There are two other sources from which additional revenue might be obtained.

First, to impose again an export duty on coal. Such a duty would help rather than hinder British industry. That industry is dependent absolutely on the supply of coal. British Coal Measures are an asset which enables the country to keep industries going, but it is a wasting asset. Deeper and better mining may have upset calculations made by Professor Jevons many years ago when he warned the country of the disastrous consequences of using up our coal supplies, but sooner or later the pinch will come. An export duty ought to be imposed on coal directly the present war restrictions can be removed. Our stores of coal cannot be indefinitely increased by increased industry. If the duty operated to reduce export of coal British manufacturers would gain, and be able to produce commodities at less cost. If the demand from abroad were so strong that export did not diminish, the country would gain to the whole extent of the duty paid by foreign purchasers. The ordinary arguments in favour of free trade do not support objection to such an export duty as this. There will be ample demand for all the coal that can be produced. Even if there were not, it would be well not to use it up so quickly. There are some kinds of coal, of which the amount available is very limited, yet until the War broke out quantities of such coal were freely sent to other countries, some of it to those who are now at war with us, and so used to help our enemies, who got the precious mineral cheap because we refused to allow the imposition of an export duty. Probably the duty when it was tried was not imposed in the best way, being charged at a fixed rate per ton instead of on an ad valorem scale, but this fault could easily be corrected. Special exceptions in favour of Colonies or Allies, or for the supply of certain places, might be made by arrangement in consideration of some equivalent favour, or to meet some particular need.

The other suggestion involves more difficulties, and is of a more far-reaching character. Would it not be possible to replace to some extent the excess profits duty, which cannot be permanent, by a duty on "excess dividends," that is, on the amounts paid out of the profits of a business for the use of capital above a certain percentage? The excess profits duty, in spite of all its anomalies and the difficulties of assessment, has saved the financial situation during the War; a tax on excess dividends might "save the situation" afterwards. When a business is successful, paying, as many businesses have recently done, dividends of 30 to 50 per cent., and sometimes even more, the return made to those who have invested money in them is clearly excessive. From such profitable businesses those who have the responsible management no doubt may generally get better remuneration, possibly the workmen may get a small bonus or share in such profits, but those who by a mere stroke of good luck have embarked their money in these businesses, shareholders who very likely know nothing whatever about the conduct of them, benefit enormously. Such a tax would not discourage thrift or prevent a person from getting a reasonable return on his savings. Take the case, say, of two professional men. Both, by hard work and using up their lives in the effort, manage to make a fair income and bring up their families. One of them, to make provision for the future, invests L2,000 in safe securities with fixed rate of interest, and L2,000 in some company whose business is of a more or less speculative character, but by good fortune becomes able to pay a dividend of 30 per cent. The other invests a like sum in firm securities, and L2,000 in another company which turns out a failure. Neither of them has anything to do with the conduct of the business of the company in which he invests, but one has got a tip from some friend or other who thinks he knows of a good thing. The work of the two men is exactly the same; it is a mere fluke that one gets a huge return and the other puts his money into a company which, without any fault on his part, brings in nothing.

The tax suggested would be levied on the excessive profits distributed in respect of the capital embarked in businesses of every kind. It was pointed out long ago that a tax thus levied on all alike would be paid wholly by the capitalist and "would neither affect the prices of the commodities produced nor the distribution of capital." The duty might be graded according to the percentage to be received on the capital of each investor. It might be reasonable for the first 10 per cent. to pay only the ordinary rate of income tax. Money in fixed permanent securities may now produce 5 per cent. or 6 per cent., and the additional 4 per cent. free from the excess duty would be a fair return for risk and an inducement to enterprise. The rate of excess duty might be increased according to the excess of profits above 10 per cent. until when the profits reached, say, 30 per cent. the duty on the amount in excess of 20 per cent. might be very high. The effect of the tax would not be to reduce the spending power of the community; it would only be that the State instead of the individual would to the extent of the duty obtain the power of purchasing what it required, and discharging its liabilities with the money it took from excessive profits. The amount of the tax, the method of grading and mode of levying it, would require careful consideration; but if the difficulties and inequalities introduced by the War excess profits duty could be met, there seems no reason why the difficulties of the tax thus proposed should not be also solved; at all events, an attempt should be made to see how it would work out.

Where money is rapidly acquired by some stroke of fortune and is not the result of steady industry the result is constantly unwise and often harmful expenditure either by those who have acquired it or their immediate successors. There is an old Lancashire saying as to fortunes rapidly made, that there are only three generations from clogs to clogs: "What is unreasonably gathered is also unreasonably spent by the persons into whose hands it finally falls." It may be spent "in a stupefying luxury twice harmful both in being indulged in by the rich and witnessed by the poor."

There is a great danger to the State at the present time from large amounts of money rapidly acquired being accumulated in few hands. There are many signs that we are likely to enter a period which may be described as the reign of the "nouveaux riches." The great financiers, the persons with enormous interests in huge combines, will exercise more and more an undue and dangerous influence on fiscal policy and political life. The old nobility and the class of country gentlemen will have less power. Their resources will be seriously crippled, and their families perhaps extinguished through losses in the War. The middle class, which, in the last century, exercised the strongest influence on political life, and from which most of our men of letters and science have sprung, may now be crushed. On the more highly educated part of the middle classes whose means are limited the burden of the War has fallen most heavily. Taxation seems deliberately arranged to place as heavy a burden as possible on those of the middle classes who have children to bring up and to educate in the way they think best, and who endeavour to provide means by which their families can occupy the same position in life which their parents have done. The rate of income tax paid by a bachelor and a spinster is increased if they marry, although their necessary expenses will be enormously increased if they have a family to support. A bachelor with L500 a year may be living in ease and luxury; if he marries and has four or five children to educate he may find difficulty in meeting the needs of his family with L1,500. In the same way the death duties are absurdly small on the estate of the bachelor who leaves no family, but are a real hardship on the family of the man who dies leaving a number of children.

The tendency is towards a rapid accumulation of huge fortunes. In considering the incidence of taxation Bacon's advice might well be remembered: "Above all things, good policy is to be used that the treasure and moneys in a State be not gathered into few hands, for otherwise the State may have great stock and yet starve, for money is like muck, not good except it be spread."



CHAPTER XV

NATIONAL EXPENDITURE

But where is the money to come from? Yes, that is to be asked. Let us as quite the first business in this our national crisis look not only into our affairs but into our accounts and obtain some notion of how we annually spend our money, and what we are getting for it. Not the public revenue only; of that some account is rendered already. But let us do the best we can to set down the items of the national private expenditure and know what we spend altogether and how.—JOHN RUSKIN.

The revenue and expenditure of the State have already been discussed; over that the State has a direct control. Over the expenditure of the nation the control of the State is only indirect. Though the two questions should be kept distinct, one affects the other. Both are vitally important and now more serious than ever in view of the huge debt and other conditions which will exist after the War. How are we to provide and pay for the commodities we need for the support of the nation? Before the War the balance required to pay for the excess of imports over exports was apparently provided, first, by interest on investments in other countries—Englishmen having provided capital all over the world—and, second, by freights. A large amount of these foreign investments has been sold. How far shall we still be a creditor country after the War? As regards freights, British shipping has suffered very heavy losses. One of the first duties both during and after the War must be to repair the losses and increase British tonnage available for trade. To this end no effort should be spared, and the State should do all that is possible to foster shipbuilding, or even undertake the work itself, if possible without interfering, as unfortunately it has already done, with the output of private shipbuilding yards.

