New-York tribune., 1917-07-22

Ireland cannot at one and the same
, time lie within and without the Orbit
of our imperial fiscal system. The su-
preme significance OF the present hour
is that Nationalist Ireland shall be
given her choie, and II the convention
which is now about TO meet gives 10
the world the smallest suspicion tha'
this choice is being withheld our
loss in world force will greatly eX-
ceed all that will have been gained.
Now, let it be granted that the Al
lied war policy is convinced IN maxi
mum terms. How can we proceed TO
put our own house in order? There
is much TO be done, and our failures
are paid for upon the field Of battle.
The War Cabinet needs immediate
reinforcement by headquarters
! thinking staff of ten or twenty men,
some of the finest brains in the coun-
try, who will have nothing whatever
TO do but to make q continuous and
uninterrupted effort 20 see things as
they are, to fix the perspective of the
whole war. They will be told every
thing. They will be entitled to ask
anything. Thy will have time to think.
They will encourage the heads OF all
government departments to anticipate
difficulties. They will constantly sum
up the meaning of it all. The Ad-
miralty will explain to them the un-
known quantity in the submarine men
ace. They will wrestle with it. They
will seek by advice and counsel to CO.
ordinate the minds of all the heads
of government departments and TO
sharpen the spear OF government.
They will get into the mind Of the
Treasury. and see how far we are an
ticipating the financial difficulties
which may present themselves as the
war continues. II they are not entire
ly satisfied as to the precautions being
taken in this regard, they Will urge
the Prime Minister TO at once summon
into being a powerful council of some
Of our ablest bankers, engaged in po-
sitions Of high executive responsible
ity. providing for representation
upon that council of all the banking
interests in the country. When you
are spending eight millions day there
is little time to hesitate in such very
elementary matter.
The necessity of home agriculture
in relation to the submarine menace
would come up for constant probing,
and the War Office would commence
TO take the government perspective,
and rot their own Office perspective.
The War Office would no longer have
occasion to split hairs with the gov
ernment IL it were engaged upon war
upon the scale Of a maximum concep-
tion. This would mean music in their
ears. May it help them to develop a
quality of thinking that has not yet
been reached!
The inventions board would con-
stantly report their progress to this
headquarters thinking staff, and If the
results, the only final test of efficiency
in war, were inadequate, they would at
once proceed to make recommendations
for the reorganization of our system
of dealing with inventions. 1t might
well be that they would suggest that
there would be three inventions
boards. all equal in authority, acting
independently of each other in a spirit
of the keenest rivalry. Inventions
could be placed rapidly into one Of four
classes:
(a) For immediate and instant devel-
opment.
(b) For immediate consideration.
(c) For further consideration.
I'D Rejection. .
ANY inventor having been rejected
or not having been put in Class A could
be given the right to have his invention
considered by the second board, and.
failing success there, the third board
could give the matter immediate con-
sideration. These three boards, work
ing against each other, would scarcely
be likely to reject any suggestion Of
intrinsic value or to unduly postpone
dealing with it, II is notorious that
under the existing organizations this is
constantly taking place.
The Food Controllers department, so
deeply concerned with the feeding Of
the poorer people, would be in constant
touch with this headquarters thinking
staff, because the problems here are OF
very exceptional difficulty. Many Of
them will disappear if the United States
and her allies can fix producers sell
ing prices, can determine intermediate
profits, can insist upon rationing, and
daylight will then begin to dawn. It is
automatic that the fixing of reasonably
low prices must be accompanied by ra-
tioning as otherwise the lower level or
price will stimulate consumption, pre-
vent the creation of reserves and ultl-
mately defeat its own ends
The Labor party would be invited to
give great help here. It is unfortu-
nately true that many Of the Labor
party leaders who now hold government
appointments appear to have lost the
confidence of their supporters. but a
group Of labor leaders, holding no
government Office, and acting volun-
tarily, could be deputed 10 issue weekly
a certificate of the prices of the first
necessities of the poor. This would
show the purchasing power Of their
wages. and il would be a certificate Of
the barometer reading for the week. To
think that there is anything 70 be
gained by secrecy in these matters is
undiuted folly.
Under the Defence of the Realm Act,
the government could issue an order
that no paper should be published in
the United Kingdom which did not con-
tain in a prominent form this weekly
certificate, as and when issued This
Labor party committee could add TO
their certificate an expression of opin-
ion as TO whether profteering had en-
tered into any Of the prices they had
examined II il were found that the
immense sums Of money now being
obtained by the excess profits tax
were in any appreciable sense traceable
to the prices being paid by the poor
for the first necessaries Of life and ad-
justment would appear 10 be immedi-
ately necessary.
Labor Party Could Give
Most Useful Help
IT,. vobor nar.y oroaniza.ions a