the working -man and working woman. In the blinding light born of battle they saw -their country assaulted by an enemy completely trained and organised. -Women saw that their own rulers had been too immersed in the great -games of party politics and business development to give proper thought -for the safety of the country. They saw, too, that the limitations -of capitalism and capitalist were visible in the eyes of the world. -They could help, they could leaven the dough of profit-making with the -yeast of personal sacrifice, some have done so, but for the salvation -of the country they appealed to the working man. Government adopted -some of his own panaceas, they accepted schemes of pure socialism -as props for the pillars of the State, they taxed riches and laid -sacrilegious hands upon the Dagon of wealth to the infinite rage of -certain Philistines who are still grieving for the god's lost hands -and feet, but it was to the working classes Government turned in the -hour of their distress, and Labour responded nobly. Those into whose -souls the iron of corruption, disappointment and indifference had not -entered, set themselves to labour seven days a week for long hours in -evil <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>atmosphere, or left their sweethearts and wives to strike a blow -for the country that had displayed to them more of the qualities of a -step-mother than a mother. Many have laid down their lives, and in the -hearts of those who survive national consciousness has been re-born.</p> - -<p>The democratic comradeship of the battlefield, embracing all classes, -has taught the working man that his foe in times of peace is not so -much the class whose representatives are of his own blood brotherhood, -but the system that dominates those who serve and those who accept -service. This lesson learned exclusively on the fields of war will -permeate the factories when war is over. One stumbling-block to -progress remained. It was, I venture to say, the presence in our midst -of hundreds of thousands of men who have been rendered listless and -apathetic by life conditions too easy or too hard. Now compulsion has -reached this class it will give them in return for unsought risks and -labour a sense of their place in the body politic. It will teach them -that whether they will or no they have a part to play in shaping the -destinies of Great Britain and that the reward will be in proportion -to the sacrifice. We must not forget that a new Britain, a new Empire, -a new Imperial outlook is being shaped over the far-flung area of war. -It will not be only to the British Empire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> that change will come, but -to all belligerent nations. The upheaval, sure as the succession of -day and night, is one we dare hardly contemplate, not by reason of -fear, but by reason of hope. To take advantage of the change as it -will affect our nation, all classes of the community must prepare, -and nothing could have clogged the wheels of progress in the near -future than the presence in our midst of so many thousands of men -whose inactivity would have been bitterly resented by those who have -borne the heat and burden of the day. Unity of action is a condition -precedent to the close and merciless revision of existing conditions, -the ending of privilege, the widening of the powers of democracy, the -whole peaceful solution of a question that two years ago promised to -develop into a war worse than this we are waging, a war of brother -against brother.</p> - -<p>I repeat that I am opposed to conscription, particularly to a -conscription that picks and chooses, and does not demand capital as -freely as it demands life; equally am I opposed to the action of -the young and unattached men who shrink from assuming their proper -responsibilities. That they would have held back if the conditions -of their life, whether favourable or unfavourable, had been the true -conditions of an enlightened citizenship, I sincerely doubt, that they -should have been forced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> to undertake as a duty what they should have -embraced as a privilege is matter for regret. Happily they will not go -unrewarded, they will see their errors, and they will come back to a -country they have helped to save with the keenest determination to make -it worth living in as well as worth fighting for.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XIV</span> <span class="smaller">WOMEN AND WAR</span></h2> - -<p>"Why is it," wrote an editor, criticising a view of women that I had -put forward, "why is it that woman is actually a war lover at heart, an -inciter to and encourager of war? Can you explain why, while some women -condemn fighting, the great majority do not shrink from it, and even -regard the fighting man as the proper object of their admiration?" It -was a challenge, that I will answer to the best of my ability.</p> - -<p>In the first place, I must admit that the statement is true about -countless women. Only yesterday I had a letter from a friend to whom -I had written my sympathy; her only son was killed in the British -advance. "I need no more consolation," she wrote. "Harry's colonel has -sent me a letter telling me of my poor boy's bravery. I am proud to -think that he has lived up to our tradition—ours has always been a -fighting family, you know."</p> - -<p>I would not criticise a bereaved mother; I can never forget that my -eldest son has been in the fighting line, that my other boy gave up -Cambridge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> for the aviation school, and is now flying in France, -that my son-in-law is a soldier, and that of many friends and a few -relatives only the memory remains. But I feel, from the bottom of my -heart, that the death and glory idea is wrong; that the attraction of -medals, ribbons, stars, orders, titles and uniforms and brass buttons -is false, and that an ever-increasing number of women are conscious of -the truth, not only here but in France, Germany, Austria, Russia and -Italy.</p> - -<p>That consciousness cannot become fully articulate until the war is -over. For each belligerent nation the duty at this moment is clear—it -must fight for what it holds to be right, must struggle for victory -until the end. When that end comes I believe that the reign of the old -ideas will end with it, and that all women will recognise the truth -that is already clear as daylight to the minority.</p> - -<p>Why is woman actually a war lover at heart? The question stings me. I -am almost reluctant to answer. Yet though the fault is woman's, the -responsibility is man's. Down to only a few years ago woman was no -more than man's toy. She existed for his pleasure and convenience. If -he covered her with pretty dresses and radiant jewels it was because -she was his chattel. It seems only yesterday that a married woman's -property became her husband's when he married her; that she could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> not -bring an action at law. It needed the celebrated Jackson case, familiar -to students of the feminist movement, to decide that a man might not -lock his wife up in his house.</p> - -<p>I believe that the law enabling a man to administer "moderate -chastisement" to his wife has never been repealed. A woman cannot -divorce her drunken, dissolute husband unless he ill-uses her -physically; the law, unable to deny that woman has a body, will not -grant her the possession of a soul. Trashy novels, trivial amusement, -unending decoration, freedom from the development of mentality and -personality—these are the things that have been held to suffice women, -and though there have always been a few great women in the world, the -vast majority has been compelled to accept the conditions offered.</p> - -<p>I cannot help thinking that if there had not been a surplus of women -over men in countries where monogamy rules, change would have been -longer still in coming; but there have always been tens of thousands -of women for whom there is neither mate, domestic inactivity nor -child-bearing, and the educational progress, though leaden footed, has -moved.</p> - -<p>From the Garden of Eden to Ibsen's "Dolls' House" is a far cry, but it -was left to the great Scandinavian dramatist to open woman's eyes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> -That is, I think, why he was greeted by male critics with such howls -of execration—they saw the foundation of the old order being sapped. -Man had appealed to woman's vanity, and had consequently developed it -enormously; but the motive was little higher than that which inspires -the male baboon when he goes courting. Ibsen showed woman the result of -her submission.</p> - -<p>Only the historian, looking at our social history when the youngest -of us "has lain for a century dead," will realise the strength and -progress of the feminist movement in the last decade or two; the -barriers it has surmounted or swept away; the barbed wire entanglements -of prejudice and convention against which it has flung itself. Yet -I am bold enough to declare that had universal war been mooted in -1934 instead of 1914 woman throughout all the countries of potential -combatants would have combined instantly to prevent it.</p> - -<p>At present the ranks of the thinkers are too thin; woman is divided -against herself. The worst foes of feminism are women; it is the -anti-feminists who parade the streets in khaki, who band themselves -into wholly unnecessary and sometimes disreputable anti-German leagues, -who labour as though war were a glory rather than a curse. You will -not find militarists or anti-feminists among the glorious sisterhood -of the hospitals, for they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> almost alone among women know what war -really is. If the propaganda of feminism could have spread, if it could -have invaded Germany, where the Church, the nursery and the kitchen -are expected to fill every woman's life, what a very different answer -would have been given to the ambitions of rulers and the blundering of -politicians! In how many million homes, where sadness reigns supreme, -would there have been the simple, harmless happiness that is the -birthright of us all?</p> - -<p>Is it the irony of fate that man must pay the terrible price for -having made woman what she is; for having stifled or sought to stifle -her common sense; for robbing her of the rights that she possesses -by reason of being a human being; for distracting her with gawds and -frivolities, and seeking to keep her merely as a minister to his -pleasures and a mother to his children? He has paid for the supreme -folly of generations with the price of the lives of millions of his -best and bravest, with the ruin of flourishing cities and fair country, -with the poverty of the generation to come, and with many another -bitter offering of which he is not yet fully aware.</p> - -<p>Doubtless there are still in our midst countless women who accept all -that is happening as inevitable; who look upon it without realising -that had the sex responded to the ideals of feminism and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> become -one sisterhood without boundaries and without a limited patriotism -conditioned by the accident of birth, these things could not have been. -I say, without hesitation, that the future of the world demands the -elimination of some existing types of women, the education of others, -and, in the end, the union of all.</p> - -<p>Man was not born merely for glorious death, he was born for glorious -life, and in the systematic and universally condoned slaughter of -man by man there is neither honour nor glory. The world, properly -administered, can produce enough food and clothing for all; it has work -and a measure of happiness for all. Our enemies are not Englishmen or -Germans, Frenchmen or Turks; they are ignorance and poverty, disease -and vice. Woman recognises the truth—that is to say, thinking and -emancipated woman recognises it—and she knows that all the strife that -tears the older world asunder is fratricidal, that a million times -Cain strikes down a million times Abel, and in so doing deliberately -obscures the Divine Event toward which all creation moves.</p> - -<p>Woman falters, she is young in mental growth and still very weak, -though growing stronger hour by hour. She sees nothing of war, but she -hears of moving incidents by flood and field and hairbreadth 'scapes -in the imminent deadly breach, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> her sense of romance so largely -fostered by pernicious or trivial literature is stirred to its depths. -She wants for her son or her husband or her lover some of the dust of -praise, some of the ribbons and medals, some of the glory in which she -will discern some pale reflection of herself.</p> - -<p>She falls in love with war because she has not the least inkling of -its realities; her mourning garments are edged with pride. It has been -left to this terrible struggle to tear some of the bandages from her -eyes and to rob her of an unworthy ideal. What a supreme misfortune -that world tragedy has supervened while she is growing up, before she -has learned to grasp the power that lies to hand! In instances beyond -numbering she has passed the feminist movement by, quite content to hug -her chains as long as they are heavily gilded. She does not realise and -does not believe in her own powers, and in Central Europe, at least, -she has been kept under surveillance all the time.</p> - -<p>England, France, and America are the great Powers that have given -feminism a chance. Russia was beginning to follow suit, but the oak -that will in years to come defy so many storms and shelter so many -lives is as yet a sapling. We must face the bitter truth that had all -our sisters accepted feminism we would have saved man from his worst -enemy, we could have saved him from himself.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> - -<p>We could have said—</p> - -<p>"<i>We brought you into the world, we fed you at the breast, we guarded -your tender years. When you grew older we gave you inspiration and -the love that is the romance of life. We bore you children through -agonies of which you know nothing; we loved you with the love that -is woman's whole existence. You shall not destroy yourself, for you -are ours and we are yours, and we are placed on this earth to lift it -nearer to heaven, not to drag it down into hell. Your bits of shining -metal or ribbons, your uniforms, your personal bravery are as nothing -to us, if to earn the one or prove the other you are to kill and maim -our husbands and sons, our fathers and brothers. There are greater -fights to be fought, nobler victories to be won, and in the only war -worth waging we can move by your side. Love and not hate must rule the -world.</i>"</p> - -<p>The time will come when woman will speak to man in this wise, and he -will listen because he must, even though in listening he remove the -strange, obscene gods of strife from his Pantheon. That the truth is -known already to noble-minded women throughout the world is to me the -most vitalising comfort that these days can yield. That so many women -still pass it by, that they praise war and magnify personal courage -and "martial glory," that they still foster and encourage the meanest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> -hatreds born of war, is I think worse than many a disaster. But the -lesson it enforces is plain. The time is not ripe; before she can -handle the power to which she lays claim woman must abjure her idols, -she must follow the path of pain and suffering a little longer, she -must learn for herself through bitter experience how great a curse war -is. I believe she is learning her lesson; I believe that the hosts of -the unthinking are melting, and that as the real meaning of glory, -heroism and the rest is brought home to her she will understand.</p> - -<p>Even men in the lands of death and desolation have been vouchsafed a -glimpse of the truth. There is nothing quite so pathetic in modern -history as that mingling of foes on Christmas Day, 1914, in a brief -truce of God. Truly the light was brief and soon withdrawn, not to be -rekindled a year later, but it was strong enough to testify to the -brotherhood of man obscured so long by kings and statesmen.</p> - -<p>Women can rekindle the light so that it will not be suddenly put out; -they have no nobler purpose under heaven. And in the days when they are -come to their full stature the memory of those who applauded strife -and were dazzled by some of its exterior aspects will be utterly and -happily forgotten.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XV</span> <span class="smaller">RACE SUICIDE</span></h2> - -<p>I was visiting the north of England in connection with an Industrial -Congress, and I called upon a woman whose husband worked in a mine. -Her small house was scrupulously clean, she was young, vigorous, swift -in thought and movement, and gave me the impression that nothing came -into her life in the form of obstacle and surprise without finding -her ready to deal with it effectively. She showed me with a certain -pride the small collection of books on social subjects bought in -second-hand shops by her and her husband. I remember seeing John -Stuart Mill, Ruskin, William Morris, Rowntree, Henry George, and many -another familiar name. "We have read them together," she told me, -"we have educated one another since the time we first met at evening -classes." I remarked that her married life seemed to lack one thing -only, and that was a family, and I quoted the Eastern aphorism that -a house without children is a garden without flowers. She smiled a -little sadly, and then I noted how some faint lines about her mouth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> -tightened and hardened, robbing her of a certain charm. "Lady Warwick," -she said, "we earn between us by hard work from day to day between four -and five pounds a week. It has taken many years to reach that figure, -and there is no chance of passing beyond it. What we have endured on -the road to this comparative comfort we alone know, and we don't talk -about it. But we both believe that the game is not worth the candle. -The conditions of life in England are not worth perpetuating, and -neither of us would willingly bring children into the world to take -their chance and run their horrible risks as we did." She stopped for -a moment in order to be sure of her self-control, and then she told me -that in her view, though all her heart cried out for little children, -sterility was the only protest that could be made against the cruel -conditions of modern life under capitalism. "I know that my husband and -I are desirables from the employer's standpoint. We earn far more than -we receive, we are temperate, hard-working, punctual, reliable. But -when we have settled our rent and rates, clubs, and insurances, dressed -ourselves, paid tram fares and bought a few books, there is nothing -left but a slender margin that a few months' illness would sweep away. -For a week or ten days a year we may learn that England is not all as -hideous as this corner of it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> but we shall die without a glimpse of -the world beyond and of its treasures that our books tell us about. If -we stop to think, our life is full of unsatisfied longings, and though -we don't give them free play we can't ignore them altogether. So we -will not produce any more slaves for the capitalist, <i>and I can tell -you that there is not one decently educated, young married woman of my -acquaintance who is not of the same mind</i>. You could go into a score of -houses known to me in this town alone and find strong, vigorous women -whose childlessness is their one possible protest against the existing -wage slavery."</p> - -<p>Years have passed since, in that gloomy little northern town with its -congeries of mean streets looking meaner than ever under the rain, -I met the speaker whose name has passed from me. She may well be -approaching the time when Nature will confirm her resolve irrevocably, -but the memory of that conversation has haunted me with the vision of -thousands of lost souls and unhappy lives.</p> - -<p>I know now, if I did not know it then, that the music of little -voices and the patter of little feet would have brought into that -poor worker's life many of the joys for which she sighed in vain. She -did not know, nor at that time did I, that obedience to natural law -ensures a happiness that is <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>independent of external circumstances, -while disobedience brings in its train an ever-growing mental discord -and sows the seeds of disease and decay. Statistics can be fascinating -friends even though they be formidable acquaintances; they have a rough -eloquence of their own that is more effective than honeyed speech.</p> - -<p>The birth-rate of England, France, and the United States, associated -as it is in all these countries with the death-rate of the newly born, -is to me one of the most depressing signs of the times. I cannot help -realising that in many cases sterility is not the deliberate protest -of the wage slave, it is the selfish protest of the pleasure seeker, -and in a small minority of cases the genuine, yet narrow, fear of the -eugenist and his following whose enthusiasms have outrun both knowledge -and faith. Tolstoy went so far as to say that the man who enjoys -association with his wife for any purpose save procreation is guilty of -a crime. While many childless women live celibate lives, particularly -in America, the great majority do not. In Milton's stately words they -"of love and love's delight take freely," as though the power that -rules and guides the world could in the long run be outwitted by what -it has created.</p> - -<p>To-day the civilised world is at the parting of the ways. War has riven -asunder the ranks of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> best and bravest, and has left in the hearts -of the survivors so vivid a sense of the horrors of life that many a -man will hesitate to become a father lest his sons have to take their -place in time to come on the fields of war and his daughters chance -to be among the dwellers in a conquered city. All classes have been -gathered to battle, one and all will feel the responsibility attending -the failure of our civilisation. While many will believe they are -responding to a high instinct when they elect to follow the line of -least resistance and leave the world a little poorer, the cumulative -effect of such a decision is positively terrible to contemplate.</p> - -<p>There are some lines in <i>Coriolanus</i> that might have been addressed not -to those who banished him from Rome, but to the women of the world's -most highly civilised countries:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i3">"Have the power still</div> -<div>To banish your defenders; till at length</div> -<div>Your ignorance, which finds not till it feels,</div> -<div>Making not reservation of yourselves,</div> -<div>Still your own foes, deliver you as most</div> -<div>Abated captives to some nation</div> -<div>That won you without blows."