As regards national as well as State expenditure, it will be essential, first, to increase the income, and second, to guard against every form of waste. To increase the income the only way is to increase production both from the land and the factory (a) of things needed for use at home, (b) of things which can be sold abroad, i.e., exported in exchange for the supplies that must be imported. In both cases it is necessary to consider not merely the increase in the amount produced or the volume of trade, but how far are the articles produced for home use or imported from abroad of real value in promoting the healthy life of the nation, how far are they things that are really needed. Books on political economy have sometimes stated that only "value in exchange is to be considered"; "value in use" is still more important. We want to ascertain the things that will really do us good, and devote our energies to the production and importation of such things. The teachings of the physiologist as to food values, the study of hygiene in its widest sense, must form part of political economy in the true sense as well as the laws of supply and demand or the theory of wages or of foreign exchange or currency.

Some of the methods for obtaining increased production from industry by better conditions of labour leading to more effective efforts have been discussed in another chapter; the question of obtaining increased output from the land so as to produce a larger amount of food for home consumption will be mentioned in a subsequent chapter dealing with reconstruction or reform relating to agriculture. Improved forestry may be regarded as a branch of the same subject.

With regard to expenditure, it will be incumbent on all classes to act rigorously so as to prevent waste, but it is not to be expected that the national expenditure as a whole can be greatly reduced as compared with the pre-War standard. The expenditure of certain classes of people might, of course, be greatly reduced without any injury to healthy life or development or in any way impairing real efficiency or even affecting their happiness; but as regards the majority this is not so. The conditions of life of the working classes, especially as regards such matters as housing, require to be improved. It is a wiser expenditure, not a reduction in expenditure, that must be the aim for them. The expenditure on drink is, of course, unnecessarily large, and in many cases absolutely detrimental, and a reduction in this respect is required for national well-being. The manner of dealing with the question must be the subject of separate consideration; but it is a remarkable fact that, though no evil has been more prominent, though for more than half a century no subject has provoked more discussion, though none has been the object of more organised attempts at reform, in none has so little of value been done by State action or legislation, at least until the establishment of the Board of Control during the War.

A second source of saving would be to prevent the waste of food which goes on in all classes. It is not only that food is actually thrown away, but that too little attempt is made to choose and to use the healthiest and most nutritious forms of food, and there is an indisposition to try any unaccustomed form of food. If one were asked what would be the most useful practical reform at the present time, probably the best answer would be, "Promote more general use of oatmeal porridge." Attention to the best choice and use of food would do much to make a healthy nation, and at the same time effect a saving in expenditure. "Grow more oats and eat them" would be a wise precept for the nation to follow. With that, an effort must be made to secure a fuller supply of milk at lower prices. This is vital for the welfare of the coming generation. The cost of transport and of distribution of milk might be reduced by better organisation.

Allied to this subject is the enormous waste caused by ignorance of cookery. A really excellent dinner in France or in Switzerland is often made from materials which would be despised in this country. Anyone who is in the habit of roaming about the country on foot or on a bicycle will know that in many parts it is impossible to get a decent meal; the provision made is frequently nasty without being cheap. In rural districts in France delicious meals can be obtained at a lower price. Domestic economy should be taught in every school, and to people of every rank, but the teaching should be practical. I remember wishing to see in an excellent school something of the teaching of domestic economy, and found the girls and boys, instead of learning to cook, were learning what was called science, writing down in copy-books "the operative principle of tea is theme." This kind of pseudo-science, teaching people to write a jargon which conveys no meaning to their minds, is one of the things which is called education, but is really mental demoralisation. The process may be continued, perhaps, in classes on "practical citizenship" for adolescents, who will be taught to say "the operative principle for the amelioration of states is democratisation." Great improvements in the teaching of domestic economy have been made during the last few years in many places, but there is no doubt that an enormous amount of waste is due to ignorance and neglect in the choice and preparation of food.

Again, every possible effort should be made to encourage habits of thrift, and to provide satisfactory modes of investment for small savings. As regards this question, War conditions have positively had a beneficial effect. The need for all classes to contribute to War Loans has been recognised; facilities to enable the small investor to contribute have been carefully arranged, and the War Savings Committees have done admirable work in bringing the question home to the people. The result has been on the whole most satisfactory. Not only has a very substantial sum been provided towards meeting the cost of the War, but habits of thrift have been fostered, and the sense of having a stake in the country, a direct financial interest in the national funds, makes for order and will form an element of stability in national life which will be invaluable.

Notwithstanding the "ingrained prejudice against thrift" among the majority of all classes, which is a marked characteristic of the English nation as compared, for example, with the French, the number of holders of national securities has increased enormously. Before the outbreak of the War it appears that only 345,100 persons held securities of the British Government. It was estimated that at the end of the year 1917 Government securities had been distributed among no fewer than 16 million persons, including 10 million holdings of War Savings Certificates.[8] It was further estimated that "during 1917 over 51 millions were contributed to the Post Office issues of War securities, which, together with the net value of nearly 64 millions from War Savings Certificates and an increase of deposits over withdrawals in the Post Office Savings Bank of no less than L5,683,000, provides in all a sum of L120,723,000 odd, the total contributions of small investors during the year." Since the beginning of the War the contributions of small investors already amount in all to a grand total of about L253,000,000.

Care in expenditure and a habit of saving will, in view of the financial position after the War, be alike necessary; the nation cannot afford waste in any form; after the War, as well as during the War, the national welfare demands that any balance beyond what is required for healthy life should be saved and made available to meet the national needs, including not only the fulfilment of the national obligations, which is an imperative condition for the maintenance of credit and prosperity, but also the provision of the means for future betterment, material or moral. We do not wish to reduce useful expenditure, but to get money for what we need by increasing production and by more careful spending. It will be a time for all classes to refrain from expenditure on luxuries or ostentation, or in fulfilling those imagined claims which convention imposes. In different ways almost all classes are fettered by these conventional obligations. How much of the expenditure of a person with fairly good income is devoted to things which give him no additional pleasure and confer no real benefit on himself or others! Both rich and poor waste great quantities of food, sometimes because they are afraid of being thought mean if they did not do so. There is a strange power exercised over our acts and our liberty is curtailed by the opinions of our neighbours or members of the same class. Much might be accomplished if we could enlist these conventions on the side of economy. Why, for example, should it not be considered "worse form" to take on the plate good food that is not wanted and leave it, than to eat peas with a knife? How greatly did an alliance with Mrs. Grundy support morality in mid-Victorian days! If we could turn social observances from encouraging extravagance to promoting economy, it would go far towards eliminating national waste.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 8: See Economist, July 13, 1918.]



Part IV

REFORM



CHAPTER XVI

THE FIELD

Above all things, order and distribution and singling out of parts is the life of despatch.—FRANCIS BACON.

It has been usual to associate the term "reform" mainly with constitutional changes, and especially with the extension of the franchise. Fortunately, the present Parliament has dealt with that question in a manner which makes great further changes unnecessary, and will leave the new Parliament free to deal with others. Instead of taking up time with the discussion of alterations in the franchise and arrangements for elections, the legislative machinery should be ready for use. But it is not merely to legislation that we have to look. More and more will depend on the action of executive departments of Government. Their field of activity has been extended during the War, and new departments have been established. Some of the new activities should be continued after the War, others should be stopped as soon as possible. It will be necessary to discriminate carefully. The powers of local authorities may be increased, and those authorities may be urged to more energetic use of them. There will probably be strong demands for interference by the State and local authorities, and the advantage of the free action of private individuals is likely to be overlooked, although where it is possible for a reform to be carried out by private effort better results are usually obtained, and at less cost than by action of the State. We are suffering and shall probably continue to suffer from too much regulation. One of the first reforms will be to get rid of restrictions which the War has for a time rendered necessary, to restore liberty of action, and to stop the expenditure occasioned by State interference wherever such interference is no longer needed.

