October 24. 191! 



MATURE 



i45 



intellectual and industrial activity to 

 ol of national affairs. 

 That knowledge with expert 



iuntry 

 sultani members of its 

 Parli to the future of knov 



political instrument and n< the success of 

 tho^-e who thus i:»c it. This is especiallj true 

 y from causes that are not yet sufficiently 

 di partments of commercial, 

 is inten si s have 

 had to be emphasised beyond prudence to get any 

 pted by disunited in- 

 dividual units. Much organisati oughly 

 ted, therefore, and in 

 grem - hai 

 improvised, with like disastrous results sometimes. 

 The price which has inevitably to be paid for in- 



lisation, that is, 

 h permits the machine to run the man, is 

 ibling the counsels of parties and groups, and 

 ■ 1 1 ry- in its execu- 

 bad culprit. 

 It is to iii owledgi at the top of 



d class organisal ii ms that mi >si 1 >i 

 the prevalent functional disorders are due. The 

 L'.st now esteemed. It is highly probable 

 that the g il the community, dimly con- 



scious dangers, will assert itself on suit- 



able 1 1 inst class demands and all exten- 



; presentation. Moreen er, the future 

 ■t with this method, as trade-unions and 

 nisations are finding out. That 

 lies death. A virile rao uses organisations, 

 ■ not mastered by them or dictated to by them. 

 Surely it will be most unfortunate, futile as well 

 as unfortunate, lor the as vet immobilised scouts 



1 handicap themselves by following 



sample seen to be reactionar} and dangerous. 



Theirs th i appealing directly to 



the happier instincts of a free and growing race, of 



demonstrating thai in seeking to serve their 



country in the hour ol its greatest need thev wish 



to place its interests before any other interest, 

 mal, professional, or, for that matter, 

 sin. They stand as citizens to serve as citi- 

 : that is the path of honour and of leader- 

 ship. It is the path also of SUCCeSS. 



The work to be done lias to be done in Parlia- 

 ment, we are told, and through Parliament. This 

 implies ability t<> understand and to participate in 

 general work of Parliament, whence all their 

 ill arise. Important as is the 

 physician's experience and mental equipment in 

 diagnosis, when he has his patient before him the 

 prime factors are the patient himself and his 

 tial response to any treatment. So, if the 

 ll man, the expert, is to hold his own in 

 sufficiently tilled with the representa- 

 nmerce and labour, however true to his 

 own professional responsibilities he may bt . 



! the work to lie done from the 

 the national interest so far as his 

 il gift can further it. in order that the i 

 B which takes time may be won! 

 NO. 2556, VOL. I02"| 



lime. He musi be able to establish and to main- 



| tain touch with his parliamentary colleagues, to 



adjust that which he knows to the medium in 

 which it has to be applied no light task 

 and thus to make effective thi ei 1 .il contribution 



is to bring. His most valuable aid may some- 

 preventing gross mistakes being 

 perpetrated in ignorance, but to pull up any 

 machine in full motion demand 



chanism. No Member of Parliament who 

 knows his own special business, bis busines 

 legislator, and the routine of the House, wo 

 to get a hearing; what a power he mighl bi 



anno) understand his business as a legislator 

 unless be makes that his first and chief ob,,. 



If this is true of the House of Commons, how 

 much more true is it in the constituencies. 

 i iosest contact of knowledgeable candidates with 

 necessary to-day if electors are 



irn their duty, choose and support educated 

 and efficient administrators, and discountenance 

 inefficient administrators. Can the electorate be 



lately served if selected constituencies are to 

 be offered eminent experts in science .and techno- 

 logy with specialist limitations, whose presence in 

 Parliament is desired that they may attend the 

 consulting-rooms of State Departments, sit on 

 Special Committees, or voice, occasionally, some 

 sectional interest? Surely these services can be 

 commanded at any time without imposing- a pre- 

 liminary qualification which would in itself then 

 be but a pretence. And what of the influence of 

 such practice on the men themselves and on the 

 repute of the intellectual ministry for which they 

 stand? It may well «be that some of the most 

 useful men of one categorv would also be avail- 

 able in another; as was said, the two goals are 

 not wholly incompatible. The consultant might 

 be the man who, before his constituents, coidd 

 interest them in knowledge, reveal the folly of 

 some section in a contested Bill, or, later, show 

 how a clause, vital to the success of a new Act, 

 might at once be made locally operative. If so, 

 both needs would be met in the same man. But 

 even then it is on the citizen plane that true 

 representation has to be sought. Both in the 

 Commons and in the constituencies this is the 

 type of service which is alive : it grows. 



Knowledge is not static; it is dynamic. It per- 

 fects itself in practice amid ever-changing atmo- 

 spheres, and owes most of its efficacy at any time 

 to perceptions and extensions gained in perform- 



of function. In free nations the demands of 

 each parliamentary session will give professional 

 counsel iis chance and chiefly determine its useful- 

 I lie limitations of Parliament as a patient 

 nd grave. But it is the only patient 

 iew. Knowledge has its work there- 

 with, and knowledge must do it: it can only be 

 done on the basis of approved citizenship. The 

 nation should get nothing meaner. 



To sum up. The coming General Election will 



make a special demand on the men lies! equipped 



e the country, and in many respects that 



demand has never been easier to meet. During 



