FebiLUiiy i, nji; 
LAND & WATER 
LAND & WATER 
OLD SERJEANTS' INN, LONDON, W.C. 
Telephone HOLBORN 2828. 
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1. 1917 
CONTENTS 
PAGE 
I 
:> 
4 
7 
10 
The Road to Victory. By Louis Kaeniaekers 
Waiting for Plans. (Leader) 
The Carpathian Defence. By Hilaire Belloc 
Creating a Panic. By Arthur Pollen 
Value of the Mark. By T. H. Penson 
Psychology of the Workshop. By Arthur Kitson 12 
E.xpulsion of Turkey from Europe. By Sir WiUiani 
1^3 msay 14 
Joffre and Nivelle. By Charles Dawbarn 15 
Books to Read. By Lucian Oldershaw 17 
The Ciolden Triangle. Bv Maurice Leblanc 18 
riie West End " 24 
Ivit and Equipment xi 
WAITING FOR PLANS 
EVERY household in the realm must be familiar 
by now with the vital necessity of strict economy 
ill food. It is in a sense an economy not difficult 
to practise, for the British style of living gener- 
ally has been wasteful- in the extreme. This has been 
mainly due to the ease with which all kinds of food were 
available in the past, provided thoie was money. Now, 
by a parado.x, while money is more plentiful than before 
among the working classes, food is more difficult to obtain. 
A new system of economy is being widely practised, 
sometimes no doubt foolishly through iguorance, but we 
fail to perc■ei^■e what good ])urpose can be ser\-ed by 
I'ri'uuiture annoimcemcuts of " Rations AH Round," 
>uch as was made at Leicester the other day. War or 
no war, selfishness abounds ; among the baser sort at 
once a rush takes place to lay in stocks, dislocating local 
markets and causing needless distress to level-headed 
folk ; and doubtless too among firms there arc Josephs 
iu the land who, by means of those modern storehouses 
— cold storage sheds — prepare themselves for the lean 
months. For the lean months are coming ; of that we 
are well assured, and how lean they may prove to be 
depends upon the actions of to-day. 
When the present Go\'ernment entered on its labours, 
we were told that henceforth tiie country would be ruled 
\\ ith a firm hand, and a single voice. Everyone rejoiced. 
But the firm hand has yet to make itself felt, and many 
conflicting voices are in the air. The Agricultural 
Department and the Food Ministry seem to be at 
cro.ss purposes. A genius in the former department, 
to give a lead to Lord Devonport, prepares a monograph 
on sprats and how to cook them and j)ublishes it in the 
M'ry week they go out of season. It may have been 
intended for a joke, but its exactly the sort of jest that 
shakes confidence in the very department that at this ' 
juncture requires all the public support and sympathy 
which it can enlist. Has anything yet been definitely 
arranged about the forthcoming price of farm produce ? 
^\■hen are farmers to be given a fixed guarantee over a 
period of years that the price of wheat shall not fall below 
a certain minimum ? Fanners are human ; they have 
their weaknesses like other llesh, and they cannot be 
expected to provide the extra food which is urgently 
re(juired, at their own expense. Agriculture has been 
deliberately neglected and bullied in the past, so that 
even now it is difficult for the public mind to grasp tlu; 
Iruth Uiiil it is a skilled industry, and that the fanner and 
the farm labourer who are ot service, liave to keep in con- 
stant use technical know^ledge, the finer part of which 
is only acquired through experience. 
People arc beginning to grow restive imder the ^•a^ying 
!ei)orts and rumours that are current. It had been 
thought that- authoritative statements would be issued 
before this, telling in the jjlainest language what steps 
are to be taken to assure the increase of produce of all 
kinds which before the summer is out will be badly wanted. 
But nothing definite is announced. No doubt there is 
an immensity of detail to be handled, but that does not 
explain the confiict of opinions and views between one 
Department and another. Officials have to bear in 
mind that never in the history of the nation have the 
people broken so completely with tradition ; they have 
without murmur, nay gladly, given up cherished 
principles behcving that thereby they are doing their 
best in this great struggle for freedom and humanity ; 
wherefore they are not in a mood to accept conventional 
apologies for delay from Government servants, that is, 
their own servants, and they do expect that this Govern- 
ment on wfiich they have bestowed the most plenary 
powers shall act with promptness and decision, and shall 
at least take the trouble to put its plans and schemes into 
lucid language. 
Mr. Neville Chamberlain's lirst manifesto is a dejilor- 
able example of bad draughtsmanship, giving rise to 
needless iiiisunderstandings, the worst being due to 
the omission of all reference to women. If the voluntary 
principle promises not to ^vork, the country will accept 
conscription without demur, but what is first wanted is 
a clean cut scheme, showing exactly the amount of male 
and female labour required, and in what lields of life. 
At present, so far as one can discern, there is practically 
no organisation in this direction. Men are to be shovelled 
in and shovelled out haphazard — just as they may chance 
to comi'. One cause of all this confusion is no doubt duo 
to the multiplication of sub-departments. Many new 
Departnients have been called into existence during the 
war, but the name of the sub-departments is legion. 
Had it been a little more difficult to provide comfortable 
quarters for all these new staffs, we believe this in itself 
would have acted as a salutary check in keeping down the 
size of establishments, but as private mansions, clubs, 
hotels, blocks of offices can be commandeered by a 
stroke of the pen, to say nothing of buildings springing 
up like mushrooms over lawns, gardens and lakes, the 
inducement has been all the other wa\', and tlie more 
numerically important ^ sub-departmental manager can 
make his section appear to be, the better chance he has of 
comfortable cjuarters. It is to be hoped that the appoint- 
ment of a committee to look into this question of housing 
means that before any more clubs, hotels, etc., are com- 
mandeered, the Cabinet will assure itself that the build- 
ings already seized are properly occupied. 
On Saturday the Prime Minister is to address his own 
constituents, and much interest is ttiken in his speech. 
It is to be hoped he will speak plainly on the food ques- 
tion and on tlie steps taken to increase food production. 
For many months it was a common saying that the 
people of this countr^y did not understand what war really 
means. They do imderstand it now, and in every class 
of life, and are willing to endmie hardship provided they 
realize it is part of the price of victory they are called 
upon to pav'. But the impression must not be permitted 
to grow that tlxis hardship is in the main due Ic 
dilatoriness or muddling on the part of the responsible 
members of the Administration. Time moves on : 
no well-defined plan or scheme ensues, and men are be- 
ginning to wearj' of asking, "When is it to appear." 
This sharp spell of winter has given agriculture a little 
leisure, but when it breaks, is I\Ir. Prothcro ready t^ -.ind 
to the fields all Hands that are wanted ? 