Using the term "reform" to include all improvements which can be made either by restoring former conditions or by introducing beneficial changes, it will be necessary to look into each question separately and see in what cases and to what extent action by the State is required to accomplish the end desired. The most convenient course will be to draw up a list of subjects which ought to be dealt with, and then see how far (i) legislation, and (ii) executive action by some department are called for in each case, and how far private action will be effective.

The following appear to be the most important and most urgent matters which require to be considered either during the War or immediately after peace is declared. All of them will involve some action on the part of the State, although in many cases that action will be to enable voluntary associations or private individuals to take up the work and to aid them in doing so.

The list, though by no means complete, looks formidable:—

1. Restore constitutional law and liberty.

2. Remove the fetters on trade, commerce and industry.

3. Demobilise the army and decide what naval and military forces will still have to be maintained, and what provision ought to be made in regard to military training in the future.

4. Reform the War Office.[9] Reconsider the constitution and procedure of courts martial, and provide for really judicial inquiry into grievances. Revive and use the Territorial system.

5. Complete the arrangements for adequate pensions and develop means for giving such technical training and providing such openings for work as will enable partially disabled men to earn comfortable subsistence in addition.

6. Provide permanent homes and sanatoria for those who are more seriously injured, and find suitable light employment for those who can undertake it.

7. Arrange the best places and provide proper training for discharged soldiers and sailors (and others) who may be willing to settle on the land.

8. Consider how to restore the discharged men to their former places or accustomed work, and how to meet the needs of the temporary workers who will be displaced.

9. Curtail the vast expenditure on the departments organised for War work, reducing the staffs and finding other work for those who must be discharged. Dispense altogether with some of the new Ministries. The question of employment for women after the War will be most urgent.

10. Organise and correlate the various departments so as to secure more efficiency, and so assign and arrange the work of each as to avoid circumlocution, friction and waste.

11. Reconstitute the Cabinet on clearer lines, and let competence for the work of each department, instead of recognition of party services, be the guide in appointing the Minister responsible for each.

12. Reform the procedure of the House of Commons to check verbosity and facilitate business.[10] Delegate certain powers and duties.

13. Find means for raising additional revenue and making the incidence of taxation fairer. In particular, revise the provisions as to income tax and death duties, so as to increase revenue without adding to the hardships and burdens due to the present conditions. Some definite steps with that object are quite practicable.

14. Examine what industries, if any, are to be specially fostered as "key industries," and whether this can be done without injury to other industries or adding to the heavy cost borne by the consumer.

15. Arrange plans for enabling labour to co-operate fully in settling the conditions under which industry is to be carried on, and make provision for preventing disputes, increasing production, allocating profits fairly, and for reducing hours of work without diminishing output.

16. Provide more and better housing, not only to secure the bare accommodation necessary for health and decency, but also to make attractive homes.

17. Increase the productivity of the land and promote agriculture, not only for financial reasons, but to maintain and induce the growth of a larger rural population. Stimulate education and research bearing on agriculture.

18. Develop industrial villages, and also land settlements and co-operative farming. Multiply allotments, both urban and rural, so far as economic conditions permit and there is a supply of people desirous and capable of working them.

19. Introduce methods enabling persons without ready capital to acquire their cottages or small holdings by paying instalments on reasonable terms. Why not an Ashbourne Act for England?

20. Control the liquor traffic, not with a view to injure the publican, but to promote temperance, remembering that the business of the licensed victualler should be to provide wholesome food as well as drink, not to act merely as manager of a licensed house for extending the trade, and enhancing the profits of a brewery or distillery.

21. Simplify the Land Laws and make transfer easier and less costly.

22. Amend the law relating to marriage, and also on some points affecting personal status and devolution of property on death.

23. Consolidate the Statute Law and amend and codify the Criminal Law. Carry out the amendment of the Patent Law.

24. Aid the development of Education without destroying the liberty of teacher or scholar or the variety of methods by too much control, rigid system, or over-elaborate organisation.

25. Combat disease, encourage research in preventive medicine, and extend the application of its results. In particular carry on the campaign against infectious and contagious diseases, and especially against venereal disease.

26. Make better provision for playing-fields and open spaces, preserve places of historic interest and natural beauty, and make them accessible for the enjoyment of those who really care for them.

27. Develop fisheries.

28. Undertake afforestation systematically.

29. Improve and cheapen internal transport, especially by reviving waterways.

A fairly long programme, but it might be added to. Some of it is essential, all of it useful; some of it wants carefully guarding; none of it is beyond the sphere of practical politics. We cannot afford to neglect any of the items. All the activities of the Government, of the Legislature, and of private effort will be needed. It is worth notice that there is not a single question in the whole list that need divide Parliament or the country on party lines.

This list deals only with strictly home matters. Concurrently it will be necessary to deal with international questions, such as the formation of the League for securing peace, the constitution and regulation of tribunals for settling disputes, the resuscitation of International Law and reconsideration of its rules. An attempt should be made towards assimilating, by arrangement, the laws of the mother country and the colonies and also of different nations, affecting commerce, and also as regards personal status—nationality, naturalisation, and the validity of marriages.

The whole subject of co-operation between different parts of the Empire in determining its policy and dealing with matters affecting the whole demands earnest and immediate attention. The totally different question of the devolution of powers to any parts of the United Kingdom has yet to be settled. The claims of national sentiment have to be recognised while the welfare and safety of the whole are secured. What are the units to be on which powers can be conferred, and what should be their extent? Who exactly are those whose national claims are being asserted, and how far are they at unity among themselves? All these questions must be treated as matters for constructive statesmanship, not as pawns in party contests. They must be dealt with as practical problems having regard to the special circumstances of each case, not as opportunities for embodying some general political theory. There is a commendable opportunism which knows how to take "occasion by the hand," to do the wisest thing under the conditions subsisting at the time, as well as a blameworthy one, which looks out how to use them for personal advantage. There will be need, too, for the "trimmer on principle"—the man who, when the boat is going over on one side, deliberately and quickly transfers his weight to the other, or the steers-man who tacks when the wind is contrary in order to bring his ship to the port where his passengers desire to land. Such a man, as was said of Lord Halifax in the time of Charles II, "must not be confounded with the vulgar crowd of renegades, for though like them he passed from side to side, his transition was always in the direction opposite to theirs. The party to which he belonged was the party which at that moment he liked least, because it was the party of which he had the nearest view. He was, therefore, always severe upon his violent associates, and was always in friendly relation with his moderate opponents."

It is obviously impossible to discuss all these questions in a volume, still less to propound in detail the steps to be taken in dealing with them. Most of the more pressing ones will be touched upon and some suggestions made with regard to them; a few worked out rather more fully as examples. In some cases the remedies are obvious, and could be applied without difficulty, in others they require great special knowledge and careful thought, and their application will involve serious risks unless very great care and skill are used. To appear dogmatic in speaking of these subjects is inevitable if one would be definite; mistakes may be made, but "truth emerges from error more readily than from confusion."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 9: The last report of the Select Committee on Expenditure shows some of the grounds why this is urgent, and that very strong resolution will be needed to effect reform. The Prime Minister's determined action in insisting on unity of command for the Allied forces has already saved the country from enormous losses and done more than any other action of the Government to bring victory nearer. Any layman of average intelligence could see that the step was necessary; where did the opposition come from? There are politicians who would use their country's troubles to secure a party triumph.]

