The Washington herald., 1916-08-08
SEEN AND HEARD
BY GEORGE MINER


New York, Aug 7.--Taxs.ion in England is
now very serious problem for rich and poor
alike In the case of the rich it is about FIVE
times greater than before the war started
In conversation with an Engshman who IS
now visiting New York, 1 was given some il
Illuminating facts on this subject
Il happened" said he ito see the private ac-
counts of ono of my friends He is with
an income of between $4,000 and $4,000 of your
money. One-third of this amount was spent in
taxes, another third in gifts to war funds, and
the remaining third on domestic and house
hold expenses The denial and self-sacrihce of
the whole nation spelled in those figures
You, here in the Unl,cd States, have had
presented to you many times the intense and
beautiful spirit OF the French people under the
war strain. But you have not been made to see
believe, that much the same condition obtains
in England. Yet it does. The English people
at war present less inspiring and beautiful
picture. 1t is perhaps not so easy to it be-
cause the tragedy is somewhat removed from US
and the Englishman is not so apt to expose his
emotion
while a Frenchman's instinct is to meet a
great danger with corresponding emotion the
Englishman says, Keep cool-kccp your hair
on And as the danger increases he becomes
the cooler In that he is like the American
so while the true picture of England at
is not so familiar to you that OF France be-
cause of the temperamental difference, do not
believe that it does not exist.
"lf there is any grumbng and complaining
among the English it is mostly because the
government will not accept all that is offered
to it by the people. Many Of the houses which
were offered as hospitals not accepted for
various reasons and caused some dissatisfaction,
as each one wanted to do as much as his
neighbor.
"One OF whom know applied at
twenty-seven recruiting places before he was
accepted. There were always more recruits
coming forward than the government could
handle, and also men who grumblcd because the
government would not extend the age limit so
that they could do their share at the front The
same spirit shown in the spontar ~
formation OF an unrecognized volunteer army of
100000 in addition to the regular force Of
5,o47,o 900. We asked to be drilled and trained
and equipped with uniforms and were given
only the right to band about our arms.
If there is any complaining n England it is
mostly of this order.
There has never been an English army with
the spirit of that OF today since the time Of
Cromwell. There is the army Of united
soclallzed country, where distinctions and class
feelings have been swept away ruthlessly
almost over night
THE utterances which you have read in this
country that Americans are unpopular in Eng
land because OF their neutrality is either the
purest froth or the unconsidered word of some
extremist spoken in the heat Of battle That
and the words OF hatred spoken Of our enemy
are the only things which mar the general pic
ture OF universal devotion in England today
But when under the fearful nervous
strain which burdens all the belligerents, when
they arc in constant anxiety OF hearing the news
of the death OF a son, friend or relative, they
may keep their tempers for twelve months, but
sooner or later they may give tongue to an in
discretion. Do not reproach US for it.
People fighting, bleeding, suffering, must
lose their self-control in some particular direc-
ton. But it is meant no more than the curses
man addresses to his boots. We are uttering
cries OF hatred and pain against our friends and
our enemies, but do let them rankle, for
they are only the cries OF a people in the midst
of fight.
The united people offered more than the
government could avail itself of. Where 10000
girls were needed for work in the fields it was
not necessary to resort to drafting. They vol
untcered and the government ordered and
directed their efforts. The government has per-
formed the other functions which were formerly
private in a similar way.
"kven at the present time the government is
making plans to meet the employment situa-
ton after the war"
In other words, it seems to me that this
English friend OF mine would like to have Eng
land get little praise as we'll as France
FROM the point of view of expcdiencv alone
IT would seem that the British government erred