FROM WAR TO PEACE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 97, 18 January 1919, Page 7

FROM WAR TO PEACE

IS BRITAIN READY v : T A TRADE OFFENSIVE Tliere is a very real danger (writes Mi'.' 'Raymond Forsyth in the "National' Slews") that peace may find Jis just as unprepared-as .waridid .in. thq. tragic days-of Augiist; 1914.'.iT1i0 pro* cess of "beating spears into ploughshares and swords iiito pruning-hooks, as it Hit.-, poetically described lw tilo Israelites, is not an affair of a day, a week, or a. month. We are faced witUtln: problem of a great industrial nation. whose factories have been converted at enormous expense_to > work widely different to their activities . in' peace, and we have the great majority of the industrial population concentrating all tlieir onergies 011 turning out weapons of destruction at the highest possible speed. After four years of war, the first' part of which was necessarily spent ill expensive, though unavoidable, improvisation, we have arrived at a nigh pitch of efficiency in the produotion ofwar materials; but there is a grave danger that on the day when it becomes no longer necessary to continue this abuormal output our factories and our workers may be thrown out of gear,, without any provision -.having been! made for tho resumption :ofpeace-time activities.

It is highly probable that Germany has neglected 110 opportunity of per-': feeling her organisation for peace, even, while sho lias been fiercely carrying on. the war. Straws show which way tho" wind blows, and the typically German: move of supplying the inhabitants of. Lille with Allied flags to wave when; they themselves had evacuated tha city is an indication that, having once: laid down their arms, the wily Teutonn will waste 110 time in vain regret®. Three Problems. The problems to be solved group* themselves into three main considera-l tions. The first is the obvious demand: that production of war material should! at once cease, or be enormously diminished, when the need for its supply has ceased. The second is the prbbleni of keeping the labour of this country, fully employed during the traneitionr period, and so avoiding economic dis« tress and consequent outbreaks; of .dis* affection; and tie third is the probleni; of 'resuming, and indeed increasing,, our pre-war commercial output, so as] to maintain our position in the world's} commerce, ;i and. -provide/ theenormous revenue that will be required to savw us from national bankruptcy...:,.;:.'.:. ... Take the position of several thousand! works, that h&ve orders on. hand in the : process of' completion, which will have to be valued and; then cleared! away, so as to make room for peace* products. Even, the multitude of offi-, cials Jn the.. Ministry, of Munitions': would find it a hard "task to get through, this work in six months, lefe alone' a few days or weeks—and yet itl> is an operation, which, is vital boforo'war contracts can, be succeeded .W| peace work. . . In' some industries, given the supply! ' of tlie necessary material, the ohangal can be made with comparative but in others it will have to be dona-, gradually, While in some .it .will implyf 1 complete shuttingAlowii and the dis-fri persal of the employees and; the. ireak* I up of the plant. . j Ohaos Must Be ( Matters , such as these will .require in-v; stant and expert attention: in order tff prevent appalling chaos. . -It must' never be forgotten that most war con-, tracts contain a clause providing fotf ! only fourteen' days' notice of-termina-tion iiii the event of peace being declared Arbitrary exercise of such a power woiild create [distress* and eon* fusion too' awful""to contemplate, but at the. same, time it-.is impossible tliaK. tho,-Government should continue hide- ■ finitely paying for products that thoyi do " not want, aoart. from' .tlie:.waste oji productive power involved in their cotf*: tinued supply.;.'- : It is obvious,' therefore, that then* is not brother'moiilent to be lost beforai settling the details of a working pi' Or* gramme,- so that'when the figiitinm ceases —as it might/well do.nt aiiy timov now witliiu manufacturer will well forward, every workman vill his allotted.task mapped;, out,-"and-—; most important. of material upon which , to.. start. 1 . workj scheduled and detailed, may. Kq fljreadjj allotted and ready for operations Thaj manufacturers.,must, handle--tlus; ques-j tion themselves, if.,, which 'wilts spell disaster are to be avoided." ; Thejr; must make . lists .of - the materia® required, and the.order.; 111 which there should, he delivered. TV" loew '"committees must be appointed through* out. tlie country, under thef 'direction 'of the Ministry'• of—ReconJ struction—which, itself would appear ati the moiuent to be in a verv nebulous state —to- go into'the case, of dueer and determine.-how soon he cart, switch oil' from ;: war.contracts to peaced work, with a mimmuihof. dislocation offl • employment. 1 ~ ' • Count otKe^Cp^eqiienoes". These commiftcey'miist also decide the amount of compensation to be paid l -' to determine existing contracts, and: must allocate raw- material tp;inanu-t facturcrs. There should also be a kind; of clearing house or central bureau toil collect information: as to 'the article which are' being produced in different: parts of the • country, ■so as to avoi&j unnecessary conipetitiou, or ovor-'profl (luction of'any particular, article. _ J It should be no more difficult to Anil suitable men to secure the-output fotij I'poiico. than-it was-to £nd:ineiv.;.to s«J cure the'output for war—but the amor-' gency niust be 'fae'ed -How,: and factdi' wholeheartedly. -If peaco were to come upon us to-morrow, it would find us inore unprepared to face'it than we were to face war in .August-, 1014. and: ■the consequences of-.our unpreparedness would be even-more For, 111 1014, we had the Navy to save ,'usi frbin' hostiltf invasion;' but 110- navy .will avail to saro us'' from the flood of peaceful penetration which will .inevitably.' ho 'turned upon' us; 'immediately the dogs of war arc muzzled— l and no navy could avert the awful consequences of unemployment, starvation, .and rioting which will be tho inevitable result of continued apathy witH regard to peaco preparations; ■