Private employers and
business firms have, on the whole, met the situation with
liberality; and a similar attitude on the part of the Government
would meet with its immediate reward. It is perhaps a selfish
utterance if a man is heard to say, "How am I going to come out of
it?" or still more, "What good is it going to do to me?"; but if he
put the same question on behalf of those who depend upon him for
subsistence he is entitled to a definite and a not ungenerous
reply.
Two dangers may have to be faced as the war proceeds. One is that
the nation, exhilarated by smaller successes, may think that the
war will soon be over, and that no excessive effort is therefore
required. Traces of this feeling are sometimes visible in the
published letters (how admirable, as a rule, they are!) of soldiers
at the front, telling their families to expect them back in a month
or two's time. The other danger is that, harassed by the
continuance of the struggle, or attracted by delusive offers of
peace or affected by economic or industrial conditions which have
fortunately not so far developed, a section of the nation may cry
out for peace before the victory has been consummated and before
the peril we are fighting to avert is forever destroyed.
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