NA TURE 



421 



THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1917. 



AFTER THE WAR. 

 The War and the Nation: A Study in Constructive 

 Politics. By W. C. D. Whetham. Pp. viii + 312. 

 (London : John Murray, 1917.) Price 65. net. 



iX a very readable and interesting little book 

 of about three hundred pages Mr. Dampier 

 \\"hetham has made a contribution of consider- 

 able value to the literature called forth by the 

 present world-shaking war. With clear in- 

 sight and breadth of information he deals with 

 the new conditions of life which have been created 

 for the Empire, the nation, and the citizen by the 

 gigantic Teuton conspiracy to grasp world-empire 

 for the HohenzoUern dynasty and the crowd of 

 adventurers and militarists by whom it is sup- 

 ported. The defeat of this nefarious project has 

 cost and will still cost the great liberty-loving 

 democracies of the world incalculable sacrifices 

 in life and treasure. All that is most precious in 

 human life is, however, at stake, and hence the 

 work of crushing Prussian militarism must be 

 done now, and done so effectively that it will never 

 raise its brutal dragon-head again. 



The main topic of Mr. Whetham 's book is the 

 consideration of the steps which will have to be 

 taken to make good the inevitable losses, and to 

 support that load of national debt which will have 

 been incurred. The book is divided into six 

 chapters, respectively entitled Laissez-faire or con- 

 structive politics ; The land and they that dwell 

 thereon ; The organisation of British industry and 

 commerce ; Coal and railways ; The war and the 

 race ; Finance and taxation. It will be seen that 

 the topics handled lie as much within the re^flm of 

 political economy as within that of scientific or 

 technical work, and much has already been said or 

 written bv scientific men and industrial leaders on 

 some of the matters discussed. 



One of the most important questions is the 



serious loss to the nation of young, highly trained, 



Capable, and promising men who have given their 



lives for the salvation of their country. Mr. 



Whetham remarks that one point in favour of 



' conscription for military service is that a certain 



equality of sacrifice is thereby demanded from 



the whole nation. In the case of voluntary ser- 



A'ice it is the most public-spirited, high-minded, 



porous, and able men who proffer first and take 



greatest risks, and give in consequence life or 



imbs. Hence such voluntary' service tends to 



'' plete the ranks of those of the nation who have 



St leading power or initiative, and tends to the 



rvival of the physically weak, timid, or reluctant. 



Be that as it may, we have to face the fact that 



there has been an appalling loss of young men of 



great abilities, whose training and talents are now 



1' ^t to the world and whose place must be taken 



still younger or older men. The immediate 



nsequence of this is that much more scientific 



re must be taken to preserve child life and pro- 



ite physical vig-our, and to combat diseases, 



oecially of the contagious types, affecting child- 



ren, which is a matter chiefly for scientific re- 

 search. 



Again, Mr. Whetham touches on the utterly un- 

 scientific administration of direct taxation. By 

 taxing the joint income of husband and wife, by 

 insufficient allowance for families, by death duties 

 on the careful savings of income, and in 

 other ways, the State penalises marriage, thrift, 

 and reproduction. Furthermore, we have to 

 bring about with expedition the reforms in educa- 

 tion for which scientific students of the subject 

 have been clamouring for years, and get rid of 

 antiquated methods in infant, board, secondary', 

 and public schools. Happily, we have now a 

 President of the Board of Education who means 

 business, and is not a politician. 



The second key fact is the stupendous increase 

 in the National Debt. Mr. Whetham shows that 

 we shall be lucky if we end the war with not 

 more than 5,000,000,000/. sterling of debt and 

 500,000,000/. for our annual Budget. How is this 

 to be obtained and liquefied ? The answer is : Solely 

 by more work, more intelligent work, and greater 

 economy and saving of all kinds. This leads Mr. 

 Whetham at once to discuss the coal question, 

 which has already attracted great attention. The 

 world's coal supply is large, but not unlimited. It 

 is estimated at seven to nine billion tons. The 

 available British share is 189,000 million tons, 

 according to the estimates of the International 

 Geological Congress held in 191 3, and Prof. 

 H. S. Jevons thinks that in fifty years the 

 price of British coal will be rising distinctly 

 relatively to other commodities. Hence we 

 can afford no waste. The consumption of 

 raw coal in household grates ought soon 

 to be interdicted, as well as open coke ovens, which 

 waste the by-products. Mr. Whetham discusses 

 the question of the nationalisation of coal mines, as 

 well as that of railways, chiefly from the point of 

 view of economy of management and working. 



j\n important section of the book is chap, iii., 

 on the organisation of British commerce and in- 

 dustry and its relation to scientific research. There 

 can be no question that we shall not be able to 

 return again to the old laissez-faire methods and to 

 small disconnected businesses rivalling each other 

 and all being defeated by German organised trade 

 and science. The war has done more to kill these 

 antiquated methods than a century of talk would 

 have accomplished. The chief cloud on the horizon 

 is, however, the relation cf capital and labour. An 

 extensive adoption of profit-sharing or co-partner- 

 ship in some form or other seems the only solution. 

 Labour must have its living wage and capital its in- 

 terest, which will remain for decades now at 5 to 6 

 per cent. After that must come an equitable divi- 

 sion of the profits between all concerned. Labour 

 must, however, be brought to see that there are 

 four factors concerned in production, viz. labour, 

 capital, scien*^ific invention or initiative, and busi- 

 ness management, and that without the two latter 

 the tw^o former are helpless. 



Altogether Mr. Whetham 's book is a suggestive 

 and verv thoughtful contribution to the chief topic 

 of the day, and it ought to be in the hands of those 



