IS 
LAND & WATER 
March i, 1917 
The U.J.G. Literary Fund 
By a Correspondent 
'HERE arc men ever to be happy, if not in 
lingland ? Are we not of a race lirst among 
the strong ones of the earth ; the blood in 
ns incapable of weariness, unconquerable by 
gfief ? " These words of Kuskin nmst be constantly 
in tlie mind of all who are familiar with them during these 
critical times. They occur in a lecture delivered at the 
K. A. Institution, Woolwich, in 1869— that is, nearly 
fifty years ago, on " The Future of England." The 
writer was induced to read it once again by the suggestion 
that appeared in last week's L.\nd.& \^'.\TKK for creating 
a permanent literary fund for the I'nion Jack Club. For 
this club has always seemed to him to be a big stride 
forward in the increase of a right happiness in England. 
It embodies a correct perception of the true character of 
our lighting men. No need is there to labour the argu- 
ment at tliis hour. " Soldiers have given their lives for 
false fame and for cruel power. The day is now when 
they must give their lives for true fame and for beneticent 
power." And not soldiers only, but sailors also. Is it 
not then the duty of all those of us who derive safety 
from tliis untiring protection and live sheltered lives 
behind tiie living shield of these courageous men, to take 
care that when on occasions brief furlough is granted and 
they enjoy for a few days a surcease of hourly peril, 
c\erj'thing that can be done shall be done for their com- 
fort , happiness and well-being ? 
A permanent Literary I'und obviously would be a 
very great benefit to the Union Jack Club, seeing that 
it wouUl place at the disposal of tlie Committee an annual 
sum which would enable it to obtain all the best current 
literature throughout the Empire. There is one small 
point in this connection on which the writer would like 
to lay emphasis ; it arises out of the many lands from 
which members come to the Club nowadays, and to 
which reference was made in yow article of last week. 
Tiiose who spend their lives more or less in one country 
ne\er jjcrhaps reahse how much their customary m^ws- 
pai)ersgrowto be a part of themselves — as it were, friends 
and companions whose arrival they anticipate and 
desire. Tiierc comes a break ; they themselves travel 
to other regions and perhaps for a little while a few of the 
old friendly journals follow them. They cease and the 
rupture is complete. Then comes a day when chance 
leads them to a reading-room where is found an old 
familiar journal. No human being was ever more 
welcome. It is seized on and read from cover to cover. 
What memories it aw-akens ; what home vistas it un- 
folds ? Tliis may sound an exaggeration to those who 
have never had the experience, but otiicrs who have 
well know that one might write rhapsodies and yet fall 
short of the peculiar joyous thrill which is inspired by the 
unexpected discovery of a newspaper associated with 
one's distant home. 
Tlie Union Jack Club should have on its tables the 
leading journals, daily and weekly, of the British Empire. 
They would be there not only for the delight of those 
member?? who had read their pages from boyhood, but 
also for the pleasure of all members. This paradox 
has come abont, that the British Empire, never so great 
as at this hour, has yet never been smaller. It has in a 
sense almost shrunk to the compass of the England of 
Elizabeth. Its boimdaries have come closer together, 
its little known regions are almost household words ; 
men have trooped in from its most remote marches, and 
they talk of them as though they were in a neighbouring 
shire. Almost might it be said, that tlie British Empire 
to-day is one big parish, with battlefields as the village 
green, so intimately connected are all its peoples. 
This has brought about a new and lively interest in 
the Empire. It was already in existence before the war 
on account of the great emigrations during this century. 
Even three years ago there was hardly a home which 
had not a son or some other near relation settled in one 
or other of the Dominions, and in consetpienc.e a new and 
personal interest had been engendered in countries 
that w'cre formerly mere names. With the war many 
of the men came home, but in the ranks of the Dominions' 
armies, their comrades the children of their land of 
adoption. The intimacy spread ; Canadian, Aiistrahau, 
New Zcalander, Africander made friends among the 
peoples of these little islands. Much has been asked and 
answered of each other's lives and careers ; it .has been 
and is an education in itself, and one which in future years 
will bear good fruit. 
The Union Jack Club, whose very name denotes the 
best known symbol of Empire, and of that heritage of 
freedom common to all parts of it, should be a centre of 
this sentiment ; it is partly so, inasmuch as from all 
parts men foregather there, but it could do much more 
if only it contained an Imperial reading room where 
every leading newspaper of the Empire's chief cities 
found a place. To create an institution of this character 
will need organisation, but the Glub Committee and 
Comptroller have proved themselves again and again 
splendid organisers. The first duty rests with the public, 
to pro\ide the means. £5,000 sounds a small sum for 
such a purpose, seeing that the money is to be funded 
and only the income expended. The result will bt; 
^ magnificent, judged from a national standpoint, for it 
will continue and maintain through future years that 
better knowledge and understanding of all parts of the 
Empire which has been brought about by the war. 
Much is written and rightly written nowadays against 
waste, but the most terrible form of waste that is possibl".: 
to conceive is that the kindlier feeUng between the peoples 
of all the Britains, which is the harvest of death and 
agony on many hard fought battlefields, should be allowed 
to fade aw^ay and be forgotten simply because this genera- 
tion had not the strength or wisdom to treasure it. 
Such a scheme as Land & Water has put forward 
for the U. J.C. seems to the writer to be admirably adapted 
to \ceep alive this splendid feeling both in the Navy and 
Army. These two fighting scr\ices will always contain 
the inajority of the enterprising youth of the country. 
It was so before the present struggle for liberty ; it will 
be even more so when the victory is won. For no more 
honourable career will then exist than in rendering ]x;r- 
sonal service to the country by the sons of those who to-day 
bear the brunt of the fight. And they, when they come 
to London, will naturally go to this great Service Club 
which will then be a memorial of the noble self-sacrifice 
of their fathers. We need to look ahead and to allow 
the imagination free play to realize what the Union Jack 
Club is to be for future generations. 
So let this Literary Fund be created as a special memorial 
to the men who of their own accord have given themselves 
to the cause of freedom and humanity — men from 
Canada, Australia, South Africa, New "Zealand and 
Newfoundland, and also those others who have spent no 
small portion of their lives in the China stations or in 
Malaysia, ii» Borneo, Ceylon or East Africa or on the 
West" Coast of Africa, in the West Indies, or Labrador. 
All of them want to read the news of the homes they 
have come from; more than this, they want their British 
friends to understand the ad\'antages of life in those 
dominions and colonies beyond the seas. As one who 
has spent many years in the outer wards of the Empire, 
the writer appeals to the readers of Land &; Water to 
make this Literary Fund a real success. 
irinion Jach Club 
jiU Cont'/ibidions to the Union Jack Club 
LilcnirS l'ii>id should he Joncanhd to : • 
The Editor, 
"LAND & WATER," 
5, Chancery Lane, 
London, W.C 
Cheques should he drawn in favour oj Union 
Jack Club , and crossed " Coutts Bank" 
