94 CHRISTMAS 



Russia, Belgium, and Switzerland are examples of 

 countries where the worker on the land pursues, as 

 well, an industrial trade. This enables him and 

 his family, not only to have wider interests, but 

 to earn more money than they would do if they 

 devoted themselves to the cultivation of the land 

 alone. Dark winter evenings pass quickly when 

 all the family is occupied with some trade like 

 basket-making, box-making, etc. There is no 

 doubt that manual work stimulates the imagina- 

 tion and so brings about a wider outlook upon 

 general subjects. Another advantage is that, 

 should a workman, through an accident, become 

 disabled and unfit for hard physical exercise such 

 as ploughing, digging, or trenching, he still will in 

 all probability be able to continue industrial work, 

 devoting all his time to it, and thus maintaining 

 his family. In years to come, there will be many 

 one-legged and one-armed men, heroes of the 

 Great War, and it is for these especially, should 

 they return to a country life, that these trades will 

 be beneficial. So long as these remain village 

 occupations, which can in many cases be pursued 

 in the cottages without any fear of their developing 

 into capitalist factories, the labourer and his 

 family will benefit by them. 



Thus, when my young friends leave me, to 

 brave the ice-cold wind against their rosy, smiling 

 faces as they return to their cottage homes, I find 

 myself reflecting upon the close relationship that 

 exists between the industries of prosperity and 

 peace and the cruelty and hardship of war. We 

 may not always be in a frame of mind calm enough 



