LAND AND WATER. 
December i8, 1915. 
proponclerancc of powor to Freedom and Domorracy, and 
constitute tH»> first tant;iblo step toward World iM^dcration. 
Many advaui l.I thinkers in America — a number of tliem 
of great influence, all of considerable influence — fully 
realize both of these things, and the lead they are giving 
to the awakening consciousness of the nation may in 
time make at least the latter an accomplished fact. 
Absence of Moral Force. 
But for tlie present it is just as well to realise — as, 
indeed, it must be very fully realised in England by this 
time — that there is no moral force operating in the I'nitcd 
States at this juncture which, in itself, is sufliciently 
potent to range that country where it belongs, at the 
side of the Allies. That is to say, America is not likely 
to be "brought in," as things stand to-day, either from 
a sense of duty or in consequence of any acts so far com- 
mitted against her by the Central Powers. It is, however, 
quite possible that the cumulative effect of these latter 
outrages, may ensure her intervention following some jrcsh 
act of " frightfulness," in itself much less flagrant than the 
sinking of the Ltisitania or Ancona. This, of course, is 
entirely " up to Germany," which Power will doubtless, 
as in the past, take the last inch of rope that Washington's 
patience allows it. 
In this connection I may state parenthetically that 
the contention, not infrequently made in England, that 
Germany desires to bring America into the War in order 
to revivify her failing submarine blockade, and to cut 
down the export of munitions to the Allies, is best answered 
by ,the fact that America has not yet been brought in. 
Should the moment ever arrive when Germany really 
desired to effect this end, the trick could be turned on a 
daj^'s notice by sinking an American liner that was 
entirely above suspicion of carrying contraband. In spite 
of the instances we have had of the psychological idiosyn- 
crasies of Potsdam, this is almost unthinkable. 
Notwithstanding the fact that the part America 
has played in connection with the War is far from what 
her broadest thinkers and sincerest patriots have wished 
for, I have no hesitation in saying that the warmth of 
sympathy for the AlUed cause in that country is much 
more universal than the British public generally realises ; 
and, moreover, that this sympathy — not infrequently 
sneered at by the thoughtless or prejudiced Englishman 
as " dollar neutrality " — is a tangible asset of incalculable 
value. The recent Anglo-French Loan furnishes an 
illuminative case in point. 
Value of Money. 
Because Consols have paid 2| per cent., or thereabouts, 
and because even the latest War Loan was raised at 4J per 
cent., certain ultra-conservative, not to say ultra-insular, 
bankers and financial writers of England spoke of the way 
in which the " Yankee Shylock had exacted his pound of 
flesh " when the late loan to the Allies in New York was 
negotiated to bear 5 J per cent., and sold at a price to 
net something better than 6 per cent, to the buyer. These 
critics of the terms of the Anglo-French Loan display an 
" insularity " comparable to that of a cockney whom I 
once heiard protesting against paying a Buenos Aires 
barber fifty centayos for a hair-cut on the grounds that 
he had always had similar tonsorial service in Shoreditch 
for " tuppence." The price of a commodity or a service 
at any given point is determined very largely by local 
conditions ; and it chanced that the necessity on the 
part of France and Great Britain of raising a large loan 
in America occurred at a moment when the domestic 
demand for money w-as incomparably greater than at any 
other period in the nation's historj-. 
What I want to make clear to the British public, 
therefore, is the incontestable fact that, not only is there 
no ground w^hate\'er for the charge that the American 
bankers exacted their " pound of flesh," but that, so 
great is the demand for money in the United States at this 
time, only the most negligible fraction of the sum raised 
could have been obtained had it not been for the warm 
sympathy felt for Britain and France by an overwhelming 
majority of true Americans, and an equally firm belief 
on the part of the latter in the ultimate triumph of the 
ciusc of the Allies. Perhaps I cannot make my point 
more clearly than by cjuoting from a letter shown me a 
couple of months ago by a retired American capitalist, 
now living in London. lie liad written to an old bxisinesS 
associate'in Cleveland, suggesting that ccrtam securities, 
which the two held in common, sliould be sold and the 
l)rocccds invested in the then pending Anglo-French Loan 
The letter in question was a reply to this proposal, and 
launched at once into a discussion of the astonishmg 
demand for money in all parts of America. 
