ENGLAND’S FINANCIAL TASK.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 50, 28 October 1915, Page 7

ENGLAND’S FINANCIAL TASK.

ENGLAND AND GERMANY: AN ALLEGORY. (i‘'rom The Round Table (September). Once upon a tiiue there were two rich men who lel 1 into a dispute as to Uie nature of wealth and which of them was the richer. They both pus jessed large estates of land,mines,and factories, and both had many retainers and employees. But there was this difference between them. The one had the logger estate and more than one-third more the number of employees ; the other had a smaller estate and fewer employees, but he had inherited from his father great personal wealth in the form of investments and securities of all kinds, on the income from which he had been accustomed to live very comfortably. 1 lie first man claimed he was the richer, because he had a larger estate and more servants; the second because, while his estate was smaller, he had always had a larger income to spend than the first. They decided to settle the dispute in a peculiar way. '1 hey agreed to enter upon a shooting competition Whichever could shoot away most shot and shell for the longest time in his park without exhausting Ins resources was to be adjudged the richer. One condition, however, was

agreed upon. Since the first man had much I lie larger estate, he was to find, if he «'oiild, within his estate all the materials for !iis jjuiis and shells; whereas the other with the smaller estate was tree to buy materials, if he could, from his neighbours. , The first man. realising that he must rely w holly on his own resources - tor he knew that his estate could do no more than produce the barest necessities of life for himself and his employees, if at the same time it were to produce also a sufficient quantity of runs and shells—arranged immediately that all his employees should be turned on to producing either gnus and shells or the necessaries of life. There were many who were, in normal times, producing comforts and luxuries for himself or attending to the estate in one way or another. Every one of them was turned on to shellmaking, It is true that this meant that the estate went largely to ruin. No improvements- were made; no fences, gates, buildings, or roads repaired; life became harder and harder los those living on the estate. But they were accustomed to obedience and discipline, and they did not grumble. Meanwhile, by dint of all—men, women, and children—working their hardest, they produced just enough to live on and clothe themselves with, while all the rest of their energies were devoted to making guns and shells for their employer. The latter had only one doubt in his mind. Could the estate continue to find indefinitely all the raw materials necessary to make the gnus and shells required? If it could, then it was clear to him that the length of time he could last out would depend wholly on the spirit and. determination of his people, on their willingness to go on producing guns and shells, and on their readiness to undergo privations. The second man proceeded on a different plan. He was quite certain from the start that he could easily win. He had always been so much richer than his competitor. The latter had never had much spare capital, and had always put whatever money he made back into his estate; while he, on the contrary, had always had money to spend on his own and his employees’ comforts and even to lend to his neighbours. Besides, he thought himself very clever at having made the condition that his competitor must buy nothing from his neighbours. He did not believe all the necessary materials could he found on the estate. If his belief was correct, he must undoubtedly win. He did not. therefore, at 'Tst trouble to disturb the ordinary wav of life of more of his men than lie could help. Ho did not think it either necessary or desirable to cut them down to the bare utcesnt.es of life like his competitor er to stop the ordinary work of keeping up and repairing the estate. His men bad always been used to good living, and it might be too sudden a change for them to bear cheerfully.

A good many of his men were, therefore, still employed on the usual work of the estate and also on making a thousand and one tilings, not necessarv indeed to life, hut still comforts to which he and In's peupit were accustomed. This meant, of course, that, while his estate was kept up and life

went on as usual, the number of men lie could turn on to making guns and shells was reduced. This, however, did not trouble him, since he intended to buy from his neighbors more than enough to make up. He was always accustomed to trade largely with bis neighbors and to exchange a largo portion of the produce of bis estate with their produce. He continued to 'do so now. and. in fact, bought more and more largely from them, not mil;. L,,ns ami shells but everything els<>. h'b's he did not find quite so easy to do 1.,s usual, since, although not nearly Ito (he same extent as his competitor, lie bad bad to turn a good many ot his men off their ordinary productive work on to gun and shell making, and therefore he had not as much produce as usual to exchange with his neigh hours, lint this, too, did not trouble him. He had a very large number ol stocks and shares which his father had left him, and, though he was sorry to, part with them, he intended to sell them gradually to hi.s neighbors and so find for a long time to come the money he wanted.

Time flowed by.. It seemed that Ids competitor’s estate was somehow providing all the materials necessary. It had become a regular arsenal. There wag no one who was not engaged in either making clothes, guns, or shells, or in growing foodstuffs. I lie coinpetiton was going to be longer than lie thought. Hut what with ids own gnus and shells and those he was luiviim abroad, he would certainly, he thought, have as many as Ids oppon-; out. Gradually, however, it became evident that things were not going t( turn out exactly as be had expected Me found that a lot of Ids stocks and shares were not the kind Ids neighbor; wanted to buy. .Meanwhile he bad ordered from them enormous quantities of gnus and shells and bad. nnlortnn ately. actually increased the amount be usually bought from them in tin way of food and articles of luxury. He began to wonder what he woyld be able to offer them in exchange, it his opponent was to manage to go on fm a Jong time. His estate was producing less, not more, since many ot his men were shell-making, and although he had still much wealth be had not, disposed of, ho could forsce the time when he would have come to the end of his saleable securities. His neighbours would then certainly make diflienlties about supplying Idm. They would not give him their goods before actually receiving his in return and would refuse to give him Credit. He thought of asking them to make arrangements whereby they should wait until after the competition was over for payment, hut he was not sure whether they would agree to trust him so far, since both he and Ids opponent were obviously squandering their wealth in an absurd manner, What i was lie to dor 1 Ho still believed bis opponent would before long run out of raw material and would get so disturbed about the neglect of bis estate as to want to stop. Hut lie could not rely on that. Meanwhile Ids own employees were not producing enough shells by themselves to keep up the competition. Nor was In’s estate cap;able v of producing enough food by itself alone for the livelihood of bis employees. He bad not insisted on increasing the production of Ids estate, because it had always seemed simpler to buy from Ids neighbours. It would be awkward now, if lie were pushed for the means to buy what he wanted. He might at a pinch always have enough produce to exchange to buy the food lie must have. But would there bo enough to buy shells as well! - ' Obviously, if he went on as be was, and the time came suddenly when ho could buy no more guns and shells from his neighbours, he would be in trouble. He must clearly make a change. He must insist on all his empolyees consuming as little of the produce of the estate as possible. They must live on the barest necessities, in order that be might have more over to exchange with his neighbours for the things he must have for them. He must take off their work all the men who were engaged in producing things which wore not absolutely necessary. and put them on to making shells or increasing the production of food or cloth. If he had started earlier he could have done all this more easily. It, was not too late, though much valuable "time was lost. But all depended on whether hi* employees were ready so drastically to change their mode of life, and to suffer and to continue to suffer the hardships and privations which were bound to follow. On that and that alone everything hung, it was clear that, if the struggle were to he prolonged to the point of exhaustion, wealth would be measured and victory determined 'not only by material resources, but by energy, singlesness of mind, abstinence, and endurance.