LAND ^ WATER 
December 19, 1918 
kv 
The "DA VON " 
PATENT 
MICRO -TELESCOPE 
Brigadier- General 
THE POWER OF THE MICRO- 
SCOPE 18 APPLIED TO THE 
TELESCOPE WITH THE RESULT 
THAT 
It I* small and light (12i in. 
and 18 ox.). 
It has variable power x 16, 
20. 25, 30 to 4S. 
It has good field definition 
and illumination. 
It has a rangro of from 6 ft. 
to infinity and 
aives Stereoscopic Vision. 
writes:— "I have used one 
since May 1915, in fact I am never without it, anJ have found 
it invaluable." 
"I approve of the 'Davon' telescope because of its light- 
ness, portability, wide field, and clear definition." 
" It has been of the utmost value in the recent advance 
over unknown country."— Colonel , R.F.A. 
" It is a perfect 'God-send' to us."— Major , R.F.A. 
Complete with Tripod and Gimlet. 
In Solid Leather Sling Case. 
£10 10 
Insurance and postage to France 2/6 on 
each, elsewhere abroad 5 per cent, on cost. 
Inspection of tbis wonderful 
Instrument cordially Invited. 
Descriptive Brochure L and illustrations of Piiotography, 
post free, from 
F. DAVIDSON & Co.;o;Sf« 
29, Great Portland St., London, W.l 
J. W. BENSON 
LTD. 
•Acliot Service WRISTLET WATCH 
Folly Lominoiis Fiwres and H»ii<s. 
Warranted Timekeepers 
In Silvrr Cases, with Screw Bezel and 
Back. 83 ISs. Gold. £10. 
With Hunter or Half-Hunter Cover 
SUver. 84 IDs. Gold. £12 128. 
Others in Silver from £3 3s. 
Military Badg^e Brooches. 
JJny Regimental ^adge 'Perfectly 
;:^CodelUd. 
Ml Pricet on Application. 
Sketches sent for approval. 
25 OLD BOND ST., W.l 
and 62 & 64 LUDGATE HILL. E.C.4. 
GIFTS OF BAGS 
Ladies' Silk Bag with 
top clasp, 
lined silk 12/11 
Rbbinsop 
Cleavers 
Handkerchiefs 
ate selling in very large 
quantities for Xmas Qifts. 
Write for Illustrated Catalogue of 
Xraas Presents, sent post free 
ROBINSON & CLEAVER 
The Linen Hall, Regent Street, W.i 
LTD 
Financial Victory 
By Hartley Withers 
FINANCE is at all times a tiresome, sordid business, 
and anyone who has to write about it in a Victory 
Number feels (if he has any sense of decency) like 
a scavenger at a garden party. These questions 
of money are so small when they are compared with 
the really big things, and the biggest thing that ever happened 
in the world's history is the victory that has just been won 
over the forces of barbarism. When we think of all that 
that victory may mean, if we make the right use of it, in 
freeing the world for ever from a kink in its mental apparatus 
that produced untold misery, it seems entirely irrelevant 
to consider how much poorer we are going to be for the 
next few years in material goods, and what is the best thing 
to do to try to increase the supply of them. Nevertheless, 
they do count, not for'much in themselves, but immensely 
in producing the right frame of mind. It has been pointed 
out by Mr. Bernard Shaw (if I remember right, but I quote 
from a somewhat hazy memory) that even the average 
burglar, when once he has acquired a comfortable compe- 
tence, settles down as a highly respectable citizen and does 
his best to earn public goodwill by decent and kindly be- 
haviour. We want a world that is a pleasant place to live in 
because it is full of pleasant, wise, and unselfish people ; and 
it will be much easier to achieve this ideal if the general lot 
of mankind can be relieved of the anxiety about money 
matters (which means about the control of the necessaries 
and comforts of existence) which at present fills their 
lives with care and their hearts, too often, with bitter- 
ness and discontent. To this end we want a great out- 
put of material goods, and a great improvement in their 
distribution. 
These are two nice large problems, and the latter is by far 
the larger and more difficult. How are we going to set about 
them ? In the first place, it will be an enormous gain if 
everybody -can be induced to see that they are problems 
worth tackling and that each individual can do something 
towards their solution. "Haw is it possible to be patriotic 
in peace time ? " was a question that was asked, quite seri- 
ously, the other day by a young officer just invalided out 
of the Army. He had risked his life for his country in war 
withjthe most cheerful alacrity and without asking twice, 
or once, whether it was or was not the most cbvious and 
ordinary thing to do. In peace time he could not see any 
opportunity of a similar effort. But he went on to observe, 
"there's no question of patriotism in paying taxes because 
if you don't you get caught out and jumped on" ; and the 
idea that one can do any more for one's country, besides 
paying what it demands, did not seem to him to be practical. 
And this attitude is very natural and reasonable. In war 
time the demand on the individual is clear. In time of 
peace it is difficult to see that the way in which one lives 
and works and spends one's money can have any practical 
effect either way. 
This feeUng is especially strong in this country — the home 
of individuahsm. It has so long been cheerfully assumed 
here that if each man seeks his own interest the interest of 
the nation will somehow be best secured (which would, indeed, 
be true if we all really knew what our own interest is) that 
doing as well as one can for oneself and one's dependents 
has come to be the natural object of most people's lives. 
Individualism, if it means the duty of every man to make 
the best possible use of himself, acting on his own initiative, 
and not asking to be spoon-fed by a blundering bureaucracy, is 
by far the highest ideal as long as it does not make people 
forget that they are part of a great whole, which it is their 
business to make greater as far as ever they can. In other 
countries this sense of public responsibihty is stronger — or, 
at least, more openly recognised. An EngUshman who 
talked of Uving for his country in peace would certainly be 
regarded as a rather Chadbandy kind of bounder. Even 
in war time if he talked about dying for his country instead 
of just going and doing it (or risking it) he would be regarded 
with strong suspicion. This reticence is an excellent quality 
if it is only reticence, and not ignorance or forgetfulness. 
But, in fact, we have very much left out the notion of the 
effect on the common prosperity of our individual action. 
Public-spirited people are generally supposed to be those 
who take some part in pubUc life, but it is quite possible to 
be public-spirited without ever attending a meeting or record- 
ing a vote. 
(Cuntinutd on pagt 36) 
