in time of peace or during war in virtue of a control of raw materials and commodities essential for the safety and well-being of the Empire, and it is towards the attainment of this object that co-ordinated effort should be directed.'

The position could not be better stated. The practical application of this principle can only be secured by detailed study of the actual facts and by careful adaptation of the means available to the ends desired. There is, as the Commissioners themselves say, 'no short cut.'

The most important proposal which they make is for the improvement of the harbours of the Empire, so as to secure the economic advantages which result from the use of deepdraught steamers. In an extremely interesting chapter of the Report this matter is dealt with in detail. Particulars are given of the depths which are already available in the principal harbours of the Empire, and a rough calculation is made of the expense which would have to be incurred to secure improvements which would be feasible. In the same practical spirit the Commissioners urge various improvements in the mail services throughout the Empire, for the sake both of economy of carriage and rapidity of inter-communication. Their reasons for laying so much stress upon the problem of sea communications are stated in a passage which is worth quoting in full:

'The War has abundantly demonstrated that the life of the Empire depends upon its sea communications. Whatever the existing magnitude of the ocean-borne commerce between the United Kingdom and the Dominions, and whatever the prospects of its development in the future, producer, manufacturer, and merchant alike are concerned, and vitally concerned, with securing cheap, regular, and efficient transport for their goods, and, consequently, with the progressive improvement of the Empire's shipping facilities.

'We emphasise this point, for we feel that, in discussions as to the best means of fostering trade within the Empire, its importance has been obscured by other factors affecting the exchange of merchandise, and, in particular, by the prominence given to fiscal legislation. In our view cheap sea transport is not only of importance in relation to other means of fostering exchange of merchandise, but it also confers absolute advantages on the countries which possess it. So long as freights are cheaper, and means of communication better, between the Mother Country and the Dominions overseas, and between the Dominions themselves than between foreign countries and the Dominions, so long will

trade naturally follow Imperial channels. If, therefore, it is possible to devise some means of permanent betterment of sea routes within the Empire, a powerful impulse will have been given to Imperial trade, while the strength and cohesion of the Empire will be notably increased.'

The question of migration within the Empire and the proposals of the Royal Commission with regard to it are dealt with in another article in this REVIEW; but it is desirable to call special attention to the proposal made for the interchange of school-teachers between the self-governing Dominions and the Mother Country. There are immense possibilities in this proposal, and it ought not to be difficult for the various governments and educational authorities concerned to make the necessary arrangements. The idea put forward by the Commissioners is not limited to elementary-school teachers. Its application to secondary teachers and to university teachers is even more important, and certainly easier to organise.

After touching upon minor problems, such as the reform of the consular service, the Commissioners reach their final conclusion that it is desirable to create an Imperial Development Board for dealing with problems of production and exchange within the Empire. This Board, they say, should be only a little one. It should consist of twelve members, of whom seven would represent the United Kingdom, India, the Crown Colonies and protectorates, while the remaining five would each represent one of the five Dominions. Its duties would be to survey, from time to time, the relation between the production and the requirements of the Empire, to investigate new possibilities of production, to direct the stream of capital to the development of Empire resources, to study the problems of migration, and to advise on the development of harbours and the improvement of mail routes.

The programme for the Board, which has here been concisely summarised, covers a very wide area. Whether it is desirable to create a new governmental institution to undertake such a variety of tasks is open to question. In making this proposal the Commissioners seem to have allowed themselves to be influenced too easily by the current fashion of assuming that the creation of a new government department will solve every problem. Possibly new organisations may be needed for some of the tasks now awaiting accomplishment, and it may

be that in some cases these organisations would have to be under government control. But the proposal to place so many varied problems under the control of one Central Board does suggest very grave dangers. The country, during the war, has writhed under the delays often imposed upon its activities by the centralised control of government departments, and it is not pleasant to contemplate the possibility that the myriad activities of our gigantic Empire might be held up from time to time while twelve gentlemen in London cogitated over the problems of co-ordination. It is better that a progressive empire should stumble a little, and occasionally wander from the straight course, than that it should be brought to a standstill in order to wait for the guidance of co-ordinated wisdom.