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>If these lines are really as appropriate as they seem to me, it is -because the women of the civilised world and the more leisured section -of it are on their trial. There is going to be an unimagined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> shortage -among the best elements of the most highly civilised population, a -shortage due in part to the fashion in which responsible women have -neglected their duties hitherto. If the pleasure lovers decline their -share of child-bearing on the ground that it robs them of long periods -of amusement, and if the finest type of women workers refuse on the -other grounds raised earlier in this paper, what will be the result? -There will be a sharp social cleavage, the few clever exploiters will -enchain the unfit who are produced so rapidly, we shall develop a small -class that governs and a large class that is ruled, all progress will -come to an end, while the conditions obtaining when the industrial -era was opened by steam power will be revived with all the attendant -horrors in some new and unsuspected guise.</p> - -<p>It is well to remember how, following the first trumpet call of war, -our hard-won liberties were stripped from us. Some of my American -friends say it is because our free institutions were not very deeply -rooted, but I am well convinced that if the United States were -involved, the results would be much the same. War always dethrones -Liberty, and the nation that can set her up again when peace is -restored may be congratulated. As a rule the struggle has to begin -all over again, for the State advances claims that are incompatible -with any kind of freedom that is worth having. Only the will of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> the -people can gain liberty, and to make that will sufficiently strong and -effective it must be expressed by the best human material, the children -of the best types. So it seems to me that race suicide, evil at all -times, becomes in seasons like this an act of treason, not only to the -nation but to civilisation and all those ideals upon which civilisation -waits.</p> - -<p>In the town to which I referred on the first page of this paper, the -women who deliberately discarded motherhood might between them have -raised a strong company to fight for the rights of the next generation. -They were shocked to consider the travail that brought them beyond the -reach of want, had they lost sympathy with those who succumbed by the -way? Is not the fate of these last the more tragic?</p> - -<p>The faults and failures of life are not a divine dispensation. -Providence has placed us in a marvellous world, capable of raising far -more than is needed to supply the reasonable wants of one and all. That -there are misery, injustice, want and inequality must not be charged to -the account of Providence, but to the foolishness and immortal greed -of man, who cannot deal equitably with the resources of which he is -the trustee. The world waxes richer year by year, for we are gathering -the power to increase production and to distribute<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> the surplus of -one region to supply the deficiency of another. It is a very fair and -beautiful world, and we need no more than that all should be permitted -to share what is produced. To enforce this distribution, to see that -it is enjoyed in peace and tranquillity is the appointed task of a -strong and vigorous democracy. The primal duty of women is to give this -democracy to the world and keep its strength renewed.</p> - -<p>Some may fear that women "condemned to fertility" as one phrased it in -my hearing recently, may be unable to take their part in the struggle -for emancipation. But surely motherhood enforces the qualifications of -women, justifies their claims and provides them with the material to -train for future triumphs. Olive Schreiner, in her magnificent book -"Woman and Labour," in which, however, she wrote of the birth-rate and -its incidents without visualising the possibilities of world war, says -that some birds have raised the union of the sexes to a far higher -level than humanity has reached. The male and the female share the -nest building, the incubation and the feeding of the young, and it was -impossible for that fine observer to note any difference in the task of -the sexes. So it should be with us and will be when we have developed -to that standard. The labours and responsibilities of the home, and -the daily work will be a part of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> common contract and bond of men -and women, and no woman will be disqualified by the fulfilment of her -duties in the home more than the man is disqualified by reason of his -labours beyond it. We are all conscious of evils that throng the world, -we all strive to better them in a degree, few of the most careless -fail altogether to be kind in some fashion, however haphazard, but if -the women who take life seriously will not only fulfil the commandment -to be fruitful and multiply, but will do their best to urge their -reluctant sisters, a single generation may avail to restore the balance -of sanity, equity and progress throughout civilisation.</p> - -<p>This social disease of race suicide has not been long established. It -came into France, I believe, as a result of the law that divides the -inheritance of the parents among the children equally, it has crept -into England and America chiefly as a product of overmuch luxury and -wealth. Apart from such a reason as calculated protest against social -inequalities, it is due to the methods of life that soften women and -make child-bearing a terror. I have been told by my travelled friends, -the men and women who have been to the far ends of the earth, that -in the lands where women are hardy, healthy, and vigorous, there is -no trouble for the mother at these critical times. She recovers her -full strength in a few days. At Easton, in Essex, where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> I was born -and brought up, and at Warwick, where I have lived so much since my -marriage, I have seen that the workers' wives who live frugally and -actively are able to rear large families and retain not only their -health, but their good looks. Casting my memory back I can recall the -time when great families were the rule, and not the exception, among -the leisured classes. The women who entertained in great houses that -they administered in every detail, brought their six, eight, or ten -children into the world and lived long, healthy, happy lives. The -modern fashion is of recent date, and now that the war has stirred the -heights and depths of human consciousness the old bad custom should -pass, for the sake of a world that the madmen of mankind have made -desolate. At no period in the history of Western civilisation, has -it been more necessary for the women who count as factors in world -progress to consider their duty and fulfil it to the extreme limit of -their power.</p> - -<p>I think that the need of the United States is not less than our own, -for it sees the influx day by day of the most diverse elements, and -knows well enough that the genius of rule belongs to the Anglo-Saxon. -The negroid element does not forget its duty, and the honest class -of immigrant that seeks to share the benefit of an enlightened -civilisation is hardly less prolific. Against all the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>problems that my -American friends, and they are many, have set out, there is no surer -safeguard than an ever increasing birth-rate of the best elements.</p> - -<p>I have never felt disposed to join in the cry of the Yellow Peril, nor -to think well of those who raise it wantonly, but certain facts stand -out in a very bright light shed upon them by the war. In the first -place the Allied powers of the Entente have sought the services of both -yellow and black races, and have by so doing proclaimed the dawn of -a new era in which all questions of equality must come to the front. -Japan is very wide awake, and China is still a slumbering giant. Given -sanitary science and a great gift of organisation, she might rule all -Asia. The Berbers, Arabs, and negroid races of Africa have lined our -trenches and taken part in our attacks; one and all, to say nothing of -the Indian soldiers, have learned more of war in the past year or so -than they had ever known before. They have seen the weakness as well as -the strength of the white man.</p> - -<p>Black and yellow races alike are extraordinarily prolific; there is -among their women no shirking of duty in that regard. Very soon the -white man will realise that he cannot maintain his old position unless -he is fully prepared to accept responsibilities far greater than those -of his forebears. If the rate of his progression falls while that of -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> other races rises, there can only be one solution in the end, -such a solution as "Coriolanus" speaks of in the scathing lines I have -quoted. In short, if the white man's burden is to be borne there must -be sufficient white men to bear it. Statesmen will labour in vain and -the friends of progress will strive to no end if the start that the -other races have gained is to be increased, and the white women of the -world must decide whether or no they are content that not only their -own nation but the whole standard of life for which they stand is to -be submerged, or whether by a generous interpretation of the duties of -motherhood they will enable their people to remain in the future as -they have been in the past. We cannot tell what the final harvest of -war will amount to, but with the dead, the diseased and the disabled, -it will probably run into ten figures, more than five times the measure -of human sacrifice demanded by all the great wars that shook the world -from Blenheim to Omdurman. Even these monstrous figures do not tell the -whole tale, for there will be among the dead, thousands of men whose -talent might have developed into genius, and there will be hundreds of -thousands of widows left in the full flush of womanhood, with all their -possibilities unfulfilled, and, in countless cases, beyond the reach of -fulfilment. To put it brutally, our civilisation that stands in bitter -need<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> of its best breeding stock has deliberately slaughtered a very -large percentage of it.</p> - -<p>This, indeed, is race suicide in its worst form, and just as woman -hopes by her emancipation to dam the tide of war, so she must step into -the breach and dam the tide of loss. Emancipation will do very little -for women if when they have obtained it they find the best elements -of the white races increasingly unable to stand the strain imposed by -war. They will not forget that the black man's women are bought to tend -his land and enable him to live in ease or that the Mohammedan in the -enforced seclusion of the harem may share his favours among four lawful -wives and as many concubines as his purse can furnish. As the standard -of civilisation declines, woman, by reason of her physical weakness, -must pay an ever increasing penalty; only when it has risen to heights -unreached before the war may she hope to come into her own and to -realise ambitions that, dormant or active, have been with her through -the centuries. The whole question of her future has been brought by the -war outside the domain of personal or even national interests, suddenly -it has become racial.</p> - -<p>Down to a little while ago the solution was not in woman's hands, -to-day it belongs to her, she has to decide not only for herself, but -for all white mankind. It is not too much to say that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>civilisation, as -we know it, will soon be waiting upon her verdict. If this statement -seems too far reaching, if it seems to challenge probability, let -those who think so turn to any good history of the world and see for -themselves how each civilisation has been overwhelmed as soon as it -reached the limits of its efficiency and endurance. In the history of -this planet, changes no less sweeping than that which I have indicated -have been recorded, the Providence that has one race or colour in -its special keeping is but the offspring of our own conceit. The -real Providence that dominates the universe treats all the races on -their merits. If, and only if, the best types of women will embrace -motherhood ardently, bravely content to endure the discomforts and -discover for themselves the infinite pleasure, can the earth, as we -know it, survive the terrible shock it has received. Even then the -recovery will be slow, and the price to be paid will be bitter beyond -imagining, but we shall in the end win through, though I who write and -you who read may well have settled our account with mortality before -the season of full recovery dawns upon a wasted world. Should we fail -in our duty then we must pass as Babylon and Egypt and Rome passed -before us, to become no more than mere shadows of a name.</p> - -<p>The least among us may dream dreams and see visions. My own dream and -my own vision are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> of woman as the saviour of the race. I see her -fruitful womb replenish the wasted ranks, I hear her wise counsels -making irresistibly attractive the flower-strewn ways of peace. I see -the few women who encourage war turning from the error of their ways, -and those who have spurned motherhood realising before it is too late -the glory of their neglected burden. And I believe with a faith that -nothing can shake that with these two changes and a wise recognition -that the fruits of the earth were given to us all not in accordance -with our gifts, but in the measure of our needs, a new season may come -to this distracted world. Should all the high hopes of our noblest -suffer eclipse, should all the travail of the Christian era be brought -to nothingness? I have too much faith in my sex to believe it will -let the world perish if the real meaning and significance of its duty -can be brought home to it. We have been ill educated, we have been -spoilt, we have been corrupted, but for all that there is a certain -soundness at the heart of woman. She has not shrunk from the duties she -understands, even the lapse from grace that recent years have revealed -will not outlive this understanding.</p> - -<p>The responsibility for spreading the truth rests upon all who recognise -it. There are countless women throughout the world who by sheer force -of character can influence their women friends and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> have learned that -the vital problem of sex is not rightly to be treated as though it -were not fit for discussion. They are scattered over all the cities of -the world; the cumulative effect of their labours would be immense, -irresistible. I am sure that the perils I have outlined are known -and feared in the Old World and the New, that they are mentioned in -the highest quarters of London, Paris, and Washington, and that the -transitional period separating words from deeds must needs be brief -because the problem does not brook delay. Many women will respond -without questioning to the call of duty. Some, whose life struggle can -be understood only by those who share it, may ask first that their -offspring shall be treated as what they are, State assets, and not -abandoned to all the evils of poverty. Others will want to know that -they are not raising sons to become the "cannon fodder" of kings and -statesmen. In the light of the needs of the white man's world, and the -weight of the white man's burden, are even these assurances too much to ask?</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XVI</span> <span class="smaller">THE LESSONS OF THE PICTURE THEATRE</span></h2> - -<p>It came upon me with a sudden sense of revelation, for when I went into -the theatre my thoughts were heavy with the weight of war. The friend -with whom I had dined had insisted, and though at first I had refused, -she had compromised with my objections. "Come and see some pictures, -if you cannot face a three-act play," she had said. "I can promise you -something quite remarkable, and when you have had enough, just rise and -I will follow." But in the end it was my friend who suggested leaving, -because she had a long day's work before her and knew that I too had -an engagement nearly two hundred miles from town. And when I told her -that she had shown me more than she herself had seen, and that I would -not have missed that couple of hours' illumination on any account, she -merely said she would not attempt to understand, but was very glad.</p> - -<p>I have been greatly concerned with problems of peace and war from -the woman's view-point. So many women have written to me about the -question,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> some from far-away corners of the States, others from -remote English country-sides. I feel the ferment in the blood of every -thinking woman; I know how surely and inevitably the time is coming -when men and women must face the problem of world control side by side. -It has seemed to me that only one force can avail to end war, and that -is the force of education supplementing the efforts and strengthening -the bands of brotherhood. But how should one make the dry bones of -education live for those to whom education is now no more than dry -bones? We can reach the children whose imagination is yet immature, how -reach the grown up, immersed in the struggle for life and bringing even -to their leisure the harassed mind and tired brain? How make the path -clear, how stir to the depths their slumbering sense of the world that -lies beyond their working day? When I went into the Scala Theatre in -London the problem was a baffling one, when I had seen "The Birth of -a Nation" I realised the truth that such pictures in the hands of men -with insight and vision may yet move the world.</p> - -<p>We of England may well forget the follies of our forebears, and the -American with Anglo-Saxon blood in his veins may well forgive them, -while both tingle with pride at the accomplishment of those "Mayflower" -Pilgrims who paved the way for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> coming of a nation destined I think -in the near future to become the wealthiest, most powerful, and, one -hopes, the most progressive on the face of the earth. But who realised, -save in a vague and uncertain fashion, the true glory of America's -brief history? Who could visualise the scenes to which statesmen and -orators recur from time to time? Of the general public few indeed if -any, to the rank and file the experience of seeing the past flower into -life before them must have been such a one as Keats describes—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Then felt I like some watcher of the skies</div> -<div>When a new planet swims into his ken,</div> -<div>Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes</div> -<div>He star'd at the Pacific—and all his men</div> -<div>Look'd at each other with a wild surmise</div> -<div class="i1">Silent, upon a peak in Darien."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>A few deep thinkers, men with vivid minds, must of course have seen -beyond the limited vision of the multitude, or nothing so sweepingly -comprehensive, so splendidly realistic, so artistically complete as -"The Birth of a Nation" could have been devised. It is poetry almost -in the sense that Hardy's "Dynasts" is poetry, while its educational -value, appealing as it can to young and old, learned and illiterate -alike, is very real. Whatever the commercial value, and this I am glad -to think must be great, the value of the spectacle as a force for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> -promotion of the highest order of patriotism is greater still. I can -only feel delighted to think that such a task could be so carefully -undertaken and so satisfactorily achieved.</p> - -<p>A picture play may not seem at first sight a very great medium for -presenting the truth about history or even a single facet of the great -diamond of life; at least if I am honest with myself this would have -been my own opinion down to the date of my visit to "The Birth of a -Nation." I had misjudged the scope of the picture play in the light -of the hoardings, vulgar, fantastic, or silly, that make the streets -of even the small provincial towns more than necessarily offensive. -I did not understand that in the hands of capable and imaginative -artists, not only the present can be put before us, but the past can -be reconstructed, and the future suggested. How it would help us to -understand not only ourselves, but others of the great group of nations -if we could see the history of all countries presented with something -of the skill and sincerity that have gone to these graphic outlines of -America's past! Often in Warwick Castle, as I have pondered some of the -records of bygone time and half-forgotten history, I have marvelled at -the pageant that is suggested, but never realised by the pages before -me. If we could bring our history before ourselves would it not teach -us more of our triumphs and mistakes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> than any book? And if the history -of the struggles and endeavours of other nations could be faithfully -presented, would there not be in the vision something to make us more -sympathetic, more ready to realise that we are all passing along the -same road, a narrow bridge of consciousness spanning the river of life -that flows through eternity, with dreamless sleep or life beyond our -ken on either hand? Would it not help to teach us that for the people -of every race that brief spell of consciousness is associated with so -many self-made troubles that the hell of the obsolete theologians is -rendered quite superfluous? We cannot in normal times hate the men, -women, and children of another race merely because they are not of our -own. The same virtues, the same strivings, the same uprising towards -the elusive light are shared in common. So, too, are the prejudices and -errors with which we strive. Presented with sympathy, and, above all, -with humility, the history of the birth and subsequent struggle of all -the nations would be a potent force for peace, because it would be the -first aid to understanding.</p> - -<p>I think that the men and women who have paid their vows to peace, -those who, while realising that the present war must go on to the end, -will make any sacrifice to deprive it of a successor, may find in -the picture play, carefully conditioned to the needs of our fateful -times, the fulcrum that will enable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> them to move the world. I can -see it passing from the domain of the theatre to the lecture hall. I -can see the best features of the enterprise enlarged and developed -until at last the benefits of travel and a knowledge of history are -put before those who under normal conditions—or rather the conditions -that the Moloch of commercialism has made normal—would never be able -to enjoy either. I hold and shall always hold, that the ultimate -power of directing their lives is in the hands of the people, it is -not rightly in the gift of Kings or Kaisers, diplomats, statesmen, or -soldiers. The sunrise of peace waits upon the dawn of knowledge, of -knowledge that can be acquired by men, women and grown-up children of -the working classes, the classes that accomplish all that is worth -accomplishing, and pay the fullest penalty of the greed and vanity of -those who live upon their labours. But, as I have so often insisted, -the workers are inarticulate, particularly in the southern counties -and round the metropolis of England; they do not breathe the fresh air -of the north, and it is notorious that London ruins the breed of the -workers. The greater the city, the greater the unemployment, the keener -the competition, the readier the acceptance of conditions that make -men the slaves instead of the masters of their task, the smaller the -leisure to think or to study the curious and manifold complexities of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>existing conditions. Only by making that study easy and by giving it -the form of relaxation, by stimulating the tired brain, can the worker -be roused. It is a matter of fact rather than of conjecture, that the -picture "palace" is beginning to claim his scanty leisure, and his tiny -surplus over the paramount demands of a minimum of food and clothing. -Democratic in its essence and secure in its appeal, it seems to me -that the picture theatre can be developed to the most instructive and -useful ends. It can teach the working man the history of his own career -and long struggle towards fairer conditions of life and labour, it -can show the world's workers all aiming to reach the same legitimate -goal and it can enforce the lesson that a unity of ideals, and a stern -rejection of the counsels of those who would make mankind his enemies -rather than his friends will make war impossible. It may be that in -America, that great melting-pot, as Mr. Zangwill calls it, of all -jarring nationalities, the lesson is more obvious and more quickly -mastered, but there is a work well-nigh as great to be done in England, -where if the mixing of the nationalities is less noticeable, the need -for knowledge is still greater. The States, wealthy beyond the dreams -of avarice, entirely self-supporting, and utterly unchallenged by any -Power within striking distance, may well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> laugh in the face of those -who would impose upon them the extravagant horrors of militarism.