[Footnote 10: The abuse of the power of asking questions in Parliament has become a scandal. There are a few persistent persons whose desire to embarrass a Government they dislike, in carrying on the War, makes them indifferent to the injury they may do to the national cause. Some check is necessary. The right to question Ministers is one of the most important safeguards against improper action by the executive, but the House of Commons is discredited by the manner in which that right has often been exercised of late. A report of proceedings in question-time constantly brings to mind a scene in "Alice in Wonderland," and the retort made to the arch-interrogator, "Why do you waste time asking questions to which there is no answer?"]



CHAPTER XVII

RESTORATION OF LAW AND LIBERTY

What is long suspended is in danger of being totally abrogated.—EDMUND BURKE.

It is hardly too much to say that English Constitutional Law has been scrapped since the War. Immediately after the establishment of Peace the first duty will be to restore the old Constitutional Law which has been suspended to meet the new conditions due to the War, and to revive again the old safeguards for the liberty and rights of the subject against arbitrary action by the executive. The nation has rightly acquiesced in the exercise of powers by the executive during the War in a manner which nothing but the necessity of the time could justify. Powers to take a person's property at the will of some executive department without any definite principle or procedure even for assessing compensation ought at once to cease when there is no longer immediate urgency for using such powers to secure the safety of the country. Powers to deprive persons of their liberty on vague charges, or to try anyone except by ordinary course of law in the regular Courts, should be discontinued. The Reign of Law must be re-established to control the executive Government as well as the private citizen. Nothing is more infectious than a habit of substituting arbitrary will for law. Tyranny breeds anarchy, and anarchy tyranny in regular succession, and "the authority of one man over another not regulated by fixed law or justified by absolute necessity is tyranny." With the advent of Peace "Dora must disappear."

Even before the War there had been a tendency, on the one hand, to substitute administrative action for regular judicial procedure, and, on the other, to allow certain associations to act without regard to law, to injure individuals and infringe their rights without remedy. That tendency must be checked or liberty will be destroyed. Law and liberty as well as law and order are correlative terms. A real control over expenditure must be re-established and made more effective than it was even before the necessities of war in our unprepared condition made the present hand-to-mouth procedure to some extent excusable. The happy-go-lucky way in which new Ministries and new departments with vague and ill-defined but enormous powers have been created must come to an end. We should have some definite and recognised method of authorising changes in the system of Government. To set aside the Cabinet which, although it had no legal position, had powers sanctioned and established by long constitutional custom, and to concentrate authority in a small body selected and increased or diminished from time to time at the will of a Prime Minister, was probably necessary for successful prosecution of the War, but nothing else could justify some of the irregularities that have been committed.

Doctrines have been put forward sometimes in the Courts during the War by counsel representing the Crown—i.e., in effect some Ministry—which would have seemed questionable even in the days of the Stuarts. The whole of the special War Legislation, both Statutes and Orders of all kinds, will require to be revised and, unless there is strong reason to the contrary in any special cases, repealed. The burden of proof should be on those who think any of this exceptional legislation should be retained. Of course, care must be taken, especially in matters affecting commerce and industry, to give due notice of alterations and to change gradually so as not to prejudice arrangements already made and contracts in course of fulfilment.

Special attention will have to be given to the early removal of those restraints on trade—prohibition of exports and imports—which have been frequently necessary, either to retain in the country what is wanted to satisfy home requirements or to prevent goods from finding their way to the enemy, or to ensure that the limited tonnage available is used to bring the commodities which are vital to meet the pressing needs either of the forces engaged in War or of the civilian population. These restraints, however, are not only most harassing to merchants and involve much additional labour when labour is scarce, but if continued would prevent this country from carrying on the valuable entrepot trade for which its geographical position, its financial resources, and its command of shipping specially fit it. That trade at least depends on the maintenance of a policy of the open door both for coming in and going out. England is a good distributing centre—unless by artificial restrictions we destroy our opportunities. Merchants and manufacturers have been very patient as a rule under the fetters it has been thought necessary to impose to meet War conditions; these fetters should be removed as soon as possible. Unless this is done they will be fatally handicapped when Hamburg and Bremen again come into competition with them as distributing centres for the countries now neutral, and even for those which have been in alliance with us.

There is sure to be a cry to protect certain industries; in some cases it may be necessary to do so for a time at least, but every such claim should be most jealously scrutinised. The interests of any powerful section of the community always find influential advocates. They can exercise strong pressure on any Government or on Members of Parliament. The general interests of the people who have no trade organisation to support them will be likely to be overlooked. The restoration of freedom is the first reform that should attend the restoration of Peace.



CHAPTER XVIII

RESTORATION OF INDUSTRY

Neither one person nor any number of persons is warranted in saying to another human being of ripe years that he shall not do with his life for his own benefit what he chooses to do with it.—JOHN STUART MILL.

The next task will be the restoration of industry to its ordinary channels, and the return of the men who have been in the army to civilian occupations. Mr. Bonar Law has said that nothing has ever happened more wonderful than the way in which the British Empire has changed its Peace organisation into a War organisation. To reverse the process and change the War organisation into a Peace organisation may be still more difficult. In creating the War organisation enormous sums of money have been expended, the wheels have been lavishly greased to enable the new machinery to work. That process cannot continue, as with the reorganisation after Peace there must also be retrenchment. In the War Cabinet's Report for 1917 it is said that "1917 may be described as the year in which State control was extended until it covered not only national activities directly affecting the military effort but every section of industry, production, transport, and manufacture." To get rid of some of that control as regards industry as well as commerce, must be one of the first steps in reconstruction. State interference not only involves the expense of an enormous army of officials, inspectors, clerks, accountants, and others, but also causes friction, while the regulations which it has been found necessary to impose have been one of the causes of labour unrest. Any State regulations of labour are rightly watched with the greatest jealousy. Pledges have been given that certain pre-War conditions as regards labour shall be re-established as soon as possible.

During the War the exceptional conditions demanded exceptional measures. To prevent competition for labour in order to fulfil the enormously profitable contracts when the demand for munitions was so imperative, special legislation was found absolutely necessary before the end of the first year of the War. Employers had to be prohibited from engaging workmen who had been on munitions work within six weeks before taking up new employment, unless they had a certificate that the workmen had left with the former employer's consent, or a tribunal held that consent had been unreasonably withheld. Many persons who were in a position to form a sound opinion consider that this provision "saved the situation." At all events, it prevented the workmen, under the influence of the inducements offered by competing employers, from running from place to place to find where the highest wage could be obtained, and dislocating the work in which they had been engaged.

The provision for manufacture of munitions had to be made very hurriedly, as it took the Government and the heads of the army a long time to realise the fact that in a war against the organised forces of Germany greater quantities of munitions of all sorts, some of an entirely new kind, would be required by the army and navy. Our infantry were exposed to the bombardment of the enemy while the British artillery was unable to reply. Nothing is more wonderful and more creditable to the Minister who first took charge of the matter, to the heads of producing firms, and also to the workmen and the leaders of their Trade unions all over the country, than the way in which new factories were built, old factories enlarged, and output increased to the utmost. In the course of a few months rough vacant spaces all over the country were covered with admirably planned and well organised works. In a short time employers generally learned to understand and to observe the restrictions imposed, which were for the common good, though often irritating to individuals.

There was, however, some dissatisfaction among many of the workmen, and after two years the provisions as to certificates were repealed, and the Ministry of Munitions obtained wide powers for giving directions as to remuneration, and also to prevent munition workers from being taken for other work. The Ministry also exercised powers for regulating what workmen of different classes should be allowed to go to various establishments. Such regulation was and is necessary, but it will be a relief to British industry when this State control and the restrictions and regulations it involves can be done away with. The process of reversion to normal conditions as regards industry will take time, especially in adapting establishments where the products of the munition works are articles which are not required in time of peace. Fortunately, there will be a great demand for labour after the War to resume work that has been postponed, as well as for new undertakings, especially for housing and for repairs and renewals in railways, roads, and buildings. Work that has been put on one side to allow undivided attention to be given to munitions will require the services of a great number of persons and help to prevent unemployment which might otherwise arise when the new army is disbanded.

