LAND AND WATER 
August 7, 1915 
BY the time the lirst copies of this number begin 
to circulate the war will have lasted one year 
and one day. One short year, in which the days 
have often been long, long days, and yet which 
has passed on the whole with flashing quickness. 
One short year, in which thousands, nay, milhons of people's 
lives have been torn up by the roots, battered, disfigured, 
uplifted, transfigured, according to the way in which Fate 
has used them. One short year, which has changed the life 
of every man, woman, and child now living, which will make 
all the difference to those who follow on. History in the 
making, remorseless, titanic, eventful, which is yet but a 
forerunner of the historj' that is to come. This and very 
much more within the compass of twelve brief months. It 
gives scope for the most thoughtless person to pause awhile 
and think. 
Thinking, however, is a luxury which few of us care to 
indulge in for long, and amongst the women, whose lives 
have been touched intimately and closely by this war, retro- 
spection can only be indulged in at a very high price. Neither 
is it one whit of good preaching the future to those who have 
lost the main of what the future held. For them it is the 
present only that counts, and the present only that must 
be dealt with as best as possible from day to day. For this 
reason the different war activities that have sprung up are 
a blessing in disguise to many too numerous to count. Even 
the most mechanical work occupies the mind to a quite 
considerable extent. The ideal of good work at present 
is that it helps not only the person intended to benefit but 
the person working. 
Looking Back 
There is laughter — some of which is perfectly justi- 
fiable — at the multiplicity of war charities to-day, and 
the way in which some are so mismanaged as to embrace 
already covered ground. It is very certain, howe\'er, that 
those who laugh have never felt a gnawing need for some 
definite occupation, a need which welcomes any work, im- 
portant, unimportant, interesting, or the reverse. That is 
a need which does not, mercifully enough, fall to everybody's 
lot to feel. 
There is, therefore, some kind of a plea for every type 
of war cliarity, no matter what may be its workings, when 
its credentials are genuine and good. And since most women 
this last year have put their hand to the plough in one way 
or another, there is a great pile of concerted effort to the 
credit of our race. That much at any rate we have gained. 
It remains to be seen whether we have gained more. Have 
we gained courage, endurance, fortitude, sheer simple pluck ? 
Are we stripping life of falsities, are we face to face 
with the cold, clear truth of things ? If we are, to many 
this year has brought its blessings after all, strange though 
this seems. 
Retrospection, at the moment, is not overprofitable. 
When the war is finished and done with, and banished to 
the realm of unutterable horrors, it may be. At present 
there is no finality by which we can bound it. It will be 
time to sit down and think the thing over when the thing 
is done with ; at present the process would be crudely and 
distressingly premature. 
.'\11 the benefit the backward eye gives us is to enable us 
to avoid in the future the pitfalls into which we have fallen 
in the past. That is, those of us who have the courage to 
admit that in some ways we have blimdered in the past, 
and through this very reason the country is still at war 
instead of enjoying a victorious peace. Then the next twelve 
months due for retrospection may be worth retrospect indeed. 
The Year's Work 
The deeds of the men of this country and her depen- 
dencies speak for themselves. They are magnificent, and 
command our warmest gratitude and praise. The deeds of 
the women take of necessity a secondary place, but in their 
way they are just as fine, just as heroic, by very reason of 
this lack of sensationalism. Taking them as a whole. English- 
women have been tried and not been found wanting. They 
have thrown themselves heart and soul into the fortunes 
of the country. They have lived through difficult days 
with inimitable courage, they have played second fiddle 
in a splendidly modest way. War is a man's game, and 
women have been the first to recognise it. What they are 
doing — when they are permitted — is to enable men to win 
the game. That was really the meaning of the great Women's 
Procession in London nearly three weeks ago. That is the 
true meaning of women's rights just now. It has never 
in all its history had a finer, for it is amongst the sternest 
menaces ever given to Germany by this country. 
It was a wonderful procession, dignified and interesting 
from every point of view. It was the year's epitome as far 
as women are concerned. The year has passed ; it has found 
women more convinced than ever that our cause is a just 
and righteous one, to be fought for with every ounce of energy 
and drop of blood. The best way, we have decided, is to 
help the man in blue or khaki by all the means in our 
power. It is necessary to make the Firing Line our focus 
point instead of our tranquil England undestroyed and to 
the casual eye undisturbed by an enemy menace. W'e have 
got to use our imagination, we have got to picture what 
an invasion would mean, what the loss of our cause would 
mean. We have got to see our Allies' point of view as well 
as our own. Then if at any time, through any cause, we 
find our concentration or spirit lacking, we shall be keyed 
up once again to the vast purpose in view. 
Carry On 
Now is the time to take a fresh breath, and start with 
renewed zeal on whatsoever our hands may have found 
to do. It does not matter what it is, if it is helping even 
in the minutest degree towards the winning of this war 
it is its own justification. It is not particularly exciting 
to fulfil the same tasks day after day. They speedily become 
monotonous, sometimes even tiresome^ to perform. All 
the more credit, therefore, to those who stolidlv " carry 
on." 
And, apart from those who are engaged in one definite 
form of work or another, we must not forget those who, 
in face of terrible difficulty and anxiety, are carrying out 
their usual routine of life just the same as ever. There are 
scores and scores of women to-day who are bravely per- 
forming one of the most nerve-racking tasks of all, that of 
following their usual habits and leading their customary 
existence when every inclination leans towards breaking 
down. This is one of the most vital ways of carrying on ; 
it counts just as much towards the ultimate goal. It means 
self-effacement, bravery, control, all the things which will 
sum up the total of final victory. It means the true spirit 
of the best part of England, the part which every man and 
woman amongst us with a soul to own claim as their right 
and privilege, and do their little best to cement and intensify. 
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