</p> - -<p>We shall have to face militarism over here; it has had its advocates -for many years, and—why deny it?—their position will be immensely -strengthened by the war. We know by now that our rulers cannot save us, -that if we would be saved it must be by ourselves, and we know too that -salvation will be born of knowledge and of knowledge alone. I regard -the picture theatre as the finest medium for the spread of knowledge -now before the public, and I am confident that if the great engineers -of enterprise will devote their energies to the sane peace propaganda -that consists in showing not only the history but the aims of the great -majority of civilised people, the lesson will travel far and sink -deep. "The Birth of a Nation" reveals the infinite capacity of the -master film makers, their resource and resources, the measure of skill -they can command. It also shows by reason of its success the immense -public interest, the desire to learn, and to make use of knowledge. -It is not often that a venture avowedly commercial in its aims can -perform a world-wide service, and I am optimistic enough to believe -that those in charge of such a work as that which is responsible for -my own conversion and enthusiasm will be quick to see that in serving -themselves they can serve humanity.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XVII</span> <span class="smaller">TRUTH WILL OUT</span></h2> - -<p>It seems only a few years since Truth, if not precisely popular, -enjoyed a certain reputation, a little definite vogue. To tell the -truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth was not only a nominal -obligation in the courts of law, but a tradition among a certain -class, small but not negligible, of English men and women. Truth was -found in all sorts of places, you met it sometimes in Parliament, -generally on the back benches, now and again it was seen or suspected -in the Press; it frequented the Pulpit, and was not unknown upon -the public platform if the gathering was not one of the political -rallies that it resolutely ignored. To be sure when intended for the -appreciation or admiration of sensitive folk, it was always dressed up -in garments that hid a part of its native ugliness, and over the hard, -unrelenting features a certain veil, enforcing a decent obscurity, was -scrupulously drawn. The higher Truth climbed in the social scale, the -more the trappings, the thicker the veil, while on the lowest rungs -of the social ladder there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> were none to supply dress or wrappings, -and Truth stood revealed in such an ugly guise that only the strong -minded dared to look. When they told what they had seen, all those -who lived on any of the rungs above them deplored at the top of their -voices the indecency of the revelation and devised thicker veils and -heavier drapery. And yet for all men and all women, according to their -capacity for looking courageously before them, Truth existed. Among -most of those who live in comfort there was a tradition that Truth had -borrowed the head of Medusa the Gorgon lady who incontinently turned -to stone all those who looked upon her, and was ultimately tricked -out of life and activity by Perseus; on the other hand, the people of -the underworld, the world that does the rough work, had looked upon -Truth and found the cold implacable eyes had in them more of stimulus -than death. They even went so far as to hope that in times yet to come -the robing and veiling of Truth would be regarded as an offence and -the duty of looking Truth straight in the face, would be obligatory -upon kings, statesmen, clergymen, county and district councillors, -journalists and lawyers alike. Against the gross indelicacy of this -democratic suggestion there was not unnaturally a revolt, as many -of those people just mentioned had every reason to fear that such -a decision would rob them of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>occupations that, if not actually -profitable to their fellow-men, were at least sometimes dignified and -very often lucrative.</p> - -<p>Then came War, and the people of all combatant countries formed -amid and despite their bitter antagonisms an unwritten, unsigned -compact to the effect that whatever the divergence of their aims and -policies, they would at least conduct one part of their campaign in -common, against a common foe. Agreements having lost their validity, -it was impossible to reduce this one to writing, and they knew, too, -that actions speak louder than words. So with unanimity that forgot -all causes of dispute, the fighting powers found time and means and -occasion in the midst of their awful traffic to wage war against Truth. -In this country the naked Truth may no longer find a resting place, -if the well in which Truth is said to dwell could be located it would -incontinently be filled up and no material would be regarded as too -poisonous for the purpose. As the well cannot be located, the Defence -of the Realm Act has, in these islands instituted sumptuary laws so -strict that Truth is now robed, veiled, and manacled past recognition. -The delight of those who have suffered from the constant fear of -the apparition, who have found their enjoyment of the feast of life -constantly menaced by the report that Truth was in the neighbourhood,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> -is unbounded. It is admitted by every government that Truth is one of -the greatest obstacles to the proper progress of universal destruction -and all Governments have substituted in the interests of public -digestion Fiction, a far more popular creation and more palatable too. -They call it by the title of Official Report. If one Report contradicts -and is contradicted by all the others, you can at least pay your money -and take your choice and the task of selection is eased by the certain -knowledge that Truth is not admitted to any.</p> - -<p>In the Parliaments of the world responsible speakers have but to -declare that the irresponsible ones are endeavouring to bring back -Truth to the high assembly, and every one of Fiction's countless -adherents will rise in his place to protest. In the pulpit, to which -Truth still seeks admittance, the veil has become a mask, and the -garments have a double thickness, but in the Courts of whatever kind -and in Fleet Street it has been found that the precautions in vogue -before the war are sufficiently adequate.</p> - -<p>To any mortal such persecution had been fatal, but Truth is immortal -and persists. Not even the Jews whose sufferings are eternal, or the -Belgians, Poles, Armenians, Servians, and others whose persecution -though intolerable is temporary, strive to recover their vanished -freedom as resolutely as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> Truth. The harder you use it, the greater -its persistence. Drive it out at the door it returns by the window, an -indefatigable, untiring immortal, seemingly unconscious of the loss -of popularity, convinced that it has a place in the great scheme of -things. It whispers to kings on their thrones, and to chancellors in -their studies, to statesmen on Government and opposition benches, to -clergymen in their pulpits, lawyers in their consulting rooms; passing -by janitor, secretary, and a sub-editorial array, it even invades the -editor's desk, persistent though ignored. Trampled upon, cast aside, -ignored, eviscerated, turned inside out, confuted, obscured, denied, -perverted, misunderstood and damned, it still labours, powerful as in -the days when old Thomas Carlyle watched its progress through the world -and hailed it alone immortal. With a striking disregard of the laws of -emergency and confusion, it declines to be regarded as an enemy alien. -With an utter contempt for a Fiction entrenched behind all the barbed -wires of popularity, it whispers the most disconcerting statements to -those who hoped or believed that it was dead. None can say what form -the instructions, warnings, and admonitions take, but all may guess -them, and the temptation so to do is ever present.</p> - -<p>I think that the one outstanding fact upon which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> Truth insists is that -until it is allowed to prevail there can be no peace in the world, -that even victories must be unavailing while the hard-won lessons -they bring are taught in terms of fiction. Truth tells us that the -fog of war is hardly more horrible than the fog of falsehood; product -of a poison gas that is manufactured by every country alike. To the -Prussians who are in our midst striving to fasten upon us the fetters -fashioned by our enemies for the control of all liberty, comes the -secret warning that such fetters will not fit the Anglo-Saxon people, -that the rivets will not hold, that they will be torn asunder and even -used as weapons against all forgers. Truth will tell those who seek to -effect economies at the expense of education that only sound training -and diligent application to every form of activity can enable us to -hold our own against Germany, whether the defeat of that country be -whole or partial. Truth says the will of the people is being forged as -of wrought iron upon the fields of war, and that the days of privilege -are numbered. Truth whispers that the burdens imposed upon those yet -unborn, not only in Great Britain, but in every belligerent country can -only be met if they are shared by one and all, not with any sense of -precedence or class distinction but in a brotherhood that embraces all -who labour whether with hand or brain to the common end.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> Truth will -whisper to those who shrink before strong, whole-hearted and courageous -methods necessary to bring all classes into line that the needs of -the time are paramount and that those who will not steer the ship of -State to a safe harbour because of the adverse winds and storming -waves that lie ahead, must yield to other pilots cast in sterner -mould. It will point out that the old days of political trifling and -dalliance are numbered, that right and wrong, bravery and cowardice, -energy and inaction, whatever their future, can no longer be weighed -in the unjust balances of the party system. Truth will say that our -empire needs the best service, not only of every man, but of every -woman, and in consequence, that both must be rendered fit to serve and -allowed to express themselves to the State's best advantage without -reference to pedigree or sex. It will declare that an England in which -the labours of six men out of seven are valued at three pounds a week -or under, cannot endure for the simple reason that under the present -social system, hundreds of thousands of really capable people who could -deserve well of their country are doomed by poverty to ineffectiveness. -Truth will say bluntly that the future demands statesmen rather than -politicians, men in their prime rather than men in their decline. It -will whisper of the vigorous democracies that the genius<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> of empire -has brought into being, the democracies that have striven so nobly to -save the empire and must—not for reasons of sentiment alone—play -their part in administering it. There will not be wanting the reminder -that the season in which crises, military, social, political, can be -smothered in platitudes is past, not in our time to return.</p> - -<p>If Truth were to proclaim these facts duly pointed and applied, -together with many another of like weight and significance from the -house-tops, the Defence of the Realm Act would intervene promptly, -strongly and passionately on behalf of Fiction; but the Act has -limitations. The Still Small Voice evades the Act every time, it speaks -less from the lips than to the hearts of men. There is no humbug so -highly placed as to be able to shut it out, there is no man or woman so -befogged or bewildered by the horror of the hour that he cannot hear -the silences made audible. For Truth is not cast out of life, it is -but despised and rejected by the world's rulers and even they cannot -shut out the voice that whispers through all their waking hours, for -while many men can deceive others, few, if any, are permitted entirely -to deceive themselves in times like these. So many soft conventions -have fallen by the way, so many of life's excuses and subterfuges -have fallen into everlasting nothingness. Before the horror-stricken -eyes of authority<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> the world over, Truth, muzzled, bedraped, masked, -and shrouded appears again like the skeleton at the feast, like the -grinning skull that accompanied the Roman Emperors on their Triumphs -to remind them that they too were mortal. Slowly yet with deliberation -Truth is beginning to shed the coverings that officialdom had heaped in -such designed profusion. The day is not far distant when the fetters -will fall from the limbs, the shroud from the dread face, and in that -hour not all the Acts and Proscriptions will avail to frame a covering. -Europe, bleeding, sore, wounded, poverty-stricken, shattered beyond -recognition, will see Truth face to face. And then——?</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XVIII</span> <span class="smaller">THE CLAIM OF ALL THE CHILDREN</span></h2> - -<p>I have been trying to look through the clouds of war to what lies -behind. Quite resolutely I have closed my ears to certain empty -cries about the commercial conquest of Germany, about the coming of -Protection, about all the panaceas of political and other quacks. -Most of us who take the trouble to think can trace these cries to -their source. I have endeavoured to look to the time when this old -country of ours will be faced by a new set of conditions, by forces yet -incalculable that war has brought into being. People have talked and -written glibly about changes of heart, of the fraternising of capital -and labour, of sin and crime and disease exorcised by some supreme -spirit of good will, but I have my doubts. "Cœlum non animum mutant," -wrote Horace, two thousand years ago.</p> - -<p>Men have always made good resolutions in times of stress; they range -from the nation's ideals voiced by its spokesmen down to the promise -of candles for the shrine of some saint. The mind can follow the road -that connects our English House of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>Commons or the Russian home of the -Duma with the church of Notre Dame de la Garde whereto the men who -traffic in the mighty waters of the Gulf of Lyons pay with knick-knacks -for their real or imaginary protection. I have no faith in the power -of good intentions to act automatically. When this war is over and -we are faced with a victory, an indecisive result, or a defeat, the -tendency of our insularity will be to interfere as little as may be -with pre-existing conditions. Men who serve in high places will be -overwrought; you do not carry a part of the burden of the British -Empire upon your shoulders without a maximum of strain. The tendency -will, I fear, be to declare that the evil of the day is sufficient, -that the nation must be kept secure from new ideas. There will be few -to make excursion in search of trouble. Yet there can be very few -students of social progress who will not admit that the only way in -which we can make good the losses of war, is by turning to the best -possible account the assets left to us at its conclusion. And the -supreme asset of a State is its children.</p> - -<p>Let us leave aside for the moment all the other burning social -questions of the time. They are not the less poignant because a great -patriotic impulse has kept so much suffering silent. The question of -the future of our great Empire is one that must be decided in a large -measure by those who are <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>children to-day. We have to ask ourselves -what we are doing to prepare them for their labours, and how far such -preparation can bear comparison with that made by the nations which -will be our competitors. We are the trustees of the British Empire, -Unlimited. What manner of estate are we going to bequeath to our -children?</p> - -<p>Down to the summer of 1914, we had every means of doing well for -the generation that must grasp the reins when at Time's bidding we -relinquish them. That we had misused those means goes without saying. -As far as education goes it was said years ago of our richest schools -that a vast sum of money was expended on education, and that a beggarly -account of empty brains was the result. That indictment holds good -to-day. The education of the children of the wealthy is both costly -and ineffective. Much that is taught bears no relation to the needs -of twentieth-century life. Middle class education is better without -being good, while the State education that, as far as the poor is -concerned, is both obligatory and free, is worth what it costs. -Secondary Education is pursued if at all under conditions of the -greatest difficulty. Boys and girls too under our present evil economic -conditions are turned into wage-earners at the earliest possible -moment. County Council classes, often capably conducted and well within -the reach of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> the great majority, cannot find adequate support for -many reasons. One is that the primary education of the poor does not -encourage the habit of study. The ill-fed children of the slums look -upon school as a necessary evil, redeemed to a small extent by the gift -of free meals, over which, we, the richest nation of the earth, haggled -so long. When the children of the poor have reached the standard or -the age that sets them free, the struggle for life begins and finds -them too jaded at the end of the normal day's work to seek fresh -instruction, even if they have an inclination or ambition to improve -their minds. Untrained, undisciplined, condemned in many instances to -blind-alley employment, what better is to be expected? Again we are -face to face with the demand for cheap labour, the labour that enriches -the employer and even gives an illusory benefit to the State. Save in -the direction of making laws, most of them foolish, and raising money, -much of it ill spent, the State follows a policy of <i>laissez faire</i>. -The effort to make primary education compulsory has seemingly left it -without the energy to see that it should also be sound and effective. -The latter-day squabbles between Church and State in the schoolroom -have always been regarded as more interesting than education itself. -Legislators by the score have shown in Parliament that the question of -feeding hungry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> children so that they may be physically fit to learn, -is the only side of education over which they are prepared to spend any -thought, and that in order to oppose action. So these things were down -to the time when England went to war, so they will be after England -returns to peace unless the great body of public opinion in the country -will realise that no victory can be enduring if countries anxious -to compete with us in the future give a genuine education to their -children while we remain content with a spurious one for ours. The -issue cannot be evaded; the responsibility cannot be shirked. French -education, German, Dutch, Danish, and Swiss are better than ours. They -take into account the needs of the times. They are not founded upon old -and obsolete prejudices. The technical side of educational needs is -fairly and fully met. The State equipment is better. The teachers know -that there are people in the world who do not speak English, and that -several European languages not only have a claim to consideration, but -must be taught by competent masters; that is to say, by men and women -with a liberal education born in the land whose language they teach. -Travelling scholarships should be the first reward of those who excel -at school. The incentive would be immense, and the contribution to the -forces of peace immeasurable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> - -<p>Even our cousins across the Atlantic, who have made their educational -system a living thing, have failed to teach us. Andrew Carnegie, -remembering the land of his birth, has liberally endowed Scottish -University Education with the gold of Pittsburg. Harvard, Yale, -Princeton, and other American colleges are an example to the world, in -Canada the lesson has been learned, in Toronto, Montreal and elsewhere, -and will soon be fully applied. But here in England those who cannot -go to Oxford or Cambridge will find that, for the most part, they must -be external students in pursuit of the higher education, with little -of the joyous intercourse that kindles ambitions and ideals. We look -a little askance at education. For the man in the street the really -great representatives of Cam and Isis are those who can row from -Putney to Mortlake in the early spring, and those who can shine at the -cricket ground in Marylebone about midsummer. Scholarship is something -in the nature of a harmless eccentricity, calling less for rebuke -than for derision. For this view-point our hopeless system of primary -education is responsible. To be effective in this country education -must be revised to meet the times we live in, made popular and finally -democratised. As I write we are waging war at the price of some four or -five million pounds a day. We must wage peace with as fine a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>disregard -for inevitable expenditure. The cost of one week's war will maintain -an entirely different system of national education for a year. I would -like to deal in brief broad outline with what might be attempted.