14 
LAND & WATER 
I\Iarch 15, 1917 
Her House in Order 
By Mary MacLeod Moore 
UNHERALDED, slowly, without the conscious 
will of the people Britain is putting her house 
in order. It is a new Britain one only sees by 
pausing in this grim concentration upon the 
work uf the war, to look back to the old days before 
August 1914. Few have realized the transformation, 
nor seen the forest for the trees. 
Re-formed, re-born, "wonderfully organised, mar- 
\ellously disciplined, the new Britain is set upon the 
foundations of the old, which, said our enemies, was 
decadent, spoiled by prosperity, and on the down-grade ; 
over which our own friends and those of our household 
mourned as for a glory that had almost passed. It has 
been slowly coming to the fullness of life ever since some- 
thing woke in men and women when the call to arms 
rang around the Empire. Now it grows greater and 
better than the optimists thought possible. The men 
who ha\e died died for more than they dreamed of. The 
men who return will see to it that the nation is not 
allowed to relapse into pre-war apathy. 
Only through war and the demands of war could the 
things come to pass that have come to jDass. DiscipHne 
had fallen into disrepute before the war. Now the nation, 
without feeling the yoke heavy, has submitted cheerfully 
to the authorities, and is helping to make Great Britain 
well-ordered, healthy and efficient. Two and a half 
years ha\e brought about rcfot-ms and made ad\ances 
which one hundred years of peace could hardly have 
accomplished. 
Mention of a few of them shows how far we have 
travelled — State control of. railways, with consequent 
stricter rules and a limiting of travel, many restrictions 
enforced by the Liquor Traffic Central Control Board ; 
compulsory registration of the men and women of the 
nation between the ages of fifteen and .sixty-five ; the 
calling up for the army of all eligible men other than 
those considerad indispensable in various callings neces- 
sary for the well-being and safety of the nation, and a 
gradual wxx-ding out of these indispensables ; the military 
training of boys over eighteen ; the taking over by the 
Government of all the coal mines ; the establishment 
of a Labour Ministry to be a permanent institution ; 
the appointment of a Food Controller to check waste 
and to regulate food supplies ; the appointment of a 
Director of National Service, with women assistants ; 
the increased taxes, including taxes on amusements, etc. 
A great step was taken in mobilising our industrial 
resources ; the taking over of a vast number of factories 
by the Government for the production of munitions of 
war, and the changing of the type of factory already 
existing and adapting it to new requirements ; the 
building of new factories all over these islands, fully 
equipped with the best and most modern plant, which 
will be of imrpense value in days to come ; new laws 
for motor vehicles, and the Government restrictions on 
the use of petrol ; lighting regulations, Dayhght .Saving, 
and many minor regulations which iiave passed witli 
little comment and practically no opposition. 
A striking result of the war is the way in which women 
and gu-ls are taking the places of men in munition 
factories, in other factories, on the land, on the railways, 
as clerks of all kinds, as motor dri\'ers, as camp cooks, as 
well as in other branches of labour. They have, in the 
language of the United States, " made good," even at 
imaccustomed work. Many were already, employed in 
some form (^f industry, but besides those whose metier 
it was to enter the working world there are thousands of 
women and girls of the well-to-do classes who have turned 
out to help in national work, both paid and unpaid, and 
have thus revolutionised their method of living, and 
have thrown to the winds the traditions in which they 
were brought up. Nmnbers have learned for the first 
time what it means to be under the control of others, and 
they have acquired priceless habits of reliability and a 
sense of duty to one's neighbour. 
As a result of the war more attention is being paid 
to the health of the wr^man worker, with regard to 
her future value to the State as widl as to. -the present 
comfort of the individual, and in the interests of the 
employer as well as of the worker. Increased anxiety 
is shown by all thoughtful persons for the safety and 
health of the precious State asset — the Baby. As yet 
the public conscience is not fully aroused to the question 
of infantile mortality, else we should not lose thousands 
of babies annually, chiefly from preventable causes. 
The foregoing are only a few of the developments 
that occur to anyone weighing, on the credit side, what 
war has done for the British people, instead of dwelhng 
always on the obvious point —the terrific destruction iuid 
weakening of valuable male life, the consequent suffer- 
ing involved, and the loss to the nation, from \arious 
points of view. The stern discipline of these days, and of 
those swiftly coming, when he or she is a traitor who 
neglects to do what makes for the good of the State, must 
result in a united nation of efficient as well as patriotic 
men and women, forming a solid national anny behind 
the armies in thg field and the navy ceaselessly pro- 
tecting us. 
Machinery has been scrapped ruthlessly. Buildings 
ha\'e been torn down to make way f(n" those that ire 
U!»eful and modern. And traditions and ideas have been 
torn up by the roots, while those who treasured them 
for a lifetime . have hardly felt the Avrench. Men who 
sneered at the aristocracy and the " idle rich," with the 
cheap Socialist speaker as authority for their gibes, 
have fought and died with those whom they formerly 
disliked and ha\'e learned to under.stand them. 
Writers and politicians have frankly and freely jjro- 
claimed a change of views, and many have discarded 
those they cherished fiercely before the clash of nations. 
T+iere are still some, unhajipily, who are politicians and 
pacifists before they are patriots, but their following is 
small. Women who have moved all their sheltered 
lives within the limits of their own class have come in 
contact with others and have recognised likenesses more 
than differences. 
Not the least useful for the future good understanding 
has been the friendly personal intercourse between the 
wounded soldiers and their hosts and hostesses. From 
one end of the Country to the other great houses have 
been turned into hospitals and convalescent homes, and 
in addition wounded men from all ranks, of hfe and 
from every branch of industry —some e\'en who had 
never spoken to a gentlewoman before —have been 
entertained by, and have been able to realize the kindness 
and simplicity of those who, for want of a better term, 
are called " the upper classes." 
Ludicrous is the memory that a few years ago there 
was talk of a sex-war. Men and women were pitted 
against each other as natural enemies. Grave persons 
wrote articles to prove that women were mentally and 
physically unfit to mark a ballot paper, and well-brought 
up women horrified the peaceful by their \'igorous 
})rotests. The British nation can' never again know 
quite the same jealousies between class and class. 
As one result of the war the new Britain will 
be a far better-informed land. Not only as to the 
customs and characters of Allies and enemies alike, 
but as to the outer Empire which to many people was 
a vague vast waste. In future tliere will be fewer 
irritating misunderstandings due to.jivant of information 
lather than to want of' sympathy. Men who have 
fought together and have exchanged news and views 
concerning AustraUa, Canada, New Zealand, South 
Africa and tlu; " Islands of the Seas," with those from 
the British Islands, will understand men and con- 
ditions better. The Overseas man who had learned of 
England from traditions and out-of-date remini- 
scences, has changed completely his ideas of the « 
Old Cotmtry. Thi- Englishman is surprised to have ^ 
discovered the Colonial, and is learning to .say " We," 
in.stead of " You," 
Like a mighty rushing wind the war has swept through 
the Empire, not only bringing with it anguish and woe, 
but driving out worn out theories, ancient prejudices, 
sloth. laxness and apathy. 
