The sun., 1919-09-21
"Peace and Business"

ME now familiar formula for writ
= ing "big business" stories has now
been applied by Isaac F. Marcosson
to the aftermath Of the war. He sees thu
methods OF cooperation and efficiency
applied by "big business" to its affair,
being used by some of the Governments
abroad as the only means of safely win
ming through to political and social secur.
ity. And in the pages of Peace and Bust
ness he tells his readers, who may not
have read his text in serial publications
what Great Britain is doing to turn sue
cessfully from military to commercial
wars, discusses France and the Faturs,
and takes up in turn the affairs of Hol-
land, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and
our own from the viewpoint Of the inter-
national trade relations Of these coun-
tries.
The picture Mr.. Marcosson draws Of
the far seeing plans of Great Britain's
political and commercial leaders for her
commercial and industrial future is very
impressive. But to a regular and UMPIRE
JUDGED reader of the London Times the
picture does not compare with the reality.
British statesmen and industrial leaders
planned nightly for what she is TO do
again as a greater trade power than ever.
But the workingmen of England in par
hcular do not seem to fall into these
schemes readily, and it is no exaggeration
to say that in the industrial and social
sense England is in parlous state. Our
"war scandals" are practically things Of
the past. England's are in hideous bloom
and seem to be growing in noisomeness
every day. One may well wonder if tha
plans Mr.. Marcosson outlines in his pages
will overcome England's deep seated in
dustrial and social troubles in spite Of all
his optimism. Il
This writer sees in the presence of
American troops in France during thu
war an effect Of making France a little
more responsive to modern progress than
she was before August, 1914. We hope
his ideas on this subject are more impress
sive than his A. E. F. transportation
geography, for it is not very convincing to
read that when America came into the
war "she had to take the Atlantic gate
ways in the SOUTH" Brest, st. Nnzaire
and Bordeaux are not very much in the
south. And when he says that our lines
Of communication "had to extend practi-
cally from the Mediterranean to Alsace-
Lorraine" he creates an impression Of
looseness of statement, to say the least.
The discussion Of The German IN Spain is
thorc ughly familiar tale that leads no.
where to-day, and his reply to the question
Can Germany Come BackS is chiefly remi-
niscent and overshadowed by the old bogy
of German efficiency. The chapter on
Ame'icGs Opportunity is also reminiscent
and breaches the doctrine that "businesss
lies at the root Of everything"
1t does. But back of "business" is a
still greater need. This is that the work
of individual Ten and women should be
done better than it is being done to-day
and that more Ct it should be done. In.
stead of talking and writing about indus
trial and social reforms and big business
and its ways, what the world needs is
some good straight talk about the need OF
people working harder, working more ef-
fectively, working more conscientiously
than they are doing now. What the
worlo needs more than anything else to-
day is just plain, old fashioned, conscien-
tious hard york.
PEACE AND BUSINESS. BY isaac T.