</p> - -<p>It is only necessary to concede in the first instance that a sane -Government recognises the paramount claims of the children, the -terrible loss of much of the country's best blood, and the consequent -need of bringing what is left to us to the highest pitch of public -utility. These premises should surely stand beyond controversy. Why -should not every slum child have its share of public-school life free -of all charge? If we have come to the conclusion that this is the best -thing for the future of the country, why should the majority of the -little ones be left out? Does anybody hold that we do not require the -best that all the children can do for England? To those who suggest -that such a simple matter is revolutionary, or that it will cost too -much, one reply is that our children are our greatest national asset. -Upon our capacity to rear them well and wisely and to educate them to -the needs of the time, the whole future of the British Empire depends. -There is really nothing revolutionary about the proposal, for, if you -come to think of it, we give free education and even free meals, and -the most hardened Conservative will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> acknowledge freely enough that -the slum is not a good training ground for the rising generation. You -cannot clear slums away in a hurry. The owners of such places are -regarded if not with affection, at least with respect by the law and -the law makers, but you can run up boarding establishments that will -be infinitely superior to slums, and you can gather within them the -outcasts of the capitalistic system for proper feeding, clothing, -education, and training. If children go wrong they are sent to special -schools. All that is necessary is that instead of the children going -wrong, the grown-ups shall go right, that they shall recognise how -little their politics, prejudices and preconceptions matter by the -side of one child's welfare. I go as far as to declare that it is the -bounden duty of the State to make its gift of education effective, that -in making education compulsory it recognised certain paramount duties -that remain fulfilled only in the letter, and not in the spirit. One -does not advocate change, however beneficial, for the mere sake of a -nobler and wider life, such pleas do not gain prompt acceptance. Rather -let it be stated quite frankly that, unless we turn the best aptitudes -and capacities of the rising generation to the fullest account, we -cannot hope to maintain our position in the face of competition. As a -nation we handicap ourselves lamentably when we <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>endeavour to hold our -own in the world with no more than a small part of our national assets -realised or realisable. Children are our assets, and between the infant -mortality on the one hand, blind product of ignorance, poverty, and -apathy, and indifferent education on the other hand, we stand a very -bad chance in the battle for supremacy. If we would increase, preserve, -and train child life we could look to the future without misgiving.</p> - -<p>Edmund Burke, who will not be found to have given many hostages to -socialism, declared that the citizens of a State are a partnership, -that every member of such partnership has a right to a fair portion of -all that society with all its combinations of skill and force can do in -his favour, and that he has a right to the fruits of his own industry -and the improvement of his own offspring. Let us be content to leave -the case as Burke stated it in the time of George III., it will be seen -that we have not yet gained for the average man the minima that the -most eloquent statesman of his time prescribed. It is also clear that -this claim for a full and free education is not the claim for charity, -but the claim for a right that should be deemed inalienable. The grant -of this right enriches while appearing to impoverish the State, and -a step that some will deem socialistic and others revolutionary is -fairly defined as common-sense procedure. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> have at last reached the -stage of agreeing that child life must be increased, preserved, and -cultivated to the best ends, but there is a fatal inclination in this -country to regard the theoretical acceptance of a principle as the -equivalent of its complete practical development. When you discuss the -whole vital question with sensible people they prove, almost without -exception, in accord, but as soon as you say, "<i>therefore let us endow -maternity, pass Pure Milk Bills, protect the mother from wrongful -labour before and after confinement, and the child from mal-nutrition, -educate the child when it is old enough to be educated, submit it to -reasonable discipline and prepare it physically, morally, and mentally -to fill the place for which it is best fitted in the workshop of the -world</i>," the theorists are unable to follow. Some constitutional -timidity holds them. They will not gallop across country to reach -their goal, fences and ditches frighten them, and all gates must be -unfastened. It is well for those of us whose ambitions for England -are inexhaustible, and who watch the shadow on Life's Dial moving -inexorably towards the sunset that we dare not despair of humanity. The -pen, however ill we may wield it, gives us courage. We know that when -our views are issued broadcast they resemble the seed in the Parable of -the Sower, and that some worker who in days yet unborn will lead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> the -children of the poor to their safe harbour out of the troubled waters -on which their helpless lives are tossed, will have gathered a part -of his inspiration and force from the thoughts of those who have gone -before.</p> - -<p>What is it that taints our physical bravery as a nation with so much -moral cowardice? Why is it that countless thousands will face shot and -shell and wounds horrible beyond imagining with quiet heroism, and -will yet shrink from the display of moral courage required to tell -their rulers that, until the poorest child of England has its rights -and its chance, they have failed in their duty, and that they must put -the national house in order? I would wager that a majority, a large -majority of both Houses of Parliament would be prepared to admit in -private conversation all the claims I have put forward on behalf of -the little ones, and that they would in public find a score of excuses -for not pressing them. The most frequent excuse will of course be that -after this war we shall lack the means. But I protest that whatever -the date of peace, if it be a peace that meets our hopes, we shall be -in a state in which we could find the means for at least another year -of war if need be. Who will deny that it is better to create, cherish, -and equip life than to devote our vast resources to its destruction? -Equality, liberty, and fraternity are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> the first-fruits of liberal -education, the fine flower of progress. The war found our wealth -accumulating and our people deteriorating, so slowly to be sure that -they were able to pull themselves together and appeal with certainty to -the favourable verdict of world history, but yet deteriorating. Slums, -prostitution, crime, insanity, drink, irresponsible wealth, all these -evils were beginning to fester in the body politic, and war has applied -the surgeon's knife to the open sore. Is peace to see it extirpated -or allowed to grow again? I think in all honesty and sincerity that -our treatment of the children will decide. If we will learn from our -neighbours on the continent and our kinsmen across the Atlantic we may -renew our strength. We may even justify the sacrifice of those who by -reason of their love of England will never return to us.</p> - -<p>There is another and a sacred ground for this appeal. Let us remember -the nameless dead, those whose heroism is expressed in part of a -crowded line of small print, who had nothing but their lives to offer -to their country, who had no chance in life and who when the bands -of the body were breaking gave their last anxious thoughts to little -ones doomed under our harsh system of social life to drift where and -how they can. Who among those they died to leave in security and a -sufficiency of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> the world's goods would come forward and say, "In -spite of all these dead men did for me I will oppose a measure that -will give their children useful and honourable lives, because what is -left to me of life will be passed without some luxuries I have enjoyed -hitherto?" I venture to say there are none who would put this sentiment -in words. Yet there are thousands, tens of thousands whose deeds will -say it for them, not because they are utterly selfish, callous, or -hard-hearted, but because they lack the saving grace of imagination. -The most of the evil that disfigures the earth is due to this inability -to see beyond our own needs. In the labour, the upheaval, the expense -of a movement needed to equip the generation that will so soon succeed -our own, we overlook the salient truth that it is no more than the -fulfilment of a solemn duty, a pledge that binds us to the dead though -it was never given. For who will suggest that the poor men, the bulk -of those who fought and died for England, faced their fate to maintain -the slum and the gin palace and the labour of the poor prostitute who -sells her body that she may eat to live, or drink to forget how she -is living? Surely they died for the faith that was in them, with some -dim fore-knowledge of happier days for those they left behind. We are -the executors of their unwritten testament. If, as so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> many believe, -there is some form of consciousness in the unknown world of which they -are the sudden denizens, will they not be looking even now to see if -we whose debt is so great have determined to pay it? And what better -faith can we keep than by giving to the lives they have left behind the -simple rights that were denied to them? Every rich man, every member of -the comfortable classes claims these benefits for his children, and if -the war has given birth to a true spirit of brotherhood, the children -of the poor cannot be forgotten. They lack the means, we have them. -From this simple truth and the consequent, inexorable duty there is no -escape with a clean conscience.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XIX</span> <span class="smaller">THE PRUSSIAN IN OUR MIDST</span></h2> - -<p>War throws a blinding light upon the strength and the weakness of -nations, and in England we may claim that we have faced the light -without any revelations of which we need feel ashamed. Our mistakes -have been rather of temperament than character, and whether in -mustering our millions on the voluntary system or surrendering our -hard-won liberties to an authority that has shown no sign of suffering -from wisdom in excess, or giving fully and freely of our resources -to the national cause, we may claim to have shown in our collective -capacity a generous response to the most varied and unexpected -demands. Incidentally we have discovered in our midst a body of men, -happily small in number, and not too significant in position, who -would fain embody in our national life the worst vices that we are -said to be fighting in the one foe that counts. These men, whose -political sagacity exists in inverse ratio to their prejudices, are -ever prompting the worst elements in our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> rulers and threatening and -intriguing against the others.</p> - -<p>To them war is no frightful necessity imposed upon a free and peaceful -people, but a providential opportunity for taking occasion by the hand; -the voice is the voice of Prussia, but the hands are English hands.</p> - -<p>Our Prussians have always been in evidence, but, while the government -of the empire was trusted to their friends, they were content to be -quietly active. It is now nearly ten years since a Liberal Government -came into power, and with the advent of Radical legislation our -Prussians—they call them Tories over here—became active.</p> - -<p>When taxation threatened their superfluous wealth, they called heaven -and earth to witness that such an outrage had no sanction. When the -House of Lords, long the supreme force of obstruction, was threatened -they grew frantic, and at many a well-spread board declared themselves -ready to dine—I mean die—in the last ditch before submitting to the -indignity of democratic government.</p> - -<p>When Home Rule was on the tapis they declared for revolution and civil -war, and it needed Armageddon to burst the bladder of Sir Edward -Carson's threats. In justice be it said that when the tocsin sounded -the Tories responded to the nation's need, and forgot for a time their -ineffective selves.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> - -<p>But as soon as the gravity of the task was revealed they decided -that the authorities were useless without their judgment in aid. -Cabal succeeded criticism, plots of exquisite silliness were hatched, -matched, and dispatched. Then came the call for more soldiers, and our -Prussians turned Conscriptionists.</p> - -<p>The suggestion that conscription of men should be associated with -conscription of wealth was dismissed as an impertinence, it sufficed if -all that others possess were sacrificed for the State. Our Prussians -talked incessantly of men and duty, but where finance was concerned -they were content to warn the worker not to squander his extra wages -earned by unremitting labour during a week seven days long. They saw -with clear vision the iniquity of depriving the capitalist of half the -wealth he is amassing as a result of the bloodiest war in history, -and have protested almost in unison against the decree. They forgot -with amazing ease that conscription is the force that has set the -Prussian Jack-boot above all law human and divine; they clamoured for -it here, doubtless with an eye upon the possibilities of coercing in -days to come a proletariat of toilers forced to live under military -law in time of peace. Disguised as patriots they thundered from a -hundred platforms, they thumped a thousand tubs, while their hirelings -in the Press<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> wrote stodgily in admiration and support, pointing out -that certain hard-jawed, soulless politicians would alone avail to -save England from itself. As though England would endure to-day the -undiluted political opinions of a Carson, a Milner, a Halsbury, or a -Walter Long. Excellent men, no doubt, but never in their lives less -than half a century behind the times.</p> - -<p>Politicians and papers were aided by the truth that even the voluntary -system has its flaws and hardships, its inequalities and petty -tyrannies, and the Prussian remedy for the whip of voluntary service is -the scorpion of conscription.</p> - -<p>Those who do not agree with our Prussians are traitors to the height, -although if our Prussians are patriots Dr. Johnson's definition of -patriotism becomes dangerously true.</p> - -<p>The question of peace discussion has been the latest consideration of -these gentry. Personally I have no use for peace until we have won our -victory or suffered our defeat. I believe we shall win, and that our -first duties as victors will be to take whatever steps are needed to -give peace permanence.</p> - -<p>But I cannot follow our Prussians over one yard of their mile-long way. -They would impose the methods of Berlin and Vienna upon all who dare -to have opinions of their own, they would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> repress individuality, they -would out Herod the Herods of the censorship who daily murder so much -childishness, they would in fact reduce free men to the level of the -citizens who serve their rulers for "cannon fodder."</p> - -<p>In one of the reactionary dailies written by Tories for Tories I have -been reading with infinite disgust a tribute of admiration to the -"Stern Methods" of the Central Empires in dealing with "War Cranks," -<i>i.e.</i> with people whose sense of what they, rightly or wrongly, -believe to be truth is so strong that they will sacrifice position, -even life, to tell the truth when they see it. "Hungarians," writes our -Prussian, "who were only suspected of not approving of the war were -interned or publicly shot." Such a policy has more to justify it "than -have the liberties which are accorded to certain sects who with their -ideas form an insignificant, and almost negligible minority." These -sentiments are even worse than the English used to express them. One -Hungarian publicist, M. Pazmaudy, aged sixty-nine, went to prison for -three months for writing an unpublished letter to a newspaper in which -he denounced the war as wholesale murder. A teacher who pointed out to -his class that war is the fruit of rulers' jealousy rather than of the -people's animosities, a statement that is probably true of nine-tenths -of the war recorded by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>history, was condemned to three years' hard -labour. Our anonymous Prussian rejoices in these barbarities, and a -paper supposed to represent the educated classes of England is not -ashamed to print this revelation of an unsound or distorted mind.</p> - -<p>In the early days of the war, Bernard Shaw reminded us that we, too, -have our Junkers, and his statement has been proved up to the hilt. -Our soldiers and sailors are fighting the Prussians abroad, and it is -the duty of those of us who cannot help beyond England's boundaries, -to fight the Prussians at home, for it is abundantly clear that we -have them in our midst, those who are working night and day to give -us Militarism, Absolutism, and every form of Central European slavery -under another name. They desire an England of conscript workmen, they -seek the destruction of Trade Unionism, and the abolition of socialism, -though it is only by adopting that dread creed that the Government -contrived to save our credit and to feed us. They wish to destroy the -German militarism, and what it stands for, but only to take over the -whole business, lock, stock, and barrel as a going concern. The truth -is that the Tories can no more change their skin than the leopard his -spots.</p> - -<p>It is to them the ideal, merely the ideal, in the wrong hands. They -see beyond the horizon of war<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> the dawning of a democratic era that -shall destroy privilege, and make our national freedom greater than it -has ever been, and the prospect is more bitter to them than defeat. -So while our men, so recently civilians, are proving the strength and -resources of comparative freedom—what has been done is as little with -what still remains to be done—our Prussians are putting forward all -manner of chains for unfettered limbs, and are declaring that without -them nothing can save the Empire. It is pleasant to reflect that -after this war comes to its appointed close the vigorous democracies -of Canada and Australia that have followed the United States along -the road of political freedom will be finding representatives at the -Council Board of Empire, and that they will be alert and vigorous to -put an end to the machinations of our Prussians whose attack upon -liberty will not readily be forgotten. When we attempt to measure the -sacrifices that have been made in freedom's name since August, 1914, -when we remember the spirit that has led men contentedly into the -jaws of death, when we understand what our fighters have fought for, -there is an indescribable sense of loathing for the men who, secure in -England, are plotting to transfer Prussian principles across the North -Sea. Their failure to achieve anything<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> commensurate with the villainy -of the attempt is neither palliation nor excuse.</p> - -<p>Every one who has studied social conditions knows that our national -ability to pit the unprepared British Empire against Germany armed to -the teeth, has been due to the fact that our Empire holds millions who -believe from the bottom of their hearts that it is worth living in and -dying for. What would the Prussians make of our Empire if they were -allowed to direct it? A happy hunting-ground for Junkers and a hell -upon Earth for free men is the very best that they could accomplish.</p> - -<p>Political insight, democratic foresight, prevision of the inevitable -march of events, all these gifts are denied them. They have no sympathy -with any freedom that could exist beyond the realms of the privileged -classes, they are too blind to see the writing on the wall that tells -them they have been found wanting.</p> - -<p>This war has witnessed plenty of mistakes, some trivial, some serious; -it has witnessed the birth of a certain number of oppressive and -retrograde measures, and the death of national liberties of which we -look with hope, even with certainty for the joyful resurrection.</p> - -<p>Whatever has been bad, retrograde, or dangerous to democracy has won -the unstinted approval of our Prussians; every other act of our rulers -they have condemned.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XX</span> <span class="smaller">THE GROWN-UP GIRLS OF ENGLAND</span></h2> - -<p>Before the war, I heard some shrewd feminists say that the frivolity -associated with the life of women at the time when they have ceased -to be girls and have "come out," is a matter of environment rather -than choice. They went so far as to assert that if a worthier goal -were offered, a majority would seek it without a moment's hesitation. -For all my sympathy with feminism, despite my heartfelt conviction -that man needs woman's help in the task of administering the world -that lies beyond the home, I had doubts, grave doubts. I thought -that those who said these things had gone a little beyond their -brief, and I remembered the French aphorism, "<i>la jeunesse n'a qu'un -jour</i>." It seemed to me that an innate knowledge of the time-limit was -the foundation of frivolity, and here, perhaps, I was looking back -thirty years or more to the radiant season of my own <i>début</i>, and was -remembering how the girls who became matrons were expected to play the -rest of their part in the life symphony on muted strings. True it is -that I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> helped to post-date the passing of the girl and the coming of -the matron, but in those feverish times we all thought that the race -was to the swift.</p> - -<p>It may be that this conviction coloured my views; I believed that -for the vast majority of young girls with prospects of a good time, -there would be no pleasure in serious endeavour of any kind: that a -sense of responsibility could not precede the State recognition of -women and a sweeping measure of educational reform. As recently as the -summer season of 1914, I found the new players feverishly excited by -the old, old game, and pleasure instead of losing its savour seemed -to have widened its boundaries and assumed shapes more fantastic than -ever. I heard girls who were standing on the threshold of their career -prattling of the joys to come as though life did not compass within its -horizon one solitary sorrow or disappointment. Women of experience are, -I think, stirred by these enthusiasms in their sisters or daughters, or -young friends: they have learned a part of life's lesson, and know glad -memories for an inalienable possession. It follows that they rejoice -to see those who are near and dear to them treading the primrose path -in the spring of their years, realising that when they look over the -old road in the autumn days, their memory will help to gladden it -with even fairer blossoms. If we know youth for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> season of mental -intoxication, we are not the less grateful to the gods who grant it to -one and all, and if we are quite honest with ourselves we have been -rather a little sorry for the girls who are serious before their time. -But, while so many happy children, for after all they were little more, -were bringing their healthy appetite to the banquet of life, "dawn was -at hand to strike the loud feast dumb."