Of the questions affecting employment after the War, the position of discharged soldiers and sailors naturally comes first. They may be divided into two classes, namely, those who are in any way disabled, and who are discharged during the War suffering from some kind of injury to limb or to health, and, secondly, those who will be discharged when the army is demobilised. For the first class, the honour of the nation demands that proper and liberal provision should be made by pensions, having regard to the nature and extent of the injury received. For the totally disabled there must be an adequate subsistence; for the partially disabled the object will be, in addition to the pension, to find suitable employment and to train those who wish to take up some new employment suited to the varied requirements of men who have been disabled in different ways, and also in which higher remuneration may be obtained by reason of a skill thus acquired, and the greater demand for work of the class. It has been estimated that, apart from the provision for officers, forty millions a year will be required for pensions for soldiers and sailors. It is an expenditure which the country would least think of grudging. The Ministry of Pensions, in co-operation with other Departments concerned, has already taken in hand the question of dealing with the disabled, not only as regards the regulation and payment of pensions, but also as to qualifying those who are partially disabled to take up suitable employment. The work thus begun will have to go on for a considerable period after the close of the War. So far as inquiries have at present been made, a large percentage of the partially disabled men will be able to go back to the employment in which they were engaged before the War; others will be able to find similar employment without special training; many will be engaged in various simple light occupations.

In selecting men for positions as caretakers, office porters, and others of a similar kind, good feeling will naturally cause preference to be given to the men who have met with injury while fighting for their country. There will be a large number, however, who may wish to take up employment of a different description from that in which they were engaged before the War, and they will be glad of the opportunity of preparing themselves for it. For these men the Ministry, acting in co-operation with local authorities, and especially with local education committees, is arranging courses of technical training. During the period of training a payment, usually about twenty-seven shillings per week, is made to the men. The character of the training to be given and the provision to be made for it have been settled with advisory committees of persons engaged in and well acquainted with the requirements of the trade. This kind of co-operation and the practice of taking the advice of members of the trade from the very beginning, have been invaluable both in preventing mistakes and in creating goodwill towards the schemes which have been set on foot. The training, of course, differs according to the needs of different localities, but already suitable courses have been provided in different places, in boot-making, tailoring, furniture-repairing, basket-making, building, printing, aircraft-manufacturing, dental mechanics, and many other trades. Men who otherwise might have been condemned to useless lives with a bare subsistence will, through the measures thus taken, be able to earn a comfortable wage in some employment where their disablement does not seriously interfere with their work. What has been done in this matter should be as widely known as possible, and facilities for training should be extended to give preparation for other suitable trades.

Most of all, it is desirable that as many men as possible should be trained for agricultural and horticultural work, and should have the opportunity of healthy outdoor employment. To do such work efficiently, training for those who have not been brought up to it is, of course, necessary. This training may be given on farms acquired for the purpose either by some public authority or by individuals or by philanthropic associations. Work of the kind has been already started, and should be extended as fast as any demand for such training is found to exist. There is, unfortunately, reason to believe that the number of discharged men able to take up work on the land and desirous of doing so will not be very large.

In connection with the permanent employment of these disabled men, schemes have been set on foot which hold out the most attractive prospects as affording healthier conditions, brighter and pleasanter homes, and as enabling useful production to go on with efficiency under conditions in which the life of the worker may be passed in surroundings which will give some satisfaction to the aesthetic sense. These schemes include the formation of (i) industrial villages in the neighbourhood of towns, of which the one at Lancaster, referred to in the next chapter (p. 145), may be taken as a type, and (ii) new villages established, or old villages extended in places which are easily accessible, and not too remote from facilities for the education of children and from the attractions of a town. In these villages organised cultivation will be carried on.

Co-operative farming is already being tried. A very interesting and hopeful experiment in working a farm on co-operative lines under the management of a skilled director has been made near Maidstone, where a farm has been acquired by private effort. It has received a name of good omen—the Vanguard Farm.

Another proposal which may lead to very valuable results is the establishment of nurseries for forest trees on land reclaimed from the sea, or in other places where the soil is light and can be acquired at moderate cost. These and similar schemes, though intended in the first instance specially for partially disabled men, should be permanent. When fairly started they are expected to be self-supporting.

It is obviously impossible to treat of all the questions in the long list given above, and also impossible to deal with any of them completely. All that can be done is to give a general idea of the kind of thing that is wanted; then to select a few subjects as furnishing rather fuller indications of possible lines of action; and then—just as examples—work out one or two in more detail.

Two subjects, namely, Housing and Agricultural Development, must be selected, because their vital importance demands attention from all who care about the welfare of the nation. Another subject, namely, Law Reform, is selected because it is comparatively easy to say what ought to be done and to frame Acts embodying the required reforms.



CHAPTER XIX

HOUSING

Owing to house shortage in Sheffield, two wooden pigsties are being inhabited, one by a man and his wife and two children, and the other by a man and his wife. Both men are discharged soldiers.—DAILY PAPER.

There will be no rest, and should be none, until every industrious man or woman who wishes to have a real home can have one, where everyone who has children can bring them up under conditions where decency can be maintained and healthy life be possible. It is a question of urgency in rural as well as in urban districts, in the most remote places equally with the great cities. In this matter it is no case of having to create or stimulate a desire for improvement. The demand has existed for years, but after the War will be more imperative than ever. Somehow or other it must be supplied more fully. Attempts have been made again and again to deal with the question. Its importance is recognised and special inquiries are now being made as to the best means to be adopted. It is stated that at the present time half a million additional houses for working people are required, and that 100,000 more should be provided annually to meet the normal increase of population and to replace houses which have to be demolished.

It will be necessary to consider, first, the provision to be made to meet the existing shortage of house accommodation both in urban and rural districts. At present a large portion of the population cannot find a home or even any kind of accommodation that affords reasonable comfort and decency. Since the War, in some places, such as Barrow, the conditions have been absolutely intolerable, and when those who are engaged in the army abroad return, the state of things in some districts may be worse. The President of the Local Government Board recently stated that 1,103 local authorities in England and Wales had reported that houses for the working classes were required in their areas, and that the number of houses they needed probably exceeded 300,000. As above stated, the total requirement is much greater. The deficiency of accommodation has been one of the prime causes of labour unrest; the prices charged for any kind of shelter have been enormous; in some cases the same bed is occupied by one set of people immediately the prior occupants have gone to work, and "the bed is never even cold." The overcrowding of agricultural labourers and their families in miserable cottages, often out of repair and letting in the rain, has long been a scandal. Something has been done by benevolent landowners, who build cottages which they let on terms which bring little return for the money spent on them; but it is quite impossible to rely either on the working of the law of supply and demand or on private benevolence for meeting the difficulty. Strong and immediate action by the State is needed. Adequate powers should be given to local authorities, and pressure put upon them, if needed, to ensure that such powers are exercised. Such action is already being taken, and compulsory powers to acquire land will be given. In assessing compensation, the great urban landowner who has done nothing to contribute to the growth of the town or to promote its industries, ought not to receive the full value of the land, as enhanced by the necessary expansion of the town and thereby converted into building land, with an added amount for compulsory purchase. The manner in which the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act has been worked has added enormously to the burden of most great public undertakings. The compensation awarded has often been outrageous, and the expense incurred in assessing it one of the grossest scandals. It would be easy to give numerous instances from actual experience.