The proposal of the Dominions Royal Commission is, however, a good deal more cautious than the scheme launched under a similar title by Mr. H. Wilson Fox, now member of Parliament for Tamworth. The primary idea of Mr. Wilson Fox is to employ the direct agency of the State for the development of the resources of the Empire with a view to obtaining revenue. This idea, which he has expounded in the pamphlet mentioned at the head of this article, and in other writings, has received the endorsement of an important group of public men. The group includes such well-known names as: Sir Starr Jameson, Mr. Rudyard Kipling, Sir Horace Plunkett, Lord Desborough, Lord Grey (of Canadian fame), and Lord Selborne.* These gentlemen, with others, formed themselves into a committee in January last to advocate what for brevity may be described as Mr. Wilson Fox's scheme. The proposition put forward is that if the immense latent resources of the Empire are developed for State purposes, under State auspices,' it will be possible to lift from the peoples of the Empire the burdens caused by the war.' The Committee point out that the war will probably end leaving us with a national debt of £4,000,000,000; and they express the belief that by developing the resources of the Empire through the agency of the State it will be possible to secure an income sufficient to pay interest upon that debt and ultimately to wipe it out altogether. The extent to which this distinguished

* See The Times,' January 29, 1917.

Committee is prepared to go in the direction of State socialism may be gathered from the following paragraph of their manifesto:

'The Committee include in their plans that the State should derive a revenue by assisting in the provision of certain public facilities, such as electric power, and in the distribution of certain commodities, and especially of certain articles of food, with the double object of cheapening the cost to consumers and of deriving a revenue therefrom.'

The special stress laid on electric power schemes tempts one to ask whether any of the members of this Committee have ever troubled to examine the record of the British State in its dealings with electricity up to the present time. There are two striking examples. In 1870 the State acquired possession of the electric telegraph system of the country, which had been built up by various private companies. The purchase was recommended to the House of Commons as a splendid bargain for the State. The permanent officials who prepared the scheme assured the House that the whole of the capital cost would be repaid in fifteen years out of profits and that after that period there would be an ever-increasing revenue to relieve the burdens of the taxpayer. That was the promise. What actually happened was that the whole of the profit disappeared after the second year of working by the State; that year by year the financial position has grown worse, till in the last years of peace the telegraphs were costing the taxpayer a sum which cannot be put at less than £1,400,000 per annum.

Meanwhile, the telephone had been invented. During many years the State, in order to protect its telegraph monopoly, did its utmost to stifle the development of the new invention. Finally, the State bought up the telephones, completing the purchase in the year 1911. Again there were prophecies-though in a somewhat minor key-of a lucrative bargain. These prophecies have gone the way of the old ones. The whole of the handsome tribute of over £350,000 a year, which the National Telephone Company was gratuitously paying to the State, vanished at once, and within three years the income collected by the State barely covered outgoings. After the war-unless telephone rates are greatly raised-it will be found that the telephone service,

like the telegraph service, has become a heavy drain upon the taxpayer. In view of these experiences of the State in connexion with electricity, it shows an audacity almost amounting to recklessness for a committee of distinguished men to suggest that the State can make money for the taxpayer by assisting in the provision of electric power.

As for the proposal that the State should undertake the distribution of certain articles of food, one is entitled to ask whether the representatives of the State would be the same gentlemen who recently in dealing with food problems have shown an incapacity to distinguish between maximum and minimum prices. The orders which have been showered upon the country day after day by the Food Controller, the Minister of Agriculture, and the Director of National Service have made the government the laughing-stock of the nation. Yet the men who hold these posts are all men of ability, all men who in their own businesses had earned high reputations. There is no reason to believe that any better men could be found for the control of the giant schemes which Mr. Wilson Fox and his committee wish to foist upon the Empire. Ultimately, these State controllers must themselves be controlled by political influences. From that law there is no escape. The authority of the State is exercised through parliament. The life of the executive government depends upon the goodwill of the House of Commons, and to secure that goodwill it is necessary for the government to defer in little things, as in big things, to influences which can be brought to bear by members of that House. Sometimes the cause of parliamentary interference is a great popular movement; sometimes it is the desire of active supporters of the government to obtain favours for themselves, or to appease a few noisy constituents. But, whatever the motive, the interference, or the possibility of interference, is always there. As a necessary consequence the conduct of a business directed by the State is liable to be deflected at any moment from the purpose of earning a profit to the purpose of placating a politician.

In addition, there is the equally fundamental and irremovable difficulty that employees of the State have not the direct incentive to industry and to economy that private enterprise gives. The head of a private undertaking knows that