February 22, 1917 
LAND & WATER 
LAND & WATER 
OLD SERJEANTS' INN, LONDON, W.C. 
Telephone HOLBORN 2828. 
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1917 
CONTENTS 
PAGE 
Shelling the Life Boats. By Louis Raemaekers i 
Economy and Organisation. (Leader) 3 
Political Position of the Combatants. By Hilairc 
Belloc 4 
Operations on the Ancre. By Edmund Dane 8 
Submarines and National Temper. By Arthur Pollen ii 
Will Switzerland be Invaded ? By Colonel Feyler 13 
Herr Leutnant. By Centurion 15 
Members of the ]\Iinistry 17 
Books to Read. By Lucian Oldershaw 18 
Union Jack Club. By the Editor 19 
The Golden Triangle. By Maurice Leblanc 22 
Kit and Equipment xi 
ECONOMY AND ORGANISATION 
THE speech which the Prime Minister is expected 
to deliver in the House of Commons this afternoon 
is being awaited in the country with considerable 
interest, for it is imderstood that it will deal 
mainly with further economies which private citizens 
will be called upon to make for the sake of the country — 
economies which in most instances can only be effected . 
by a yet better organisation of private habits and con- 
ventions. It is remarkable how thoroughly domestic 
organisation has been reformed in all walks of life since 
the beginning of the war, and it is the more remarkable 
when it is remembered that we are only a half-educated 
people. That dangerous thing, "a little learning," 
has done less harm than might have been expected, 
partly no doubt because it has been counteracted in those 
spheres where its worse effects were anticipated by aq 
indirect arid kindly system of ' education. What is 
commonly called Welfare Work has done much to intro- 
duce into the homes of the working-classes a sounder 
practice of domestic economy than had been previously 
realised. In more highly-placed homes there is a human 
type which nothing can touch — for the most part middle- 
aged persons, whose brain, never very alert or perceptive, 
has become so indurated through selfishness that so 
long as there is bread at the baker's, meat at the butcher's, 
and money in the purse, they think they have every 
right to the fullest indulgence — both they and their 
pug-dogs and their over-staffed households. This type 
is not very common and in these days of self-sacrifice 
it is largely segregated ; it will die out by degrees. 
Meanwhile we can only regard it as one of the 
cankers of a long peace. 
Now that the nation has learnt by private experience 
how closely wise economy and good organisation are 
correlated, they naturally expect that the same conduct 
which they have adopted in the home shall be carried 
into practice in all Government offices. The rumours 
of want of co-ordination between various depart- 
ments, which are current to-day wherever officials con- 
gregate, have created an impression that watertight com- 
partments, invaluable in submarines, are fatal to 
good government. It is said that of the 34 Ministers of the 
Crown, some do not even know other colleagues by sight, 
and that the majority, closely interrelated though their 
offices arc, arc yet miable to get the simplest detail settled 
by another Department in a shorter period than two 
weeks. Mr. Lloyd George is to be heartily commendcci 
for his courage in introducing business men into the 
Administration, but he appears to have stopped short 
too soon, by failing to introduce under trained advice 
those business principles which enable the heads of various 
departments in a single big concern to work together 
easily, rapidly and without friction. No organisation 
can be pronounced good' until all parts run together as 
smoothly as the machinery of a great engine. The 
present Government, as> a matter df fact, is the greatest 
engine of war the wit of man has erver put together, and 
for its effective and economical working " interdepen- 
dence absolute, foreseen, ordained, decreed " — to quote 
M'Andrew's Hymn— is primarily essential. 
In making these criticisms, we are well aware of the 
difficulties which have to be overcome. It is not possible 
to change human nature by the wave of a wand not 
even in war time, and it is current knowledge that the 
tradition of every Government Department is to play 
for its own hand. The fault is too often laid entirely at 
the door of the Permanent Official, but the average 
politician, exalted to administrative rank, is just as often 
equally to blame. Neither care to take risks ; each 
works for personal safety, and no measure, however 
simple, is advocated without a loophole being left 
through which a dignified escape may be made if events 
do not turn out as well as expected. The result is that 
an ambiguity pervades all orders, which inevitably 
creates the impression that there exists a lack of sincerity 
even about those orders which are carried into effect. 
Aforetimes, this was imperceptible, in that Government 
orders scarcely ever directly touched the daily round 
of the citizen ; they reached him only through obscure 
channels, but now when personal liberty has been laid 
a willing offering at the war shrine, it is different ; 
and the general public is displaying a new and very active 
interest in the methods and manners of governing. 
They look for a high standard, and are restive when they 
suspect demands are made upon them unnecessarily 
through the ignorance or muddling of officials. 
The present Administration is a vast experiment ; 
if it succeeds it will revolutionise our system of governance; 
if it fails the last state will be worse than the first. One 
cannot help feeling that the experiment is not rendered 
any simpler by the constant increase of personnel. 
Hardly a day has passed for weeks without an announce- 
ment in the daily papers of new appointments to the 
Government until the belief grows that if this practice 
is not checked, there will not remain a single member 
of either House, beyond the Front Opposition Benches, 
who does not occupy a departmental position of one 
kind or another. Since Sir Alfred Mond's Committee 
was appointed, there has been a salutary cessation 
in the commandeering of private buildings ; and without 
the help of a Committee, the Prime Minister should be 
able to put down his foot firmly and declare that not 
another man shall be added to the administration. E\'en 
as things are, it looks as if after the war the demobilisation 
of the army will be child's play compared with the de- 
mobihsation of the bureaucracy, for in the political v/orld 
vested interests have a habit of vigorous growth which 
can only be compared with Jack's beanstalk. Never has 
the First Minister of the Crown been given a freer hand, 
never has he received the more whole-hearted support 
of his country. There is no demaud he can make which 
will not be acceded. Patriotism is at the flood ; it has 
poured into the coffers of the State wealth that was 
imdrcamed of three years ago. But for all this, the 
people retain the \ise of their critical faculties, and 
they expect to find in Government Departments the same 
economy and organisation which the Government expects 
tlicm to practise in their homes.. 