But there is not only need for more accommodation, but also for more attractive accommodation. There is no reason why the home of a human family should as a rule be, as it is in most of the towns in England at present, a hideous object. What has been done at Port Sunlight, at Bournville and other places shows that, by proper forethought and wise expenditure, small houses which it is a pleasure instead of a pain to look upon, can be provided. Another good example of what can be done may be seen in the change effected in the residences for the poorer classes made on the property of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners at Walworth in South London. What is now a pleasant exception ought to be a regular rule. Means ought also to be taken to ensure that urban workers should have the opportunity of obtaining an allotment, if not adjoining, at least within reasonable distance of their homes, where they may grow fruit and vegetables and enjoy what is, after all, one of the greatest of the quiet pleasures of life, watching the growth of the plants which they have cultivated, and enjoying the products.

Round some towns, the estates of great landowners form a ring fence barring any growth of the town until, when trade is good and the town is expanding, extravagant prices can be obtained for the land of which they have the monopoly. High ground rents are fixed when trade is inflated, jerry-builders then start erecting houses, borrowing sometimes from building societies the whole amount required to enable them to build, and the houses are either sold or let at very high rents. The cottages are put up in the cheapest possible way consistent with the by-laws of the local authorities. When a cycle of bad trade occurs the property falls in value, it goes out of repair, tenants have no interest whatever in keeping it decent, it falls into a disgusting condition, mortgagees foreclose. In many cases the building societies that have lent money on the property to its full value, by arrangement between the secretary of the society and the speculative builder, have gone into liquidation, and the industrious people who have placed their money in the societies have lost their investments. And last, there have even been disputes between the owner of the ground rent who wishes to re-enter and the local authority as to the payment of charges for making streets in the district which has fallen into decay. This is no fancy picture. Those who have had legal practice over a period of years in some of our large towns will confirm it from their own experience.

There is no valid reason why, when land is converted from agricultural land into building land in the neighbourhood of a large town without any effort on the part of the landowner, a definite portion of such land should not be set aside for allotments or open spaces without payment, on the same grounds that a person who is erecting buildings on the land is obliged to comply with building regulations to secure proper sanitation, although it might be more profitable to build without any regard whatever for the health of the prospective tenants. Of course, it may not always be possible to set aside a portion of any given piece of land which is sold for building, but in that case the landowner should contribute an equivalent value out of the proceeds of the land which he sells towards providing the allotments or open spaces required elsewhere in the neighbourhood. Such a provision would not be really burdensome, as no contribution either in land or money would be made except at the time when a largely increased revenue was to be derived from the land. It is not to be forgotten that the large urban landlord usually pays no rates towards meeting the requirements of the town, and receives the full amount of the rent fixed practically for all time at a period of inflation, although the rates may have enormously increased to meet the cost of the things which the municipality has to provide for the needs of a large and industrious but often very poor population.

An example has been given of what private enterprise may do in providing not merely accommodation for working people, but accommodation with really attractive surroundings, in the action taken by the family of the late Sir Thomas Storey, at Lancaster. They, under the advice of one of the highest authorities on town planning, Mr. T.H. Mawson, have given an estate adjoining the town, which will be laid out in an attractive manner, with avenues arranged to afford pleasing prospects. The primary object at present is to provide homes in the neighbourhood of a factory to be erected where disabled soldiers may engage in some kind of suitable manufacturing work, but the scheme is intended to be permanent. The houses will be near the factory; there will be playgrounds, drying-grounds, probably garden allotments, a hostel for single men, a reading-room, and some place of amusement. The development of industrial villages by private enterprise, encouraged in every possible way, is one of the most hopeful things to look forward to in the rebuilding of Britain. There can be no greater pleasure for anyone who has any vision of what the future of housing accommodation for the working classes may be than to read Mr. Mawson's charming volume on "Industrial Villages for Partially Disabled Soldiers and Sailors as an Imperial Obligation."

Another useful means of improving the conditions of housing for working people has been adopted in many places by carrying on the movement initiated by Octavia Hill. Property has been acquired and placed under the management of some voluntary association, usually of ladies, who will collect rents of reasonable amount and see that the property and its surroundings are kept in proper condition. Various associations of the kind have been established; the Manchester Housing Company, Limited, may be taken as an example of such arrangements for managing urban cottage property. In the last report it is stated that the Company has owned or managed 114 houses, and the directors are assured that the sanitary conditions under which the tenants are housed have steadily conduced to the lowering of the death-rate. The personal interest taken in the tenants as well as in the houses by the managers has had a marked influence for good. The scheme is self-supporting, and in 1917 a dividend of 4-1/2 per cent, was paid.

Lastly, there should be some method, provided by public authority, through which workers or other persons of small means can become owners of their houses. Building societies came into existence with this object, and were put under statutory regulation by the Legislature in 1836, and subsequently by an Act of 1874. In many cases facilities given by building societies have been very useful in accomplishing the original objects of such societies; in other cases, for reasons above indicated, they have been a failure. By using the credit of the Government money to enable properties to be acquired can be obtained, or could have been obtained, at a lower rate. Instalments covering interest at that rate and providing a sinking fund towards the repayment of the principal would be of substantially less amount than the subscriptions to the building societies, and would not exceed the rents tenants have been accustomed to pay without any prospective advantage. Schemes to practise thrift and to induce people to take a greater interest in their homes and to enable them to acquire homes which are really attractive on reasonable terms are to be encouraged by every means which the Legislature or private individuals can adopt without causing pauperisation. The object can be achieved on fair business terms and without substantial risk of loss. Under the Ashbourne and the Wyndham Acts in Ireland there has been, at all events until recently, practically no failure to pay the required instalments.

A committee has been appointed to investigate the housing question, and its reports will no doubt contain valuable suggestions for dealing practically and at once with a matter so vitally important to the rebuilding of Britain.



CHAPTER XX

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

In all kingdoms this first and original art [agriculture]—this foundation of all others—must be pursued and encouraged, or the rest will faint and be languid.—ARTHUR YOUNG.

The most important practical reform of all is to make the land more productive, to put it to the most profitable use. By profitable use we do not mean using it so as to bring the owner the largest return in money per acre, aiming at the largest net profit by reducing expenditure as much as possible and growing whatever will fetch the highest price at least cost of production. The really useful object is to lay out and use all the land of the country in such a way as to produce the greatest aggregate of commodities which are of real intrinsic value for use or which can be exchanged for useful commodities coming from other nations; in particular to produce in our own country as much wholesome food as possible, and in so doing to support as large an agricultural population as possible in reasonable comfort and health. To grow in our own country a larger proportion of the food we consume is necessary, first, in order to meet our own needs from our own internal resources, and so reduce the amount which has to be paid to other countries for the commodities they supply; secondly, in case of war, to avoid the risk of starvation and reduce the strain on the Navy and on the Mercantile Marine due to the necessity of bringing the larger part of the essential food of the country overseas and also, what may be equally important, to avoid the distress which may be caused owing to the country being unable to provide the means of payment for the immense proportion of the food required which must be brought from overseas. It was long ago pointed out that the "trades by which the British people has believed it to be the highest of destinies to maintain itself cannot now long remain undisputed in its hands."

The next object is to increase the agricultural population. It has been found again and again in other countries as well as our own that a large and healthy agricultural population is essential to keep up the physique of a nation. The town folk tend to decay unless constantly replenished by influx from the country. One good effect of the War has been to direct attention to the vital importance of this subject, and careful inquiries have been made and useful steps taken which have had the effect of greatly increasing the home production of food.