</p> - -<p>The effect of the upheaval upon the girls who had been presented -in 1914, or would in the ordinary course of events have made their -<i>début</i> since, has been startling, and it has taught me that not only -are the working classes sound at the core—I never doubted this—but -the leisured classes are in no whit inferior. Only an insignificant -minority pursue pleasure at any price, and find in the horrors of our -time a medium for publicity or dissipation. Over the not inconsiderable -circle that I have the opportunity of observing there came, in the vast -majority of cases, a startling change. The opportunities for frivolity -under the rose were accepted only by a few who are constitutionally and -irretrievably decadent, or actually vicious. The others passed pleasure -by, sought duty wherever it was to be found, and became supremely happy -in its pursuit. They taught me to realise that my feminist friends were -right, and that environment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> which could have moulded their plastic -natures in one mould, had no trouble in moulding them in another.</p> - -<p>To do full justice to the fortunately circumstanced girls of England, -for I take it that what is true of London and many country homes will -apply elsewhere, it is necessary to remember that they have known less -of the horrors of war than their sisters of almost all belligerent -countries. Some, very few, have heard one or two bombs dropped from -air-ships, the rest have seen no more than the wounded men who are -sufficiently well to be brought over to England. They cannot even have -visualised the full tragedy of the struggle as French and Belgian -girls must have done, and, above all, they are seldom imaginative, but -just as they were prepared less than two years ago to enjoy as good a -time as life could afford, they are now committed to the hardest tasks -within their competence. What they have lost in pleasure, they have -gained in self-respect, and a sense of true citizenship; above all, -they realise that they are of signal use to the State in the hour of -its exceeding great need. Part of the <i>rôle</i> so long denied to them -they have assumed, not only without challenge, but with acclamation.</p> - -<p>They have one additional advantage in their new sphere: they have never -known the pursuits of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>normal times. While the doors of the ball-room -and all that lies beyond were still shut, the doors of the Temple of -Janus were torn asunder. They have no regrets, they do not miss the -flavour of what they have never tasted. Life is so full for them that -if pleasure were within their grasp they would lack the leisure as -well as the inclination to grasp it. The example of fathers, brothers, -boy friends, is an unending stimulus; all those they love best are -looking to them with a gratitude or admiration that no pursuit of -pleasure could have evoked. They have realised the high tension of the -hour, they have risen silently and unostentatiously to the heights. -Such tragedy as has come into their lives—and the mourning that so -many wear is eloquent beyond all speech—has increased rather than -diminished their labours; it has brought them nearer to the actuality -of things. Where one hoped that all would gather roses many have -gathered rue, but they have learned to know it by the older name, -herb-of-grace. They wear it as they work, and it has become one of the -symbols of the bond that binds those who serve with those who suffer.</p> - -<p>I have seen the girls of whom I write labouring with deft yet -unaccustomed hands in the canteens, undertaking in the hospitals the -menial work that falls to those who are yet untrained, giving to pain -longer hours than they would have given to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>pleasure in happy times. -They bring to their tasks the subtle indefinite charm that is the gift -of their hour and was intended for a setting so different. Is it a part -of their reward that their lives should not lack a generous gift of -high romance? I cannot recall in any season over which my memory has -control so many engagements and marriages as there have been of late. -The old huckstering conditions would seem to have passed, the girls are -no longer weighing chances, the men are no longer calculating coldly. -Each sees the other at best. The girl knows that the lad who has given -all and risked all for his country must be sound at heart, and that -his scars are honourable; the young man knows that he cannot go wrong -in choosing a girl who has left pleasure for duty, who has found high -ideals and pursues them. These unions coming about in hours of deepest -uncertainty, when the bride of one month may be the widow of the next, -are calculated to bring out what is best in both, for the natural -affection is leavened by mutual respect. I have heard worldly minded -parents grieve, some have brought their tales of woe to my utterly -unsympathetic ear; I rejoice in these marriages, and believe they are -of happiest augury for the State. Surely those who wed under these -conditions may hope to live on the high plane of idealism longer than -those whose unions have been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>dictated by what is mis-called prudence, -while the fruits of unions consummated in such solemn hours when the -future of Europe trembles in the balances of God, will be a source -of strength in the years to come. They will surely not be like the -offspring of exaggerated comfort or monstrous luxury.</p> - -<p>It seems to me, reviewing the accomplishment of so many girls I know -best, that war, for all its tragedy, may well leave the poor remains -of our civilisation better than it was in the season of our opulence. -Without regard to money or to good looks some of the best elements -of the race have mated, each partner to the union understanding in -fashion hitherto unimaginable not only that the Empire is worth the -best we have to offer, but that one and all, regardless of the world's -favours, are bringing their sacrifice. The minorities, noisy or silent, -with which we must hereafter deal, the residue of profit-hunters and -pleasure-seekers, pass almost out of mind as one sees the extraordinary -transformation that war has wrought in a class that was supposed to be -utterly deaf to any call save the call of amusement. That there have -been larger tributes to the national cause is a commonplace, that there -has been a more striking one I, at least, deny.</p> - -<p>Who was the cynic who said that woman was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> last animal that man -would civilise? I hope and believe he has not lived as long as his -libel, and yet I could wish that somewhere in the realms reserved for -liars he could be permitted to see a few at least of the sights that -have gladdened and stimulated me in the past twelve months, ever since -the women workers in the Empire's cause became fully representative of -every class in the realm.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XXI</span> <span class="smaller">THE SOCIAL HORIZON</span></h2> - -<p>Very early in the war, almost before the Expeditionary Force was under -arms, the Government was forced by the grave urgency of the national -case to apply the principles of socialism to certain outstanding -problems. To name only one instance, we may mention the work of the -railways. Socialists have always urged that the railroads should be -taken over by Government in the national interest, and countless -reams of paper have been wasted by individualists to demonstrate -the impossibility. But needs grew paramount, and the Government, by -a stroke of the pen, took the railroads into its inexpert keeping. -Nothing has happened to make the country regret the change. The fashion -in which our railways (with a few notable exceptions) are conducted -is so utterly bad and so profoundly inefficient, that Government, in -giving precedence to Government business, made them very little worse. -Fares are a trifle higher, trains rather less frequent, carriages -dirtier than heretofore, but Government's proper needs and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>unpractised -handling could do little or nothing to depress the normal standard. As -the war progressed, and various common-sense measures were required -to deal with war profits, war contracts, and war crises generally, it -was recognised with something akin to dismay by the hierarchy that -lives behind the times that in many instances socialism had anticipated -common-sense. Then a strange thing happened. In a very unguarded -moment, Mr. Runciman, that bright young man whose statesmanlike -qualities and keen sympathy with our poor shipowners have endeared him -to a small minority at least of English-speaking people, was heard -to declare before a pained and startled House of Commons that where -Socialism was practical and met the needs of the hour, he was prepared -to adopt it. In other words, he would not discard a useful measure -because it was socialistic in origin or tendencies! What magnanimity; -what a sterling recognition of a nation's needs!</p> - -<p>Nobody perhaps quite knows what measure of concession to hard truth -was here intended, but as a statement made by a President of the Board -of Trade, the utterance deserved more attention than it received. -Perhaps the Press Bureau asked newspapers to take no marked notice of a -hard-worked "statesman's" slip of the tongue. One would wager that it -did not pass altogether unrebuked by those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> descendants of the wise men -of Gotham, who would rather see the Empire lost by party politicians -than saved by Socialists or Socialism.</p> - -<p>It is a curious fact, and one that the historian of the future will -surely acknowledge, that Individualism has been discredited by the war, -and that the appeal of both our leaders and misleaders, whatever the -colour of their party-political opinions, has been to the principles -underlying Socialism. Even in Russia, an autocracy, a land in which -the Tsar comes in the popular mind very near to God, the appeal to -the nation has been an appeal, however unconsciously, to Socialism. -The root principle of Socialism lies in a great National Act. The -nation must work together for the national good. So far has this idea -developed that in the last days of February, a reputed reactionary, M. -Markoff, rose in the Duma to implore the Government "to withdraw its -shield from the old gang of officials who look upon their country's -adversities merely as a favourable opportunity for increasing their -perquisites" (<i>Daily Telegraph</i>, Feb. 28th). Here, under the pressure -of giant circumstance, we find an appeal made for the united action -and the national act. In Germany, as all our responsible, and not a -little of the irresponsible, Press has frankly admitted, the Socialist -party is the only one that has kept its head, and endeavoured in very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> -difficult circumstances to preserve ideals. The <i>Vorwarts</i>, leading -organ of German Socialism, though it regards the war as an evil for -which Germany was not responsible, has courageously opposed all the -actions of the governing class that have tended to lower the character -of the German people, and I have heard some of the best informed -students of European politics declare that, had Social Democracy been -allowed another ten years of peaceful development throughout the German -Empire, no German ruler would have dared provoke a war for the hegemony -of Europe. They cannot deny that Socialism, in its International -aspect, was making for the brotherhood of man. No other force in -national life was working with any approach to equal strength and -sincerity along the same road and in pursuit of the same goal.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately, under the conditions that beset and damn all Europe, the -people have no voice in the supreme decision of war. Their privilege -is to fight those with whom they have no quarrel. Theirs, too, to -sacrifice in appalling numbers their fathers, husbands, brothers, -and sons, to give up their homes and savings, to acquiesce blindly -in every evil that marches in the wake of strife. Just as the men -ordered from the trenches to be mown down by shot and shell are given -or offered some form of raw spirit to stimulate and even intoxicate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> -them, so before war is declared, Governments, through the medium of a -docile Press, circulate the lies best calculated to make the imminent -enormity appear inevitable and just. As soon as the declaration of -war is made, the common patriotism of nations obscures every other -issue. Men must fight for hearth and home, for fatherland and all -that it implies. Primal necessity is speaking, and on every banner of -every nation the ominous words "Væ victis" are inscribed. The people -who make war and, somewhere out of Death's ample range direct it, -understand the psychology of nations; their skill in all the arts of -deception is unrivalled. Yet of all the lessons enforced by the war -there is none that has come with greater force to all whose minds are -not hermetically sealed than the lesson that Individualism has failed -completely in the hour of the world's extremist need. The price we have -paid for it within the compass of two brief years is the total loss -of millions of lives, the future ineffectiveness of still more, the -sheer, brutal waste of wealth more than sufficient to have solved all -the economic troubles of Europe. Countless thinkers in all belligerent -countries have been forced to the conclusion that Socialism is the only -force capable of rendering what is left of Europe capable and adequate -to the demands upon it. Great Britain, insular by act of God and the -general tendency of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> the population, is fully prepared to accept -Socialism as long as it is not called by that name, for such is the -state of our mental development that we judge all political goods by -their labels. In other countries, where social, political, and economic -conditions are not merely discussed, but understood, where the people's -representatives are required to have some minimum of knowledge in -addition to birth, money, and influence, these concessions to popular -ignorance and prejudice have been swept aside. The recognition of the -necessity for sweeping changes is made without fear. Even in Germany, -when Dr. Frank, the eminent Socialist, was reported killed, a statement -was published to the effect that the Kaiser had expressed his regrets -at the death of a man whose gifts would have helped the country in the -days when schemes of reconstruction are under consideration.</p> - -<p>This may have been no more than a sop to the social Democrats, of whom -upwards of two millions have been called to the colours, but even if -this be so, the sop is a significant one, and could not have been -lightly given.</p> - -<p>In stricken Belgium, the man who comes next to King Albert in sheer -patriotic endeavour and in the gift of inspiring the nation to hold up -its head under conditions hard for any of us to realise, is the famous -Socialist leader, Emile Vandervelde.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> He is not only at the head of the -Belgian Ministry of War, but is King Albert's most trusted adviser; his -gifts overshadow those of his equally devoted and patriotic colleagues. -The thrill of horror and shame that ran through France when Jean Jaurés -fell to the assassin's bullet in the opening days of war, was felt far -beyond the French borders. Even in the tense excitement of that unhappy -season, the French Government, after voting the murdered patriot a -public funeral, posted in every Commune throughout the country its -expression of horror and regret. To-day, a Socialist Prime Minister -directs with rare skill and courage the fortunes of the Republic; -the French National Council has not hesitated to summon to its ranks -such an uncompromising foe of Individualism in whatever form as Jules -Guesde. None, having eyes to see, ears to hear with, and even a modest -gift of comprehension, can fail to gather from this the tendency of -the great Power with which we are now so closely allied. Of all the -European nations there is none in which the gift of political sagacity -is so strongly marked as it is in France, none to which the gifts of -political foresight and courage have been granted in equal measure. -What Paris thinks to-day, London must be at least prepared to discuss -in the very near future.</p> - -<p>There is no secret about the cause of the action<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> that France and -Belgium have taken of set purpose. The whole essence of a successful -struggle is unity—unity of purpose, of feeling and of thought. The -working classes, now as ever, are bearing in every country the bulk of -the burden of war. Sane Governments must needs endeavour to secure for -labour an adequate representation in their midst. Knowing that their -proper interests are being subordinated, if at all, to the national -cause, and not for private profit or exploitation, labour feels that -it is secure, and will give all it has to give with a generosity -that may be rivalled, but can never be excelled. The white flame of -patriotism is only kept glowing if it is fed by the efforts of a whole -community. This result will never be quite realised here in England -until all interests are united in a Cabinet that stands just now for -very little more than the propertied classes. I admit, Mr. Henderson, -Mr. Brace, and Mr. Wardle, have all been given some office to placate -the great Trade Unions from which so much is demanded to-day. But this -is not enough. Our Cabinet of aged ostriches still hides its head -in the bushes of precedent and prejudice, content to believe that -what it does not wish to see can have no existence, and fortified -in this strange method, that would be comic if it were not tragic, -by all sections of the capitalistic Press. International <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>Socialism -is gathering its forces throughout Europe, and in the United States -as well, to impose permanent peace on kings and other anachronisms. -Thinking people in all the centres of civilisation agree that this war -is sounding the knell of privilege. But England remains content to be -ruled by lawyers, professional politicians, mid-Victorian relics, and -doctrinaires. Socialism, the master force of the immediate future, is -deliberately ignored. Well might Father Adderley (Canon the Honourable -James Adderley, so beloved in the slums of Plaistow and Birmingham) -deplore in his recently published memoirs, the absence from Parliament -or from the Government itself, of H. M. Hyndman, the Nestor of English -Socialism. The astonishing part of our national attitude towards this -crisis is that the men who really guide and influence our public -opinion, the live men of letters, are for the most part Socialists, -and make no secret of their principles, nor have they ever hesitated -to voice their suspicion of what Matthew Arnold called "the unelastic -pedantry of theorising Liberalism." Does this Government think that all -this teaching has fallen or is falling on deaf ears? Does it forget -that it was the French Encyclopædists who made the French Revolution? -They taught a discontented and unhappy people to think and the people -did the rest. Our rulers have always moved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> respectfully behind the -times, but, to do them what justice we may, be it remembered that they -never expected to live through seasons that impel the times to move -with giant and sudden strides.</p> - -<p>Now, even in the latter days, all these things have come upon them. -Will they, can they, rise to the height of the occasion?</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XXII</span> <span class="smaller">HOW SHALL WE MINISTER TO WORLD DISEASED?</span></h2> - -<p>It is not without a certain significance that, while French and German -soldiery were sacrificing themselves by their thousands to the Gods of -War in and around the blood-stained village street of Douaumont, while -our soldiers were holding on to the line of the Tigris, near whose -source Russian forces were marching southward to the rescue, the Royal -Commission appointed to investigate what is euphemistically called -"Social Disease," issued its report. The coincidence from certain -view-points is startling.</p> - -<p>The report, definitely limited as to its scope, sober in its statement, -and appalling in its revelation, is a solemn reminder to the world of -civilised men that there are enemies equally deadly and more insidious -than those with whom any belligerent is concerned. The victims of the -diseases discussed probably outnumber, in Great Britain alone, all her -defenders on sea and land. Four millions of our population, with power -to add to their number, are at grips with a deadly enemy in various<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> -stages of its virulence; an enemy who will "visit the sins of the -fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation." Nay -more, the Commissioners whose trained minds lend solid value to their -every utterance, assure us that after a war an excessive incidence -of disease is certain to occur, even in districts previously free. -There are other significant comments. "Our evidence," they tell us, -"tends to show that the communication of disease is frequently due -to intoxicants, and there is no doubt that the growth of temperance -among the population would help to bring about an amelioration. We are -also conscious of the fact that overcrowded and insanitary dwellings -contribute to the spread of disease, and from improvements in this -direction we should expect some diminution of its prevalence."</p> - -<p>Let us consider the full meaning of these vivid comments. When war is -over, we shall celebrate the coming of peace throughout the length and -breadth of these islands. Countless offerings will be laid before the -altar of the brewer and the distiller; it will be almost dangerous to -be an abstainer. For a time, at least, the barriers of restraint will -be torn down. Something known as "good fellowship" will at once dictate -and excuse an orgie. The discipline that weak minds require will be -honoured in the breach rather than the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>observance, and "an excessive -incidence of disease is certain to occur, even in districts previously -free."