the canal, what we mean is tliat liis own posses- 
sions, and his power of persuading others to lend 
him their possessions on the cliance of future 
increase, are ruA ■sufficient to the job he has under- 
taken. Superficially, it is a matter of whether the 
nian can get the banking organisation to take 
bits of paper signed by him. and can get 
other men to gi\'e him ' other bits of paper 
which the banking organisation will accept. 
Hut at bottom it is always a question of 
material wealth. What goods "has he the disposal 
of by the laws of the State ? WTiat further goods 
can he obtain on loan by persuasion from those 
to whom the State guarantees a similar use ? 
Now when you transform this formula and 
apply it no longer to an individtial but to a sovereign 
State all your terms change their meaning. There 
is no_ such thing as " property guaranteed bv 
laws " for a sovereign State. " A sovereign State 
can command all the material wealth within its 
borders. There ii no interplay of individual 
property and individual credit. A sovereign State 
can defend its life and, if it is not hopelessly decrepid, 
utl/ defend its life with all the material resources 
within the area which it commands. 
There are but two modifications to so simple 
a formula. The first is this : If for the. conduct 
of the war it is essential to procure materials from 
without then these materials can only be obtained 
from the foreigner by the exchange against him 
of goods produced at home, or by the release of 
debts owed us by the foreigner, or bv persuading 
the foreigner to lend us the goods on" the promise 
of future payment after the war with an increase 
added by way of interest. 
The second modification is imphed in the 
definition given above. A State may be so 
decrepid that it has no longer the power to control 
individual greed and subordinate it to the common 
weal. If in such a State a few men own stocks of 
wheat, coal, iron, etc., they can refuse to let the 
State save its life by the use of these stocks because 
they do not believe the State will be able to give 
them a sufficient profit. They can make bold to 
Jet foreigners use the stocks instead of the State 
or simply to withhold the stocks or even to let 
the enemy have the stocks by indirect means for 
the sake of their individual gain which they prefer 
to the life of the commonwealth, and the common- 
wealth may be so weakened by political disease 
as to have no power over them. This is the 
base vice peculiar to plutocracies, and that disease 
Jias sometimes proved fatal. 
If neither of these modifications holds if a 
nation fighting for its life is either not in need of 
foreign goods, or can obtain them by exchange or 
credit, and is capable of taking from the rich 
what they wi 1' not voluntarily lend, then no 
iinancial formula affects its conduct c-f war War 
• an be conducted by such a State so long as it 
possesses the mere material goods necessary to 
iliat conduct. -^ 
un'l ^/^"^i"e the condition of the enemy 
we shall find that no financial strain will compel 
him to peace. And that for the following reasons • 
He IS commanded by Prussia, and the vital 
part of his forces (those of the German Empire) 
are now indistinguishable from Prussia But 
Prussia IS outlaw She has not only done things 
m this war which make her outlaw, hxV she has 
proclaimed over and over again that she does 
them of set purpose, regards them as a principle 
of her very life and will continue then! as iho 
necessary guarantees of tliat life. Either she 
succumbs to the old European tradition of inter- 
national morals or she survives and impresses he^ 
will upon that tradition, destroying it that she 
may live. An inconclusive peace would not be a 
peace at all but a truce. One of the parties to 
this duel must fall. Only a very few very foolish 
people (^in this country alone out of all Europe) 
have any doubts upon this matter. No one in 
(Germany doubts it for a moment. 
Now a State thus situated and capable of 
commanding its .subjects to the end, may be 
depended upon to use to the end all the material 
goods at its disposal. It must obtain from without 
certain necessities of war. It has already large 
stocks of these obtained by the release of foreign 
credits and to some extent by the exchange of 
goods and gold. It is nearly self-sufficing in the 
matter of food normally used in time of j)eace, and 
quite self-sufticing in the matter of absolutely 
necessary food obtainable within the boundaries 
of its present military lines. It has all the coal 
it needs and all the iron it needs, and nearly all the 
chemicals it needs. There is indeed a psychological 
factor in the matter which each one must judge 
for himself : Whether the civilians, and especiallv 
the women, will, under the strain of increasing 
hardship, produce a chaos within the State.- 
It is only a private opinion, but I believe 
this to be in the case of the Germans impossible. 
Not because their discipline is self-imposed or 
due to any corporate capacity of theirs, but 
because in all history they have always obeyed 
their masters for the time being, even when those 
masters were native masters and not more civilised 
foreigners. 
To expect the nucleus of the enemy's forces, 
the German Empire, to break down" under a 
so-called " financial strain " is folly. 
H. Bf-Lloc. 
JAMAICA AS A HE.4LTH RESORT. 
To the EdiUn- of iMnd and Water. 
Sir,— There must he thousands of sick and wounded 
men on whom the rigours of winter will fall s.n'erelv who might 
be greatly benefited bv change to a wann climate It is 
probably no exaggeration to say that hundreds of lives might 
be saved by timely removal from depressing surroundings^o 
a place m the sun," where climate and cheerfulness would 
be the best medicines for shattered nerves and failing systems 
In Jamaica we- have the best climate in the world I 
should say c imates-for between sea level and Blue Mountain 
J eak (7000 ft.) there are elevations and temperatures suitable 
for any invalid. There is no lack of accommodation, and a 
nursuig staff could very quickly he formed from the ranks of 
Jamaica women who arc noted for skilful and careful nursing 
and who are only too anxious to give hdping hands. Fowl 
^ plentiful varied and good. Prices have altered very little 
AmowJ'"^' • I ''''"■, '''/'■'' '"P"''^ ">"-'' ^oo^l stuffs direct from 
.'\menca, which is only four or five days distant 
„.;il I r"**^!; f advancing and the matter is pressing. I 
111 therefore state clearly what I venture to suggest, trusting 
hat It may be no iced in the right quarter. The troop-ships 
inlf V'"iS*K •^'''' ^T'^ *^" ''''' ''«"tingents from the West 
lest fnH H ^''1^ ''"'' -^"'^ '''"""^l^^'l "^^" for whom absolute 
At lenst , r^i ''"!]"'' r,T'^"''y *° '"^st""' them to health. 
in thf ,-. i"'-''"'?-"^ '^""•'l 1^« quartered without difiicultv 
m tus island m different places.- Omitting hotels. I may 
mention the (.reenwich Hill and Newcastk" barracks which 
\o mw n.•'^ '^H!''"'"^^ ^'■'^ '^■™^^-'^ i" the Santx Cru.. 
Plain, el"; ^'"''^""'' ^""'^ J^^val Mountain. Liguanea 
Miik?^S?^'.i''''"' ^'•f'' f'^^-T ''"t mineral springs (Bath and 
o • int ,?* ■ "'.'^'"'^' "^.n''^'"'' ^"'' '''enmatics and other com- 
... It. 1 axe been proved by sufferers from every part of the 
Ku^p^l^'siia::^^;;.^^ ••^'■'" ^^"- --'^^y ^>^"« ^'" ^'- 