The subject is treated clearly in a popular way in a book published in 1917 on Agriculture after the War by Sir A.D. Hall, now secretary of the Board of Agriculture, and in fuller detail in the report of a committee of which Lord Selborne was chairman. The report was published at the beginning of 1918; some of the proposals have been already acted upon, others will no doubt be the basis of future action by the Board of Agriculture and the Ministry of Reconstruction.

Before the War the imports of food less re-exports amounted to about 229 millions annually, or, to put the case in another way, about half of the total food consumed in the British Islands was brought overseas; but "if the most essential foodstuff, wheat, is considered, less than one-fifth of what we required was produced in the country." The position was one of terrible insecurity; but for the efficiency of the Navy the country would have been starved into complete submission in this War, and its prosperity and liberty would have been lost for ever. After the War the financial question of the continued ability of the nation to pay for the food we require is probably the most serious we have to face. The first remedy for the existing state of things is the increase of tillage. Assuming that the same pecuniary profit can be obtained by using any land for tillage as for pasture or other purposes, it is obvious that it is right to do everything possible to get that land devoted to tillage, first, as national insurance for the reasons above stated, and, second, to support a larger population under healthy conditions. One of the great causes of discontent, of vagrancy, and of distress in the sixteenth century was certainly the conversion of large tracts which had formerly been arable into pasture land, because the land laid down as pasture would produce a larger profit to the owner though it supported a much smaller population and required far less labour. A considerable portion of the rural population was thrown out of employment and the supply of food was diminished. Again and again the decay of the agricultural population has been the ground of complaint. Goldsmith speaks of it beautifully and pathetically in the "Deserted Village," and the process went on, becoming year after year a greater national peril; but the Government and Parliament seemed to care little about it, so that even during the last forty years, according to the statement of Sir A.D. Hall, "the productivity of the land of Great Britain as a whole has declined." Although a far larger rent might be obtained from the wealthy who use a great part of Scotland for shooting than could be obtained from crofters, national welfare demands that it should be used for crofts and to raise the population which has supplied our armies with many of the finest soldiers and the whole Empire with many of its best colonists. Of course, there are large tracts of such a character that people cannot support themselves in tolerable comfort by tilling them, and it is better that land of that kind should be used for sheep if possible, and, in cases where even this is impossible, for deer forests or grouse moors, subject to reasonable public rights of access.

Among the measures which may be taken to increase the home production of food the following may be mentioned:—

1.—Improved farming or intensification of agriculture under the existing system. It is admitted that English, and perhaps still more Scottish, farming at its best is admirably conducted. Fortunately, very many of the large landowners are themselves keenly interested in agriculture and take a pride in promoting it. It is perhaps not generally known what a useful and valuable trade the country carries on in the export of pedigree stock. The prices obtained for the best bred British bulls, rams and boars are very high. An extension over all suitable parts of the country of the highest type of British farming would add to the wealth of the country immensely.

Connected with this subject is the promotion of agricultural education, and along with that of agricultural research. Very great advances have been made of recent years, and it would be an utterly false economy to starve productive work of this kind. It ought to be held a disgrace for a country landowner not to have some knowledge of agriculture and interest in it.

2.—Industrialised farms, i.e., the organisation of large farms to be managed as business enterprises under the control of a general manager. If farming was thus carried on on a large scale machinery would be employed to its full advantage, and there would be economy in buying and selling wholesale and avoiding waste in preparing for and placing commodities on the market. The most highly trained, skilled and energetic management would be obtained for farms of this kind. It is to be noticed that, although some commodities can equally well be produced by small culture, it is generally only on a large scale that cereals can be profitably cultivated.

3.—Co-operative farming.—The subject is one of special interest, as co-operative farming in some form was historically the basis of the whole system of society in many countries. Experiments in co-operative farming may be tried with advantage. They may take various forms. It will, no doubt, be found that in certain branches of farming, such as dairy farming in some districts, co-operative action is almost necessary to success. The experience of Denmark has shown how much can be done to keep up a definite standard in butter, for example, by sending milk to some large, well-equipped and well-managed dairy. Such establishments have also far better opportunities for dealing with transport and distribution.

4.—Colonies of Small Holdings.—It is to be hoped that when the troops are demobilised, and the Small Holdings Acts are put into fuller operation, the number of small holdings will be increased. A population of independent yeomen is the best reservoir of the manhood of any country. No finer race has existed than the statesmen who cultivated the small farms among the hills of Cumberland and Westmorland.

5.—There is a great deal of land, both on the seashore and in inland districts, which might be reclaimed.—The cost of such work would be heavy, but the return in greater aggregate production and in providing means to support a larger country population would be most important. This question will be alluded to briefly in Chapter XXI.

6.—Important industries, such as basket-making and many others, might be carried on in rural districts along with their principal work by those engaged in agriculture or horticulture, just as Swiss peasants by wood carving, when agricultural operations are impossible, produce a number of articles for which there is a substantial demand in other countries.

7.—Last, and perhaps the most interesting and important step of all, is to increase allotments. The demand for allotments, both by the agricultural population in rural districts and by the urban population who are engaged in industrial or even in commercial pursuits in the forge towns, is very keen. The effect of the War and the more pressing need for home-grown food have stimulated the demand, and in trying to meet it, both the Board of Agriculture and private individuals and local authorities have done splendid work, which ought to be recognised as one of the most beneficial movements which have taken place within living memory. More than seventy years ago William Howitt called attention to the advantages derived from the system of urban allotments adopted near his own town of Nottingham, and attention has been subsequently drawn to the subject, but its importance was not fully realised until the outbreak of the War. An enormous advance has already been made, and if the right steps are taken for securing more permanence of tenure, and for obtaining land on fair terms near to the homes of the workers, a far greater and more lasting advance will be made. The number of allotments in England and Wales before the War was about 570,000. It is estimated that now there are upwards of 1,400,000. The urban allotments have increased enormously, an interest has been added to the lives of many workers; their supply of wholesome food of their own growing has been increased and the health of these urban workers promoted. At present the total area taken up by allotments is about 200,000 acres. If half of these are devoted, say, to growing potatoes and produce an average of seven tons per acre, the allotment holders in England and Wales would this year grow "700,000 tons of the most essential war-time crop practically on the spot where the crop is to be consumed." It appears that, taking the whole of England and Wales, there was an allotment holding for one household in twelve before the War. On May 1st, 1918, one household in five held an allotment. In the county boroughs before the War one household in thirty-two possessed an allotment, now the proportion is one household in nine, and the process is going on. It is the most encouraging development, whether looked at from the economic point of view or from the point of view of national health and happiness, that has taken place within living memory. The urban allotments are regularly worked by persons who are engaged in various forms of industry during the greater part of their time, and it is found that the allotments must be small, usually about fifteen to an acre. They ought to be as near as possible to the homes of the people who work them. One of the reasons pointed out for the slow development of the system, even where it has been so successful as in Nottingham long before the War, was the distance of the allotments from the homes of the workers. In town planning there should be an attempt wherever possible to arrange for allotments close to the new small dwellings which are erected. It will be essential, however, to insist (i) on more permanent tenure for those who work their allotments properly and keep them in good condition; (ii) that the land required should be obtained on reasonable terms. Some landowners have themselves voluntarily taken the matter in hand, but in other cases compulsion will be necessary, and, as already stated, it will be right that where the land has been agricultural or vacant land, bringing in a small or even no return, the price or rent paid for it should be based on its agricultural value plus some reasonable addition, and not on the enormously enhanced value of the land as land which has become building land owing to the growth of the urban population in the neighbourhood. It will be desirable to arrange by co-operative or municipal action for the supply of seeds, plants and fertilisers, and also for the sale of any surplus produce not required by the holder for his own use.