</p> - -<p>When a town is successfully invaded, and a soldiery, grown reckless -after lying cheek by jowl with death flings his self-discipline, -mercy, and restraint to the winds, the world that has not lost its -reason is sick at heart. When peace is proclaimed, and the return to -civil life is associated with a licence that outrages the living and -damns the unborn, there is apparently no authority that can intervene, -no public opinion capable of making itself felt. The living, and -those upon whom the heaviest burden of life is to be imposed, are -alike unprotected. Not only is this so, but the conditions that must -make for their undoing are cultivated in the interests of those who -flood the land with spirits and malt liquors. What if our slums help -infection to spread? Are not slum-owners often men of repute, some -of whom sit in the high seats of judgment and help to administer a -world they are willing to degrade still further in the sacred name -of rent? Do we not make a man a Peer if he can brew sufficient beer? -The Commissioners know better than to plead for an England sober -or an England adequately housed. Theirs not to presume to attack -vested interests. They have dared greatly in pointing out what the -slum and the gin palaces contribute to the spread of most loathsome<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> -diseases under heaven. There they must stop. They know their public. -"Improvement in the social conditions and in the moral standard may be -slow." They have realised what our modern political conditions stand -for throughout Great Britain. They even admit that there may be no -money for improvement; European civilisation, however inadequate to -human needs, however imperfect and incomplete, can only be destroyed -at heavy expense. The destruction demands the best life-blood of every -belligerent nation and all available financial resources. What can be -left to combat "social disease," cancer, consumption, drink, slums, -and the other evils that destroy even more than war, but have nothing -arresting or spectacular in their methods? The Commissioners plead, it -would seem, with more of earnestness than hope.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the most appalling side of "social disease" is due to its -utter absence of respect for persons. We could wish in the interests -of humanity as at present constituted that the germs could themselves -be inoculated with genuine English snobbery, so that they would -refrain from attacking "high personages." Apparently, germs are -untutored things. They ignore class distinctions. They attack with -equal impartiality the drunken soldier of a garrison town, the sailor -set free, after a long voyage, in an evil seaport with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> money burning -holes in his pocket, and the crowned head who, in the days of his -indiscretion, lived as lewdly as the soldier or sailor without the -excuse of either. The wages of sin is death. "Social disease" affects -the ordered function of the brain, and when that brain is in the skull -of one who controls the destinies of Empire, the dread death-wages -must be paid by the rank and file of his subjects. Nobody has dared -yet to write fully and freely of the influence of social disease upon -the decrees of European rulers. Though the hideous facts are known -well enough in certain circles, they are hardly discussed. Perhaps the -scandal is one from which the sharpest pen shrinks appalled. Consider -the <i>cercle privé</i> from which Europe's dynasts spring, the tendencies -of upbringing, the intermarriage, the temptation, the effect upon -narrow minds and exhausted stocks. The light is beginning to shine -upon thrones. The world is beginning to ask why so much of madness is -manifest in the ranks of rulers, and whether in the wide interests of -humanity the breed is not of more importance than the blood. At present -the question is asked <i>sotto voce</i>, the time is surely coming when it -will ring through Europe. But for the moment there is a still larger -question at stake.</p> - -<p>The publication of the Royal Commission's Report is a warning and a -challenge to the democracy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> not only of Great Britain, but of the -world. It tells them that the real, the enduring enemy, is not the -German, the Briton, the Frenchman, or the Russian. The enemy is not -on the battlefield, but in the homeland, in the street, perhaps in -the house. He has invaded every country in Europe without exception. -Battleships, heavy ordnance, elaborate trenches, are of no avail. -Treaties of peace cannot be made effective until they are signed -between a vigilant and victorious democracy on the one hand and a -defeated, privileged class on the other.</p> - -<p>The national resources required to meet a foul disease are taken from -us to-day in measure beyond precedent to meet an expenditure for which -the demand was created by kings and statesmen. There was no reference -to the will of the people; until such time as that will could be -neither logical nor effective. The world's working men, decimated -to satisfy the ambitions of their misrulers, must return in greatly -diminished numbers and with lives crippled and wasted by the million, -to find the old enemies at their gate and the worst and ugliest of -these enemies prepared to take advantage of peace by waging more deadly -war. And those who will administer their shattered dynasties will -include members of families that are notoriously tainted by "social -disease." Surely viler prospect were hard to find.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> - -<p>Yet there is not under heaven an evil for which there is no remedy. -If the people sacrificed to armament makers, diplomats, and dynasts -will join hands across the world they can overcome the enemies without -and within. Their strength, if they will but put it forward, is -irresistible, far greater than they know. They should have no more -illusions. They are many; those who exploit them are few. Before -the war the great international movement was growing. A series of -ultimatums, of frenzied calls to patriotism, racial prejudice and fear, -frosted the ripening blossoms, but could not reach the root that lies -deep down in the heart of suffering humanity. Internationalism will -rise again. Those who have a finger upon the pulse of the workers the -world over, know that the life forces, depressed for a time, are giving -a growing vigour to the beat. Already they see the rulers of the world -deploring the catastrophe that they brought about, becoming conscious -that their hands drip blood. Already they see that normal evils are -not merely remaining unabated but are actually growing, that a world -returned to sanity and humility will find more vileness to combat and -fewer means to its aid. It will look for a lead.</p> - -<p>That is why there is so much reason to hope that the United States -will not be drawn into war. There, the workers of Europe are already -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>beginning to look for guidance, direction, help, and actual -co-operation in the ultimate struggle for freedom, that when war is -over they may combat the yet worse evils around them. Our thoughts turn -to the New World, redeemed from kings and popes and the tragic remains -of feudalism, and, largely on that account, at peace. Consider the -vile, naked truth that we in England may lack the means adequately to -conquer the "social disease," the white scourge, the slum problem, and -other shames of man's own making because our national resources are -being sacrificed to such destruction as sun, moon, and stars have never -looked upon since first they lit the earth.</p> - -<p>Our rulers, our statesmen, our parliaments, our laws alike, have -failed us. Judge them by their fruits, as hereafter surely they -must be judged. There is nothing left between Europe and the abyss -but the solidarity of the working classes, the spread of democracy, -the overthrow of every effete institution that exists for no better -reason than that it has been allowed to exist so long. We, the -Internationalists, look to the United States, that island of sanity -set in a raging sea of madness. We look to it for light and leading, -for encouragement and support. It is the only great power left to read -the lessons of world-war without prejudice. I would like the terrible -indictment penned against<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> our modern civilisation by the Royal -Commission to be read by every thinking American of whose political -faith democracy is the vital essence.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"This is that Blossom on our human tree</div> -<div>Which opens once in many myriad years</div> -<div>But opened, fills the world with Wisdom's scent</div> -<div class="i3">And Love's dropped honey."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> I would like it studied in the red light of war, that -our cousins oversea with their generous instincts, quick judgment -and resourceful minds may be stimulated to assist the workers of all -nations when once this terrible chapter of our life is closed. United -action will make impossible in the future all wars save that which is -waged against disease, privilege, and ineffectiveness.</p></div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XXIII</span> <span class="smaller">HOW I WOULD WORK FOR PEACE</span></h2> - -<p>For a long time past, ever since it was realised that the countless -campaigns to which we are committed would be long in following their -appointed course, costly in progress and revolting in detail, all -manner of people have come forward to explain that they have mastered -the causes and the cure of war. Belligerent and neutral countries -alike have put forward their panaceas, and Great Britain has held some -particularly active groups, perhaps because, while strife fills her -horizon, only Zeppelins have succeeded in bringing the actualities home -to those who are not serving. Then, too, we have always had in the -country a number of men and women who believe honestly that war is a -madness and crime, that their contention can be proved by argument, and -that because they imagine war does not really benefit anybody, nobody -really wants war.</p> - -<p>There are others who do not go quite so far as this, being content -to saddle policies or individuals with the responsibility. Secret -diplomacy is, we are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> assured, a fruitful source of wars, and we are -invited to place our cards on the table, and instruct our diplomats -to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Out -of these theories are born societies like the Union of Democratic -Control, and many unnecessary speeches by people who are apt to confuse -martyrdom and unpopularity.</p> - -<p>War gives rise to optimists, like Mr. Henry Ford, who, quite oblivious -to gibes and sneers, charters a steamer and proceeds to Europe, that he -may call upon belligerents to cease their quarrels, because even from -the distant city of Detroit, he can see how foolishly they are behaving.</p> - -<p>It may be easy to laugh or to sneer at these manifestations. I find it -impossible to do either. In every one of these efforts, great or small, -notable or ludicrous, something of the spirit that is helping the -world to progress is made manifest. If men and women who have little -in life except the respect of their circle, deliberately sacrifice -that precious asset for the sake of saying what they believe to be the -truth, they are worthy of regard, and let us remember that most of us -are amongst those who would rather be stoned than laughed at.</p> - -<p>If I have criticism for panaceas that are to rid the nation of war as -patent medicine-vendors offer to rid the individual of disease, if I -look a little askance at all schemes of international betterment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> by -will of the people, it is because all equality of reasoning power, all -movement towards higher things, is conditioned by education.</p> - -<p>We are very much like our fruit-trees. If you plant one hundred trees -of equally good appearance and quality on a good soil, and you attend -to fifty, and leave the other fifty to look after themselves, what is -going to happen? The trees that have clean soil round the roots, that -are pruned and washed and shaped in the way they should go will yield -abundantly, look well, and live long; the others will be uncertain in -their growth, unattractive in aspect, and liable to fail or become -diseased.</p> - -<p>In England we pay scant heed to the prosperity of the race, we are -far more concerned with the prosperity of the race-course. We have -been taught to care less for the well-being of the public than of the -publican.</p> - -<p>I do not write in any bitterness of spirit, but I remember how long, -and successfully the race-course struggled against the war, how -definitely Mr. Lloyd George's attempt to end the drink traffic was -defeated by the "trade," and how, on the other hand, certain alleged -economies in our schools, designed to save a few pounds at the cost of -efficiency, have been accepted with hardly a protest.</p> - -<p>If we wish to raise another generation that may benefit by the lessons -we have learned and paid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> so dearly for, we must educate it, and -education must be recognised as a necessity, something as necessary -to us as the bread we eat, and more important than professional -politicians, public-houses, race-courses, theatres, and motor-cars; -more vital to our welfare than all the amusements of the rich and the -poor put together.</p> - -<p>Without education, the best ideas, the highest ideals must be lost -and, as things are here, so they are elsewhere. In Europe the only -belligerent countries that have developed education all over their -territory are France and Germany. In some of the other countries, -the schoolmaster does not cover a tithe of the domain, and rulers do -not wish to see the area of activity enlarged, partly because they -understand it is easier to deceive, divide, and rule the ignorant, and -partly because they know that the rank and file will not be able to -keep pace with the enlightened intelligences to which the most restless -elements in the State will be attracted. Autocratic rule cannot endure -indefinitely in countries where the proletariat has been to school, -even military domination might in time be questioned.</p> - -<p>But what bearing has this upon world war? you may ask, and I reply that -it has a considerable bearing upon the whole question, because the -great majority of those who ensue peace are preaching just now to the -converted.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> - -<p>Those who make the next war may be despotic or unconstitutional rulers, -if Europe is of a mind to endure such people after this, but they will -depend largely upon the uneducated classes, or upon an iron discipline -that makes every man a slave of him who represents the State. Education -is the one reliable antidote to absolute monarchy, and despite its -complete failure in July and August, 1914, I am still inclined to -have faith in the International. It failed then, for each belligerent -country called out that it was in danger, and in that hour when the -social democracy might have saved Europe from the loss of millions of -promising lives, the savings of one generation and the progress of two, -it failed. But nobody will recognise more completely than the social -democrat the price of failure; he will see that democracy must be in -future as independent of boundaries as is art or science.</p> - -<p>I believe that scores of men and women have the right peace methods, -that there are many plans by which peace might be assured to the world, -but no one of these can possibly become effective unless it can appeal -to the men who constitute the rank and file of the world's armies, and -to their wives and sweethearts.</p> - -<p>The only other way out of the tangle is for victory to fall upon the -side of those who are really<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> concerned to keep the peace, and there -is more than a little danger in this, for those who are concerned only -with peace are apt to forget war altogether—to neglect necessary -precautions, cut down reasonable expenditure, and in short, to give the -war-loving, but weaker races, a chance of challenging peace afresh. A -union of the world's democracies is the cure for war, and this union is -not possible until a certain standard of education has been reached by -one and all. Only then will the man to whom fighting is the breath of -life understand that he must control his murderous instincts or perish -by them.</p> - -<p>This war cost many years of preparation, part of it secret, and it is -hard to see that peace can be more than a state of neutrality enforced -by poverty and exhaustion. To make it abiding will need something more -than the skill and cunning of diplomats, it will require the consent -of the people themselves, and this they will give when they have -knowledge, and not before.</p> - -<p>Educate! Use all the modern developments of our civilisation to that -end. Let every child in Europe be taught to read and be supplied with -books; let every new railway line be hailed as an ambassador of peace. -Let interchange of visits be arranged between the workers of all -countries, so that they may learn that antagonisms belong to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> their -rulers and not to them.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> It would be a fine thing to have a panacea -that acted as quickly as quack medicines claim to act, but we all know -that such cures do not exist. You cannot accomplish in a few months the -work that thousands of years have left unfinished. After all that has -been said, let us remember that war has been allowed to be the rule of -life for countless generations. We in England have hardly suffered, -the United States have kept free from actual invasion, but nearly all -the other great Powers have known its horrors within the comparatively -brief period of our lifetime.</p> - -<p>On the Continent, war is one of the incidents of normal life. Men -are trained to take part in it as a completion of their education, -women are encouraged to applaud it as the source of all honours and -distinction. England and America, the two least threatened countries, -would hardly appear in a good light as peace propagandists on the -Continent, for war is received in a certain false perspective there. -Thousands glory in the thoughts of a campaign, proud to have taken part -in one as our grandfathers were to empty two or three bottles at a -sitting. This false perspective is the greatest danger we have to face -in educating the people: it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> must be destroyed before war will be seen -as the thing it is.</p> - -<p>Human nature being hard to move, the work must progress slowly, but -it is not the less worth undertaking on that account. Sane peace -propaganda, accompanied by encouragement of physical fitness and -explanation of the significance of life, need offend none, and will -benefit all.</p> - -<p>The real facts of war must be within reach of everybody, the camera -should preserve the records of trench, battlefield, and sacked town. -Every city should engrave its list of dead where all may read, and in -the cities that have suffered from invasion the full details of the -horror should be preserved. The taxation that will grip Europe for many -a year to come should always be associated with its prime cause, and -every device should be sought to impress upon the children who will now -be growing up into an impoverished world, the folly and helplessness of -their parents who were unable to keep what they had inherited, whether -of freedom or worldly wealth.</p> - -<p>We who are middle-aged will be hardly called upon to see war again, the -generation captured in its prime between the summers of 1914 and 1916, -will have been ruined, the rule of the world will wait upon those who -are just leaving school.</p> - -<p>Here the propagandists must work, and as there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> is hardly a big family -in belligerent Europe that has not contributed life or fortune in some -degree, the foundation for the work will stand prepared.</p> - -<p>If I were asked how to develop sane peace propaganda, I would call -upon those who have gone through the war to tell the full story to -those who have remained behind. All should unite to this end when war -is over. Not only should the Englishman tell of frozen trenches and -waterless deserts, but Germans and Austrians should tell of the retreat -in Galicia and the advance to the marshes of Poland and Russia. The -Servian retreat to Albania and the nameless horrors of Armenia should -be recorded by survivors, women for choice, and men of all belligerent -countries should speak of the horrors of the man-of-war that sinks -blazing into the depths.</p> - -<p>The camera has a tale to tell of devastated country-side and ruined -city, of all the havoc and waste of war. Let that tale be told.</p> - -<p>Let the maimed, the crippled, the blind, the physically useless, come -forward—our eyes will learn their lesson.</p> - -<p>Let the Churches speak, not at the bidding of authority, but in -response to the plea of humanity.</p> - -<p>Let War, divorced from the physical training incumbent upon men and -women alike, take its place by the side of cancer, cholera, and plague.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> - -<p>Let the authorities tell us the loss of all communities in material -wealth, and the eugenist speak of the blow to civilisation.</p> - -<p>Let all the accumulated facts be on record in every public library in -the world, and let them be available even to the illiterate.</p> - -<p>Here, then, when the greatest of world-tragedies draws to its appointed -close, is the means I would choose to render its repetition impossible, -believing as I do that ignorance is the root from which all evil -springs.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> A schoolmaster in Austria for saying as much as this was -sentenced to several years' hard labour.</p></div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XXIV</span> <span class="smaller">LORD FRENCH</span></h2> - -<p>My first meeting with Field-Marshal Viscount French, so long -Commander-in-Chief of the "contemptible little army" that has made -history, dates back to the South African War. My latest meeting with -him before he returned from France, was in August, 1914. On each -occasion he was on the point of leaving for the front.</p> - -<p>In the wide space that separates the Boer War from the great -international conflict, we met very often; he was frequently our guest, -and we visited him at Government House, Aldershot. I have had many -opportunities of hearing his views of the world problem that confronts -us now, for he had seen it coming nearer and nearer, and had laboured -night and day to meet it. Other men had doubts; he found no room for -any.</p> - -<p>It was at Claridge's Hotel in town that we met during the Boer War. -My eldest son, Guy, had then arrived at the ripe age of seventeen, -and still at Eton, had sold all his personal effects, including his -fur coat and jewellery given him by family and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> friends, to provide -himself with the means of getting to the front and equipping himself -when there. We only learned his intentions when it was too late to stop -them, and I do not think that either my husband or myself was really -anxious to keep him from serving his country. The only difficulty was -to find him something useful to do, and Sir John French offered to take -him on his staff as galloper.</p> - -<p>I recall Lord French as I saw him at Claridge's—firm-mouthed, curt in -manner, briefly incisive in speech, saying no more than was absolutely -necessary, and looking at me with the curious glance that bespeaks the -man of action who dreams and sees visions. A strong, resolute figure, -with an iron will behind it, a human war machine in perfect order—that -was my first impression.