" You can have no conception of the positively over- 
whelming call for capital that meets one on all sides," 
it ran. " In the first place, one is confronted by the 
fact that practically all of our securities— with the excep- 
tion, of course, of the war-boomed ' industrials '—are 
quoted at figures anywhere from 15 to 50 per cent, of what 
it is as sure as death and taxes they will fetch a year or 
two hence. Then one has the incentive to scrape to- 
gether every cent he can lay hands on to participate in 
that ' clean-up." ' Industrials ' I will leave out of the 
reckoning as far as we are concerned, as they have already 
been ' bulled ' up to more than they are likely to be worth ; 
but in considering the domestic demand for money the 
fact must not be lost sight of that the speculation in these 
stocks has already tied up a huge amount of capital. 
" Then we have the field of legitimate industrial de- 
^'elopment. As you know, the ' tightness ' of money 
during the depression of the last three years has kept 
railway extension almost at a standstill, while the demand 
for additional transportation facilities in evory quarter of 
the country has increased more rapidly than ever. Now, 
with the return of prosperity, all the lines in the land are 
trying to ' catch up,' and the demand for railway develop- 
ment alone could just about absorb all thi; gold we are 
getting from Europe for war supplies. 
Patriotic Appeals. 
" Then we have the call from the manufacturers. 
The markets of the world have been thrown open to them, 
they say, in a way that will never happen again, and they 
must double and triple their plants to take care of the 
demand. It is a patriotic duty to lend them money, 
they claim, in order that they may be in shape to extend 
American trade and prestige beyond the seas. 
" Speaking of ' patriotic duties,' it will not do to 
overlook the call that is being sent out under that slogan 
to subscribe to the South American loans and help blaze 
the way for American trade with that continent. ' Trade 
follows the loan,' the sponsors of these te;ll us, and in 
addition to securing a lucrative iijvestment subscription 
to these loans will greatly assist the American manu- 
facturer in getting a foothold at a time wlien the con- 
ditions are unusually favourable." 
After outlining a number of other factors operating 
to make the demand for money in the United States far 
greater than ever before, the letter concluded, as follows^ 
" So you will see that, as far as men like you and me 
are concerned, as a sheer cold-blooded investment, the 
Anglo-French Loan, favourable as the terms of it might be 
considered in ordinary times, can have no great appeal, I 
know a dozen places where we would ultimately realize 
from half again to two and three times as rtiiuch for our 
money without running any more risk with it. . . . 
But if, after considering all this, there are other reasons 
that still leave you desirous of subscribing to the Allied 
loan, be assured that you can count on me to join you, 
dollar for dollar, up to any amount you want to go. I 
know a lot of men here and in Chicago who, for the first 
time in their careers, are sacrificing horse-sense to senti- 
ment, and there is no reason that you and I should not 
do it if we see fit." 
The fact that in this particular instance a very con- 
siderable sum of money found its way into the Anglo- 
French War Loan, gives one good reason to believe that 
a sacrifice of " horse-sense to sentiment " figured pretty 
extensively in the subscription to that whole 500,000,000 
dollars. 
Courts-Martial, by an Army Officer (Stevens and Ilaynes, 
IS. fid. net) is a manual written with both legal anrl military 
experience. It deals briefly with the proredure and practice 
of courts-martial, and forrris a useful supplementary work to 
the standard books on the subject, summarising a good deal 
of useful information. Its value is enhanced by the fact 
that it is based on practical experience, and thus brings for- 
ward the principal points that are likely to arise and puzzle 
the inexperienced membor of a court-martial tribunal. 
14 