The admirable work which is being done by the Board of Agriculture in encouraging allotments ought to be recognised and supported in every possible way.



CHAPTER XXI

AFFORESTATION

Thou, too, great father of the British floods, With joyful pride survey'st our lofty woods, Where towering oaks their growing honours rear And future navies on thy shores appear.—ALEXANDER POPE.

We shall use the word afforestation here to denote the steps to be taken for promoting the growth of timber on a large scale. The original sense in which it is employed in any historical or legal work is quite different. There it means turning a track of land into a forest, and a forest did not mean land covered with timber trees, but a "certain territory of woody grounds and fruitful pastures, privileged for wild beasts and fowles of the forest to rest and abide in," in "the protection of the King for his princely delight and pleasure." It was subject to special jurisdiction, and special officers were appointed over it "to the end that it may the better be preserved and kept for a place of recreation and pastime meet for the royal dignity of a prince." The Forest Laws were oppressive, and for the purpose of afforestation many wrongs were committed. In the Crown forests, like Epping Forest and the New Forest, there were a number of commoners who had special rights of pasture and of taking certain things from the forest, such as firewood "that might do them good." It is by the assertion of such ancient rights of common that Epping Forest has been preserved as a place of recreation for the people of East London, and that so much of the New Forest remains open land. The latter is a source of perennial enjoyment to those who visit it, and maintains the successors of the old forest commoners in prosperity, due largely to the fact that they can graze ponies there and feed pigs on the acorns and beechmast. Whatever steps are taken to promote the growth of timber—and much has been done from time to time in the New Forest with that object—it is important that these valuable common rights should be preserved, and that the value of open lands for the health and recreation of the people should not be overlooked.

The need for systematic action and for the Government to take steps to promote the growth of timber in the United Kingdom has been pointed out from time to time. The Board of Agriculture in 1911 drew up a memorandum pointing out that "British forestry was far behind that of other leading European States," and that "the growing of timber had never in this country been recognised as a business"; that "there had been no continuity of policy with regard to it." When the War broke out it appears that only eight per cent, of the total amount of timber required for home use was grown in the United Kingdom, ninety-two per cent, had to be brought from oversea. The War showed how perilous and how costly a thing it is to neglect home production of necessaries.

When all our shipping was required for other purposes, it was a most serious matter to take up tonnage with a cargo so bulky as timber, occupying probably more ship space in proportion to its value than any other. More timber was required for huts and sheds, for railway sleepers, and a variety of other purposes. For the construction of aircraft special kinds of timber were needed. The demand for pit props in enormous quantities was urgent and continuous. At the same time the loss of shipping through submarine action became very serious. Fortunately our French Allies had been more provident in conserving and promoting their home supplies. Forestry in France had been carefully fostered by the Government. To take one example alone, the Landes, the district near the coast between Bordeaux and Bayonne, which had once been a region of dreary marsh, shifting sand, or scanty pasture, had been turned into splendid forest by wise forethought a century ago, and yielded great supplies of valuable timber. Science has pointed out many ways in which small and waste wood also can be used for the production of a number of substances necessary in peace and still more urgently required in war. The Landes country was noted for its production of rosin. Thousands of cups into which it exudes from cuts in the trees are to be seen when passing through the forests in that region.

Shortage of tonnage during the War made it necessary to use the home supply of wood of the United Kingdom to the fullest extent. A controller of timber supplies was appointed, though, as usual, rather late in the day. Under his energetic management a very large part of the timber needed was obtained in this country. It was essential to get all that was possible, but the result is inevitable "that we shall have to face a period in which production will be much below even the low figure which it had reached before the War. Not only have mature crops been felled in all parts of the United Kingdom, but thousands of acres of young or immature woods have been felled for pit-wood and other purposes, or have been thinned to a degree which renders clearing and replanting absolutely essential."

One painful result has also been to deprive certain places of the beautiful trees which gave the countryside there its special charm. There is no plainer case for taking in hand the question of reconstruction at once, for framing a clear policy as to the steps to be used to repair the losses caused by war, and to ensure that in the future we shall not be so completely dependent on supplies from abroad through neglect of the possibilities of production at home. A Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. F.D. Acland, was appointed in July, 1916, "to report upon the best means of conserving and developing the woodland and forestry resources of the United Kingdom, having regard to the experience gained during the War." The report of that Committee, dealing with the whole subject, was issued in 1918, and is a model of clear statement, and a mine of information made readily accessible. It gives a full survey of the present position, and sets forth a "forest policy recommended" which is definite and worked out in detail. The Committee find that "the timber position at home is bad, that prospects of supply from abroad are becoming doubtful, that ample supplies in time of emergency are a national necessity of the very first importance, that they can only be secured for certain if the timber be grown at home, and finally, that it is essential for the State to take a very much more active part in forestry than it has been content to take in the past." State action is becoming, perhaps, too much the fashion—free individual action is generally far better—but in this matter, which is one of "national insurance," State action is necessary, and reasons of a conclusive character are given—such as the long period required before the crop can be matured and any return obtained, and the uncertainty as to the future conditions and factors on which its ultimate profitableness will depend—showing why the matter should be taken in hand by the State. Such action would, of course, not exclude individual or local action; indeed, private enterprise might also be helped by the State in many ways, including the giving of expert advice and making the results of the best scientific research available to all.

The work of afforestation would provide a healthy and suitable employment for discharged soldiers who preferred a country life to resuming their occupations in towns. The number taking up forest work, however, would probably be very small. There are also some branches of forest work which would be suitable for partially disabled soldiers. A very interesting scheme has been framed for establishing forest nurseries on reclaimed lands. One specially suitable site has been suggested on the shore of the River Kent at the head of Morecambe Bay, near Grange-over-Sands, where land was reclaimed after the making of the Furness Railway. The reclaimed land would be suitable for a forest nursery for raising young trees. The soil is light, so the work would be healthy and would not be too strenuous. The scheme has been worked out in detail, and an attractive description of it is given by Mr. Mawson. There are other places where reclaimed land or other land with light and suitable soil might be used for such nurseries. Partially disabled men might also be trained for the lighter kinds of forest work, such, for example, as the "marking of thinnings." It is of a technical character, but does not involve any serious physical strain.



CHAPTER XXII

LAW REFORM

I should not be an advocate for the repeal of any law because it happened to be in opposition to temporary prejudices, but I object to certain laws because they are inconsistent with the deliberate and permanent opinion of the public.—SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH.

Compared with some of the other great questions involved in Reconstruction, mere reforms in the law may often seem almost trivial, but they have the advantage of being easier to handle than social and economic reforms. It is not so difficult to state exactly what is wanted, to embody the proposals in definite shape in a Bill, and to pass it if the Parliamentary machine is properly used. The incapacity of Parliament to deal with remedial legislation embodied in a Bill clearly drawn is often exaggerated. A reform merely in Parliamentary procedure would go far to remedy the existing congestion. A case could be quoted from very short Parliamentary experience where a private member, surprised at getting first place in the ballot, adopted a friend's suggestion to attempt a long-needed practical reform. The subject has too much technical difficulty to be explained here, but the Bill was drafted in an hour or two, passed the House of Commons early one afternoon without alteration, and the House of Lords with slight verbal changes. It became law in two or three weeks, and the Act is now used with beneficial results in the Courts almost daily. A real injustice was prevented and practical inconvenience removed, but the measure was nearly wrecked by some theorists who wished to extend the principle of the Bill logically, as they said, but in a manner which would have made it virtually unworkable, without benefit to a single human being. A small matter, but instructive.