The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-08-08
By R, H. TAWNEY

Modern war is highly capitalized
industry. To prepare for it adequate
ly in advance involves heavy invest
ments in plant; the diversion of man
power and resources from the arts of
peace to the business Of destruction;
the continuous concentration of intel
ligence and energy on a single OBJ
jective, which civilized men regard
with adherence. 1t is probably in
evitable, therefore, that democracies,
when reluctantly involved in the ap-
palling task, should start it at dis
advantage, compared with those states
which live in armour day and night.
The former hope for the best; the
latter plan the worst. The former
must convince free citizens of the
imminence of danger; the latter give
orders and enforce them by the whip.
The former await the blow; the latter
choose, to suit their own designs, the
time and place at which to strike.
Which attitude is least discredit-
able, the world must Judge. For good
or evil, Great Britain followed the
first path down to 1887, and, indeed,
beyond it. If her conduct was culp-
able, we must all, in all parties, bear
some share Of the blame. There was
a general and profound hatred of war.
There was strong opposition to any
policy which might involve the cur
tailment of expenditure designed to
raise the standard of life of the mass
of the population. There was a gov
ernment which, in spite Of it's large
majority, was terrified of presenting
a target to attack. Nor, unfortunate
ly, is that all. In the opening years
of the last war, the infantry sat un-
der bombardments which the guns be-
hind them could not answer for lack
of sufficient shells. Such a miscal-
culation was discreditable, but it was
an error that descended from the days
of peace In the present war we
have been guilty Of different but not
less grave, errors, and guilty of them
after the struggle had begun. For
eight months we said, "Time is our
ally" and then made time our enemy
by wasting precious hours. We as
sumed that, in the matter of mobi-
lizing industry to meet the needs Of
war, all necessary steps were being
taken with all possible speed. We
were mistaken. To attempt at this
stage to assess the responsibility of
individuals would be both unjust and
unwise; but the consequences remain.
Whatever the reason, we failed to. har-
ness our full energies from the start.
We have paid heavy price.
That phase is now over. 1t vanished
in one night. The debate on Norway
killed it. Since then, it has been
buried fathoms deep, on the beach at
Dunkirk and in the Citadel of Calais.
peared, to the general relief, including
those Of it's members whom, for po-
litical reasons, it has been thought
advisable to retain. Whether in office
or out Of it, they no longer count
for much. What has replaced them
is new Government, but it is also
something more. 1t is a new men-
tality, long at work beneath the sur
face, but now in command. The British
political system permits the policy of
Cabinets to drift, for considerable
periods, out of touch with public opin-
ion. But it also makes possible a
sudden recovery, in which the nation
teaches its rulers who is master, i'm
poses it's will, and creates, with sur
prising rapidity, Government to
suit itself. 1t is such a recovery which
we have recently witnessed. Barely
four weeks have elapsed since the de-
cisive steps were taken. To judge by
the change since that date, they might
be four years.
The immediate occasion for it all
was revolt in Parliament, led by the
Labour Party, but supported both by
the independent Liberals and a group
of Tories who, to their lasting credit,
put their consciences before their
party. It's result is the Government
headed by Mr.. Churchill. While Lib
erals and some Tories co-operated
with admirable public spirit, it is not,
think, mere partisanship to say that
the major part in the whole business