12 
LAND & WATER 
August i6, 1917 
work and the release of fit men for the armies. In other 
words, within six weeks after war had been maugurated the 
industrial first line defence was ready. 
The immense aircraft programme is one definite result ot 
this readiness. Mr. Coffin happens to be chairman of this 
board. His study of the first two years of the war had con- 
vinced him that iii the aeroplane lav one great hope of victory 
over Germany. Although it was the birthplace of aviation 
America was" sadly behind the times in aero knowledge and 
1)elief. No time could be lost in getting a huge appropn- 
tion from Congress and starting the aeroplane factories. 
To build up an organisation for this campaign would have been 
long, difficult and expensive. Thanks to the Council ot 
National Defence Mr. Coffin had an organization ready. He 
launched an avalanche of publicitv which educated Congress 
and the public, and in record time /; 150,000,000 had been 
appropriated, which means a fleet of 24,000 aeroplanes. , 
But even this immense sum of money would' have been 
impotent without immediate facilities for construction. 
Here is where the Industrial Survey came in. Mr. Coffin 
knew precisely what motor-car and allied factories were avail- 
able for aeroplane building, and within two weeks after the 
President had signed the bill authorizing the procedure the 
wheels were whirring day and night in a score of plants. It is 
just one illustration of the efficiency of the industrial mobiliza- 
tion. What has been true- of aeroplanes has also been 
true of army supplies like uniforms, rifles, guns and 
transport. 
The mention of transport reminds me of one admirable 
example of the national readiness, which is too vital to be 
overlooked even in this brief summary. In the United States 
to-day there are 3,500,000 motor cars, 175,000 motor lorries 
and 250,000 motor cycles. They constitute a military asset 
of almost incredible value. Under the auspices of the 
Council of National Defence the country has- been cut 
up into districts, each one with a captain. A census had been 
taken which permits the almost instant mobilization of this 
huge array of transport for the army needs at home or abroad. 
Had a portion of this immense machine been available for 
France and England in the early months of the war some of 
the hazards and hardships might have been eliminated. 
Take the whole mechanical output. It is dominated by one 
idea — standardization. In aeroplane and motor car con- 
struction miracles have been accomplished. Spark pliigs. 
self-starters and controls, in which there was a mighty and 
costly competition among manufacturers, have been simpli- 
fied. In many articles the number of specifications has been 
cut down by two-thirds. 
Nothing is so essential to effective industrial output in 
war as a continuous flow of raw materials. England found to 
her cost and sorrow, when put to the test, how dependent 
she was upon Germany and Austria for many of the essentials 
to industry. Mr. Baruch is Chairman of the Committee on 
Raw Materials, Minerals and Minin;?, of the Council of National 
Defence. He has tiken a' complete survey of America's 
mineral resources. Under his instigation the metal producers 
have been organised into groups. Tnis will permit collective 
dealing with the Government. 
So-called big business has rallied to the standard of pat- 
riotism to a degree that is astounding to the people who have 
hitherto believed that the United States was so surcharged 
with commercialism that it could not see farther than the 
packet book. The copper producers, for examp'e, cut the 
market price in half on 45,000,000 potmds of copper nee ded 
for Army and Navy requirements. I m'^ht add that this 
saved the nation a little more than £2,003,000 in one lump- 
Tiic steel manufacturers have made a corresp ending reduction 
in the price of steel, and their example in turn has been 
followed by the brass and aluminiu m makers. 
America, like England, will not be able to provide herself 
with all the needful raw materials. Yet she realises that she 
must make herself independent of foreign sources of supply- 
The standard of self-sufficiency has been unfurled from the 
masthead of the nation. To achieve this Congress has' 
appropriated £500,000 for a laboratory in which the whole 
machinery of war will be taken apirt, analysed, and if pos- 
sible, improved. This is being done under the direction of 
Dr. Hollis Godfrey, who is chairman of the Committee on 
Science, Research and Engineering, of the Council of National 
Defence. It will be a sort of Bureau of Standards of War. 