</p> - -<p>Many of my soldier friends were with him in South Africa, where his -gifts as a cavalry leader roused enthusiasm. Writing home from the -front, they told me he had but one fault as a commanding officer—he -could not realise that horses do not respond as readily as soldiers to -human emotions. He could overdrive his men, and they did their utmost -for him, as they did for another martinet, the late General Gatacre, -because in each case they had implicit belief in their leader's -direction and unbounded faith in his skill, but he over-worked his -horses, and kept the remount department in despair.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> - -<p>He came back to England wearing all the laurels of a successful -general, and I met him several times in town. "The dust of praise that -is blown everywhere" was no more to John French than any other dust. -He brushed it sharply away, and devoted all his leisure to considering -the problems of the inevitable struggle with Germany. He believed then, -with that curious gift of divination, that it must come, and he came -near to fixing the date, for many years have passed since he assured me -that it would not be later than 1915.</p> - -<p>When the Entente Cordiale was in the air and there was a chance that -Great Britain and France would work side by side, he was delighted. -Such an arrangement was for him an ideal one, and he was, I may say, -one of the first, if not the very first, of our leading military men -who showed a full appreciation of its value. Unfortunately, though a -well-educated and, in a strictly professional sense, a deeply read man, -he had no knowledge of the French language, and he could not rest until -that defect was remedied. So in the Summer of 1906—I think this was -the year—he settled in the little village of La Boulé, near Rouen, and -lived for three months in absolute retirement, mastering the language. -He would not claim to have acquired the Parisian accent, but he can at -least speak fluently.</p> - -<p>We were motoring through France that summer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> and stayed in the little -hotel he had chosen for his headquarters. He was extremely anxious to -take me on a motor tour over the scene of Napoleon's last campaign, -an ambition of long standing only now possible of fulfilment. We came -very near to going with him, but unfortunately, something intervened. -Even Lord French cannot make war anything but unspeakably horrible to -me, but I am yet free to confess that his vast knowledge and soul-deep -convictions make it fearfully interesting.</p> - -<p>We could not manage the motor tour, which would have covered Waterloo, -but later, when in Paris, I was able to put his views before the -then Premier, M. Clemenceau, whom I knew well. I had a very long and -intimate conversation about the Entente with the "Tiger," as they -called him in France, and I remember how he wheeled round in his chair -and said to me in the frank, outspoken way that his opponents hate and -fear, "Lady Warwick, the Entente is of no use to us unless your country -can put 400,000 soldiers into France in the hour of need." I may remark -that the French army was not then in its present state of efficiency.</p> - -<p>I pointed out that I was not in the confidence of our War Office, and -that his application should be made to other quarters, and went on to -ask him to meet General French to talk over the matters in question. -"I'll do that with pleasure," said M.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> Clemenceau. "I regard your -General French as one of the few soldiers who understand military -problems from their roots upwards." So the two men met, and I think -they liked and respected one another.</p> - -<p>I remember reporting the gist of their conversation in a long letter to -King Edward, who in his reply told me his interest in the military side -of the Entente had been greatly strengthened. In the following year -several of the leading generals of France were invited over to attend -the military manœuvres and were the guests of Sir John and Lady French -at Government House, Aldershot. I was asked to meet them, and heard at -first hand the discussion of many difficulties that are staring us in -the face as I write. I do not think I have ever had more occasion to be -glad that I was taught some foreign languages properly.</p> - -<p>On his return to England Sir John French divided his work into -sections. First and foremost came the German question, for he knew -perfectly well, in the light of the ample information that came to him, -how, sooner or later, Germany would fling down the gauntlet, perhaps -before Europe, certainly before Great Britain. His other task was -concerned with the possible invasion of India by Russia. In early days -he had seen service in India,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> and I have by me now a copy of his own -plans for the defence of our great empire there.</p> - -<p>King Edward took Lord French with him when he went to meet the Czar -at Réval, and this visit, at which the foundation of Anglo-Russian -good-fellowship was laid, had a most reassuring effect upon his mind. -Thereafter he devoted himself whole heartedly to the study of the -Anglo-German danger.</p> - -<p>Taking for his motto the well-known maxim that it is allowable to learn -even from an enemy—he adapted what he thought was best from the German -methods, and it is well known that he and his close and trusted friend, -Sir Douglas Haig, in making the British Army the perfect machine that -it is, bore well in mind the lessons to be gathered from the German -manœuvres.</p> - -<p>He objected strongly to the German close formation, holding it -wasteful and unwise. He had grafted South African experience on his -stock of tactical knowledge, and if the drilling of our men was -terribly hard, he and Sir Douglas found the ripe fruits of it in that -wonderful retreat from Mons and in the battles round Ypres. For German -thoroughness he had a generous and unstinted admiration. Prejudice can -find no place in his mind.</p> - -<p>His prevision of the course of the present campaign startles me as I -recall it now. He told me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> years ago much that has happened since the -greatest world struggle of history began.</p> - -<p>A born soldier, he is merciless to the inefficient. He broke a high -officer, who was also a personal friend, because that officer made a -bad blunder. Private considerations were swept aside, as they always -are with him. He spares nobody, least of all himself, but his men love -him almost as much as they trust him, and he watches over their proper -comforts with a jealous eye. They are the component parts of the war -machine, and must be at their best.</p> - -<p>Lord French has not much in common with his gifted sister, Mrs. -Despard, who was prominently before the public when the suffrage -question came near to rivalling Home Rule in its claim on public -attention, for Mrs. Despard's life is one of self-sacrifice to lighten -the sorrows of others. But to one well acquainted with brother and -sister, there are the qualities of calm resolution in the face of -danger and of commanding will to be associated with each.</p> - -<p>I do not think he reads much, save books dealing with military -questions. He does not hunt or shoot, or play polo or, indeed, -acknowledge any form of sport. He stands professionally as far apart -from the ordinary mundane interests of life as any professor in the -cloistered peace of an old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> university town, and yet he is full to the -brim of vitalising enthusiasms not to be overlooked by his friends -because they are controlled.</p> - -<p>He lives in his profession and breathes the very air of it; soldiering -claims his every thought, and yet he is in no aspect the "beau sabreur" -of the Ouida novels. If you were to drive with him through the most -exquisite landscape, his mind's eye would at once select the salient -points of attack and defence, he would grasp every military possibility -of what lay before him, but the surrounding beauty would pass him by. -Sometimes we have talked of war. "I hate war as much as you do," he has -said to me more than once, "but——" There it ends, and he is looking -with far-seeing eyes at encounters yet to be.</p> - -<p>In the conventional sense he has no religion, and yet I regard him -as one of the most religious men I know. His views of the hereafter -are clear; he is confidently assured of the soul's survival, its -reincarnation, the fulfilment of its ambitions. He is an idealist, an -enthusiast, a man who could not act dishonestly if he tried, faithful -to the bitter end to those in whom he trusts.</p> - -<p>Much of the recent gossip in London has endeavoured to suggest that -he has been a party to the intrigues of others. I venture to say that -nobody who understands Lord French could make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> such a foolish mistake. -The personal interests and trickery of small natures have no meaning -for him. First and last and all the time he is a soldier, probably the -one soldier who could have overcome the enormous difficulties by which -he has been faced. He is the type of the leader of men, an example of -the power of concentration driving a single purpose to its end. I think -Frederick the Great would have made much of him and that his chief hero -in a military sense, the first Napoleon, would have kept him by his -side.</p> - -<p>He has been sorely tried. It is to be hoped that Sir Douglas Haig, who -in a military sense is his creation, will realise his teacher's dreams -and ambitions.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XXV</span> <span class="smaller">LORD HALDANE: SOME RECOLLECTIONS AND AN ESTIMATE</span></h2> - -<p>In the library this morning I came by chance upon a book that should -not have been there—a "Life of Lassalle" that Lord Haldane lent me -some years ago, and which I had forgotten to return. It chanced that -within the hour I had thrown aside in disgust the Tory daily paper that -held a vulgar and rancorous attack upon the Ex-War Minister. Perhaps it -was the coincidence that set me thinking.</p> - -<p>My mind travelled back to the day not so many years ago—King Edward -had lately ascended the throne—when I met Lord Haldane for the first -time. It was at Dalmeny, Lord Rosebery's home on the Firth of Forth. -I forget who was of the party, at least I can remember only Winston -Churchill, then coming under our host's political influence. My first -recollection of Mr. Haldane as he was in those days was meeting him in -the Library. He was busy arranging his host's treasures to the best -advantage and was very little concerned with the house party's social -side. He would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> appear at table, create an immediate impression by -reason of his illuminating conversation, and, the meal taken, would -slip back again to his beloved books. I carried away from Dalmeny the -impression of one of the most interesting men I had ever met—a man -with massive head, twinkling eye and witty speech that stimulated -all and hurt none. He was that <i>rara avis</i> a lawyer without guile, a -philosopher untainted by the Courts. We met again, and again I was -immensely attracted by his personality. In the world we met in, men -and women were seeking success of some sort all the time. Wealth, -prestige, political power, social influence, whatever our weakness it -rose to the surface like a cork. Of all these things Mr. Haldane seemed -supremely unconscious, he swam through the social waters like a kindly -triton among minnows. Even in those days he had long been a devout -student and an ardent admirer of what was best in Germany, and I think -it was because I too was interested in the marvellous progress of that -Empire that we found something in common. And he lent me the "Life of -Lassalle," the book that lies before me as I write.</p> - -<p>I have sincere belief in the intuitive perception of women. I believe -that their instinct is stronger than their reasoning faculty, and -that in the great majority of cases they are justified in their -belief,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> even if they call it a prejudice. From the beginning of our -acquaintance it seemed to me that Lord Haldane would in any large -affairs of life be misjudged by his countrymen. In the first place he -is a great intellect, and as a nation we hold all knowledge suspect. -Secondly, he lacked the proper qualifications of the parliamentarian: -he had nothing of the divine gift of push. He did not enjoy the -limelight, and as for advertising himself, I think he would not have -known how to begin. I do not believe he ever wished to enter the -political arena, he never was a politician in the party sense, but he -succumbed to the influence of Lord Rosebery and Mr. Asquith who saw -that so great an intelligence would be of infinite value to the Liberal -party. To me it always seemed a pity to drag the kindly philosopher -from his study and to bring him upon the shabby stage whereon the -tragi-comedy of party politics is played for the bemusement of the -general public. Perhaps Lord Haldane's long and intimate study of -the best side of German life led the Liberal leaders to believe that -he would be <i>persona grata</i> in circles that could curb the worst. -Perhaps they too were fascinated by the breadth of his views, the -range of his knowledge, the serenity of his outlook, and the clarity -of his judgments. There is no doubt that he used all his powers to -come to such a friendly arrangement with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> Germany as could be reached -without detriment to any of the interests of our friends and allies in -Europe. There is no doubt that he was face to face for years with the -conditions that reached their climax in July, 1914, and that he did all -that was possible to preserve peace while preparing for the defence of -the country.</p> - -<p>Our Tories demanded a scapegoat; the Lilliputians of Westminster and -Fleet Street have flung a thousand venomed darts at Gulliver. I am -grateful to think that I know the real man whose aspect they have -succeeded for a little while in distorting. Quite steadfastly he -opposed German militarism, quite hopefully he clung to the belief -that he would succeed in his great quest of peace. Perhaps he was too -confident. Perhaps he underrated the forces that were opposed to him -not only abroad but at home.</p> - -<p>We are too near the history of our own time to tell, but I remember -one incident that revealed to me the seriousness of the struggle in -which he was engaged. There was a meeting to develop the Territorial -movement in the county town, and I found myself sitting by his side at -the luncheon. Following it he made one of the most stimulating speeches -I have ever listened to, appealing to territorials to come forward and -prepare themselves to help their country. For simple direct eloquence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> -for a call to the highest and noblest feelings without one vulgar -thought or unworthy expression, I have never heard a speech to equal -it. Only a great statesman and a man full of the loftiest patriotism -could have spoken as he spoke. Those who are well informed know what we -owe to the system of training devised by this lawyer-philosopher and -how wonderfully it has borne expansion to meet the sudden needs. His -critics have never paused to remember that he was a loyal member of a -Cabinet that imposed its collective will upon the people; they have not -realised how largely the decisions of the Foreign Office would have -availed to control his own views. It is so easy to say that, rather -than submit to any reduction of our forces he should have resigned. -Those who know Lord Haldane are well aware that pride of place would -never have kept him in an office that absorbed all his leisure. -Thoughtful people will realise that one of the tenets held by a loyal -Cabinet minister is subordination of personal views to the collective -views of the ministry. If every man who could not follow his chief -along a given road were to resign he would not only lose all chance -of giving effect to his purposes but he would make Cabinet rule an -impossibility.</p> - -<p>While preparing the country for defence, Lord Haldane had to fight the -militarism that has at last run wild through Europe; while providing -for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> worst, he had, in the highest interests of his countrymen, to -seek the best and, if possible, to ensue it. His Territorial scheme -was countered from first to last by the conscriptionists, they sought -by every overt and covert act to render all his efforts nugatory. -I venture to say, not without sound knowledge, that he occupied a -position of hideous responsibility with a measure of courage, fortitude -and altruism to which those who are best qualified to judge will always -pay tribute. One thing he would not do. He would not descend into the -arena of sordid controversy to gladden the hearts and stimulate the -conceit of petty politicians. If he failed, he was a glorious failure; -but I venture to say that when the impartial historian, depending on -knowledge to which the general public cannot yet gain access, surveys -the years that led to destruction, he will rescue Lord Haldane's name -and fame from the accumulation of dirt and rubbish that have been -heaped upon it by men whom none will desire to remember.</p> - -<p>I regard it as a great privilege to know the real man and to lay my -little tribute before him, though to one so amply dowered with the hate -and scorn of scorn, defenders against such imputations as have been -levelled at him may well be superfluous. But I owe a great debt to his -master mind. Of all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> distinguished men I have been privileged to -meet none has had higher qualities of heart and brain, and it seems to -me that this is the season in which such a debt should be acknowledged.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XXVI</span> <span class="smaller">GROUNDS FOR OPTIMISM</span></h2> - -<p>Those of us who find in the stress and storm through which the world -is passing an irresistible appeal for strenuous action and clear -thought, must realise the dangerous tendencies of the time, but it is -not right to look upon them as the sum-total of the present upheaval. -The present has its tragedies that pierce to the heart of our normal -self-restraint; we have to think of the future as well and see whether -there is at our door any indication of the unity and brotherhood for -which millions have waged a war from which many of the best and bravest -will never return. Is there any indication that in the times lying -before us, all classes of the community will unite to share the burdens -of the State? I think there is.</p> - -<p>In many directions the lessons of life and death are not yet learned, -but there is one feature of our social life that is truly encouraging. -To sum it up in a phrase I would say that people whose example is -a considerable force in the national life, have decided that it is -neither a vice nor a crime<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> to be poor. A modest establishment in -England to-day is more fashionable than an extravagant one; those of -us who are burdened by very large places are the objects of sympathy -rather than envy.</p> - -<p>The flunkey has been redeemed from base servitude, never again I -hope and believe, to return. The descendant of Jeames de la Pluche, -immortalised by Thackeray, is with the British Expeditionary Force or -qualifying to go there. He has discovered that he too is a man. The -butler, where he still lingers, is too old for service, the footmen, -if any, have been rejected by the army doctor, or have played a part -and returned home wounded and unfit as yet for a more strenuous life. -They do not propose to remain in a discredited service. Even the -maid-servants are reduced to the minimum that is compatible with a -fair day's necessary work. The lady's-maid, that last infirmity of -conscientious minds, is allowed ample time for helping the nation. -The cook gives the benefit of her skill not only to the home but the -hospital. The sons of the house are at the front if they are old enough -and not too old to be of use, the daughters have found something better -than they had imagined possible to do with their time. They have flung -themselves as far in the pursuit of duty as they travelled formerly in -the pursuit of pleasure.</p> - -<p>If one entertains nowadays, it is the working<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> party or the committee -of which one is a member that is received. Simplicity is the order -of the hour among friends and one does not entertain acquaintances. -The young men have gone from stables and garage, from woods and -garden. I think the expensive dressmakers, jewellers, restaurateurs, -hairdressers, and the rest of those who catered for the days of our -vanity, are having a bad time. I think they will see a worse one. There -are still thoughtless women in our midst. I recognise them at once, -for they clothe themselves in the furs of harmless animals and wear -hats decked with the bodies or nuptial plumage of innocent birds, as if -pride of power, vanity, and lust of slaughter had not brought enough -injury to the world and vanity must still take toll of life. But these -women are a minority and belong to the class that nothing short of -ostracism can reach. I think it will reach them, and soon. There has -been such an orgie of cruelty in the world of late that the period to -be put upon it must be a full one.</p> - -<p>The special interest in the changes briefly outlined above, and the -list might be continued indefinitely, lies in the approximation at home -to the conditions in the field of war. There the struggle for mastery -is tending, on every front, to the obliteration of class distinctions. -Many of these that in the days before August, 1914, were rigid as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> -Hindu caste are now dead as well as damned. Mankind has recognised -something of its essential brotherhood out there, and now womankind's -sisterhood is recognised too. This is almost the more important change, -because so many men who remain in England waging the money war that -is ever with us are far too immersed in the pursuit of pelf to care -about anything else. Against them even our defenders might fail in -times of peace if they were left unaided by the other sex. Women have -always been the creators and supporters of extravagance, though the -fault rests with the men who have until quite recent times refused -to allow them any interests that will vie with money-spending and -aimless pleasure-seeking. I do not think that even this war could have -brought about the change I recognise so gladly and record with so much -pleasure, had it not been for the feminist movement. This taught tens -of thousands of women to think and thousands to make their thoughts -articulate. War faced them with a sense of the value of the work they -had undertaken, the urgent need of its pursuit in the interests of the -world at large. I feel it is in no small part due to their influence -that so much that is unworthy in the life of the modern woman has been -voluntarily laid aside and that so much of infinite value has been -chosen to replace it.