March 2j, 1916. 
L A M D AND W A 1 E K 
LAND & WATER 
EMPIRE HOUSE. KINGSWAY, LONDON. W.G. 
Telephone: HOLBORN 2828. 
THURSDAY, MARCH 23rd, 1916. 
CONTENTS 
At the Gates of Hell. By Louis Kaemaekers 
Interior of a Country House near Epernay. By G 
Spencer Pryse 
Let us not Drift. (Leading Article) 
The Mort Homme. By Hilairc Belloc 
Sortes Shakcspearianie. By Sir Sidney Lcc. 
Call of von Tirpitz. By Arthur Pollen 
Neutrals at the Cross Roads. By John Buchan 
Gaspard of Wasdale Head. By William T. Palmer 
A Problem of Strategy. By Colonel Feylcr 
Aircraft Policy. By F. W. Lanchester 
Chaya. By H. de Vere Stacpoole 
Town and Country 
J'he West End 
Active Service E.\hibitiun Special Supplement 
Clioosing Kit 
I 
2 
.:> 
4 
9 
10 
13 
15 
16 
17 
19 
24 
26 
iii. 
.\.\iii. 
LET US NOT DRIFT 
Let us, resolutely putting audi all cuusideratiuns of party, 
class and doctrine, without delay proceed to de\ise a 
])()licy for the British Empire, a policy which shall cover 
every phase of our national, economic, and social life ; 
which shall develop the tremendous resources and yet be 
compatible with those ideals of liberty and justice for 
which our ancestors fought and died, and for which the 
men of our race now, in this, the greatest of all wars, are 
lighting and dying in a fashion worthy of their breeding. 
Let us no longer pursue a pohcy of drift, but set sail upon 
a definite course as becomes a mighty nation to whom 
has been entrusted the destiny of one-fourth of the whole 
human race. 
WHEN Mr. Hughes, Prime Minister of the 
.Commonwealth of Australia, spoke these 
words last week, he put into language 
the thoughts and aspirations of the very great 
majority of the citizens of the British Empire. It was 
most fitting that this speech should have been delivered 
in the mother-city of our race, and that it should have 
come from the lips of a Labour leader, who is also at the 
head of the Governriient of a free Dominion which had 
it so pleased could well have stood outside and beyond 
this world-struggle. It must destroy the last illusions 
of our enemies that the British Empire is merely a 
loose phrase, and not a living truth, a concrete fact. 
Mr. Hughes' eloquence burns as brightly as a beacon, 
warning the people of threatening danger and showing 
to the foe that at last we are on otu* guard. 
" Let us no longer pursue a policy of drift." In 
these words one catches the echo of another memorable 
speech delivered in this metropolis over fifteen years 
ago. Our present King, then Prince of Wales, had 
returned from his tour through the Empire, and at the 
Guildhall on December 5th, 1901, said : " I venture to 
allude to the impression which seemed generally to 
prevail among cnu" brethern across the seas, that the old 
country must wake up if she intends to maintain her old 
position of pre-eminence in Colonial trade against foreign 
competition." This " Wake up, England " was hailed 
as a battle-cry, but how did we act upon it ? Did it not 
in truth rather become a lullaby ? To repeat the phrase 
often enough and loud enougli was deemed to be sulficient 
pretext for doing nothing We w'ere warned to wake 
up. We did not wake uo. We preferred to drift ; it 
was less trouble. To-day uur eyes arc opened. 
But shall we act more wisely in the future ? The 
whole national tendency for several years before the 
war was to be content with words, barren words. 
A beautiful speech was ever applauded to the echo, 
and never was apj)lause heartier or more sincere than 
when it advocated either doing nothing or doing some- 
thing at somebody else's labour and expense. This is 
the very essence of the pohcy of drift. Many of us have 
been voluntarily ruled by power of attorney, delegating 
our personal responsibihtics to others so as to enable us 
to pass more easeful lives. The mere idea that we our- 
selves should toil at the oar or set the sails when winds 
were adverse or bad weather threatened was pre- 
posterous. Let the ship drift. We desired nothing 
better. " There is but one way by which a nation being 
free can remain so, and that is, that every man shall not 
only be willing to defend his country, but be able to do 
so." Five years or two years ago we should have cheered 
these words of Mr Hughes, biit had he proceeded to 
declare that by the spring of 1916 Britain should have 
four million men trained to arms, he would have been 
either howled down, or regarded as demented. 
Now he tells us that the economic pohcy of a nation 
and its national welfare arc inseparable, intimate and 
complex. " For ; time the trade of a nation that treats 
trade as if it had no connection with national safety may 
make great strides as did ours, but there comes a day of 
reckoning to such nations as it has come to us." Nobody 
will deny the truth underlying these words, but are wo 
prepared to act on this truth, and to set to work at once 
to disentangle British trade from the tentacles of the 
Teuton cuttleiish ? There is no blinking the difficulties 
of the task, or the toil self-sacrifice and unflinching 
resolution which are demanded if the end is to be achieved. 
Evidence accumulates that at last, accepting the fifteen 
years' old advice of the King, we are waking up. But 
being awake we must act and act quickly and decisively. 
For some weeks past there have appeared in L.\NO and 
Watkk articles from the able pen of Mr. Arthur, Kitson 
dealing with the British bankmg system, and no champion 
has yet come forward to disprove his statement that this 
system is utterly inadequate for the development of the 
trade and industries of the Empire — as inadequate as 
was our military system before the war began. To 
reorganise the system in accordance with the larger need 
of the Empire will necessarily conflict at many points 
with private or vested interests. But heroism must not 
be confined to the battlefield. We have to bring this 
virtue into our daily avocations, for it will not be possible 
to carry into effect a policy for the scientific reorganisation 
of the British Empire and its resources without scrapping 
many old habits, prejudices and customs. 
It is not our intention to dictate to the Government 
how best to begin this reorganisation. All that we ask 
for is action, clearly defined action, so that those most 
nearly concerned may behold how they can best help 
forward the work which lies nearest their heart, for not- 
withstanding jeers to the contrary we maintain that mer- 
chants, as a class, do not lack in devotion to the highest 
interests of their country. They laid the foundations of 
the Empire, why should they shirk to-day ? Ruskin 
once asked when is the due occasion for a merchant to 
sacrifice his life. The occasion may have arrived. 
Ha\ing begun this article with a citation from a 
speech of Mr. Hughes, we cannot do better than end it 
in the same fashion. The present situation could hardly 
be more accurately described than in these sentences 
spoken by him at the City Carlton Club on Tuesday : 
" If we are to have a change we must begin to prepare 
for it at once. . . . Now is the hour not only of our 
trial but of our opportunity which, if we fail to avail 
ourselves of it, will pass away for ever.'' 
