Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-14
STATE-CONTROL
IN ENGLAND
The War Responsible for an
Endless Procession of
Committees
BY GILBERT VIVIAN sELDES

| LAVE you little committee III your
IL ward? or are you a member OF the
| Commission for the Restatement OF Peace
! Terms? or do you know a man in the De-
partment for the Redemption Of Candle
wicks? Or haven't you begun to realize the
war at all?
SO far as people in England are con-
| cerned, the war seems at times to be moth
ing but series Of committees, established,
! reformed. abolished. re.created. derided In
| the papers, taking over huge hotels and pub.
| lie buildings interfering with the daily
needs and pleasures Of the populace. OF the
several hundred committees appointed In
England since the war began n little more
than fifty, and no more. have ceased TO
exist The rest have waxed and fourished
and grown fat In power. From the COM
nittce on eyeglasses to the reconstruction
committee, everything seems to be covered.
Every committee has an office n series OF
messengers funley at the door, pink
slips and buff slips TO flI out--and most OF
them have something TO do, and do It.
This hardly takes into account depart
ments. all Of which are of a higher order
of dignity, and some If which, I can say
from experience, are wonderfully organized.
capable and useful. The thing about the
committees which worries people here is
their apparent endlessne-s their inevitably
growing domain of action. Tho Joke about
them is that the Conservative British Press
tried TO poke fun at the Russian democracy
for appointing so many committees II Is
true that man must have been very Ill
favored If ne wasn't a dcleg lte to at least
one convention IN these last six months In
Russia. But II is also true that a man
must have very little practical knowledge
or anything II he isn't on some sort Of COM
mlttee here
In the rawlings OF King Lear we are told
that" dogs obevnd In office" Our prac-
tical experience also tells us that a dog in
Office gradually grows more and more dog
Fish and more and moro official That Is
the rub Of the war machine Good patriot
ism demands that we suffer much: 7 am
inclined to believe that England has not
been unpatriotic and has suffered even mora
than necessary but that is beside the point.
but now are dogs and men to be turned
out OF Office after the war? How Is the
devolution OF control" 70 take n,ace,
every committee helps to control something
from raw materials to very raw thinking.
IRON Fat In the garbage pail to penny saw
ings Every one is n necessity: but every
one is n nuisance How is the nuisance IN
be abrogated when the necessity 10 ovoro
Manv Want State Control
Noth'nF could prove more completely the
diHerent natu"es Of the Allies and the Cor.
mans than this constant flying ont ,go,rs,
control which marks England and France
III" suppose. onr cn'r'rv as well The
'-"F '''"'i'h ana Englishwoman Of the hover
cIasS' q uso the term without either ,pora,
,o,,,.. ~ pl's) rs fercelv Independent and
lt.c'tS every encroachInent on persona, lin :
ertE The rass on for finding on, w. r,,,,.
rtH' even at the expense Of an occos,o,aI
:" ! INTO tne Dog is remarkable Vet .bo.a
.'HG peohe are paticr'ly--a ll,t,. too n,-
tt''.f' u seems sometirnes-be,r,nr ~.
IN ~ c. we or "n'' .geous committee4s
~ ,1c urn h"'"' mat they ara neceas,ry
ana IN the o.. det"r,n nation tb,, 80,
20 when the war poes ' ''eS VIII /
''''Ih' !'' "iF - 's anotbnr n,,o,.,
,,r,au ''' '' "nother Won hear cor
60 ,'.n;, ,rs that the State hos dona |
,,,,, ~" 'Pt'roadS sav or two !
haa
n'r"'v pr"o'o nr'e-priee Va, I"
l''n tn"'" ~" ara a"xiOls for S.o+a o
y, '"' on me Other hand vou boo. g..
~ ~.."Se VINO are enthusiasts for prIvoto or,r
mp tnn' ~" state has rot its clavs 4,
'"u 'o'N'nP VIII make - mn ,bo,, 49,.
again For the big tN'-,,s e,oh 'ie"' U,,t ,
'o'"S ard Ti""S thi~vs may H.. n,, ~
many sides; FOR the l'ttio th,rc, IL. ~
, '''' ~" nigh and ~ middle ,rd tbo ,
''f especially the middle and the low u,,,oh
I'", escape England finds nothing N
That is why certain persons ve,cor,o ~.
70" "ar-N'mE Committee To Co.,
sneaker out to Yorkshire or IN Sor,nu,o.
-. the nnrno"e of reh"ars-g the wor ,i,,s
or IN" Allies with tho Intention NJ poa,,
,ns tne country solid Is preposterousv
= n P~tn"''uS ~ work IN" country districts are
." per cen' more solid than the cities and
London. the worst Of all. js about o. 'u -
cent solld FOR the war eyceDt on ,ir-raI5
Nehts when 1t is 100 per cent sofia Co.
prevention Of air ra'ds The adyar,ana
WHicn the people get IN hearing these sneak
:, =, Ie"rr'l Smuts, Mr.. As1uith Mr. Iloyd
george Sir Edward Carson Is no. in any
stimulus 20 thnir patriotism nor &c Z, ~
any new illumination on their cause rha
real advantage Is that the people are r,odo
10 realize that their rulers have not e.
ho'ten IN" purposes ~ the war have not
been led astray by their own mower ara 80
not doirg what they are doing in tho 80
of preserving their extended mowers a,,ar
the war. ''''
Not Being Prussianized
Suhdued and apparently willing as ,he
people are. they have not lost sight ~ tbe
'ential fact that they are 0gbtIne , s,,a
tem incompatible with their freedom They
nave no Intention of seeing that systen or
any part of II foisted on themselves
Ine argument OF the paciflsts and pro-