I"2?6 



NATURE 



[September 30, 191*5 



we have entered, and though this offers one of the 

 most powerful arguments in refutation of the charge 

 that we dehberately entered the war for sinister pur- 

 poses, it will be very disastrous if we repeat our 

 unpreparedness when the War ceases, and we shall 

 deserve the worst that can happen to us. - When peace 

 is concluded, it will only be a prelude- to another war, 

 and a war which will recommence with far greater 

 energy on the part of our enemy than before — viz., 

 the war of commerce — and the latter will be almost as 

 serious for us as the more sanguinai-y one. 



Remembering how soon we forgot that black De- 

 cember week fifteen years ago; and the lurid indica- 

 tion from the German Emperor that he and his people 

 had the will to destroy us then if not the power, and 

 how swiftly we relapsed into national ease at the end 

 of the Boer War, it behoves every man who can do 

 so to take his share in making ready for the terrific 

 struggle Germany is certain to put up in the arts 



■and manufactures. \ might give evidence of this from; 

 a number of sources, but I willonlytake one emanat- 



'ing from a body of professors of the great universities 



„of Germany. These gentlemen have published a 

 voluminous manifesto containing, amongst other 

 gems, the following : — "Once the Russians are driven. 

 back beyond their new Frontier we shall not forget; 

 the war which England has made on the maritime 

 and Colonial commerce of Gerrrtany. That rtiust be 

 the guide of our action and Ave must supplant the world 

 trade of Great Britain. By h^r blockade of Germany, 

 England has instructed us in the art of being a 

 European Power, militarily, industrially independent 

 of others. We must immediately seek to create for 



. ours.elves apart from the Empire of the Seas a Con- 

 tinental commercial enceinte as extensive as possible." 

 It does npt, however, want such published evidence 

 to convince any practical person of the folly of think- 

 ing that a keen and virile nation having more than 

 loO million inhabitants is going to be crushed out of 

 fierce and vengeful competition, whatever the end of 

 the war may be. We shall better appreciate what this 



-competition will mean if we consider the progress 

 made by Germany during the last half-century in the 



"arts and manufactures. (The president then gave 

 curves showing the comparative growth of Great 

 Britain and Germany during the last fifty years.) 



The above curves' are , quite sufficient to illustrate 

 the marvellous .progress, of Germany; and in passing 

 I may remark that, one of the most persistent allega- 

 tions which has been repeated ad naus6am by German 

 statesmen, soldiers, professors, and the whole German 

 Press generally, is that the war is caused by our 

 jealousy of this progress. Perhaps you ^ will con- 

 sider it waste of time even to allude to this matter; 

 but' I will take this opportunity of pointing out 

 that if there had been any truth concerning this 

 jealousy,, it would have been, the simplest thing in the 

 worW to shut Germanv out of a large number of 

 markets in the British 'Empire, and that this would 

 have been a very much cheaper process than going 

 to war. Our Colonies,, which are now figtiting equally 

 with ourselves against German aggression, made a 

 very small difference. (5 per cent., for Instance, in the 

 case of New South Wales) in regard to the introduc- 

 tion of German manufactures, J myself have some- 

 what close knowledge of two colonies, and I cannot 

 help recalling the astonishment with which I found 

 ifl. South Africa that, when there was, a huge scheme 

 of electrification effected, the enormous amount of 

 material which Germany supplied was for what the 

 public mostly believed to be a. purely British enter- 

 prise. I -also have reason to. know that the supply 

 of - machinery to New South Wales frohi Krupp in 

 some cases exceeded hy as much as ten times in 

 NO. 2396, VOL. 96] 



amount the quantity supplied by- British firms. The 

 prices were no higher, in spite of the 5 per cent. 

 advantage to this coantry. The- delivery of the goods 

 was, on one hand, sometimes • inordinately delayed, 

 though scrupulously punctual "in delivery on the other. 

 Now, when we look closely into the causes of Ger- 

 many's great advarlce, we can learn lessons which we 

 have been culpably slow to take to heart. Although 

 there are other cau^s, first and « foremost, and over- 

 shadowing all others, is the determined and whole- 

 hearted Organisation of German industry. I see it 

 recently stated that the scheme above referred to (the 

 Victoria Falls scheme) was lost to this country be- 

 cause the industrial banks of Germany backed their 

 own manufacturers, and this is no doubt partly true. 

 As I have already quoted, Germany's power in war 

 is admitted to be her mechanical organisation, and 

 the organisation of every material and engineering 

 •force to that end. Just as striking, if not more so, 

 is her organisation for the arts of peace, and I lately 

 heard a very shrewd man of affairs express his amaze- 

 ment at Germany's entrance into war, when by peace- 

 fully pursuing the way she was going she would have 

 dominated the world commercially in a few years' 

 time. It is undoubtedly in the matter of scientific or- 

 ganisation even more than the organisation of science 

 that Germany has achieved such wonderful results, 

 and it is therefore in this direction that we must leave 

 no stone unturned if we wish to have any chance of 

 holding our own in the future. I will indicate a few 

 of the matters in which there is ample scope for doing 

 useful work in the above direction. ^ 



Education. - ■ : • 



A sign of the times is the inclusion of an Education 

 Section in an associatioh for the advancement of 

 science. This has not been done on the narrow 

 ground of improving the teaching of science in schools, 

 but because it is now recognised, and this none too 

 soon, that the whole problem of education must be 

 treated In a scientific manner. 



When the subject of engineering education is men- 

 tioned we are apt to think only of the training of such 

 engineers as have been considered In a recent report 

 issued by the Institution of Civil Engineers, and to 

 exclude, as that report purposely does, the training 

 of our artisans and foremen. We certainly do not 

 connect the idea at all with the training of the artisan 

 himself. As a matter of fact, while high scientific 

 training of the professional engineer and manufac- 

 turer Is of vital Importance, the proper education of 

 the men whom he will have to control Is scarcely less 

 so. The latter education may not be of the same 

 kind, but It is just as vital to the country, and its 

 present condition Is a serious evil. 



A well-known American, in the General Electric 

 Review, writing on the "Individual and corporate de- 

 velopment of industry," points out that theoretically 

 the aim of both employer and employee Is the same, 

 namely, the efficiency of Industrial production to in- 

 crease the return of the investment in labour and in 

 capital. Unfortunately, however, as he remarks, ^'the 

 relations between the two have frequently been hostile 

 Industrial warfare over the distribution of the returns 

 rather than co-operation for the increase of financial 

 returns of both parties." 



One of the most humiliating things of the present 

 war has been, the mutual relation of the two In this 

 country in what is probably the most critical period in 

 our history. I will say more later On this subject, bwt 

 there is no doubt the subject of Industrial education 

 needs earnest consideration. 



(Various matters connected with the education :bf 

 engineers were then dealt with.) 