Engines and guns will be perfected, explosives invented ; 
schemes of standardization worked out ; the ability of the 
nation to produce new minerals and chemicals tested. This 
laboratory will not only be a first aid to war, but likewise a 
definite incentive to the pursuits of peace. We, too, will 
find the way to p3tash and optical glass. It will widen the 
whole national creative and productive horizon. Des- 
truction will have its compensations. 
The very latest manifestation of American 'industrial war 
preparedness is the creation of a War Industries Board which 
is an annex of the Council of National Defence. It consists 
of seven members. Mr. F. A. Scott, who has been chairman 
of the Munitions Board, is chairman. His associates are : 
Lieut. Colonel Pierce, representing the Army ; Rear Admiral 
Fletcher (who took \'era Cruz) the Navy ; Mr. Hugh Frayne 
the Labour Organisations ; Mr. Bernard Baruch ; Mr. R. S. 
Lovett, head of the Union Pacific Railway and Mr. R. S. 
Brookings, a successful business man. The War Industries 
Board will be the clearing house for the Government's war needs. 
.\m?rica's jindustrial imbilizition is thorough and effective. 
It is a condition— not a theory. To Europe's wearied and 
battle-tried fronts it will bring the breath of a new hope— 
the guarantee of a complete victory over tlie common enemy 
of mankind. 
The New Civilisation 
By the Editor 
MR. AND MRS. HAMMOND, when they wrote 
this book, were rendering unto their generation 
a far higher service than they realised, for though 
only just published, the work was finished 
before the war began. They could not have foreseen the 
extraordinary revolution that was then just about to overtake 
the industrial life of the United Kingdom — a revolution 
that was not merely to affect economic and mechanical con- 
ditions, but to touch so deeply the conscience and mind of the 
nation that at the present moment it is incredible we can 
ever drift back to the state that was in existence v^dien the 
proof-sheets of this book were passed for press. In the 
preface the authors mention that " this volume is the first 
part of a study of the Industrial Revolution," and they 
promise a second volume that wilt give in detail, inter alia, 
the history of the workpeople during this period in various 
industries. We would make an earnest appeal to Mr. and 
Mrs. Hammond to lay aside the proposed second volume, 
at any rate for the time being, and devote their exceptional 
talents and industry to a companion work dealing with 
" The Town Labourer 1900-1914 " — that is, from the acces- 
sion of Edward VII. to the Declaration of War. Obviously 
this could not equal the thoroughness of the book under 
review, but it would enable students of industrial develop- 
ment — and what intelligent person in these days is not such 
a student? — to arrive at a fair understanding of the great 
The Town Labourer, 1780-1832. The New Civilisation, by J. L- 
Hammond and Barbara Hammond. Longman Green and Co- 
los. 6d. net. 
Progress that had been made in some directions ; ot the total 
lack of any advance in other directions, and of the extra- 
ordinary manner in which even when the more obvious 
claims of humanity had been conceded, the Heart of our 
rulers continued to be hardened in so far as abstract justice 
and human rights were concerned. * 
\\'e could not illustrate our meaning better than by a refer- 
ence to the chapters on " The • Employment of Children." 
A hundred years ago we were not only hanging men, but 
women and children for petty larceny. Children — both 
boys and girls — from five years of age and upwards, were 
employed twelve hours a day in mines, mills and factories, 
their failing powers stimulated by terrorism. Babies of four 
and five were used — and for many years later — as living 
brooms to sweep the chimneys of peers, gentry' and trades- 
men. And these things were done with the open approval 
of Parliament. Employers and employers' spokesmen " for 
the children's sake deprecated shorter hours as it would be 
exceedingly prejudicial to their morals to let them out earjier.7 
" Nothing,' said one of these philanthropists who worked his 
children from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., ' is more favourable to morals 
than habits of early subordination, industry and regularity.' " 
A hundred years ago the children of the poor were regarded 
merely as part of the machinery of industry. " W hen a 
weaver's wages had sunk to 6s. 6d. a week, the earnings of 
his children in the factory became an integral part of the 
family income ; and parish relief was refused if he had children 
whom he could send into the mill." " The Combination 
Laws put the children as well as their parents at the -disposal 