</p> - -<p>Just as men have mingled on the battlefield,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> women have mingled at -home, understanding perhaps for the first time in our social history -the view-point of classes other than their own, seeing the best in each -other's lives and sharing anxieties and burdens as perhaps only women -can. But if the good understanding was to be permanent it was essential -that privilege should be laid aside. People can enjoy riches without -a thought and suffer poverty without a murmur, but contrasts build -barriers. It is the sense of sharp contrast that is the undoing of so -many girls, that makes for so much bitterness among women. All too -often the rich do not understand, the poor are painfully suspicious or -self-conscious. There could not be any common meeting ground until all -were rich or all were poor. It is not possible under existing social -conditions—soon one hopes to be amended—for all to live in comfort. -Thank God, it is at least possible for all to be poor.</p> - -<p>Not by what we have, but by what we are, let us be judged, and for -those who had great possessions there will be a certain satisfaction in -the new conditions that money could not purchase.</p> - -<p>Flattery, adulation, jealousy, envy, malice and all uncharitableness -could be provoked by wealth even though it was wisely dispensed; -gratitude was always hard to gain in the genuine form. Love, affection, -simple unaffected candour, these were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> rarely vouchsafed to those -whose material prosperity was considerable. It is intolerable that one -should patronise or endure patronage, frank and simple relations cannot -endure in an atmosphere of inequalities. In England the infection of -snobbery was eating into our national life. A considerable section of -the press caters for snobs and thrives in the catering. In the United -States and in the British Dominions Overseas the state of the public -mind is far healthier. It may be that our plight had come about through -our insularity, by reason of our super-abundant national riches, by -the force of our habit of despising the creator of national wealth and -honouring only those who squander it. Whatever the cause the effect was -ugly. War has taken drastic steps to abate the evil by depriving of -their <i>locus standi</i> those who stood for great possessions. They are -poorer and better. We shall have a certain number of plutocrats in our -midst; out of a war expenditure of four or five millions a day somebody -must make money. But the money spinners will find that while the hand -of the State will weigh heavily upon them, any lavish expenditure will -be eyed askance by the moderate-minded men and women of all classes. -The eyes of the majority are opened. Above all, English women of the -leisured classes have deliberately laid aside many of the habits and -indulgences to which their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> practice gave a sanction. This tendency -is still in its infancy, but the tragedy of war has enforced and will -continue to enforce it. All, or at least the greater part of Europe, -after this war will be a house of mourning. Death leads the van of -a procession in which Poverty brings up the rear. As in a flash the -world that lived almost without a serious care two years ago sees its -own real needs and duties and the terrible inadequacy of the means to -fulfil and perform them.</p> - -<p>We find to-day that our national needs are greater than we knew, our -resources less than they have been for many years. The only true -satisfaction to be gathered from the prospect is that we recognise -it. For once in our history it is not left to a few courageous men -to preach an unpopular gospel in the ears of indifferent wealth -and vanity-stricken fashion. The people who are alive to the truth -of our national state are not devoting anxious hours to keeping up -appearances. Shams that our life seemed full of so recently, are known -for what they are. For the first time in the social history of our -generation it suffices to be an Englishman or an Englishwoman and to -have filled the <i>rôle</i>, however modest, that the fates have assigned -in this world crisis. Shall we miss the old luxuries of life? Will -those of us who accepted them without thought or comment as part of -the natural<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> order of things, forego them without a qualm? I think we -shall, because we shall all have a serious and definite occupation. -The landowner must develop a good business faculty or go under, the -mistress of a large establishment must learn all the domestic arts that -her grandmothers practised to perfection or she will not be able to -keep it together. The younger sons will not be brought up to look upon -loafing as a career, and the girls will be trained to take a part in -the world's work, fortified by the knowledge that the State no longer -regards them as a negligible quantity. In the near future the British -Empire will be demanding more of its sons and daughters and giving -them less reward for it, but such a condition encourages the national -virtues. We are rather a flint-like people. If we are properly struck -we emit light.</p> - -<p>Decidedly the world is out of joint, and it is possible to survey -the situation and find ample material for pessimism. But we who have -made the mistakes or inherited them can set the crooked straight if -we recognise the nature of the task. And I see on all sides of me men -and women who do. They are preparing the ground on which the virtues -engendered by a struggle for national existence may blossom and bear fruit.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XXVII</span> <span class="smaller">ANGLO-AMERICAN RELATIONS IN PEACE AND WAR</span></h2> - -<p>The Anglo-Saxon race is on its trial just now, and, however strenuous -the times, they do not deny us a measure of leisure in which to -estimate the forces upon which we may rely. With battleships and -regiments woman has nothing to do, she does but bring painfully into -the world those who serve both. It is her mission to shield them with -her love and devotion in the season of their helplessness and wait, -watch, and pray while the battles join. Hers too it is to do what may -be done to heal the wounds of battle, to comfort and to minister, -to know the anxiety without the excitement of conflict, to see much -of the horror and little of the glory. Yet, far outside the area of -strife, woman plays no negligible part in controlling the destinies of -nations, for there is a field of social diplomacy in which she labours -persistently and the measure of Anglo-Saxon unity that obtains to-day -is in no small measure the fruit of her effort.</p> - -<p>It will be remembered that before there was an Anglo-American social -life, relations between the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> mother country and the United States -were the reverse of cordial. Many people in the States regarded this -country with suspicion, many in this country looked upon the States -with the contempt born of ignorance. Emerson, James Russell Lowell, -Oliver Wendell Holmes, and others helped Englishmen to understand -Americans, but perhaps the best work was done by women. As soon as they -began to understand one another the divergent standpoints were brought -into line, old prejudices were seen to lie no deeper than the surface -of things. The freshness and vigour of American manhood, the honest, -unconventional outlook of the country's womanhood were instantly -recognised when social intercourse had been established and visitors -from the States began to realise that in coming to England they were -but returning to the land of their fathers. Mistakes are not immortal. -The worst blunderer of a hundred years ago and the people who suffered -most by the blunders have long been one in the dust to which all that -is mortal of us must return. Latent and underlying sympathies have -declared themselves. For thirty years I have watched the slow conquest -of prejudice, the steady discovery of points of sympathy, the dismissal -of the old stereotyped ideas that made for antagonism. To-day, when we -are fighting for our life against a Power that has sworn to dominate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> -civilisation or perish in the attempt, we find ourselves rich in the -sympathy and moral support of all the North American continent, not -only the British born of Canada are with us, but in the United States, -despite the multitude of foreign influences and the great admixture -of interests the general tone is manifestly sympathetic. The German -menace has stirred Anglo-Saxon blood throughout the whole world. The -observance of a strict and proper neutrality is no bar to American -goodwill, our cousins know that this struggle has been forced upon us -and that we would have avoided it had not honour forbade.</p> - -<p>In the brief intervals of the work of organising the woman's service -in my native county of Essex I have been trying to estimate the forces -that have brought the changed conditions about, and I think I can see -most of them. I have met most if not all the leading men and women of -America, both in their own country and here, and no subject has been -more completely canvassed in our conversations than the future that the -Anglo-Saxon race may hope to share. My views, right or wrong, are my -own, and I ask nobody to accept any responsibility for them; if they -are correct they should help to explain the present and to indicate -lines that the future may follow.</p> - -<p>First and foremost among the forces that have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> improved Anglo-American -relations I place the Anglo-American marriages that should go far to -improve not only the finances but the breed of our English aristocracy. -Byron writes of mixed marriages that they "ruin the blood but much -improve the breed." I accept only the latter proposition. I think the -young generation born of these marriages will be powerful, mentally -and physically, that it may even be in time to stand in the breach and -save the class to which it will belong from submersion. Certainly our -aristocracy, enfeebled by intermarriage and circumscribed financially -by modern taxation and the depreciation in agricultural values, -degraded by the sale of "honours," would be bound to go under in the -struggle with democracy, and if it is possible to predicate any of the -results of the present cataclysm I should say that the democracy will -issue from it as the dominating force in Europe. Another section of a -royalty that tends ever to diminish has been weighed in the balances of -war and will, I imagine, be found wanting.</p> - -<p>Anglo-American marriages have given our cousins of the New World an -interest in the old firm's business, have made them, even if in a -limited sense, partners in the British Empire unlimited. I said as much -at the dinner-table the other night and was promptly challenged until -I reminded my critic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> that an ex-First Lord of the Admiralty, to whose -genius all, including Lord Charles Beresford, now pay tribute, is as -much American as English. Miss Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill, was one -of the first recruits to the ranks of the British aristocracy and has -played no small part in English social life. Winston Churchill has had -time to grow up, there are dozens of Anglo-American lads to whom in the -course of time opportunity will be given. Who shall say that they too -will not prove worthy?</p> - -<p>The American girl, married into the wide circle of Britain's -comfortable classes, finds many interests that unite the country of her -adoption with the land of her birth. Visited by her family and friends, -giving introductions for use in the United States to her husband's -relatives, she has been powerful in spreading social intercourse and -in establishing the vital truth that, in face of many of the great -world problems, England and America see eye to eye and may work hand -in hand. Philanthropy and social service are the finest solvents of -prejudice between people speaking one language and, when that prejudice -is not founded on fundamental disagreement, and is dependent for its -maintenance upon ignorance, suspicion and the absence of intercourse, -it cannot long survive under modern conditions. Every Atlantic Liner -is a missionary of Anglo-American good-will. London and New<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> York can -exchange their thoughts in a few moments, the great sundering force of -the Atlantic grows ever less, and the American girl has played a part -in unifying Anglo-Saxon thought and sympathy that makes her social -reward seem but a small payment for a great service.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the great antagonising force in America has been the Irishman. -Our administration of the Sister Island has left scars that had been -past healing but for Mr. Gladstone and his successors in the office of -Liberalism. Happily to-day we stand upon the brink of wiser times, a -sane policy has promised to realise the national ambitions of Ireland -and a grave danger has united in resistance to foreign aggression the -two antagonistic camps. They will meet in the service of a common -cause, they will face danger side by side, happily they may learn -the full lesson of toleration and mutual respect. It is better I -think, much as I hate war, that a thousand Home Rulers and Ulstermen -should fall side by side resisting foreign aggression than that fifty -should fall in civil strife each by the other's hands. The effect in -America of Home Rule, and a union of hearts and hands in the national -defence, cannot but be significant. The powerful Irish contingent, -as generous as it is quick to anger, almost as prompt to forgive an -injury for which atonement has been made as to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> resent one that is -not repaired, will cease to be a hostile factor. Conscious that the -old country has done its best to right a grave and lasting wrong, it -will forget, as the American born citizen is forgetting, the days of -Lords North and Castlereagh. All these quarrels, however serious, have -been family quarrels, in the face of foreign aggression the old wounds -are healed. I was struck by the splendid action of all parties to the -labour disputes when war broke out. In twenty-four hours there were no -disputants.</p> - -<p>To-day the Anglo-American influences at which I have hinted find no -opposing factors in their path. Good will is well-nigh universal, -moral support and encouragement are freely ours at this grave moment -when we stand so much in need of them. I have always thought, when -I have been in America and when I have been entertained by or have -entertained Americans at home, that there is a little feeling of pride -in the old country. If our short-sighted policy of the third Georgian -era turned friends to foes we have paid the price in full and to-day -the Anglo-American marriages are giving our trans-Atlantic cousins the -material for a noble revenge. They are coming to the relief of the -class that persecuted them of old time, renewing its blood, refilling -its coffers and preparing through it to administer the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> world's -greatest Empire. It is no unworthy ambition that animates the American -girl to-day when she quits the land of her fathers for the land of -her grandparents and their forebears, and she has shown herself well -able to fulfil it. The pages of Debrett bear witness to what she has -done, while those who have been brought into constant and intimate -association with her realise that she has shown exceptional capacity -in adapting herself to the new environment, in mastering the rather -formidable etiquette, in modifying old points of view, and in fitting -herself to fill the rather exacting <i>rôle</i> she has undertaken.</p> - -<p>When I look round social London and see the many-sided work of the -American women I feel that they will cover the whole ground. Their -energy and resource are admirable and many of their houses are centres -of philanthropic as well as social life. Think of the reflex action -of all this energy in the States, think of the tens of thousands of -American visitors to London in the course of the year and of the -hundreds who see English social life as it is and partake of it, and -the sympathy and understanding that are ours to-day can be accounted -for and understood.</p> - -<p>I have long been cognisant of the two great forces that were working, -side by side though independently, to destroy Anglo-American -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>friendship. The first was Irish-American resentment, a perfectly -natural expression of feeling. Home Rule for Ireland was the only -possible permanent cure, and the time for palliatives has long passed. -With the coming of the cure we may look for the end of the complaint. -The other force was more subtle, and was founded upon the presence in -the States of tens of thousands of the Kaiser's subjects. They have -carried across the Atlantic their old mischievous motto, "Deutschland -über Alles," and have lost no opportunity of giving it effect. A -powerful press, a great financial group, direct encouragement from the -Kaiser, whose policy—a relic of Bismarck's day—was to sow ill-will -between Great Britain and the United States under all circumstances, -have been their weapons. To conciliate the States, to flatter them, to -suggest that they needed German help against British intrigue, to show -their leading representatives every courtesy, even to affect a sympathy -with democracy, all this was the part of a settled programme. It lacked -nothing but success.</p> - -<p>This is not the time to go into details of deliberate attempts made -to undermine Anglo-American good will. On a more fitting occasion I -may reveal some. At the moment it does not seem right to increase the -prevailing bitterness, but I may say that many social intrigues have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> -come to my own notice and have left me wondering at Teuton pertinacity, -at the persistence with which large and small matters alike are -pursued, and at the curious psychological failing that nearly always -loses count of the human element. Theoretically, logically perhaps, the -German advances should have been entirely successful. Unhappily for -the Kaiser's ambitions, it was always fairly obvious that behind every -courtesy, however extravagant, behind every diplomatic action, however -grave or trivial, there lay an Anglophobe bias. It was not perhaps -always conscious to its originators; the state of mind towards Great -Britain in Germany is largely inherited, and I sometimes think it is -well-nigh sub-conscious. Indeed, I would venture the proposition that -it is more obvious to an American than it is to the German possessors -of it. The United States is of course the world's melting pot; happily -for us, and I think for the world at large, the Anglo-Saxon element -is dominant. In such an environment Anglophobia cannot thrive, and -I think the Kaiser's representatives have mistaken the actualities -of the situation. Anglo-American squabbles are the little family -quarrels with which we are all familiar; if one were to come from the -outside and seek to take part in them, he would soon learn that such -an intrusion was unwarranted and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>unwelcome. Instead of extending the -area of the original quarrel it would reduce it to vanishing point. -In Anglo-American relations the Kaiser must remain an "outsider," -accepted while he behaves himself, but known all the time for the -representative of a proud, powerful nation that is avid of world power -and will shrink from no effort to obtain it, a nation that, if it is -to be judged by its rulers, holds that the result justifies the cause, -and that kindness, deceit, generosity, cajolery, persuasion, threats, -candour, and deceit are all weapons that find a proper place in the -armoury of a subtle diplomacy and may be called upon in turn. There -is a world in which this standard of things passes current, the world -of the company promoter, the international financier, the Jesuit who -holds that the end justifies if it cannot sanctify. On the other hand, -all these mental processes are abhorrent to the Anglo-Saxon. He is -by nature plain and blunt, subtleties are foreign to him. It is his -ambition to play the game, and he requires the game to be clean that -it may be worth the playing. He likes to place his cards on the table, -you will not find them in his sleeve or his boot. We know that the -sowing of mistrust between the United States and Great Britain has -been one of the chief pre-occupations of German diplomacy, we know too -that it has failed as signally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> as the early and vital attacks upon -the Liége forts failed. To accomplish its destiny the Anglo-Saxon race -must stand together. We need not interfere in each other's quarrels, -we need not model our lives to a pattern that is not sanctified by use -and custom, but we will not allow any other nation to come between us -and our friendship, or to interfere with that slow, sure growth of -understanding and good feeling that may bring to generations unborn the -blessing of universal good-fellowship and peace.</p> - -<p>In all human probability the Teuton has postponed his own day for -generations. The triumphs of more than forty years of peaceful -progress have been bartered and have been used as gambling counters, -and I believe that a double menace is now in slow course of removal, -first from this little island whose sons and great grandsons in their -millions are looking, anxious to see how we acquit ourselves, and from -those South American Republics that purpose by grace of Providence -to work out their own salvation without either the help or the -permission of the Kaiser and his legions. When we have succeeded in -our present struggle—I do not admit the possibility of a doubt about -the issue—the way will be open for the triumphs of peace and for the -passing of armaments and tyrannies. Surely in these great changes so -long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> looked for, so eagerly anticipated on both sides of the Atlantic, -the whole voice of the United Anglo-Saxon Race will speak in unison. I -believe we shall play no small part in the re-shaping and rebuilding -of a shattered and exhausted world, and that the genuine friendliness -of our relations will make the task as pleasant as it is responsible. -Side by side we have sought peace and ensued it, the overwhelming -tragedy may have shown that "man is one and the Fates are three," but -it will not alter our national and racial belief that we must develop -the tranquillity of the world, that we must develop the arts of peace -and arm for defence rather than defiance. Through the gloom and murk -of the present hour I find myself looking with assured confidence to -the world's future, and whatever the Vision I see the whole Anglo-Saxon -race massing irresistible forces for the service of the world.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WOMAN AND THE WAR***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 63910-h.htm or 63910-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/3/9/1/63910">http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/9/1/63910</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - -<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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